Halloween Horror

It's to be expected that creepy things tend to show up around the last week of October, and I've had a few creep-outs this week.   In order --

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War  by Max Brooks.   Truth is, I'm enjoying this book so much more than I thought I would.  I have never gotten the zombie craze -- they're just so gross, and I went off horror in about 1990.  It might actually have been Night of the Living Dead that did me in. Ugh.  But -- as an "oral history," in World War Z, I can be assured that at least none of the people I'm reading about will be eaten by zombies (because they're being interviewed, I already know they've survived! I am bracing myself for something horrible to come, though). Plus, I enjoy the puzzle-quality of creating a continuous narrative out of the separate experiences of many many individuals.  I'm looking forward to the reading club discussion in a couple of weeks.

Next, while looking around for a short scary film to show for Halloween, I came across Alice Jacobs is Dead: A Love Story,  a 21-minute film about Ben Jacobs, the celebrated scientist who created a cure for the Z-virus, and how he manages to use his life-saving serum to destroy all he'd worked to save.  I watched it yesterday -- I confess to covering my eyes at the "extra zombie gore!" part, but I heard every bit -- and am haunted by it.    How far should science pursue an answer? What exactly is living death?  At what point does love move from selfless to selfish? Watch the trailer on YouTube. You can borrow the DVD from the library (if you dare . . .)

No Halloween is complete without a heaping helping of Edgar Allan Poe, and today was the day I came across this video rap version of Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum.  It's catchy, creepy, and the visuals prod the imagination just enough.

Another slowly creepy short film is The Facts in the Case of Mister Hollow, an exploration of a single photograph hiding a terrible deed. As the camera begins to investigate the photo, it reveals a tapestry of secrets hidden in the details, and a tale of murder, kidnapping and sacrifice captured in a haunting moment.  Eeek!



Shiver. I think I'll go watch something charming and happy to take the creep off.  Happy Halloween!!