So the Sci Fi channel has a show called “Ghost Hunters”, not that i’ve ever watched it, but tonight, Halloween, they are broadcasting live from The Stanley Hotel here in Colorado. The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, is rumored to be haunted. In 1974 Stephen King stayed there in room 217 and got so freaked out by the strange, paranormal, stuff that he witnessed he was inspired to write “The Shining.” By the way, The Shining was actually filmed using four different hotels including The Stanley but also one in Europe, and I can’t remember where else. I know this because I looked it up when we moved here because I had heard it was filmed here, and I was totally ready to go and check it out because I have a history with that movie. Anywhoo… the show has toured the Stanley before and repoted a crazy amount of paranormal activity so that’s why they are doing the live broadcast. It’s on now and they are supposed to be broadcasting for SIX hours!! I’ve watched about 10 minutes but I gotta tell ya, there’s nothing happening at The Stanley. Time to watch some horror flicks..
There’s nothing happening at my house either, no trick-or-treaters, none, zero.. possibly because the scariest thing going down in colorado tonight is the temperature. It’s coooooooold outside! More likely, however is that we don’t have trick-or-treaters because I remembered to buy candy this year. hmmm… i wonder who’s gonna eat all that candy?

Speaking of horror flicks, here are some that i think are the best (in no particular order):

Halloween, the original - watched this one with my friend s earlier, who is a big chicken when it comes to scary movies, but last year she watched The Grudge with us and survived so now she thinks she’s tough. for the first half hour she said the movie was not scary at all then half way thru she changed her mind. i think it’s only scary because its one of the first horror movies i watched, but i think its still a classic.

Nightmare on Elm Street, the original - i watched it not too long ago and it is still really frickin’ scary!

The Blair Witch Project - a completely different kind of scary movie, maybe the only one in history to scare boys more than it scares girls. you don’t see anybody get axed, there’s no creepy music, no blood, no psycho killer, and if you get past the first unwatchable half, the tension builds and builds and builds and freaks you out! s watched this one tonight too and it scared her a lot more than Halloween.

The Exorcist, the original - (ok, from now on unless i say otherwise, “the original” is implied) didn’t watch this one until i was twenty something and it is some scary shit!

Silence of the Lambs - holy shit! i can still remember how scared i was the first time i saw this movie. it’s fucked up!

The Sixth Sense - so great the first time you see it, and i don’t mean just because of “the twist,” that’s not what did it for me. i just know that for a week after i saw it whenever i had to get up in the middle of the night to pee i was completely creeped out.

Poltergeist - scary but really cool, even when i was a kid.

Se7en - greusome & creepy, overall a good scare!

Pet Sematary - fantastic for true heebie-jeebieness

The Ring & The Grudge - pretty much interchangeable japanese rip-off’s and while the original japanese versions are scarier, the remakes are somewhat terrifying too.

Shallow Grave & Nightwatch - both star Ewan McGregor and both might make it hard to sleep.

Joy Ride - first let me say i HATE paul walker, he may be the worst actor to ever have been given a sag card, however this movie is really, really, scary! maybe just because we go on a lot of road trips - i swear i’ve been at those creepy little gas stations in utah more than once. scariest part… when they get in the car to get the hell out of the hotel, after they had already thrown the cb out the window of the moving car, and the road signs are painted.. look… in the.. trunk. so they do and the cb is in there!

The Skeleton Key - surprisingly original, genuinely creepy, and doesn’t end the way you think it will. and unique in that it’s great to watch again, knowing how it ends, because they didn’t go back an spoon-feed you all the things that were out of place that you didn’t consider.

The Shining - scariest movie ever! first watched it at a sleep over when i was like 12 and i had to go home in the middle of the night because i was hysterical, then i missed a whole day of school. my parents were not happy. i mean before this, i thought “the wizard of oz” and “charlie and the chocolate factory,” the original, were frightening. it has only been in the last five or six years that i could sit thru the whole thing, but it’s not easy when that freaky little kid’s finger says, “Danny’s not here Mrs. Torrence.”

Oldies but goodies:
Rosemary’s Baby
Rear Window
The Birds
The Changeling

The Worst:
oh, nevermind - they’re too numerous to mention! but a couple that had potential then completely went to crap, “boogeyman” and “final destination,” (yes the original) they both were really riveting and scary and suspenseful for about twenty minutes, then got worse and worse.

while i’m typing this i’m watching “an american haunting” which is new but i had never heard of it and i’m starting to figure out why. it’s not much more exciting than the ghost hunters at the stanley hotel.

anyway.. best Halloween costumes i saw this year, unfortunately not in person, but online:

the dude even painted his lips and eyelids! then he goes and ruins it by holding the classic red plastic party cup, but still it’s cool!

and of all the silly pet costumes.. these are awesome!

Happy Halloween !!!