20 Scary Movies for Halloween Viewing

It's that time of year--when people want to be frightened. Where they will dare to view scary films on television or by DVD.

I watched these kind of movies all year round, but more so at this time of the year. It's just a Halloween tradition for me (I read scary books too), just as Christmas films for December are, too. Below is twenty hauntingly scary films compiled for your viewing pleasure . . . or is that your viewing fear?

1. The Haunting (1963)--this film is just like the book it's based on--The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson- is the only book to scare me in the daytime, in a room full of people.



2. Killer Klowns of Outer Space--this is a great film, where the clowns are actually aliens, out to take people, not to probe, but for food! And with humor thrown in, maybe those scared of clowns will even enjoy this. (By the way, there's supposed to be a sequel in 2012 (in 3D)-Killer Klowns from Outer Space 2).

3. American Werewolf in London-a great classic werewolf horror film, with touches of black humor.

4. Alien--Space, where no one can hear you scream. A haunted house movie set in outer space.

5. Halloween (1978)-not into slasher flicks, but this one was intense and down-right scary. Forget the fremake--watch the original.

6. The Lost Boys--a 1987 vampire flick that is mixed with a Peter Pan theme. Very good--unlike the sequels.

7. Dracula (1931)--another vampire movie--the star probably the most famous vampire in the Western world. I adored Bela Lugosi in the role, his accent and presence brought the Count to life for me. Read the novel by Bram Stoker--still one of the best vampire novels around.

8. The Blob (1958)--Actually Caltiki the Immortal Monster (some places the Undying Monster)-1959-- scared and creeped me out more--but still this is a cult clasic of a blob monster from outer space that consumes all life in its path as it grows bigger and bigger.

9. John Carpenter's The Thing (1982)--so like the short story, "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell that it scares me. The first version in 1951 starring James Arness as the alien was fine, but this was that short story brought well to the big screen.

10.  Ghost Story (1981)--based on the novel of the same name by Peter Straub, is a good ghost story. Four successful elderly gentlemen, members of the Chowder Society, share a gruesome, 50-year old secret. When one of Edward Wanderley's twin sons dies in a bizarre accident, the group begins to see a pattern of frightening events developing.

11. Dog Soldiers--a werewolf tale set in Scotland where a troop of English soldiers battle a family of werewolves. It's intense, has action, and one of tnhe better werewolf movies around.

12. The Howling (1981)--Another great werewolf movie.

13. Lady in White (1988)--a very good ghost story, where the ghosts aren't bad, but has for a villian a killer. Like something Stephen King would write, with a boy growing up in a small town, who encounters a ghost of a young girl who'd been murdered.

14. House on Hauntd Hill (1999)--a remake did made a super haunted house movie.

15. Descent (2005)--A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators. What makes this really terifying, is the tight places below earth is the setting for this film.

There are so much more movies that I like and would love to add--Ghostbusters, Mummy from the Thirties to Mummy starring Brendan Frazer, many, many more, but twenty is all I said I would put here in this post. So do leave comments on those you think people should watch.

HAPPY SCARY WATCHING!



Supernatural Friday: How I Write Horror

Welcome horror author Armand Rosamilia for Supernatural Friday, as he stops on a blog tour for his new release and blogs about how he writes horror.

I've been lucky enough over the years to have met and chatted with many horror authors, both established and brand-spankin'-new. One thing I've learned (besides most of them love to drink at the bar during a convention and swap stories) is that we all have a different approach to writing a story.


My philosophy is this: write the story however you can, and wherever you can.


I know of many writers who I've met at a convention (and, for the record, I've only been to a few) and even at a book-signing who had their laptop opened to a blank document or was in the midst of a story and didn't let meeting and selling stuff get in the way.


Personally, I don't know how they can do it with all the distractions, the talking in the room, crazy costumes, rabid fans wanting a picture or a lock of your hair (OK, maybe that's a bit much…)


Yet, I've been in many odd places and had an idea for a story, and just had to jot down the thoughts on a napkin, a scrap paper from my glove compartment (parking tickets work quite well) or in the corners of your kid's homework.


Years ago I went to a convention in Virginia and took the ride with author Keith Gouveia (and my son, who slept in the backseat until Keith mentioned he also played Yu-Ghi-Oh) from Florida. Along the way Keith helped me get through a particularly tough spot I'd written my self into in a fantasy novella. We're driving through mountains and fog and something out of a horror movie while thinking of our heroes trying to fight their way out of a swamp. Good times, good times.


I have my computer desk in the corner of the dining room, within hearing range but out of sight of the TV. When I'm in the groove on a story you can blast that damn thing, tap-dance, light off fireworks and scream bloody murder. When the story is kicking my ass, don't even sigh from the couch or I'll kill you with my mind-bullet look.


Let's just imagine that all the stars are aligned, meaning the kids aren't home, Kim is at work, and I don't have to walk the dog or feed the cats, and the coffee is already made and flowing.


I have an idea in my head and a blank screen in front of me, the bright white block with the blinking line in the corner.


I usually start with a character 'sketch' in my head - I never do like some people and write a paragraph or a story or another novel about a character before the story - and figure I'll fill in the blanks on him/her later, as the character shows up in my story and acts against the plot thrown at them.


For instance, when I was writing my extreme zombie novella, Dying Days, I'd already written a couple of short stories of the heroine, Darlene Bobich. When you 'know' the character, for me at least, it makes it that much easier to write because half the story is already done whether you realize it or not. Toss a situation in front of her and let her react. Every now and then she surprises me by thinking outside the box and being fiercely independent of where I want her to go, but she generally follows the plan… generally.


In that novella I had a definite idea of where it was going to end, and what part Darlene would play in the world. By the time I finished the last lines she was somewhere completely different, but much better. I like to think that at some point Darlene Bobich, Zombie Killer, decided she was sick of being so passive in the story and reacting. She decided to act and let me figure out what everyone else was going to do when she did something. That's how you know you have a solid character.


Like reading a great book that you don't want to put down, sometimes you don't want to step away from a story you're writing because you need to know what's coming next.


That's when you know you have a winner.






Armand Rosamilia


http://armandrosamilia.wordpress.com/


https://www.facebook.com/armand.rosamilia


http://twitter.com/#!/armandauthor










"Skulls" horror short story collection now available! Kindle

"Highway To Hell" extreme zombie novella now available from Rymfire eBooks

"Dying Days" extreme zombie novella now available from Rymfire eBooks

"Undead of Winter" zombie anthology now available from Rymfire eBooks

Author Tailgate Party/Book Signing October 15, 2011--With Pictures!

Last Saturday, October 15th, my husband and I drove to Keswick, Virginia, where some fellow authors of Virginia Romance Writers and I would be doing a tailgate party and book signing. Other authors that were not members of VRW joined us, too.

There was a tiny chill to the autumn wind, but the day was sunny. The cold wasn't daunting, but the wind was, as several times it blew stuff off my table and others', too. Some leaves were starting to change, and it appeared at a McDonald's that we stopped at for breakfast, many were traveling, maybe even heading to Skyline Drive to view peak colors.

When Bill and I arrived, we found one side of A&W Collectibles and Antiques held a yard sale in a field, while our tailgate party was to the right. Bill drove around to the back, following a driving path to a spot where he parked. We set up the table, decorating it and opening the trunk, also decorated that. All with Halloween, and even some fall things.

Luckily, the baseball cap I use when Bill and I do our walk, was in the car and I put it on as the wind made my hair fly every which way. Kathy Mix gave me a rubberband so I also put my hair into a ponytail. Though my signing that night was at a zombie rising event , I didn't need to look scary (*chuckle*) myself. 

The day was perfect, spending time with good friends and talking to those who ventured over to our side, to talk to us and look at our books. It was sad when we had to pack up around one so that we could drive to Williamsburg to get dinner before that event started.

WEIRD WEDNESDAY

A car costumed as a cat? Owned by a cat lover? My husband and I found this parked in a parking lot of a shopping center nearby where we live. Had to take a couple of pictures of it. What do you think of it and would you drive it?

Interviewing Horror Author M. R. Gott

Please enjoy learning about MR Gott, as I interview him. If have any questions, do leave a comment and I am sure he will be glasd to answer them.

1.) -Please tell us about your latest book.



Where the Dead Fear to Tread is a supernatural mystery that unravels through the course of a three person chase sequence, with no two parties working together. The novel combines the grit of old detective pulps with contemporary horror trappings. Within the tense sequences I try to find small moments to show my readers who these characters are.


2.) -What can we expect from you in the future?


The sequel Where the Damned Fear Redemption has been completed. I would like to take this opportunity to state this will not be a never ending series, this is a large story with a very definitive ending. Each book in this series will stand alone, but be part of a larger picture.


3.) - How would you describe the genre in which you do most of your writing?


I write horror without the cannon fodder characters. To me the most detrimental element to creating tension is having a story populated by thin characters who only take actions to facilitate their slaughter.


4.) –What other genre would you like to write in?


After writing two novels with intense emotional graphic violence I would like to complete a novel devoid of explicit violence, that still draws shivers from my readers.


5.) What motivated you to start writing?


I have always had a strong fondness for the art of storytelling. Stories are the way we explore concepts.


6.) -What kind of research do you do?


I have family members in the medical field and they often receive calls and emails about what happens to the body when it sustains certain trauma.


7.) -Do you have a set schedule for writing or do you just go with the flow?


I outline my stories, write the first and last chapters and then fill in the blanks. It is completed when it is completed.


8.) -Where do your ideas come from?


My mind does not stop, I have numerous files of story and scene ideas. There is no single element that inspires me, the world I live in does.


9.) -Who, if anyone, has influenced your writing?


Laurell K Hamilton’s early Anita Blake books were a huge influence. While I have abandoned the series, the character of Anita holds a special place for me. Other writers such as Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Clive Barker are my stylistic inspirations.


10.) -Have you always wanted to be a writer?


I have always loved telling stories, and was coaxed from a very young age. I vividly remember in fourth grade being told by my teacher that the story I wrote for an assignment was too violent for class, but too well thought out and developed not be allowed to submit it. In sixth grade I sold a short story to a few classmates. It was a Frankenstein parody about my birth.


11.) -What is the most rewarding thing about being a writer?


The creation of stories and characters is such a compulsive activity for me it is just a need. I have never stopped writing in my life, it is only now that I am able to take an idea and fully develop it.


12.) Among your own books, have you a favorite book? Favorite hero or heroine?


Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe and Robert E Howard’s Conan (not any film version) are characters I have a great fondness for. They are all outsiders who find success in a world that is in direct conflict with their world view.


13.) -Please tell us about yourself (family, hobbies, education, etc.)


I am happily married and enjoy beverages as dark as my sense of humor.


14.) -Are there any words of encouragement for unpublished writers?


Eventually you will reach a point when you need to step up and search out true feedback. Not just from friends and family, but people who have no reason to spare your feelings. When you start sending out query letters choose a rejection response to wear as a badge of honor. For me it is a short story (still unpublished) that I was informed kicked around the office for a month before it was rejected. The rejection letter stated the reader was physically shaking while reading it. Somehow this horror magazine didn’t want it.


15.) Tell us your website, FaceBook, Blog, any urls so the readers can find out more about you.


Where The Dead Fear to Tread has a FaceBook Page you can like. Another great way to reach me is at Goodreads

And I maintain a BLOG too.



Book Blurb:
A police officer and a serial killer search separately for a missing child while running a malevolent labyrinth populated by creatures they never knew existed.


Former prosecutor William Chandler, disgusted with his past inaction, spills the blood of those who victimize children to correct the ills he sees in the world. A self-admitted serial killer and uncomfortable with his actions, Chandler attends the funerals of those whose lives he has taken in an effort to retain a true understanding of the nature of violence.


The carnage left in his wake is investigated by Detective Kate Broadband, who becomes progressively more comfortable with the corpses left by Chandler. Envying the power she sees in him, she pursues Chandler as each search for Maria Verde, a missing eight-year-old girl.


As Chandler and Broadband draw closer to discovering what happened to Maria they are forced to confront The Devourer, an unnatural being trafficking in stolen children.


Where the Dead Fear to Tread is a tale of hard-boiled macabre, bridging numerous genres to reveal a story of horror, crime and revenge.



Find Where the Dead Fear to Tread at Untreed Reads Store, Amazon and most major e-book retailers.


Author Bio:


M.R. Gott is the author of the novel Where the Dead Fear to Tread and the forthcoming sequel Where the Damned Seek Closure. You can visit M.R. at his website Cutis Anserina at Where the Dead Fear toTread Blog.

Aside from contacting M.R. you will find his collection of book reviews and a list of small horror films you may have missed. M.R. lives contentedly in central New Hampshire with his wife, and their three pets. Aside from writing M.R. enjoys dark coffee, dark beer and fading light.

New Science Fiction Short Story, "Sins of the Father" Now Released--in Ethereal Gazette, Issue 13

My dark science fiction short story, "Sins of the Father" is now available, released in the Ethereal Gazette, Issue 13 (my lucky number by the way!). The whole paperback book is 284 pages, full of stories and artwork.



"Sins of the Father" is set in the future and concerns a trial of the clone of the businessman for the murder of the earth!


Buy the book now at http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-ethereal-gazette-issue-13/1798220

Supernatural Friday: Give Me Something Good To Eat

The following short story is owned and copyrighted by me and please do not take it and post it elsewhere without my permission. If you want to share it, share the link to this blog so others can come and read it. 

Give Me Something Good To Eat

By

Pamela K. Kinney

“Trick or treat! Smell my feet! Give me something good to eat!”

Halloween time again, when all those damn kids knock on his door and asked, no, demanded, candy, money, and other assorted treats. But he’d be double-damned if he’d break down and give the little hellions anything. In his opinion, these days the only thing the brats deserved was nothing. Nothing at all.


The knocking at his door escalated, becoming a persistent pounding. Jonas Perkins flung open the door and found two small children, maybe five or six, standing on his porch. One dressed as a witch, the other a Power Ranger. Their loud, obnoxious father, Pete Quarters from next door, had been the one who pounded on the door. He inched closer so that Jonas and he stood practically nose to nose.


“Hey, Perkins!” said Quarters. “Didn’t you hear Jenny and Parker knock? It’s Halloween, you know.””


Jonas snorted and glared at Quarters from under his bushy eyebrows. “Yeah, I heard. But I decided not to give out candy to any kids this year. I thought the Dental Association would have one less idiot handing out sugar products and causing cavities. Felt it was my civic duty.”


Quarters’ piggish eyes narrowed. “Are you going highbrow on me, Perkins? It’s Halloween and I’m sure that my kids’ dentist won’t mind them having some candy. I should know, as he gave them a couple Snickers bars each when we stopped at his place, so why should he care if you give them something?”


“Well, I didn’t get any candy so I am not giving them, or any other little monster, anything tonight. And that’s that. So no one better play a trick on me either, or I’ll call the cops. Understand?”


Jonas slammed the door shut on Quarters and his kids, locking it.


“Stupid idiots and their brats,” he muttered, as he stalked into the living room and thumped down in his favorite chair in front of the television set. Picking up the remote, he surfed through endless channel after channel, but could only find monster movies, how to make Halloween treats on the Cooking Channel and the history of Halloween on the History Channel.


With a click, he turned the TV off and tossed the remote onto the end table with disgust.


“Nothing but Halloween crap on tonight.”


And nothing but Halloween crap to his thinking as the door bell kept ringing and he answered it. Kids dressed in costumes of all types, from vampires and werewolves to ghosts, super heroes, and silly princesses stood with their bags held up, the light spilling onto their masked or made up faces. Their parents waited just outside the reach of the porch light, hidden in the shadows of the night. He screamed at the little monsters, making them run and their mothers or fathers curse him, but he’d just slammed the doors on them all. After a while he sat in the darkened living room, ignoring the persistent bell. Finally, the door bell quit ringing and he relaxed in his chair.


He jumped up when instead of the bell ringing a loud knocking sounded at his door. At first he felt a flash of anger and wasn’t going to answer the door, but when he spied something on a table near him a nasty grin shaped his lips. He picked up a horn that he kept to bugle at birds in the spring that tried to get the grass seed that he seeded his front lawn with. Now, with his fingers curled around the horn, he strolled to the door.


“I’ll give you a treat!” he yelled as he flung open the door with a laugh.


His fingers pressed the button on the horn and a loud high-pitched sound screamed out of it. He stopped, as he faced a trick-or-treater about his height. With another press of the button, he shut off the horn.


Dumbfounded at first, his face took on a dark, angry glower. “Aren’t you a little old to be trick-or-treating, you stupid nitwit?” he snarled.


The costumed figure just stood there, silent. Jonas’ gaze took in the costume and how well done it was. Tall and gaunt, threadbare iron gray pants hung loosely from its hips and it also wore a shirt rotted away in places, leaving dirt crusted holes. Dust covered most of the clothing and the large shoes on the feet looked like those that a clown would wear.


The skin gleam the same pale, chalky color as the crescent moon that hung in the night sky above. Long hands ended in long black nails, sharp like claws, and they grasped an extra large bag, like the kind that held grain or seed in the grain stores. But it was the make up job that impressed him the most. The flesh masked over the skull like a second skin. Not a speck of color touched its lips or cheeks, except a light gray color.


And the eyes! They dominated the features, like large black holes, with no consciousness peeping out of them.


Must be FX contact lenses, thought Jonas.


The lips parted in a dark smile, revealing a mouthful of cannibal-sharp fangs.


Jonas shivered, but not from the cool autumn breeze that drifted in from the outside. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to shut this door now. And no tricks, because you’re not getting any damn treats from me.”


He slammed the door shut on the figure’s face.


In a turnabout he found himself eye to eye with the strange trick-or-treater from outside. It stood there, blocking Jonas from the living room. Not one peep did it utter.


“What the hell?" Jonas retreated back a couple of steps. “How did you get inside?”


The figure silently held up its opened bag.


Suddenly angry, Jonas snarled. “You want a treat, do you? Well, I’ll give you a treat. A treat like the smack from this horn I’m still gripping.”


He raised the horn up and brought it down. With no warning, the trick-or-treater grabbed the arm holding the horn and with a twist, broke it. The horn dropped to the floor, making a loud clatter. The trick-or-treater kicked it to the side.


Pain lanced through Jonas’ arm and he cradled it. Fear flitted across his face as he stared at the other.


“Oh, dear God,” he said. “What do you want?”


The other spoke for the first time. “You.”


It grabbed him quickly, not giving him time to escape, and after snapping a few bones to bend the body easier, shoved a dying Jonas into the bag.

****

The ghoul gave a nasty cackle and flung open the door, stepping outside into the cool night air. The pungent odors from candle-lit Jack-O-Lanterns on door steps and half-eaten candies thrown to the ground from costumed children wafted to its nostrils. But it didn’t think of those things, only of the meal it would enjoy tonight in its home in the mausoleum. Nowadays, Halloween made it so easy to hunt humans. They just thought of it as another costumed trick-or-treater.


It left the door open and skipped down the street to its home in the town cemetery. It sang, swinging the heavily loaded bag at its side.


“Trick or treat, smell my feet, and give me something good to eat!”



Guest Blogging at Horror Author M. R. Gott's Blog

I am guest blogging at horror author M. R. Gott's blog about Halloween, The title is "The Odor of Burnt Pumpkin Makes Me Scream Halloween!" http://is.gd/plpeEF

WEIRD WEDNESDAY

This doesn't look real, but not to say it couldn't happen. Not since I've seen a cat with two faces, which is a real feline called Janus cat: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/09/cat-with-2-faces-marks-12-years-of-defying-odds-setting-records/1