Horror and Halloween

I'll probably go into more detail around Halloween, but there is something I'm been a longtime fan of: horror.

I'm kind of a traditionalist when it comes to horror. I prefer the older black-and-white horror movies- none of that loud, in-your-face guts and gore stuff, which has no subtlety at all. It's all knee-jerk. I much prefer creating an atmosphere. So the old kind of monsters, like ghosts, vampires, werewolves, old Victorian mansions and various other undead and creatures of the night and all the mythology and imagery associated with them, done the old-fashioned way... that's for me. I also like camp and macabre humor, so Halloween cartoons and stuff like The Addams Family, The Munsters, The Haunted Mansion, classic Tim Burton, Mad Monster Party, and Ed Wood films are cool, too.

Halloween is my second favorite holiday, beaten only by Christmas. I love all the horror movie marathons and candy, and all the wicked glee of dressing up. I've always had something of a dark side. I used to go trick-or-treating, but people spoiled it when they said we were too old. We also take great pride in our decorations each year.

Sadly, the loser kids in our neighborhood- who are either too wimpy to come up to our apparently too frightening porch or don't wear costumes and only want candy- have discouraged us from decorating and handing out candy this year. It's not worth it. Hopefully my college will host a costume party this year...

Because I've been a big fan of rockabilly and surf music since I was in middle school, I've taken a great liking to psychobilly, that wonderful mix of rockabilly and punk with horror- and sci-fi-themed lyrics. I think I was always somewhat aware of the concept- perhaps because of stuff like The Munsters theme song and what music played on cable TV each Halloween- but I've only fully embraced the style recently. What's not to like about that gutsy twang and howling at the moon?

We're both likely to discuss our favorite aspects of the horror genre as we get closer to Halloween. And yes, I often start thinking about it in August... because I'm a lunatic, of course.

~Typhlosion/Fatal hilarity