The iconic opening to the novel The Haunting of Hill House is one that sticks in your brain forever. Its first paragraph ends with the words: "Whatever walked there, walked alone." The TV show begins the same way...
It recently occurred to me I am not one person. I am really two people existing in the same body.
Books make me happy in a way that may confuse many people. It's a kind of obsessive, craving love that would be unhealthy if it were directed at a human.
I'm going to do it. I'm going to terrify myself again, willingly. I'm going to go back to that place, that time.
I love reading. But I'm a busy gal. I likely won't be able to work my way through Stephen King's expansive horror collection before Halloween. What is a girl to do then? Lightbulb! Podcasts!
It's literally a once in a lifetime experience. The blotting out of the sun. A total solar eclipse. Maybe that's why books and movies like to use eclipses for plot and metaphor...
With all the swirl around Beauty and the Beast lately, I thought it might be fun to talk about fairy tales. Disney has done a laudable job of Disney-ifying classics with positive messages and happy endings. And while I remember obsessing over Disney's Aladdin well into my teens, I also remember going to Blockbuster and renting videos (yes I predate even DVDs) called Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre. And Shelley showed the truth about those fairy tales - they were dark.
With all the rogue sites popping up - AltUSForestService, AltBadlandsNatPark, Resistance_NASA, Rogue NOAA, etc - It got me thinking. I've never been a fan of Valentine's Day. It's a Hallmark-created corporatized holiday that makes people who don't have a Valentine feel bad and people who do feel pressure to be romantic just because it's February 14. I'm all about embracing this sea-change of rebellion against a corporate, money-driven society and going rogue on Valentine's Day!
It's finally Halloween! My house didn't get egged or TP'd last night. So I guess my neighborhood had a quiet Mischief Night. Now comes the fun part! I can't wait to watch all the kids suit up and threaten to play tricks on people unless they give them treats. It's a weird sort of custom when you think about it. (So I try not to think about it.) Since it's Halloween, here are my 13 (seemed like an appropriate number) favorite Halloween costumes based on literary characters.
K.L. Kranes 