Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

13 Days of Halloween: HALLOWEEN: A Fan's Retrospective

Billy Burgess 13 Days of Halloween , Halloween 2018

While most kids were watching cartoons in 1988, I was a seven-year-old sitting in the floor directly in front of my grandparent's old television set watching Jamie Lee Curtis being stalked by a psychopath wearing a William Shatner mask.

Yeah, you shouldn't let a seven-year-old watch a slasher film, but my grandmother did. Thanks, Grandma!

I believe I was probably pestering my grandmother, so she played a movie in the VHS player for me to watch. Don't worry, the movie was edited. She had recorded Halloween I, II, and III onto a VHS tape off of television the previous year. I would say she played the movie just to get me to leave her alone. Whatever the reason, it was the first time I watched Halloween, which would become my favorite movie.

While Halloween wasn't my venture into the world of horror (Midnight Hour (1985) gets that honor!), it was my very first slasher flick, which kicked off my lifetime love for the Halloween franchise. (Yes, that even includes the godawful Halloween Resurrection!)

I can't explain why my favorite movie is about a masked killer stalking a babysitter on Halloween Night. It might have something to do with the film's Gothic-like atmosphere or it might have something to with the little fact that my first crush was on Jamie Lee Curtis!

My mother thought I was crazy for liking a slasher film and thought there was something mentally wrong with me. I'm not joking, she really thought there was something wrong with me. Through my eyes Halloween was just a movie. I knew the difference between make-believe and reality, so I never saw the harm in watching the movie.

I believe I still have my grandmother's VHS tape, but for the life of me I couldn't find it before I started writing this. I believe it is stored in a box somewhere.

13 Days of Halloween: Halloween: The Official Movie Novelization

Billy Burgess 13 Days of Halloween , Halloween 2018

Titan; 384 pages; Amazon

It's been a long, long day for me, but here I am determined to write this review for Halloween: The Official Movie Novelization by John Passarella, which is based on the screenplay by Jeff Fradley, Danny McBride, and David Gordon Green.

The original Halloween (1978) happens to my favorite movie (more on that topic tomorrow), so I guess you can say I have been really excited about the new reboot sequel that was released on October 19th. Yes, you would think I would be one of the first people in line to see the film, but the only theater near me only has one screen and it takes them forever to get a new movie. I highly doubt if they will ever get Halloween. I have no problem waiting for the film to arrive on Blu-ray; especially since I have already read the novelization.

Halloween ignores all the original sequels and the Rob Zombie's movies. It's a direct sequel to the 1978 classic. The novel begins with two true-crime podcasters visiting Smith's Grove Rehabilitation Hospital to interview Michael Myers, which makes little sense as he never talks. Michael and a few other patients are being transported on a prison bus on Halloween Eve to another facility when an unknown accident occurs that allows Michael to escape.

For the last forty years, Laurie Strode has been haunted by the events of Halloween 1978, when three of her friends were murdered by Michael Myers. She's has developed PTSD and has prepared herself if Michael would ever come after her again. She has a collection of guns that she has been trained to use and she has fortified her house.

After learning Michael has escaped, Laurie goes on the hunt to kill him on Halloween Night, but she's too late as Michael has already gone on a killing spree in Haddonfield. With her daughter, Karen, and granddaughter, Allyson, in Michael's pathway, Laurie will do anything she can to protect them from the boogeyman.

Tuesday Picks!: October 30, 2018

Billy Burgess Tuesday Picks! ,

Welcome to my Tuesday Picks! post, where I'll be picking out my favorite books and movies that are being released this week.

Books

Elevation

by Stephen King

Buy Link: Barnes & Noble

The only book I'm excited about this week is Elevation by Stephen King. I had requested to review the book from the publisher several weeks ago, but I never heard back from them. I looked for the book at my local Walmart today, but it wasn't there. While the store's book selection is very slim, they are normally up-to-date on most "big name" titles. I was probably just there too early before the "book person" brought in the new batch of books. Walmart employees don't stock the books; somebody else comes to do it. If the store doesn't get the book in, I will eventually order the book.

Movies

Batman: The Complete Animated Series

Buy Link: Amazon

DVD Review: Jack London's Sea Wolf: The Complete Mini-series

Billy Burgess DVD , Jack London

Mill Creek Ent., 185 mins; Not Rated; Amazon

Does anyone remember the countless miniseries that aired on network television and cable channels throughout the 1990s?

Well, I remember them. Miniseries were the big "events" for television back then. Nowadays, miniseries have long since disappeared, except for the few campy ones on cable.

Recently, I watched Jack London's Sea Wolf: The Complete Mini-series DVD, which was released earlier this year from Mill Creek Entertainment. Directed by Michael Barker, the two-part miniseries stars Sebastian Koch, Neve Campbell, Stephen Campbell Moore, and Tim Roth.

Based on the 1904 novel The Sea-Wolf by Jack London, the 2009 miniseries centers on the harsh captain of the seal hunting schooner the "Ghost," Wolf Larsen (played by Sebastian Koch), who rescues a castaway poetry critic, Humphrey Van Wyden (played by Stephen Campbell Moore) from the high seas. Humphrey quickly learns that Wolf is a horrible captain, who puts him and the rest of the crew through hell.

The Ghost comes across another castaway, a beautiful woman named Maud, who had barely escaped the clutches of Wolf's crazed brother, Death (played by Tim Roth). After falling in love, Humphrey and Maud escape on a rowboat in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, they will once again intertwine with both Wolf and Death in a final confrontation.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Billy Burgess #IMWAYR ,

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by The Book Date.

What am I currently reading?

I'm currently reading Halloween: The Official Novelization by John Passarella. I'll be posting my review for it sometime tomorrow.

America Mirror: The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell is more of a passion read. I'm currently on page 39 (Chapter Three). I'm reading it one chapter at a time or one chapter per week.

What am I reading next?

13 Days of Halloween: Goosebumps SlappyWorld: The Ghost of Slappy

Billy Burgess 13 Days of Halloween , Goosebumps

Scholastic; 160 pagers; Amazon

I could never have a Halloween event without featuring one Goosebumps title!

I've been reading and collecting Goosebumps books since the very first book was released back in 1992! The latest spinoff series is titled Goosebumps SlappyWorld, which features the #1 Goosebumps villain Slappy as the host of each and every tale.

The newest entry "The Ghost of Slappy" centers around Shep Mooney, who's scared of anything supernatural related, especially ghosts! Shep thinks that his basement is haunted by a ghost named Annalee, but neither his parents nor his younger sister, Patti, believes him.

Maybe a camping trip will make Shep forget about the ghost. His class is having a sleepover in the woods. Sounds like fun, right?

Think again!

His teacher, Mr. Hanson, has brought along a very special gift for the trip - a ventriloquist dummy named Slappy! It seems Mr. Hanson had found the dummy in an attic and thought it would be fun to bring it for the campout. Mr. Hanson is aware about the curse that was put on the dummy and tells the story to Shep and classmates.

After the camping trip is over, Slappy decides to stalk Shep and his family, but the boy is one step ahead of the dummy. However, Shep doesn't know that Slappy has a few new tricks up his sleeve!

13 Days of Halloween: The House With a Clock in Its Walls

Billy Burgess 13 Days of Halloween ,

Puffin; 185 pages; Walmart

This will probably sound a bit weird to some of you, but I had never heard of the late author John Bellairs until this summer when I stumbled upon The House with a Clock in it's Walls at a Barnes & Nobles. The book was republished to tie-in with the feature film of the same name that was released in September starring Jack Black and Cate Blanchett. I almost purchased it, but decided not to at the last second. A few days later, I found the book at my local Walmart at a slightly cheaper price, so I bought it.

First published in 1973, the young adult Gothic mystery centers around Lewis Barnavelt, an orphan who is sent to New Zebedee, Michigan to live with his uncle, Jonathan Barnavelt. Not long after arriving, the boy learns that magic really does exist. Uncle Jonathan is a warlock and his next door neighbor, Florence Zimmermann, is a witch!

To make things even stranger for Lewis, he also learns that his uncle's house was once owned by Isaac and Selenna Izard, a couple who practiced black magic. Before Isaac's death, the man had hid a clock somewhere within the walls of the house. The ticking clock slowly pulls the world into the magical realm.

At school, Lewis befriends Tarby Corrigan, who's the complete opposite of him. In fear that Tarby will lose interests with him, Lewis shows off his own magic skills by raising the dead in a local cemetery on Halloween, which includes Selenna Izard.

There are a total of 12 books in the Lewis Barnavelt series, which only the first three titles were written by John Bellairs. Brad Strickland took over writing the series after Bellair's death, though three of the later titles were based on Bellair's unfinished writings and notes.