Halloween Week: An Introduction

Welcome Boils and Ghouls! We Smugglers have an announcement to make–Thea has hijacked the blog! For the duration of the week, we will be bringing you our favorite books, movies and ponderings, celebrating the Halloween season.

On Sunday, we’ll kick it off with a celebration of ghosts and hauntings. Thea will review one of her favorite haunted house tales, Mark Danielewski’s House of Leaves. Ana will share her own ghostly experiences, and also some of our favorite films covering the genre.

Monday is devoted to vampires! Ana will reveal when and how her love affair with vampires began–from Anne Rice to Dracula. Thea will talk about one of her vampire favorites, Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot in a Page to Screen special. We’ll also do a survey of vamps out there in literature and pop culture, with everything from Nosferatu to Buffy!.

Tuesday we dedicate to demons, possessions, exorcisms and the like! Ana will talk about some of her favorite novels with of the demonic genre, from Constantine to Meljean Brook’s Guardians books. And speaking of the Guardians series, Thea will review Meljean’s Demon Night, and then will list her favorite films in the subgenre.

Wednesday we declare werewolves/lycanthropes/shifters day! We’ll have a joint review of the horror anthology The Beast Within, along with a survey of the shapeshifters in literature today. Thea will also share film invocations of the shifter, from The Wolf Man to The Howling.

Thursday, ZOMBIES ATTACK!!!! Although a week can (and WILL) be dedicated to zombies, we’ll do the best with a day (for now). Thea will give her essential zombie lit reading list, and essential zombie movie list–while Ana tackles Marvel Zombies and The Evil Dead trilogy! **Note: We are perfectly aware that The Evil Dead deadites are not really zombies and have more in common with the demons listed earlier. BUT, the films do involve reanimation of the dead, so we included them here.**

Friday is our day for favorites–we will have a joint review-interview style discussion of one of Thea’s Desert Island Keepers, Stephen King’s It (and a Page to Screen special too!). And, since no horror special is complete without it, Thea will examine the Slasher, from the old to the new school films.

Saturday we’ll close out the week with a look at horror from around the world! J-Horror to Filipino classics, we’ll share more of our international favorites and recommendations.

So, we invite you to sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!