September 14
First I should mention that... sometime in the past week or so, my dad got me a lava lamp, at a yard sale or something. It has orange liquid in it. I haven't tried it out yet, and probably won't until Halloween, or at least closer to it than this. I suppose it's not technically a Halloween thing, but that was the first thing I thought of when I saw it. And then my sister said something about it to the same effect. But the real reason I started this year's journal today is because I just watched the first episode of the second season of American Horror Story, on Amazon. I had watched the first season on DVD in 2016, and I had no idea at the time if or when I'd watch any more seasons. But I recently discovered that the series is available on Prime Video, which I now subscribe to. And a couple of days ago, the eighth season of AHS began airing (but I don't get FX). So I thought I'd start watching season 2 when the new season started. Well... circumstances kind of delayed my start until now, but at least it's the same week. And I expect I shall finish the season before Halloween gets here. Anyway, the first episode was a good start to what promises to be a creepy season of the show. (But I suppose every season of AHS is creepy.)
September 21
Well, it's my birthday. I went in town and bought some things, two of which are Halloween-related. One was a four-sided bowl, such as you might serve candy in. Two sides have drawings of cute jack-o-lanterns, one side has a drawing of cute black cats, and one side has a drawing of cute bats. (Maybe sometime I'll get some pics of it. Or not.) Anyway, it's cute. Also I bought a DVD of the movie Goosebumps. There were actually several DVDs I could have chosen from (or really, I could have bought all of them, but I'm cheap, even when I have enough money, which isn't often), but what made me choose this one is it's a Jack Black movie, and today is the opening of his new movie, "The House with a Clock in Its Walls," so I thought since I can't see that, I might as well get this instead. Anyway, I guess that's all I have to say for now.
September 22
It's just after midnight. I finished watching the DVD I bought today (I mean yesterday). I'll write a review tomorrow if I can. (I mean today. After sleeping.) But I'm not ready for sleep yet. So doing more internet. And I watched the 2016 Halloween episode of Grumpy Princess Show.
September 28
I started reading Selected Stories and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe.
October 1
Someone shared a link on facebook the other day to an article with some two-sentence horror stories. I only got part way through it the day it was shared (one or two or more days ago, I forget, but pretty recently), and I got around to finishing it today, as well as adding it to my Halloween links page (under "reading").
October 2
Last year, I watched some short films on Fun Size Horror. Tonight I watched a film on that site, and then discovered that earlier this year they'd put out an anthology film called "Dark, Deadly & Dreadful" (I think it's their third film) on Amazon, so I started watching that, but it got to be too late and I wanted to go to sleep, so I'll watch more of that later. For now I'm not even sure if the first film I watched on the website will be part of the anthology film or not.
October 3
Watched a few more shorts in the new Fun Size Horror anthology. And I thought about breaking my page for FSH into separate pages for each anthology film, but decided if I'm going to do that, I'd rather do it another time. Like when I'm more fully awake.
October 6
Late last night (or technically early this morning), I got around to separating FSH into different pages. And tonight, I watched a DVD of Ragnarok. I guess that technically qualifies as horror. Sort of. Later, technically on the 7th, I watched the last couple of shorts in Dark, Deadly & Dreadful. (Incidentally, the short that I watched on the website was not part of this anthology. And there are probably some more shorts on the site that I should watch, which also aren't part of any anthology film... yet.)
October 8
Okay, this is more of a general autumn thing than Halloween, but today I tied a few cornstalks around our mailbox. It's kind of sad, actually. We had a garden this year. Some of the things I planted didn't grow at all, and some grew, but not enough to produce any food. Some things did grow enough. But one of the things that never quite produced anything was the corn. One of the stalks looked like it might grow a couple ears, but they never got big enough before the cold killed all the crops. Well, I always figured I might at least get to use the stalks for a decoration. There weren't many, and most of them weren't very tall, and they were all kind of flopping over at the joints. But I did the best I could.
Later, I watched the rest of the short films in the "originals" section of Fun Size Horror, and added mini-reviews of them on the unanthologized page of my review for the website. (The one film I had watched back on Oct. 2 was "It's Just a Story." There were two or three other shorts I must have seen before, like last year, but most of the things I watched tonight were new to me.
October 13
Watched Resident Evil: Apocalypse.
October 18
Watched When a Stranger Calls (1979).
October 19
Watched the first episode of season 2 of Lore.
October 21
Watched The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror XXIX. It was okay. Also watched this year's Halloween episode of "Bob's Burgers," in which Teddy put up a giant spider decoration outside Bob's restaurant, in an attempt to outdo the guy who was decorating the store next door. Also the kids went trick-or-treating, and someone was stealing everyone's candy, so they had to track him down and get it back. It was pretty decent. I also want to mention that for some while now, I've been watching short films on a blog called Halloween Short Films, which I must have discovered last year. I'm not sure how many shorts I watched on the site back then, perhaps not many at all, and I think there was just one that I reviewed on my site. So far this year I've watched quite a few, and reviewed three of them. And there are lots more films on the blog I need to watch, probably more than I can get to this year.
October 22
Well, it's Monday, and I just watched Halloween episodes of "Fresh off the Boat" and "Speechless" from last Friday. They were fun.
October 24
Today I finished reading the book of Poe stories and poems. Also, the Halloween season started on Cookie Clicker, but nothing special was happening. So I checked the wiki and it said I had to revoke the Elder covenant. After I did that, there were Halloween things going on. So that's good. Also I got an email today from someone who said some of the links on my Halloween links page weren't working. So I checked them all and fixed the ones that needed fixing. I also added a link to Halloween recipes on Pillsbury's website, since I had seen it on facebook awhile ago. I should probably add other recipe sites, but for now I'm too lazy or whatever. And I started reading The Lurking Fear and Other Stories, by H.P. Lovecraft.
October 25
Three years ago I tried Burger King's Halloween Whopper. (I had no idea it was that long ago; as far as my memory's concerned, it just as well could have been last year. But my journal remembers.) Well, today I went to BK and tried their new Nightmare King sandwich. It has a green bun, a quarter pound burger, crispy chicken, bacon, cheese, onions, and mayo. I think it looks like it was created by Victor Frankenstein. And it tastes... interesting. It's also very filling. (Glad I didn't order fries with it.) Speaking of Frankenstein, I also went to a thrift shop, where I bought a DVD set of five Frankenstein movies (on two discs). It's one of several Universal monsters "Legacy Collections" that came out some years ago. I should try to get all the others, someday.
When I got home, I watched last night's Halloween episode of "American Housewife," in which Viv gives birth while dressed as a witch. There are more Halloween episodes of ABC shows from last night on the DVR, but I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to watch them tonight or not. (Edit later: I did not get to see them. But I watched Queen of the Damned (while drinking some burgundy).
October 26
Well, here it is Friday, and I managed to watched Wednesday's Halloween episode of "Modern Family." It was sad because DeDe died. And now... I still have more stuff on the DVR to watch that I won't get to tonight. But I did watch a short film, Boo!, which was a bonus feature on the "Frankenstein" DVDs I bought yesterday.
October 27
I watched Kwaidan.
October 28
Awhile ago I bought a DVD called "Shrek's Thrilling Tales," which includes three short films. I watched one of them today, The Pig Who Cried Werewolf. It wasn't bad. Also today, I set up a new category in my movie reviews for zombie films. Now I'm gonna watch Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
October 29
This week's episode of What They Got Right has a Halloweenish theme; it's about "The Nightmare Before Christmas." Also today I watched another short film from the Shrek's Thrilling Tales DVD, Night of the Living Carrots. And I finally watched last Wednesday's Halloween episode of "Single Parents." And a new episode of SciShow talked about possible origins of werewolf myths.
October 30
Checked my Halloween commercials playlists for anything that disappeared since last year, and found replacements for some of the ones that were gone. Then added a few new ads from this year. Also I watched The Ghost of Lord Farquaad, on the Shrek's Thrilling Tales DVD. That was fun. Also I watched last Friday's season premiere of "Midnight Texas." It has nothing to do with Halloween, but the whole series is made of things that fit the holiday. And I watched tonight's episode of "Blackish," which had a couple of actual Halloween elements to it. And I watched a DVD of "Troll Hunter." I'll try to write up a review tomorrow.
October 31
Trollhunter. Also, yesterday SciShow did another Halloweenish episode, but I didn't watch it til today: Do Zombies Float or Sink? And I want to mention that there are a number of things I had hoped to do by today, which I won't accomplish. I had hoped to finish reading the book of Lovecraft stories. And to finish watching season 2 of American Horror Story, and Lore. And to start watching season 2 of True Blood. None of those things are going to happen this month, unfortunately. And there was a story I hoped to write before today, so that it would be ready to share. But that won't happen for awhile, either (if at all). And I won't have time to watch all the movies or short films I hoped to get to. But I've decided I am okay with all of these things. There's plenty I have done, and plenty I will continue to do throughout the day. I won't let myself be disappointed by not doing all the things.
I also realize I haven't specified all the horror short films that I have watched this month. I feel like I should. Today I have watched one called Special Day. Earlier ones I watched include Nevil's Night, Missing Halloween, The Fairy Princess, and Skypemare. I expect I'll watch some more shorts today, and if I decide to review any of them, I'll mention it in this paragraph. Alice Jacobs Is Dead, and The Last Halloween, and Fulfilled: A Halloween Story.
I read a very short picture book called The Pumpkin Smasher, which is over 40 years old, though I first heard of it last year. And my first full-length movie of the night was Frankenstein, which I meant to watch much earlier in the day (by the time I finished the review, it was after 11pm). So I'm not sure if I'll watch just one more movie tonight, or two, though even just one wouldn't be finished until it's technically November. Anyway, I had some apple slices dipped in caramel, and I turned on the orange lava lamp that I must have mentioned earlier. And I drank some cans of Pumpkinhead while watching "Scream," which I will write a review of tomorrow. And I decided I couldn't watch another whole movie. So I watched an episode of AHS.
November 1
I slept pretty late, and when I finally got up I was in no mood, for most of the day, to write a review. But in the evening I finally... well, I watched a DVD of "Psycho," which I had planned on watching Halloween night. And I drank, to relieve my depression and whatnot. After the movie, I finally wrote my review of Scream. And hopefully tomorrow I'll manage to review "Psycho."
November 4
I finally got around to writing my review of Psycho last night, but the power went out before I could put links to it anywhere. So I'm linking to it today. And I guess that's the end of my Halloween updates for the year, but of course I'll watch or read other horror-type stuff throughout the year. In fact I want to try to get caught up on all the films on the "Halloween Short Films" website well before next Halloween. I just won't mention any of them here.
November 17
I watched two episodes of Life Hacks for Kids that I added to my Halloween episodes page. Episodes from this year. I think there was a time that I thought I might catch up to this point in the series by Halloween, but I failed. But now I'm just a few episodes away from being completely up to date on the series. Yay!
