Scribbles & Munch

      Everyone who celebrates Halloween has their own way to seek out a good scare.  Some people like to go on zombie tours or haunted houses.  Other people like to search for real ghosts.  Some people seek out terror on the screen or in the pages of a good book.  Others like their spookiness mingled with a few good chuckles.
      And then there are some people who think Halloween is really meant just for kids.

This totally says "kid friendly" to me.

      Who are these people, and what is wrong with them?  Kids don't need holidays to play dress up or eat sugar!  And did you miss that part where monsters, murderers, vermin, and dead people are involved!?!
      Anyway, for me it's Gothic Horror, all the way.  Give me the dreary antiquity, the gloomy and forlorn, the doomed beauty and the unavenged wrongs.  Give me ghosts who want more than gore.  Give me settings as gorgeous as they are petrifying.

Conan Doyle's "Hound of the Baskervilles" is a good one.  Actually, it may have been my first...I watched a lot of Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes growing up.

      Perfect example?  Just got back from watching Del Toro's Crimson Peak with my girl Camela Thompson.  This is my second time seeing the movie.  And I freaking love that movie.
      If you haven't seen it, then guess what?  Tomorrow is Halloween!  You have the perfect excuse!  It's got everything Guillermo del Toro does best: jaw-dropping sets, tantalizing plot, vibrant characters, and that exquisitely perfect mix of heart-rending beauty and truly shocking violence.  Why shocking?  Because he uses it just right.  Del Toro uses violence the way Hitchcock used suspense: just the right amount, at the right time, in the right way to really take your breath away.  I've seen hard-core slasher movie fans flinch and gasp at some of the key moments in Pan's Labyrinth.*

      The sad thing is how easy it is to make gothic horror cheesy, or over dramatic.  When it's done well, it's just so terrifyingly yummy.  When it's done badly, it's like opening a bottle of expensive wine, only to find it's gone to vinegar.  It'll probably be too damn long before another great gothic horror film comes out.  So I'll just rely on books.
      Or better yet, write one myself.


*If you've seen it, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  If you haven't seen it...*sigh*  Just...go watch it.  You'll thank me.