For the final post in my “Halloween” series; I thought that I would discuss the three movies which I think are among the scariest of all time: “The Wicker Man” (1973); “Poltergeist” (1982) and, Stanley Kubrick’s horror masterpiece, “The Shining” (1980). Maybe I’m just getting old, but in the days before CGI, film-makers really had to work to make their movies authentically scary. You couldn’t just put an actor in front of a green screen and ask them to emote terror against… Read more »
Posts Categorized: essays
Grave Discoveries
It may seem odd to some, but I have always found cemeteries to be calming and relaxing places. No matter how noisy the traffic on the outside, as soon as you step over the threshold all sound becomes muted, as if in reverence. When I was growing up, my home was not always the most peaceful or relaxing place, and many a weekend afternoon, I would walk the 10 minutes or so to the nearby graveyard to wander, or just sit and… Read more »
Nevermore!
“The boundaries which divide life and death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?” Edgar Allan Poe. I don’t know about you, but I do enjoy a spooky story. There is always that moment – breath held, heart pounding – before The Big Reveal; is it a ghost? Is it real? Are they already dead? Or was it just a dream..? (lame!) There are many excellent contemporary horror writers such… Read more »
Memento Mori
Memento mori (Latin: “remember you will die”) It’s October – the days are getting shorter and (thankfully!) cooler; the leaves are beginning to turn; the sudden morning chill is a reminder of the shifting seasons. It is the time of Harvest and the ubiquity of pumpkin spice lattes – or pumpkin anything really… It is also the month of Halloween! In a few short weeks, neighborhoods will be tyrannized by children demanding candy with menaces, while dressed as ghosts and witches, pirates and princesses. We’ll scare each other with… Read more »
Pope Francis & the Star-Spangled Dream Coat
Let me preface this post by saying that while I am not particularly religious, I was raised Church of England (Episcopal, or Catholic Lite, if you will). I’d like to think there is a “higher power”, if only to explain to me why there are mosquitos but no unicorns (why mosquitos, why?) Also, I have witnessed, first hand, the comforting power of prayer and Faith upon some who could have been forgiven for abandoning them. With that being said, I thought that I would throw my philosophical… Read more »
