30-Day Horror Movie Challenge: Your favorite slasher film...Halloween

Tagline: The night HE came home

Synopsis: Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again. (IMDB)

Tagline: 40 Years Later, Evil Returns Home

Synopsis: Laurie Strode confronts her long-time foe Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago. (IMDB)

My favorite slasher film...Halloween

Even after all these years, Michael Myers still scares me. Freddy Krueger no longer scares me, and Jason Voorhees really doesn't either, but Michael Myers...Yeah. I was ten when the original film first came out (1978) so I probably didn't see it at that age. I can't really remember. My parents weren't overly strict about stuff like that so... All I do remember is it scared the shit out of me.

Besides being scared, I always thought it was an interesting story. Boy murders older sister on Halloween night, and then comes after younger sister years later. The guy really didn't like his sisters. However, what really was the motivation? Enter last year's Halloween. The movie completely ignores all the other films except for the first one, and Laurie Strode is not Myers' sister. I loved it! I was not a fan of all the sequels that came out (except for Halloween: H20), and though I'm a fan of Rob Zombie's films, I wasn't overly fond of his remakes. What we get with the new Halloween is a Michael Myers without a supernatural twist. He was just a crazy guy who killed a bunch of teenagers on Halloween night. One got away, so years later, he comes back to finish the job. I think I like this better. It will be interesting to see what they do with the next movie. Looks like there will actually be two sequels, Halloween Kills, set to be released on October 16, 2020, and Halloween Ends, set to be released on October 15, 2021 (on my birthday!).

Which slasher film is your favorite?

30-Day Horror Movie Challenge: The horror film you most relate to...The Witch

I thought this would be a fun challenge to participate in. According to the rules (see below), you don't have to participate every day. That's good because I'm going to have to skip the first prompt. There really is no "horror film no one would expect you to love but you do" since I pretty much love all of them. lol So, I'm starting today with the second prompt "The horror film you most relate to." I've included all the details below in case you want to join in. Thanks to Leah at Unleash the Flying Monkeys! for hosting this fun challenge (originally created by Dollar Bin Horror in 2011).

Here’s how to join the 30-Day Horror Movie Challenge:
You can start on whatever day you like.

(1) Make your picks and share it on your blog or site;

(2) Or, just leave a comment on the individual blog posts (linked above).

Here are the rules:
Simply pick your favorite horror film for each day based on that day’s theme. But there’s a catch: you can’t pick the same horror film more than once. So, if you pick SCREAM (1996) for your favorite slasher film, you can’t use it again for any other day including favorite horror film.

Collected below are the 30 prompts for the 2019 challenge:
Day 01 – A horror film no one would expect you to love but you do
Day 02 – The horror film you most relate to
Day 03 – Your favorite slasher film
Day 04 – Your favorite werewolf film
Day 05 – Your favorite monster movie
Day 06 – Your favorite vampire movie
Day 07 – Your favorite supernatural horror film
Day 08 – Your favorite anthology
Day 09 – Your favorite exploitation / grindhouse type film
Day 10 – Your favorite psychological horror film
Day 11 – Your favorite science fiction horror film
Day 12 – Your favorite horror film involving the occult
Day 13 – Your favorite horror comedy
Day 14 – Your favorite zombie film
Day 15 – Your favorite horror film involving serial killers
Day 16 – Your favorite childhood themed horror film
Day 17 – Your favorite horror film remake
Day 18 – Your favorite foreign horror film (outside of your country of origin)
Day 19 – Your favorite horror film involving the powers of Hell or Satanism
Day 20 – Your favorite horror film involving a killer animal
Day 21 – Your favorite medical horror film
Day 22 – Your favorite horror-themed TV show
Day 23 – Your favorite made-for-TV horror film
Day 24 – A horror film in which you prefer the edited version over the director’s cut
Day 25 – A horror film you used to hate but now like
Day 26 – Your favorite horror film to watch as a child
Day 27 – Your favorite guilty pleasure
Day 28 – Your favorite horror film no one’s ever heard of
Day 29 – Your least favorite horror film of all time
Day 30 – Your favorite horror film of all time

Tagline: Evil takes many forms

Synopsis: In 1630 New England, panic and despair envelops a farmer, his wife and their children when youngest son Samuel suddenly vanishes. The family blames Thomasin, the oldest daughter who was watching the boy at the time of his disappearance. With suspicion and paranoia mounting, twin siblings Mercy and Jonas suspect Thomasin of witchcraft, testing the clan's faith, loyalty and love to one another. (Google)

The horror film you most relate to...The Witch

The reason I relate to this one? Because religious persecution and hysteria, as occurred in the Salem Witch Trials, and other similar events across Europe during the witch craze, are things I think about quite frequently. What made this film scary was how the family's deep-seated religious beliefs basically tore the family apart, and led to tragedy after tragedy. Was there really witchcraft in The Witch? Well, yes, though we really don't see much of, or about the witches. What was far more frightening was how readily a mother would turn on her own daughter and accuse her of being a witch. Also, how easily a family who falls on hard times was much more likely to blame witchcraft and superstition for their hardship, rather than taking a good hard look at what led them to the hardship in the first place. 

Which horror film do you most relate to?

Doctor Sleep #Read-Along - Week Four #SomethingWickedFall

I'm running way behind this week! Sorry! It's going to be short and sweet so I hope you will help me fill in on anything I miss. Thanks!

Things are really starting to escalate. Once again, I found I had to force myself to stop reading. SO good! I loved that Dan finally met Abra in person, though he has to be very careful so no one thinks he's a perv. lol Abra is such a great character. SK really knows how to write children. I've always admired him for that.

Wasn't it awesome that he was able to talk to Dick Hallorann again? At first, I thought it was his mom, but I realized Dick was the one he went looking for (and found had died) so then I knew it had to be him. Great scene between him and the old woman, her sudden passing, and Dick taking her over. That should be interesting in the movie, if they do it.

Dare I say that I felt almost sympathetic toward Rose the Hat at one point. It's obvious that she cares about her people, and her worry over Grandpa Flick actually gave her a bit of humanity. Of course, that won't last long.

Looking forward to continuing on...

Share your thoughts on this week's section in the comments, or leave a link to a post. We'll be back next week for the next section. If you need the reading schedule, find it here.

A note on our watch-along of The Shining. Dare I say...I strongly dislike that movie. I know. Probably shocking to many who find it scary. I really don't. It's actually incredibly boring at times, and Kubrick really messed up the story. The book is SO much better. The casting of Shelley Duvall (who I like otherwise) was way off, and was an enormous cause of displeasure to Stephen King. His Wendy was not a victim, as portrayed in the film, so when things started going south, it was a real shock to her. Unlike the Wendy in the film, who was already acting like she lived on the point of a knife. I would recommend digging up the TV miniseries of the story. It was a lot closer to the book. This is one case where I would really like to see a major motion picture remake.

Our next watch-along will be Midsommar. The date is set for October 19. We're deciding on the time. You can weigh in by commenting on the post in our Facebook group, reply in the Goodreads group, or comment on my Tweet on Twitter (@truebookaddict).

Doctor Sleep #Read-Along - Week Three #SomethingWickedFall

Sorry...I'm late again this week!

In this week's section, we find out how truly evil the True Knot is. I was horrified by what they did to poor Bradley Trevor. I keep thinking to myself, "I wonder how they're going to handle that part in the movie?" I'm thinking it will be pretty horrific. Again, Abra sees this stuff happen! How awful. This is the stuff that drove Dan to become a drinker. Hate to say it, though I think it has to be said. Alcoholism would be a damn sight better for Abra than what the True Knot has planned for her. Does anyone else just despise Rose the Hat? Yeah, I thought so. lol

I was so afraid Dan was going to go into that bar and start drinking. I was on the edge of my seat. Thank goodness he was able to talk to Doctor John.

I'm glad Dan was able to convince Billy to go to a doctor. That would be so unnerving to see flies on someone like that, and to know that it meant imminent death. Not something I would want to experience, that's for sure. I have a feeling that orderly Fred Carling is going to end up being something of a problem for Dan later on in the story.

Once again, I had to force myself to stop reading. Really enjoying this book!

Share your thoughts on this week's section in the comments, or leave a link to a post. We'll be back next week for the next section. If you need the reading schedule, find it here.

The Shining Watch-Along will be Saturday, September 28 at 9:00 pm Eastern/8:00 pm Central. We will be using Slack for discussion while we watch (It's free!). Click the Invite link to join/signup: https://join.slack.com/t/seasonsofreading/shared_invite/enQtNzU2Njc0MTkyOTEzLWEwMWE2NzdjOGMzYjAwNmZjMjk2MmUwODRmNTRhYzIwZjBkODVkY2U3ZTMwZGIxNmI0ZWU1NmE4MjcwNDI5YmI