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Halloween '05 on Blogcritics
Written by Eric Olsen
Published October 01, 2005
Published October 01, 2005
Halloween isn't so much a holiday anymore as it is a season, a time to get in touch with the dark and spooky, to recognize that there is as much we don't know about the creepy world around us as there is we do know, and to acknowledge that tingle down the spine is as important to life as the wholesome joy of the Christmas Season. In fact, Halloween has become the anti-Christmas. We will be looking at things Halloweeny all through the season (see our '04 roundup here, '03 here):
- DVD Review: The War of the Worlds (1953) Special Edition
- A second round on DVD for this classic film, and the same issue with the original DVD transfer is here.
Posted to Video by Matt Paprocki on November 2, 2005 02:13 AM - DVD Review: House of Voices
- Originally called Saint-Ange, this is a French import that has gone through a retitling for the American audience. Apparently, it did not do well at the box office in its native land. Seems a shame, too, because I found it...
Posted to Video by Chris Beaumont on October 31, 2005 07:37 PM - The Great Pumpkin Debate Ends Here
- There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin. --Linus
The Great Pumpkin is only my second favorite Peanuts movie; it is either a great pumpkin tale in which one can make...
Posted to Culture by cooper on October 31, 2005 07:32 PM - Christian Values on Halloween
- Self-righteous christians are trying to tear down Halloween and build an altar to God on two millenia of innocent victims bones.
Posted to Culture by Dave Nalle on October 31, 2005 04:59 PM - CBS Premiere Movie Review: Vampire Bats
- Mutant bats munch on college kids. TV movie gold.
Posted to Video by Matt Paprocki on October 31, 2005 02:38 PM - Film Review: Corpse Bride
- If one word can describe the dominant mood of Corpse Bride, Burton's love letter to stop-motion animation, it's nostalgia.
Posted to Video by Modern Pea Pod on October 31, 2005 02:24 PM - Some Call It Samhain
- Halloween, historically, is about more than costumes and candy.
Posted to Culture by Natalie Davis on October 31, 2005 10:06 AM - Interview with Margaret L. Carter, horror author
- I was an extremely timid child, and hysterically afraid of the dark.
Posted to Books by Parker Owens on October 31, 2005 08:43 AM - No Room Left in Hell: A Look at the Dawn of the Dead DVD
- Obviously, comparisons can and must be made to the original film.
Posted to Video by Victor Lana on October 31, 2005 08:29 AM - Movie Review: Saw II
- A sequel to the sadistic smash of 2004 was inevitable. The question is, would it work as a film? Could they craft a story that would be worthy of committing to film? In the end questions like that matter not....
Posted to Video by Chris Beaumont on October 31, 2005 07:26 AM - The Psychotic Love of the Violent Femmes "Country Death Song"
- Revisiting the darker themes of death and despair in mp3 mixes for Halloween season walking, I was struck unexpectedly by the Violent Femmes "Country Death Song" from the 1985 album Hallowed Ground.
The theme of a farm father murdering...
Posted to Music by Al Barger on October 31, 2005 12:34 AM - Ten Great Halloween DVDs
- Psycho's great, and so is Halloween, of course. But how about a little more "cerebral" fare?
Posted to Video by DrPat on October 31, 2005 12:21 AM - DVD Review: The Halloween Hall of Fame 2
- The Vanishing is a story about horrifying danger lurking in bright, sunlit places -- by the time it's over, even the most benign and harmless settings seem deeply sinister.
Posted to Video by Steven Hart on October 29, 2005 11:30 PM - DVD Review: Cold Blood
- There is an effectively creepy mood developed through most of the film, mostly due to the effective use of music and sound effects.
Posted to Video by Chris Beaumont on October 29, 2005 07:32 PM - DVD Review: Kwaidan - Filmmaking At Its Best
- Kwaidan brings together a number of discrete, yet inter-related artistic traditions to produce a visually satisfying, emotionally rich, scary film.
Posted to Video by Aaman Lamba on October 29, 2005 01:00 PM - Alien Abductions - Just In Time For Halloween
- My first, completely unrelated point: It's not even Halloween yet, and it's snowing outside. This is going to be a cold winter. I'm not looking forward to it.
Halloween is the perfect time to discuss tinfoil hat conspiracy theories about alien...
Posted to Culture by Trish Wilson on October 29, 2005 12:50 PM - Hollywood.com Announces Top Horror Films by Box Office
- Using dollar amounts can measure either popularity, or a well duped audience
Posted to Video by Chris Beaumont on October 29, 2005 09:22 AM - Movie Review: Yeh Raat Honeymoon Ki
- A B-Grade Halloween Film: The caretaker was a spooky fellow who couldn't act even if his balls were on the line.
Posted to Video by Deepti Lamba on October 29, 2005 12:52 AM - Favorite Moments in Scary Flicks for Halloween
- I have compiled a list of my favorite moments from scary films that I love to watch (again and again).
Posted to Video by Victor Lana on October 28, 2005 10:42 PM - CD Review: Helloween - The Keeper Of The Seven Keys: The Legacy
- Grande, epic masterpiece that neatly ties up the eerie tale that has always maintained itself and the foundation of this band.
Posted to Music by Chris Akin on October 28, 2005 08:21 PM - Modern Pea Pod's Halloween 2005 Mixtape
- Got a spare C-90? Here's 23 Halloween-worthy tracks, lovingly selected by the MPP staff just to creep you out.
Posted to Music by Modern Pea Pod on October 28, 2005 08:19 PM - TV Review: Masters of Horror Premiere: "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road"
- Ellen finds herself in a fight for her life as she is pursued by the mysterious Moonface.
Posted to Video by Chris Beaumont on October 28, 2005 07:32 AM - CD Review: Masters of Horror Soundtrack
- As a collection of songs to showcase the current hard music scene, this does the trick. As a soundtrack to an anthology of horror, it is mostly lacking. It's a shame too, I was really looking forward to listening to...
Posted to Music by Chris Beaumont on October 28, 2005 07:29 AM - DVD Review: The Halloween Hall of Fame
- Great Horror Movies, Both Splattery and Spooky
Posted to Video by Steven Hart on October 28, 2005 02:31 AM - Halloween Country Murder CD Mix
- From amongst the creepy swirling doomy death that surrounds me in music, I've come up with Halloween CD mixes of suicide, country death, and songs to murder your woman by. Throw in a nice ...
Posted to Music by Al Barger on October 28, 2005 12:29 AM - Halloween Country Death CD Mix
- The cutesy novelty stuff is fine, but there are SO many more interesting things to listen to for Halloween than the frickin' stale "Monster Mash." Country and folk music have particularly rich veins of creepy and cool death songs...
Posted to Music by Al Barger on October 27, 2005 06:18 PM - Jett and Bernhard Host Halloween On QTN
- I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Sandra Bernhard. Her humor is perfect for the Queer Edge
Posted to Video by Eric Olsen on October 27, 2005 05:43 PM - Review of Options 2005
- Options 2005
If there was ever a Washington, DC based curated art show that could used the descriptors "poisoned well" and "a no win situation," it was the current Options 2005 WPA/C show at the former Staples store on...
Posted to Culture by Lenny Campello on October 27, 2005 03:36 PM - Movie Recommendations For Halloween
- Halloween is just around the corner, and that means it's time for some good horror movies. If the only movies you can think of are Halloween and A Nightmare On Elm Street, below are lesser-known horror movies of quality that...
Posted to Video by Trish Wilson on October 27, 2005 11:46 AM - The Trailer Park: Slither
- Have you been in the mood for an old school creature feature? Well, it seems that those days may be returning
Posted to Video by Chris Beaumont on October 27, 2005 07:26 AM - DVD Review: Audition
- Halloween Madness brings you this Whoriffic tale of Japanese mania...
Posted to Video by JayMoo and Stephoin on October 26, 2005 10:03 PM - Fiction-"Just Hanging Around on Halloween"
- Allegedly an overdose caused Mary's death. How do Mary'a calligraphy and the clown picture reveal the truth?
Posted to Culture by Patfish on October 26, 2005 05:47 AM - Movie Review: The Amityville Horror
- The Amityville Horror doesn’t accomplish much more than a few solid frights.
Posted to Video by Brandon Valentine on October 25, 2005 10:47 PM - Scary Animals
- The Evil Parrot is one of those huge jobs whose body is about the size of a small dog...
Posted to Culture by Parker Owens on October 25, 2005 04:16 PM - Show Review: Charles Band's Horror Road Show
- None of the people I talked to at the day job had ever heard of Charles Band. Frankly, I couldn't believe it. Now, I am not the most fluent in the ways of Band, and it has...
Posted to Video by Chris Beaumont on October 24, 2005 09:40 PM - Interview: On the Doktor Goulfinger Tip
- San Francisco Bay Area TV horror host expert Doktor Goulfinger discusses his love of the scary genre.
Posted to Video by Rechercher on October 24, 2005 07:25 AM - DVD Review: Mimic
- Totally overlooked in creature feature history.
Posted to Video by Matt Paprocki on October 22, 2005 11:21 PM - Sci-Fi Channel Original: Return of the Living Dead Parts 4 and 5
- Note: My review of Part 4 originally appeared as one half of Matt Paprocki's Sci-Fi film reviews along with his views of Part 5. You can see that post here. What now have here before you is a reprint...
Posted to Video by Chris Beaumont on October 22, 2005 07:03 PM - UnSilent Film 5: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
- Every city should have something as cool as Cleveland's UnSilent Film series - a multimedia juxtabulation of classic silent films and live electronic music performance.
Just in time for Halloween, UnSilent Film celebrates its first anniversary proudly with its fifth presentation,...
Posted to Video by Eric Olsen on October 20, 2005 07:28 PM - The Haunted Mansion in Paper, Mortar, and Pixel
- I would say San Jose-based comic book publisher SLG Publishing has picked the right time of year to release their first issue of The Haunted Mansion comic book series (not yet available from Amazon). The 32 page black &...
Posted to Culture by Eric Olsen on October 20, 2005 04:22 PM - Bloody Blackouts
- A little Halloween terror
Posted to Culture by Scott Butki on October 20, 2005 09:53 AM - Halloween Dance Thriller
- Halloween short story
Posted to Culture by Scott Butki on October 20, 2005 09:47 AM - Movie Review: Haunted Castle 3D
- Haunted Castle appears to be a Halloween season staple at IMAX theaters. When I saw that it was going to be playing, I figured I'd go and check it out. It ended up being a rather fun little outing that...
Posted to Video by Chris Beaumont on October 19, 2005 06:50 PM - Funky Halloween: Hellish party treats for your tricks
- If you want your party guests to really shake dem Halloween bones, here's what to dust off now to get their dancing knees a-clacking.
Posted to Music by Viqi French on October 19, 2005 10:01 AM - The Oily Jack-o-Lantern of Wilmington
- One of the wonders and astonishments of a childhood in the South Bay area of Los Angeles for the last 53 years has been the monstrous, toothy nighttime glow of Smilin' Jack, the world's largest jack-o-lantern, grinning in the distance,...
Posted to Culture by Eric Olsen on October 17, 2005 10:53 AM - A Halloween Story: Circa 1967
- I thought Halloween was about bravery until someone told me it was about evil. By then, it was too late.
Posted to Culture by Diana Hartman on October 17, 2005 08:28 AM - Halloween 2005: How I Hallow The Eve
- We have created something that is reflective of the way we are trying to live our life in the here and now.
Posted to Culture by Richard Marcus on October 17, 2005 05:05 AM - Movie Review - Dominion - The Prequel To The Exorcist
- The Duke's October Horror-Fest takes in Schrader's "Lost Masterpiece"
Posted to Video by Duke De Mondo on October 16, 2005 02:16 PM - It’s Pagalicious: My Pagan Articles Are All Over The Internet
- I googled myself and found articles about me and my work that I didn't know existed. One subject took precedence.
Posted to Culture by Cerulean on October 15, 2005 03:55 AM - Sam And His Halloween Date
- Halloween fiction, with apologies to Raymond Chandler...
Posted to Books by Scott Butki on October 14, 2005 04:25 PM - Nickelodeon Licensing Juggernaut Rolls Over Halloween
- Having little kids I see quite a bit of Nickelodeon, especially Nick toons, and most especially of all SpongeBob, Fairly Odd Parents, and Jimmy Neutron, which seem to just about equally entertain all of us, ranging in age from...
Posted to Video by Eric Olsen on October 13, 2005 05:45 PM - DVD Review: The Last Horror Movie
- I remember reading some good things about this movie, and after a lot of wavering I picked it up about a month ago. But it was not until now that I sat down and watched it. I read the back...
Posted to Video by Chris Beaumont on October 12, 2005 11:10 AM - Dead Boys Reunite For 30th Anniversary on Halloween
- Cleveland didn't quite know what to make of the punk and subsequent new wave revolutions of the mid-to-late '70s. There was a small but rabid underground scene that produced, but could not sustain punk greats, Dead Boys.
Dead Boys departed for...
Posted to Music by Eric Olsen on October 11, 2005 07:12 PM - Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Greatest Horror Film of All Time?
- Well, that's what what British film magazine Total Film says. I'm not sure how they came to this decision, or the rest of the Top Ten results. The BBC reported on the list, but did not state what type...
Posted to Video by Chris Beaumont on October 10, 2005 10:40 PM - Movie Review: Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1972) (aka Halloween Roundup V)
- It's instructive, I think, to note that the director of Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things, Bob Clark, gave us A Christmas Story (1983), which is, along with It's a Wonderful Life (1946), among the greatest Christmas movies. But...
Posted to Video by Paul J. Marasa on October 10, 2005 09:26 PM - The Scorned - Reality Gets Killed On Halloween
- Let's see if I get this straight: E!'s Kill Reality was a "meta-reality" series wherein "reality personalities" -- i.e., participants in other reality shows like Survivor, The Real World, The Apprentice, The Bachelor, The Amazing Race -- were ensconced...
Posted to Video by Eric Olsen on October 10, 2005 04:25 PM - DVD Review - Twentynine Palms
- The Duke's October Horror-Fest Continues...
Posted to Video by Duke De Mondo on October 10, 2005 02:38 PM - Haunted Hotels for Halloween
- For the average traveler, reports that a hotel might be haunted might not necessarily be perceived as an actual amenity, given that an encounter with unsettled spirits isn't always associated with a refreshing night's sleep in the typical wayfarer's mind.
But,...
Posted to Culture by Eric Olsen on October 10, 2005 02:25 PM - Scary Scott - My Halloween Transformation
- I have always wondered what it would be like to be scary. So when I heard, last year about this time, that a haunted house needed volunteers to help scare people I jumped at the chance, just as I hoped...
Posted to Culture by Scott Butki on October 10, 2005 08:28 AM - DVD Review: Jason X
- Typically when you send a killer into space, that usually signals the death knell for that series.
Posted to Video by Chris Beaumont on October 9, 2005 06:20 PM - DVD Review : The Amityville Horror (2005)
- Suckology 101: There’s a recipe to cliché and adding too much sugar can ruin the cake.
Posted to Video by David Desjardins on October 9, 2005 04:27 AM - A Lady of Quality Tells a Ghost Story
- The figure stalked once round the table, and then disappeared through the closet door, pulling it after him.
Posted to Books by Natalie Bennett on October 8, 2005 06:29 PM - DVD Review - Dead End
- Extremely Spooky and Funny, without the cheese!
Posted to Video by ShiroiOji on October 8, 2005 11:31 AM - DVD Review: Helloween - Hellish Videos
- Just in time for Halloween comes the videos of Helloween!
Posted to Video by Chris Beaumont on October 6, 2005 07:11 PM - Halloween Roundup IV: Famous Studios Cartoons
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I was thinking about my childhood experiences at the movies and in front of the TV (I'm old enough to remember Saturday matinees and life...
Posted to Video by Paul J. Marasa on October 6, 2005 05:29 PM - DVD Review: Basket Case (1982) Sucks
- Basket Case not the worst horror movie ever - but certainly deserves its POO rating from this disappointed critic. Blah!
Posted to Video by JayMoo and Stephoin on October 6, 2005 04:02 PM - DVD Review: Halloween
- Not many movies stand the test of time. Even fewer horror movies do. Horror movies are notoriously cheap on production and quality, and viewed ten or twenty years later, they're often more campy than chilling. You could actually get a...
Posted to Video by Ashok K. Banker on October 6, 2005 09:43 AM - Halloween Roundup III: "They're Coming to Get You, Barbara"--and the Rest of Us, Too
- I know a guy in his early twenties who thinks about George Romero's zombies all the time.
Posted to Video by Paul J. Marasa on October 5, 2005 09:34 PM - Review: The Skeleton Key (2005)
- The Skeleton Key (2005) is a good horror/suspense movie. It maintains the suspense by sustaining the rate of discovery and slowly doling out more and more information as the film goes along. Then when the time comes to reveal almost...
Posted to Video by 10Clubs on October 5, 2005 04:26 PM - Disney Channel and Nickelodeon Announce Halloween Tricks and Treats
- Taking the low-density marathon-type route, the Disney Channel began its family-oriented "Hauntober Fest" -- a Halloween-themed movie every night at 8 ET/PT in October -- over the weekend.
We caught the charming-if-tepid Halloweentown High last night, about attempts by...
Posted to Video by Eric Olsen on October 4, 2005 01:15 PM - Stephen King's Miserable Nightmare
- Worst DC Halloween Book Festival Ever!
Posted to Books by Scott Butki on October 4, 2005 05:57 AM - The Duke's October Horror-Fest - The Devil's Rejects
- Police Brutality, Plenty Sleaze and The New Flick From Rob Zombie.
Posted to Video by Duke De Mondo on October 3, 2005 07:44 PM - Halloween DVD Review: Carnival of Souls
- Carnival of Souls (1962) gets a Pad Thai Rating from a Salt Lake City boy and Horror Loving Fans!
Posted to Video by JayMoo and Stephoin on October 3, 2005 04:12 PM - Movie Review: Skeleton Key
- Skeleton Key doesn't try to do too much, and what it does, it does damn well. That's its greatest strength.
Posted to Video by Ashok K. Banker on October 3, 2005 10:53 AM - Halloween Roundup II: Val Lewton and Jacques Tourneur Whisper in the Dark
- The opening line of H.P. Lovecraft's story, The Whisperer in Darkness, tells us most of what we need to know not only about his approach but Jacques Tourneur's: "Bear in mind closely that I did not see any actual visual...
Posted to Video by Paul J. Marasa on September 30, 2005 10:23 PM - DVD Review: Pre-Halloween Roundup
- I know it's not yet October, but I thought we could jump-start the busiest time of the year for home viewing--at least in my house--with a few selections--actually, a record of the movies we watched last Halloween season (all available...
Posted to Video by Paul J. Marasa on September 28, 2005 04:32 PM - Academy to Screen Silent Phantom for Halloween
- To help celebrate Halloween, the film Academy will screen the classic 1925 silent film, The Phantom of the Opera, featuring a disfigured composer, a fatal obsession, the Paris Opera House and silent film stars Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin,...
Posted to Video by Eric Olsen on September 27, 2005 05:07 PM - Rumors of Halloween from PBS KIDS
- Every year the fall/winter holiday season starts just a little bit sooner: our local Wal-mart had out Halloween candy, costumes and decorations by the first of September. I'm not sure who is buying Halloween candy two months before the fact,...
Posted to Video by Eric Olsen on September 24, 2005 12:00 PM
Keep reading for information and comments on this article, and add some feedback of your own!
- Halloween '05 on Blogcritics
- Published: October 01, 2005
- Type: News
- Section: Culture
- Filed Under: Culture: Administrative
- Writer: Eric Olsen
- Eric Olsen's BC Writer page
- Eric Olsen's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
Is that Martha Stewart in the book on the bottom row?
Would this be an appropriate time to reflect on my most terrifying Halloween experience(s) ever? Worst/best costume ideas?
Yes Scott, indeed it would. This sounds like two good Halloween posts for you right there. Get on it.
Yes, sir. Right away, sir.
Can I get over my hangover first?
How about scary Halloweeny fiction written by Blogcritics members?
No Scott, no scary fiction allowed. I forbid it. I might get scared and poo myself.
Senator Al Barger poo-ing himself. A site to behold. That, in itself, would be considered a horror flick.
Hmm, I'll wait for Eric to answer the fiction question.
Two more occured to me as I spent the last hour finding photos and anecdotes online of halloweens past:
1) Is there a way to upload photos or should we just link to them? I figure if I'm going to write about going as a punker you'll want to see the end product?
2) Do we just file it under culture or will there be a special category for halloween stuff?
Oh and Al, please, no photos of your bodily reactions to any scary stories.
I forbid it.
Scott
p.s. Hmm, some satire could b fun too. Cheney comes as himself to a party and people run away terrified? Judy Miller goes as Libby and Libby goes as Miller to a costume party and nobody notices?
etc.
Eric,
Nice post. My daughter has been bothering me about Halloween since 4th of July. I think it is becoming the BIG holiday. Bigger than Christmas even. I mean, it is made for kids (big and small).
I guess Jack Skellington really had nothing to worry about after all.
thanks Victor, Halloween has a frisson the other holdiays don't have and the haunted house explosion and media have helped it expand to cover the whole month
Scott, yes to the Halloween fiction if it is short and good
Every Halloween leads me to create yet another list of spooky songs, or songs with words related to the whole spooky vibe.
I wish I could enjoy trick or treating as much as the kids do. Or at least get dressed up and collect treats like they do.
I think it's time to start polling readers to find out what the best/worst costumes they've worn or seen.
my best costume ever was a urinal
Great. I have short scary fiction.
What about photos so we can show a before and after?
EO, did you have a urinal mint as part of your costume?
I did indeed have a most fetching urinal mint as a costume accessory!
Yes, pics (following guidelines) are always welcome
Scott (#9), link to them. Flickr.com or imageshack.us are good places for linking images.
why yes
I didn't know I needed an excuse to dress slutty.
how about "it gives them cover to dress slutty"?
yes, that is Martha Stewart being furtive on that book cover
Eric and Al, I'm confused.
I have posted here the first of two Halloween-related short stories I submitted. (I may have scarier ones - I'll dig those out this weekend when I have time.)
Anyway I listed them as culture original fiction but instead they've been labelled as satire.
Which sort of fits for this but sort of misses the point. Please advise here or by email.
should be Opinion, not Satire, changed
I didn't list as satire.
I listed it as culture - culture fiction and opinion
But thanks for fixing it.
Should each fiction be listed as book fiction - as is the case with those pending, which are the scarier than the King one - or would one or two go under culure/
only goes in Books if it is related to or directly, obviously inspired by a book or writer
Ok, great. Then there are three pending - two in books and two in culture.
Feel free to wait until we get closer to scary day to post them.
I hope others are going to post stuff too.
Two of mine were posted and two are still pending.
Meanwhile how about some Halloween mashups?
here's a good Halloween mashup with samples from Thriller, the Exorcist theme song and other tunes. Worth a listen. This one is 30 minutes.
A different mashup with different source material - including Prodigy and Echo and the Bunnymen - is here.
now they're up Scott, thanks!
Happy Halloween, all! My wife was "Martha Stewart" this year: Wall Street Journal's Finance section in her apron, "It's a good thing" on the apron, handcuffs dangling from the wrist of the hand carrying the plate of home-baked cookies...
What did you go as, Phillip?
Here's what I ended up doing.
Eric
I think that is Martha Stewart
Yes, Mr. Olsen confirmed this a while back (above), thanks!
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Halloween has become the one great celebrated American tradition that doesn't involve dysfunctional family get togethers , the visage of lonely people who believe they are being deprived by missing them, or the cult of spending that tends to spring up everywhere...plus it gives young women an excuse to dress slutty...