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cinriter's LiveJournal:
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| Friday, November 20th, 2009 | | 11:04 am |
Why I am not a Stephen King fan
There, I've said it. I don't like The King's books. It's like being Catholic and saying you don't believe in God. Let me clarify: I used to like his books, back in the days of Salem's Lot and Danse Macabre and The Shining. Heck, I even adored The Gunslinger when it was just a stand-alone book. But at some point in the '80s, I realized that I had finished the last four Stephen King books by hurling them across the room in disgust. He felt as if he'd begun to parody himself: The quiet suburbia of Salem's Lot had become the farting postman of Cujo; the rich psychology set up in the beginning of Gerald's Game was tossed aside at the climax in favor of a for-God's-sakes monster. Don't even get me started on everything that I thought was wrong with The Tommyknockers. With the exception of On Writing, that was the last King book I read. Ultimately, I think what bothers me most about King is that he is to publishing what George Lucas has been to film. Both men produced immensely successful works in the '70s that caused a paradigm shift in their respective industries. Suddenly movies and books all had to be bigger/more accessible/financial bonanzas, leading eventually to what I think of as our current culture of bloat - movies with outsized budgets and running times, books over 1,000 pages. And it's really too bad, because Lucas and King are obviously both extraordinarily gifted. I wish both would really shock the world and produce something small and lean and personal, stripped down of excess. But that's nearly impossible to do once you've become an industry unto yourself. I know I'm virtually alone in being a horror writer who does not worship at the altar of King. No, I won't be reading Under the Dome (and if Lucas brought out a new Star Wars movie tomorrow, I wouldn't be seeing that). Life's too short to invest time in another novel (and a thousand-page one to boot) that will undoubtedly finish with me throwing the book against the nearest wall. | | Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 | | 2:44 am |
I now bear the writer's marks: My left thigh seems to be permanently scarred from being burned by my laptop. | | Friday, November 13th, 2009 | | 1:25 pm |
I'm sorry, but I won't have time to help mere humans at the store today - Zola's got new toys. http://ping.fm/Qy86e | | Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 | | 10:58 am |
Happy Old Halloween! (In the Julian calendar, October 31st fell on the modern November 11th). And Happy Martinmas, too. | | Monday, November 9th, 2009 | | 4:20 pm |
Put yer dancin' shoes on and check out the new "East is Red" column on Bollywood horror: http://ping.fm/ZmwbI | | Sunday, November 8th, 2009 | | 12:25 pm |
| | Thursday, November 5th, 2009 | | 11:43 am |
| | 10:21 am |
| | Monday, November 2nd, 2009 | | 4:16 pm |
| | 8:50 am |
| | Sunday, November 1st, 2009 | | 11:13 pm |
*Sigh* Another Halloween come and gone...
 Ricky and I managed to pull off possibly our best Halloween ever this year. We started with a ride on the Griffith Park Ghost Train on Thursday night (for those of you who don't know: The Live Steamers are miniature trains that you ride on by straddling the tiny bench, and it takes you around several miles of track on the north side of Griffith Park). The line was moderate, and entertaining in itself, winding past (among other things) the "Transylvania Orphanage". A highlight: When the two stupid, posturing ten-year-old boys in front of us tried to reach into the display to mess with it - and instead jumped a mile as one of the dolls (see photo) suddenly came to life, the eyes lighting red and the head spinning. The train itself always adds one or two new things, and we really loved the evil wedding and demonic clown tunnels...but really, guys, the farting ghosts were a bit overdone. One last year was kind of silly in that eye-rolling way...but this year there were not only several, there were also huge drums labeled "TOXIC" and "FART GAS". Okay, yeah, I know this thing is supposed to be for kids, but...come ON...Still, we love this attraction, and the gorgeous moonlight overhead would have made it mesmerizing even without the groovy Halloween stuff. I still haven't worked up the courage to hit the West Hollywood shindig (I need a guide - any volunteers?), but this year we visited three smashing haunted yard displays that came highly recommended (thank you, Hollywood Gothique!), and more than lived up to the hype:  We started with the amusingly named The Haunt With No Name, located just off the 101 Freeway in Tarzana. This was a simple but nicely done yard display that borrowed a few notions from the legendary Hallowed Haunting Grounds - they had the chanting druid, the spirit haunting the crypt (see photo), and the flickering fireflies. Sadly, it was only a fraction the size of the Hallowed Haunting Grounds, but given its close proximity to House at Haunted Hill and The Forest of Mirrors (why are all these things in the west end of the San Fernando Valley? I thought the valley was only about porn), it's worth a stop.  Just a couple of exits further west on the 101 (albeit situated some distance from the freeway) is The Forest of Mirrors, and this one was our favorite new discovery of the year. You'd never expect to find this little gem hidden away in upper-class suburbia, in a house once owned by no less than Buster Keaton. The haunting starts with an amazing display of three ghosts in the garage, arguing over the best way to scare visitors; although the ghosts were done via a fairly typical projection method (such as that also employed at House at Haunted Hill), the projections are presented in a high-contrast image that's completely unique (and the routines were pretty funny, too). Once you've been sufficiently entertained by the ghosts, you enter the Maze itself by walking past the side of the house and into the backyard, where mirrors have been strategically placed to create a whimsical and confusing maze. The maze centers on a pit full of skulls, and eventually winds past a guy disguised in foliage who jumps out at you (I'm not usually of fan of the live-actors-jumping-out-at-you gag, but this was done with such good-natured amusement that it was impossible to be irritated). The show wound up with a final walk down a narrow, scary side of the house, and back out onto the street, where we could now see that the main front of the house featured a spectacular lightning show and a large sign for the attraction. This was all beautifully done, with virtually no cheese factor. And the best part for me: The group of half-a-dozen middle-aged folks lounging on the back patio of the house, drinking, toasting everyone with "Happy Halloween!" and just enjoying watching kids get scared out of their wits by Foliage Guy. I think those people are my new personal heroes.  We wound up our haunted expedition with our perennial visit to the astounding House at Haunted Hill, which still retains its hold as the current king of yard haunts. This year they'd actually blocked off the entire street leading up to the house, which made for a long walk from our parking spot down Canoga Avenue, past traffic on a narrow street with no sidewalks (far and away the scariest part of the evening), but they'd made the walk fun by dressing it up along the way with a cackling witch, a ghoul or two, and a werewolf (sadly just a dummy). The place was absolutely mobbed, which was surprising, given how in years past we've commented on how low attendance was (apparently they got some newspaper writeups this year). It was as impressive as ever, although our only complaint is that we wish they'd add or vary one or two things for those of us who are repeat viewers. Still, it's detailed enough that there are always fun things to linger on and enjoy. Thanks, House at Haunted Hill!  We rounded out the weekend on Sunday with our annual visit to the Forneris Farms Corn Maze (should that be Maize Maze?). It was a good one this year, and we got well and truly lost (enough that we actually got a bit sunburned on a very warm November day). Two years ago they started hiding "Cornundrums", or signs with silly riddles, all through the maze, and damn, we've still never found all of those things, despite trying to navigate every twist and turn of the maze. The farm also has a fine pumpkin patch, and - as you can see from the photo - I, the Halloween Queen, blessed it with my official gesture of approval this year. We ended this year's festivities with a visit to the nice little neighborhood Dia de los Muertos festival held in the historic Andres Pico Adobe Park, but it was very small this year, with less ofrendas (ceremonial altars to the dead) and vendors than in years past. We enjoyed the performances of a lovely folkloric dance troupe, but were slightly disappointed by the reduced size. And because it's now midnight...Happy All Souls Day! Time to start planning for next year's Halloween... (All photos by Ricky. You can see his entire Flickr set here.) | | 12:48 pm |
Narrowly avoided a writer's worst nightmare this A.M.: The cat threw up and missed the Ann Savage proof manuscript by about 1/16". | | Saturday, October 31st, 2009 | | 3:48 pm |
My reading of my first published story "Sane Reaction" is now live at http://ping.fm/cYH0w - Happy Scares! | | 1:33 pm |
First lady into the store today is complaining about Halloween, then she asks, "Do you collect books?" "Yes...on Halloween." Life is good. | | 1:32 pm |
| | 11:41 am |
| | Friday, October 30th, 2009 | | 11:15 am |
Trick or Treat - ONLINE!!
Yeah, okay...you all know this is my time of year. If I can brag a bit - it's probably safe to say that I know more about Halloween than anyone else. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you've probably read about some of the local activities I like, including the Griffith Park Ghost Train and the House at Haunted Hill. But what about some cool stuff for those of you who may not be SoCal-ians? Here, then, without further adieu, are five great online places you can go for some luscious Halloween tricks and treats:  TRIP NO. 1: Yeah, okay, so my ego knows no bounds and the first place I'm sending you is to my own site...but damn, it's a cool place. Want to see a collection of vintage postcards (many of which have appeared in a recent National Geographic special and the documentary on the Blu-ray supplement of Trick 'R Treat)? You can also take a look at the web's most complete illustrated bibliography of Halloween and Dia de Los Muertos books, some history, other collectibles, and more. Sneaky confession: I use this site frequently myself, especially when considering a new purchase - with the books especially it's the only way I can keep from duplicating myself!  TRIP NO. 2: Yes, I know this one is a bit of a cheat because it's a subsection of my site, but I just added this and think it's fun: Now you can both look at and hear vintage Halloween noisemakers in action! Yes, I actually recorded the sounds of all these little beauties, and now you, too, can gain full appreciation of how effective these were at annoying generations of crotchety adults. BE WARNED: Some of these things are really, really annoying - and more power to 'em! TRIP NO. 3: Head on over to the awesome Scribd and read my pal John Palisano's fun and creepy Halloween story "The Outlaws of Hill County". John introduces a new classic Halloween monster, the Longfellow, and throws in an outlaw biker gang for good measure - what's not to love! And heck, as long as you're at Scribd, you can (yes, it's me again) read my "Five Scariest Traditional Halloween Stories.  | TRIP NO. 4: Check out my favorite Halloween artist, the amazing Matthew Kirscht. I've been a fan of Matthew's work for several years; I just adore his mix of retro-vintage Halloween style and his own witty, mad sensibility. I'm proud to say I own several original Kirscht works (including the one pictured here), but you don't have to spend a lot to get a cool, signed Kirscht postcard - he sells 'em right there on his website for as little as $16.00. He's also put out three books of his Halloween work, all titled "10/31" - if the newest one is still available, it's totally worth the dough. |
| TRIP NO. 5: - Although the Hallowed Haunting Grounds left this mortal world in 2005, the website will give you a taste of what was the world's greatest haunted yard display for 30 years (and yes, I'm not saying that only as a proud Angeleno - these guys really were famous all over the world, with frequent coverage in Halloween and haunted attraction publications). I still miss 'em, but I'm thrilled that I got to visit them many times over the years, and I'm also happy that I got to include them in The Halloween Encyclopedia. Simply the most amazingly detailed, beautiful, and moody Halloween display ever. |  |
Enjoy, everyone! | | Thursday, October 29th, 2009 | | 10:47 pm |
Griffith Park Ghost Train was incredibly beautiful tonight under bright moonlight. Kudos to the killer clown and deadly wedding tunnels! | | Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 | | 11:51 am |
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