Now that Halloween 2012 has come and gone, it's time to get busy planning for Thanksgiving, Chrismahanakwanzika, and 2013! According to Wal-Mart's store displays, I should have started my holiday planning the day after Labor Day.
Well! I say *poop* to that!
In honor of one of my favorite excuses to wear costumes in public, I am fighting back and extending the spooks and chills to—AT LEAST!—the end of the year with some horror-themed mass media. Here is my short-list of post-Halloween must-do's. Join me, maybe?
The Walking Dead (Both Versions!)
I'm a hardcore fan of the zombie genre. Currently, I get my zombie fix in one of two ways: watching AMC's The Walking Dead television series and reading the ongoing graphic novel series of the same name that serves as its source material. Set in Atlanta and the surrounding areas, both incarnations follow Rick Grimes and his gang of survivors as they try to outrun the dead and outlive the inhumanity of other living people. AMC's version (which is also filmed in Atlanta and the surrounding areas) does the comic book great justice despite the dramatic divergences in the story line. In both cases, however, these stories are more about the human condition and what it means to be human than about the zombies themselves.
Personally, I'm a bigger fan of the comics than the TV series, but I recommend both to everyone.
Seasons 1 and 2 are now available on Netflix and on DVD and Blu-ray while Season 3 currently airs on Sundays at 9 p.m on AMC. The graphic novels are available at your favorite booksellers and comic stores.
American Horror Story
Recently dubbed as an anthology series because of the shift in setting, story, and characters between seasons, FX's hit horror-drama show returns for a second season with Asylum. The talented Jessica Lange returns to school her fellow cast members in the fine art of acting, this time, in the role of enigmatic and deliciously sadistic Sister Jude. Lange joins an ensemble cast that includes some of last season's cast members (who also play new roles) and several new faces in telling this tale about a turn-of-the-century tuberculous sanitarium turned 1960's nut-house ran by a Catholic priest.
I'm not as drawn into this season as I was with Season 1 which starred Dylan McDermott as a psychiatrist living in a haunted house and dealing with the crazy woman next door (played by Lange). But, then again, I'm only two episodes into Asylum and I felt the same way about Season 1 when I was two episodes in. So. I'm giving it a chance.
Season 1 is now available on DVD and Blu-ray while Asylum airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.
Bedlam
Speaking of nut houses, BBC America is now airing the second season of Bedlam, the British supernatural thriller about an asylum (I think there's a theme here) turned modern-day apartment complex. Each episode deals with a different Bedlam Hospital ghost that now violently haunts the Bedlam Heights Apartments.
At the center of each season is a different person who can see and communicate with the ghosts and the mysterious force that draws that person to Bedlam Heights. Tying the seasons together is a mysterious serial killer and the story of the Bettany family whose ancestors founded the hospital centuries earlier and is now trying to undo/bury/erase Bedlam's (and the family's) reputation.
Bedlam Season 2 airs on BBC America Sundays at Midnight. You can find copies of this series on Amazon.
Ghost Tours and Ghost Stories
To get me away from the TV, I set some books up in my queue to read, including a copy of Weird Georgia and of Tim Westover's Auraria, as well as several other books on local Georgia ghosts and legends that Brooke picked up here and there. I'm open to any book suggestions, by the way. Tweet me or leave a comment on my Facebook page, if you can think of anything.
Also, if the wife and I get a free weekend this month, we might hit the Decatur Ghost Tour, a year round walking tour through Downtown Decatur. Maybe, dear readers, we'll bump into each other there. (P.S. I'm more likely to go if it's not too cold.)
NaNoWriMo
What's better than reading horror stories? How about creating one of your own?
This year, I am—once again—trying my hand at National Novel Writing Month. All through November, I will attempt to bang out a 50,000 word novel. I've participated in NaNoWriMo almost every year now for the past six or so year and every year, I've failed miserably. This time around, I will use the foundations I've already set with Siege of the Dead and I will add at least 50,000 more words to it.
That's the goal anyways. We shall see. My friend, Joey, decided to join me this year and is working on his own novel. But, he's promised to help keep me on task.
Well, here's to the both of us. And to you, Dear Reader. Until next time.
Well! I say *poop* to that!
In honor of one of my favorite excuses to wear costumes in public, I am fighting back and extending the spooks and chills to—AT LEAST!—the end of the year with some horror-themed mass media. Here is my short-list of post-Halloween must-do's. Join me, maybe?
The Walking Dead (Both Versions!)
 |
| {Image Source: ksitetv.com] |
Personally, I'm a bigger fan of the comics than the TV series, but I recommend both to everyone.
Seasons 1 and 2 are now available on Netflix and on DVD and Blu-ray while Season 3 currently airs on Sundays at 9 p.m on AMC. The graphic novels are available at your favorite booksellers and comic stores.
American Horror Story
 |
| [Image Source: IMDB.com] |
I'm not as drawn into this season as I was with Season 1 which starred Dylan McDermott as a psychiatrist living in a haunted house and dealing with the crazy woman next door (played by Lange). But, then again, I'm only two episodes into Asylum and I felt the same way about Season 1 when I was two episodes in. So. I'm giving it a chance.
Season 1 is now available on DVD and Blu-ray while Asylum airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.
Bedlam
 |
| [Image Source: IMDB.com] |
At the center of each season is a different person who can see and communicate with the ghosts and the mysterious force that draws that person to Bedlam Heights. Tying the seasons together is a mysterious serial killer and the story of the Bettany family whose ancestors founded the hospital centuries earlier and is now trying to undo/bury/erase Bedlam's (and the family's) reputation.
Bedlam Season 2 airs on BBC America Sundays at Midnight. You can find copies of this series on Amazon.
Ghost Tours and Ghost Stories
To get me away from the TV, I set some books up in my queue to read, including a copy of Weird Georgia and of Tim Westover's Auraria, as well as several other books on local Georgia ghosts and legends that Brooke picked up here and there. I'm open to any book suggestions, by the way. Tweet me or leave a comment on my Facebook page, if you can think of anything.
Also, if the wife and I get a free weekend this month, we might hit the Decatur Ghost Tour, a year round walking tour through Downtown Decatur. Maybe, dear readers, we'll bump into each other there. (P.S. I'm more likely to go if it's not too cold.)
NaNoWriMo
What's better than reading horror stories? How about creating one of your own?
This year, I am—once again—trying my hand at National Novel Writing Month. All through November, I will attempt to bang out a 50,000 word novel. I've participated in NaNoWriMo almost every year now for the past six or so year and every year, I've failed miserably. This time around, I will use the foundations I've already set with Siege of the Dead and I will add at least 50,000 more words to it.
That's the goal anyways. We shall see. My friend, Joey, decided to join me this year and is working on his own novel. But, he's promised to help keep me on task.
Well, here's to the both of us. And to you, Dear Reader. Until next time.