Quote of the Day [10.21.12]
“All ghost stories are ‘true’ stories. We love them, if we love them, from the depth and antiquity of our willingness to believe them.”
Michael Chabon, “The Other James”
Link of the Day [10.21.12]
Let’s go ghost hunting.
What’s that under the bed? Is there a strange shadow by the window? I think the bed shows a clear depression in the shape of a woman. Can it be the White Lady of Ordsall Hall?
It’s all in your imagination. There’s nothing there. Not like there’s anything downstairs at this moment.
What’s that?
I’ll go investigate…
Link of the Day [10.20.12]
Let’s go ghost hunting.
Do you see anything? Is there something creeping around the basement hall? Is there a shadow in the corner of the children’s room? Or is the grey lady roaming the research room?
I don’t see anything in the pictures. I don’t think there is anything there.
But I think there may be something upstairs in the house. Let me check…
The Woman In Black
The problem with the ghosts in The Woman In Black is that they are real. There is nothing left to the imagination. It was a real ghost with a real curse looking to avenge the death of her son by causing misfortune on the villagers and their children. It’s not all in the protagonist’s head, a mature Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe. It’s really there.
The atmosphere was decently creepy. The Eel Marsh House had the great hallmarks of a haunted house: secluded and out of the way, overgrown vegetation, dark hallways and even darker rooms, bad glass in the window panes. Yup. It’s a delightfully scary house. Would’ve been nice if the story could’ve lived up to the spookiness.
The story follows Radcliffe who come from London to close out the affairs of the last, late owner of the Eel Marsh House. The surrounding village doesn’t want him there because once Eel Marsh House is messed with children die horrible deaths. And it happens. Death comes for the kids and it’s the woman in black. Spooky. Radcliffe has to confront this ghost or else personal harm will come.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t think that I can stay in a house which plainly shows the ghost roaming the halls. Or with a rocking chair rocking on its own. Too creepy. I wish this movie had made me scared to sleep at night but it didn’t.
3 of 5 stars
“Matthew, you’re not going to find any icebergs with your nose buried in that nefarious scandal sheet.”
The Thing (2011) is coming! So is @M_E_Winstead. I wonder, when viewing the trailer, you get that Ripley feeling. O, Mary Elizabeth, can you kick alien ass as great as Ms. Weaver.
I am so there. I can’t resist her big brown eyes.
This Needs Ghosts
In the morning before the ground shook, I was reading Micheal Chabon’s Maps And Legends and came upon his intro to Casting the Runes, an anthology of M.R. James ghost stories. Chabon celebrates the short story “Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad!” as M.R. James’ greatest ghost story. He also laments that the ghost story has fallen out of favor with writers.
I concur. There’s something satisfying about a well crafted ghost stories. A well written ghost story sends shivers up your spine and is a joy to read. You’re frightened and elated and that’s a good feeling.
What I liked about Chabon’s essay was that he went touched upon a few things I noticed about ghost stories — things I felt I should write about too. Here’s where I write about them.
Chabon talked about the first person perspective of most ghosts stories. They are mostly told by a narrator describing ghastly things he has seen or has heard about from a reliable source. Chabon talked about the truthiness of the ghost story accounts. The narrator’s account from a first person perspective — can you trust ’em? Or that they seem almost true. Chabon talked about how they were told on cold winter nights around camp fires. That’s the best time for ghost stories. And they are told, spoken, enough to scare you.
I, too, love the first person perspective of the ghost story. “I don’t believe in the supernatural, but….” They always open like that and you get hooked. I don’t believe in the supernatural but I love the chills I get from reading them. I love ’em in the winter. The darkness. The cold. Under the covers. The darkness. All are conducive to being frightened.
It’s almost fall and the day’s are getting longer. It’s almost time for a good ghost story. “I don’t believe in the supernatural…”
Quote of the Day [1.26.11]
“Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.”
Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya), The Wolf Man (1941)
Demon in the Room
I had a nightmare last night. I can’t remember the complete specifics. Maybe it wasn’t a true nightmare of being chased or stalked or haunted. Maybe it was just a creeped out feeling while asleep. All I know is that I woke up in the middle of the night with the chills as if something, evil, was in the room with me.
I usually keep the door to my bathroom closed. Since it’s winter, my furnace is always on. So I keep the door to my bathroom open so that it isn’t stuffy with heat in the morning. After I woke up in chills, I spied the black maw that is the open bathroom. I couldn’t get it out of my mind that something, evil, was going to come out of there.
I roll over, but that black maw of creepiness is still there.
I try to use the magic kumut, but it was too hot to get under the cover.
I have to go to bed tonight. The dark maw of the bathroom beckoning, but hopefully nothing evil in the room with me.
Link of the Day [11.11.10]
These are crazy freaking me out, because they don’t move and then they do. Whaaatttt!
It’s like the tombstone in front of the Haunted Mansion at Disney: the eyes are closed, then they are open.
Monday Morning Musings {part 00!5}
Boo!Scared you, right?No? But that's what I was thinking about this morning: spooks, frights, and scares. It's the last week 'til Halloween, and my thoughts always turn towards the scary around this time of the year. I love the feeling of being spooked. I think that it's most likely the slight shot of adrenaline you get when things creep you out. I am reminded of this whenever I ride my bike alone into the woods. It's slightly creepy on the backroads. You have to be aware of your surroundings when riding on the road. If you aren't careful, you may be hit by a car, so your senses are heightened. Look around. You look around and when you're in the woods it gets dark and creepy. Your cadence picks up and your elevated heart rate jumps slightly. Are those shadows in the woods just shadows? Are the dark, dank areas around you empty? Of the living? What's that noise? Is it just you, alone or can you feel the presence of an paranormal entity? I'm reminded of Ichabod Crane whenever I ride alone in the woods and get creeped out by my surroundings. Will the headless horseman come after me, throwing pumpkins, to lop off my head? The only thing I can think about is "Am I faster than his horse?" Sadly, the answer would be no.But the creeped out feelings occur lots. At home, what's that creaky noise coming from upstairs? Is there something wandering downstairs? Are there zombies wandering the field out back in the night as I pull into my garage? Did I leave the light on? Why's this door ajar? Just looking at creepy old houses excites the creeped out feelings. The old Rosewood institution in Owings Mills is creepy. It can substitute for many of the deranged hospitals you see in horror movies. Even its purpose lends itself to that milieu: it was a hospice for the serious developmentally disabled kids. Yes, that is somewhat disturbingly creepy.What do you think is creepy? And have you experienced anything real?