Here you’ll find screams, horror, and a love of the macabre in my Spooky archives. A huge Halloween and Horror Film fan, I write about Samhain, movies, share my creepy art, and more!
I’ve been m.i.a. for a while and I thought I’d share why: I’m participating in Inktober this year, putting my own spooky spin on it. Plus I’ve been reading like crazy.
Keeping my mind busy outside of work has helped me process a lot of the ups and downs of this week and last when it comes to politics, events, and COVID-19. Plus Election day is getting closer and I find myself increasingly anxious, I think a lot of people are.
So here we go, my first ten ink/pencil drawings for this year’s Inktober plus what I’m currently reading Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff (it’s amazing!)
I’d love to know if anyone is participating in Inktober or if you’re currently reading anything wonderfully spooky. Let me know! Leave a comment below or contact me directly.
The famous line from the movie, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” was nowhere in the book. A creative add-on by Kubrick.
The Shining
Yesterday, I finished reading Stephen King’s classic THE SHINING. At about four-hundred-something pages this novel took me on the ups and downs of the Torrance family at The Overlook Hotel. What I loved about the book that was different from the movie (directed by Stanley Kubrick) was the building of tension between the characters through their POV’s. Seeing The Overlook from the perspectives of all the important characters added to the sheer terror of their situation while emphasizing how malicious the hotel really is. Plus the character of Danny Torrance is captivating, a clever little boy born with second-sight who has to fight evil forces to try and keep his mom and dad alive. This was a quick read for me and now I am planning on devouring DOCTOR SLEEP before the movie comes out at the end of the month, or at least before I see it.
Halloween
This year I haven’t done any ‘Halloween’ themed posts. To be honest, it is because I haven’t had any time. A little over a week ago, I finally quit my internship as an Intern for SG BOOK SCOUTING. After a month of working (unpaid) some 25-30 hours a week, I was worn out, irritated, and found myself with little to no time for my own writing or reading. Initially, the internship was for three months but I barely made it over one month. I found myself doing anywhere from 2-8 hours of work a day as an intern. On Fridays I would be given an assignment due on Monday morning, usually, this was to read an entire book (around 50,000 words or more) and write an extensive review. This weekend assignment wasn’t too bad except that I usually do doubles on the weekends at my job working 9-12 hour shifts, leaving me with little time to do the assignment. Since quitting, I’m less stressed out and I have had time to catch up on my daily writing and read whatever I want. I have been incredibly happy, enjoying my freedom again and I have decided that for the future any internships I apply to will have to be paid. My time is too precious for me to work for free.
I’m not sure if I’m going to have any time to write a few Halloween themed posts before the end of the month but if I do, chances are they will be centered around movies (of course).
My Novel
The last time I took a look at my novel it was September 9th, according to my google docs. Now I’m going to take another crack at it. Whenever I approach my novel, again and again, I do a read through from start to finish. Doing my best not to edit or change anything. I want to read it just to read it. When I go back over it to start the second reading, I will edit part by part (so far it’s three parts). I want to get a good portion of this done before November because I think I’m going to try to write another book (totally unrelated to the one I’ve been working on) for NaNoWriMo this year. I have a few story ideas and weird plot lines shifting around in my head and I think what I’d work on would be realistic fiction. A change of pace, something different, from the weird supernatural stories that are always floating around in my head.
I will keep you all updated and expect a new post soon in MY FIRST NOVEL series.
Earlier this week, I sat down and made the conscious decision to watch Netflix’s Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes. I had been putting it off for a few days but was interested in the series when I saw it featured on Netflix’s homepage. Right after I started the first episode I was hooked and watched the entire series in one night. When it was finally over I was genuinely unsettled and creeped out.
I know the basics about Ted Bundy, especially as a native Utahn, I remember learning about him when I was very young. I’m familiar with the gory details of quite a few serial killers since I have a passion for true crime documentaries and shows but I haven’t been inclined to research out Ted Bundy in detail. This documentary was the first time I learned about the chronology of the murders. A key part of The Ted Bundy Tapes is the eerie recordings of Bundy talking about the murders, closing the distance between viewer and subject, this results in an appropriate response from the audience.
The Ted Bundy Tapes do a good job of summarizing the multiple killings but fails in going into the explicit details. I get the impression that the goal of this documentary series was to tear apart the conversation most people have about Bundy i.e. “but he was so good-looking and smart, he was one of us”. That conversation is related to the creepiest aspects about the Bundy case, people became caught up in his ability to speak articulately and joke around. He was an attractive flirt that could smooth talk people, quickly getting them under his thumb so that he could manipulate them.
I was partially disappointed in The Ted Bundy Tapes because I was expecting a different approach to the subject, such as a detailed history of Bundy’s life, motives, the crime scenes, and the evidence. Instead, it was more like a summary of Bundy’s whereabouts at the time of the crimes, an outline of the killings and emphasis on the overall attitude of the public. The documentary did a good job of discussing the media coverage of the Ted Bundy cases and how towards the end (before he was executed) Bundy became a strange social-cultural icon.
There were parallels that I noticed in the documentary, between Ted Bundy and the Manson murders, specifically the media coverage and the megalomaniac personalities of Bundy and Manson. Both men had a substantial female fandom while in prison, a frequent occurrence for many males serial killers that I will never understand.
The documentary also did a good job at discussing the changing times in America during the late sixties through the seventies, new types of criminals were emerging and there were limited technological resources available to help catch killers. I think these details are important for younger viewers, and I did not realize this until I was done watching the series. I was perplexed when they mentioned the technology available at the time of the murders because I already knew those facts but then it dawned on me that audiences around the age of 14-20 may not know the technological history of the past seventy years.
This was disturbing, the fact that the documentary interviewed people that said that there was no internet at this time or fax machines, that serial killers was an unheard of concept. The documentary was educating its intended audience about the times of Bundy. The details that were emphasized in this documentary suggested that the intended audience is presumed to be very young.
This got me thinking, if I am right about the intended audience based on the goals of the documentary: ‘debunking’ Bundy as a handsome ‘normal’ guy, and the historical details (women’s movement, civil rights, no internet, no fax machines etc) then can I hypothesize that this documentary’s actual goal was re-educating the youngest intended audiences about a new upgraded discussion on ‘Stranger-Danger’?
Not only could this documentary be an upgraded ‘Stranger-Danger’ warning to the youth, but it can also be considered an attempt at de-glorifying a convicted killer. There was an equal amount of emphasis in terms of the fact that Bundy did rape and kill over thirty women. He was a brutal killer that preyed on very specific groups of females, young white usually college-educated women mostly found on campuses.
Even though I consider my ideas about the intended audience and the goal of this documentary to be just speculation, I did like The Ted Bundy Tapes, it was informative and interesting. It was captivating and strange to hear the recordings of Bundy’s voice talking about the murders in the third person, he had to distance himself from the murders in some way.
I would recommend this documentary to anyone that likes true crimes stories or Netflix Original series centered around crime and action.
If you have already watched The Ted Bundy Tapes, I suggest watching Mindhunter, or Criminal Minds.
Alina’s Rating: 3.5 Electric Chairs/ 5 Electric Chairs
On Halloween, I finished Haunted Nights an anthology of short horror stories put together by the Horror Writers Association. It is full of all kinds of spooky stories that revolve around Halloween. There are sixteen short stories total, all of which range from an Irish Halloween with the good folk to grisly psychological thrillers of man and monsters.
Writer’s featured in this anthology include Seanan McGuire, Jonathan Maberry, Garth Nix, Jeffrey Ford, Kelley Armstrong, Brian Evenson, Eric J. Guignard, Pat Cadigan, and John R. Litte. My favorite stories in this anthology were “With Graveyard Weeds and Wolfsbane Seeds”, “A Small Taste of the Old Country”, “The Seventeen-Year Itch”, “Nos Galan Gaeaf”, “Sisters”, “The Turn”, “Jack” and “Lost in the Dark”.
A Brief Synopsis of My Favorites
“With Graveyard Weeds and Wolfsbane Seeds” by Seanan McGuire – a haunted house full of ghosts and a group of troublemaker teenagers bent on vandalism and fun, the night is Halloween and there will be plenty of fun and death for all.
“A Small Taste of the Old Country” by Jonathan Maberry – In Argentina after the end of World War Two, the dead return with vengeance on one fateful night with the aid of a man and some delicious food.
“The Seventeen-Year Itch” by Garth Nix – Locked up in an institution for the criminally insane an inmate with a secret will make Halloween a bloody special one.
“Nos Galan Gaeaf” by Kelley Armstrong – A town that still celebrates Halloween the old ways, two kids play with each others fates with hellish consequences.
“Sisters” by Brian Evenson – A family trying to blend in? A family of what? Curious about Halloween two mischievous sisters set out for some fun but return home with an extra treat.
“The Turn” by Paul Kane – Listen to your grandparents, is it just superstitions or something more? A man walks alone on Halloween night and encounters something terrifyingly familiar, man or monster?
“Jack” by Pat Cadigan – The dead, a cemetery, and good ol’ Jack, a trickster with something fresh up his sleeve.
“Lost in the Dark” by John Langan – Spinning horror films, documentaries and folklore all together in a modern tale. A writer researches the origins of a horror film with the help of a key interview leaving him disturbed and curious.
I would recommend this anthology for horror lovers that want a little slice of this and that, a box of chocolates with unknown fillings full of surprise, each different from the last. A few of these stories do contain gore, disturbing imagery, violence, and peril so be warned.
