Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Bumping for October

It's never easy dealing with dumbasses, and I had to talk to quite a few today (namely, my ISP people). But never mind them. I'm really hoping that things normalize this week.

So it's October already…we're nearly halfway into the first month of the final quarter of 2006. Jeez, why didn't anyone wake me up when September ended? I like October, though. Even the name of the month is cool; it sounds so dignified. And there are some great occasions associated with it: there's Oktoberfest, there's Halloween.

Halloween seems to be toned down in my neighborhood this year. Last year, one of my neighbors had these cool decorations. One of them was an effigy of a hanged person on her balcony. Sounds macabre, but it looked awesome because of the lighting they had and the way the figure would move at the slightest breeze. I heard that they even changed their doorbell to the evil "hahahahahaha" you hear at the end of Michael Jackson's "Thriller," isn't that great? I enjoy MJ's music and I think he's a great performer (saw him in concert once) but I'm appalled at the way he looks now. He seems to be in Halloween mode all year round.

Halloween is supposed to be scary, but it isn't for me. It isn't especially frightening at this time of the year, in my opinion--not that I've had much experience with things that go bump in the night. Sure, there were a few goosebump-inducing incidents in the months after my father died many years ago, but nothing much since then. Sometimes, though, the hair on my nape stands on end and I feel like someone's watching me. And there are times when I see movement out of the corner of my eye, but when I look there's nothing there. (Insert "Twilight Zone" music here.) Other than that and a few weird dreams, I've had no ghostly experiences.

Some movies that I found scary:
-The first Nightmare on Elm Street. I had trouble sleeping after watching this many years ago, the presence of Johnny Depp in it notwithstanding.

-Sixth Sense. Just plain eerie. I liked it, though.

Some books that I found scary:
-It, by Stephen King. I don't like circus clowns, and the character of Pennywise in this novel frightened me.

-Salem's Lot, by Stephen King. This one scared the bejeezus out of me the first time I read it when I was a teenager. But when I read it again a few years ago, it didn't frighten me at all!

-Anne Rice's books about Lasher and the Mayfair witches. There's just something about very old houses and the presence of their long-dead inhabitants and old families that I find equally enticing and repulsive. (Which reminds me, there's an old house in a place here called New Manila; it has a dilapidated look--vines snaking up on the fence, peeling paint, one dim light on the porch at night--but strangely, they don't take away from the house's dignified bearing. It looks so haunted, it enthralls me.

Audio that I find scary:
-Sound effects from the shower scene in Psycho. I mean, really.

-Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. This one is just haunting. It brings to mind an image of Bela Lugosi playing a grand piano by candlelight.

Nothing scary has happened to me this month, thank heavens. The only thing that's been going bump in the night for me is the bumping and humping Red Hot Chili Peppers! Love this one.

23 comments:

Prometheus said...

Yo Liz, Prometheus don't wanna send ya to the looney bin, stark ravin scared witless, but he does want to mention that scariest of them all. The Morgoth Dubya.

On that note, if ya ever wanna make yer Medusa scarier, call her Condi Rice. Wot?

Anonymous said...

...and the spam attacks continue! =)

When we were kids, Halloween was never celebrated in the Philippines. So was Mother's Day, Father's Day, etc.

It's all just commercialized pap, if you ask me, but I have to happily give in and just scratch my head. I have a son who gets excited by all these celebrations.

C'est la vie.

Some Random Girl said...

I was blog hopping and came across yours. I like what you have written.

Anonymous said...

Halloween is not really the thing here
And my I love Mj and was in one of his concert too
Sixth sense is a nice movie and I liked it too
Your neighbourhood sounds fun, having the halloween spirit
:)
I have no experience with the scary that much too and I hope you don't
May this month be fun for all

Anonymous said...

I've noticed Halloween has been toned down here, too. Not too much house decor up yet like last year. Maybe they'll put it up last minute in an attempt to scare us or something...

Lizza said...

Prometheus: Noooo...my Medusa already has a name. Yours doesn't, so you can call her Condi. :-D

HB: Gah! Okay, I'll be activating word verification. You're not that much older than me, HB, and I remember celebrating those holidays with my family when I was a kid oh so maaaaany years ago. :-D Yep, commercialized pap, but fun for the little ones.

some random girl: Welcome! I'm glad you like what you saw. I'll go visit your blog too. Thanks for stopping by, hope to see you again here soon.

zeroimpact: Not too much Halloween spirit in my neighborhood this year, I'm afraid. But that's okay. Thank you again for visiting! It's a pleasure to see you here.

Michael: I'd love to see how your neighbors (and you) decorate your houses for Halloween. But don't scare the trick-or-treaters too much. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Ah, It. I've never got round to reading that one. I need to go and decide which SK books I want to buy/borrow/get from charity shops.

The meme you sent me is up now - posted it yesterday.

No one really cares about Halloween in the uk. Everyone's too busy preparing for christmas three months early.

Sony said...

My favorite Stephen King book is "The Stand" (Complete and Uncut). Less gore than some of his others (but there's still some wicked stuff if that's a draw) -- but it was the scariest to me because of the thought of something like that actually happening (for those who don't know, it's about a superflu wiping out 99% of the population and what happens to the country afterwards. Sounds more Michael Crichton by my description, but trust me, it's King all the way and beautifully done).

I was also completely unnerved by "Poltergeist" when I was a kid.

Your posts are coming in more frequently -- glad to have you back from the world of dial-up.

P.S. Thanks for the kind ink on your Blogworld Saturday post.

Terra Shield said...

Halloween just became slightly popular here... but no kids going knocking on doors trick or treating yet :)

Lizza said...

Rose: The department stores here are all confused. They're selling Halloween decor but playing Christmas songs. Haha!

Thanks for playing! Your song choices are cool.

Sony: I enjoyed that book too. And yes, Captain Trips could actually happen today. Jeeez.

I'm not fully back yet, still on dial-up. Hoping things will be resolved this week.

Terra Shield: No trick or treating in my neighborhood either, but I hear they do it in some other areas of the city. Thanks for visiting again!

Anonymous said...

I, too, cannot believe we are already approaching mid-October! Where oh where did the year go? I feel as though I say that every single year though...especially as I get older.

Children of the Corn always scared the bejeezus outta me! still does...

Oh, and I LOVE Red Hot Chili Peppers!

Lizza said...

Laurz, time flies when we're having fun...and as we get older. :-)

Haven't seen Children of the Corn, though I've read the short story on which it was based. And yep, the Peppers are great!

Anonymous said...

Me?
I'll be lurking around more
Since it's holloween
Muahahaha
:)
I like to read your stuff
Definitely will see me more often

Anonymous said...

It is easily one of the scariest things ever. Even the horrible TV movie is scary and I know Tim Curry is a clown and I know he is not a scary guy but OH MY GOSH. I am also very scared of the Marshall Field (not the store but a building at my college) very very haunted and creepy place.

Anonymous said...

I just finished reading Hell House last night. Check out my review at Writers, Ink.
Good book to add to your collection -- if you liked the spookiness of the mayfair witches, this one may be up your alley.
~mo

Kiyotoe said...

The first two Hellraiser films were scary as hell not to mention the religous/psychological implications.

Who the hell wants to go to hell if it's really THAT bad.....Whew!

Anonymous said...

The Sixth Sense really scared me. So did Pet Cemetery. Just thinking about ghosts scares me, especially at night.

Lizza said...

zeroimpact: Feel free to lurk around, haha!

Natalie: Ooohh, you gotta make a post about your creepy college building sometime!

Morgen: Thanks! I'll check it out.

Kiyotoe: I saw only the first one, a long, long time ago. Yep, scary stuff.

Gale: Now I'm truly back, yay! Hmmm...melancholic music. Nice idea for a post! :-)

Aurea: But Sixth Sense was great, wasn't it? Now I wanna watch it again.

Lizza said...

Hi Gale! Hmmm, Morgen already has a cool Halloween meme over at morgenfiles.blogspot.com. Let's think up another one for...Christmas? New Year's Day? Valentine's Day?

Gumby said...

I LOVED Salem's Lot! It could be my favorite Stephen King book (granted, I stopped reading him yearrrrrrrs ago)

Lizza said...

Yep. Scary, that book was.

Anonymous said...

I loved Sixth Sense! Usually I can figure out how a movie is going to end and that one totally surprised me.

Lizza said...

I loved it, too! My jaw dropped to the ground at the twist near the end. :-)