I’ve long thought of myself as a “film geek without the cred”. That is, I have a passion for movies (or cinema, or films, whichever term suits your fancy), but have some rather glaring holes in my first-hand experience. I could go into how my parents passed down to me a tendency to watch the same few movies repeatedly rather than experience new ones, but that’s neither here nor there. The point is, as the kind of person who would craft a persona around Halloween, to the point at which he’d maintain a website devoted to it, there are a lot of essential horror movies I haven’t seen.

It’s really pretty shameful, if I’m being honest. In fact, I am renegging on my initial plan to publish the full list in favor of a gradual reveal. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

2013 IS THE SUMMER OF HORROR!  More brains…

New Decade. Same Rules.

Spoiler Warning, just because.

Early and often, Scream 4 reminds us exactly what it thinks it is: A self-aware reboot to a self-aware slasher franchise. Did they mention it was self-aware? However, I take umbrage with the “reboot” moniker. That term was milked dry and beaten to death years ago, and now they’re just applying it to any old conventional sequel, hoping people will brought in by the word alone. They called Fast Five a reboot. They called G.I. Joe Retaliation a reboot. And they called Scream 4 a reboot. But the mere passage of time does not a reboot make.

More brains…

Is Halloween really OVER? Is it EVER really over? It’s hard to tell – my house is still about 70% Halloween decorated, I’m drinking a pumpkin beer, and I’m writing on a Halloween blog. I can’t fight the march of time though. It’s November 6th. My house is still decorated because I haven’t had the time to un-decorate, and I’m drinking this pumpkin beer because I didn’t have enough time to drink it all before the 31st. If I were more on top of things, I’d have my sights set firmly on Thanksgiving.

But there’s still unfinished business. I gotta button up this Halloween season, and as in so many years past, I like to start with some statistics.
More brains…

It’s done.

Another Halloween has officially passed us. Well, sort of. There is still an hour and a half left in the night. Normally I’d post a more long-winded and carefully worded reflection on the holiday on this night, but I’m tired. There’ll be a more detailed recap coming soon, but for now I only want to say this:

This was a triumphant Halloween.

I think I’ll remember Halloween 2012 forever. I did more with the holiday than I ever have in the past. Everything I wanted to do and more. Horror movies watched – tons. Pumpkin beers drank – countless. Haunted houses – visited AND created. And for the first time in I don’t know how many years, I actually went out on the street during the thick of trick or treating. I felt that same rush I had as a kid on Halloween night, and it was wonderful. Amazing how vivid those memories still are.

For now, I’m going to sleep. And I will well and truly remember Halloween. Here’s to another great year.

As Halloween comes ever closer, I know I should be posting more, not less. But alas, this is what comes along with the whole “biting off more than you can chew” thing.

This is the eve of the big party. Every year, I (and by “I” I mean “we” and by “we” I mean “my wife and I”) talk about going to “the next level”, whatever that may be. I can say proudly that we’ve accomplished that, to a degree. What I’m getting at is, it’s hard to know what counts as a level.

What we’ve done this year is without a doubt another level. It might even be two levels. It’s staggering how much work went into this one night. I’m nervous that no one night could pay it all off. But, that’s what Halloween is I guess, and every holiday for that matter – a month of preparation, one day of payoff. Halloween may be next Wednesday, but tonight is MY Halloween. Let’s remember it together.

“See you on the other side, Ray.”