Monday Meme – Hallowe’en Meme

Happy Monday, folks. 

I must admit that I’m not quite in a Halloween mood yet. Not sure why. I’ve been trying. It could be the years of living in high-rise apartments taking their toll. I don’t have a house to decorate. I don’t have kids to dress up in costumes or have kids coming door-to-door in my apartment complex. I have a balcony, but I’m up high and haven’t bothered with a pumpkin in years. I don’t know. I’ve still got a couple days, so we’ll see if I come around. Here’s a meme to help warm me up.

1. What is your favourite written work of horror fiction?

The 12 yr old in me really wants to say Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, so I’ll go with that. Although, I think I read it more for the homoeroticism than for the “horror”.

2. What do you usually do on Halloween?

We used to get dressed up and go trick-or-treating first, and then spend the night going through our candy while watching Halloween tv. I wasn’t a huge fan of trick-or-treating because I was always shy, but I liked getting dressed up and walking around at night.  Now, I don’t do a hell of a lot. Maybe go to a party, but otherwise just stay in and watch movies or something.  

3. Who is your favourite monster?

Oh jesus. This one is a bit tough. I’ll say Cesare from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, primarily because we just saw the film again a few weeks ago at the Mayfair.  I guess he’s not really the “monster” in the film, but whatever. He’s lanky, German, wears black and tons of makeup, commits murder on-demand, and sleeps a lot. I’d probably keep him under my bed.

4. What is your favourite horor movie?

The Exorcist  or Rocky Horror Picture Show.

5. What horror movie gave you the most chills?

The Blair Witch Project, probably. I don’t find movies very scary, but this one made me feel pretty creeped out. I’m not sure why. Maybe it was because I grew up running around in the woods and occasionally felt like there was something else was out there too. Or maybe I just wished there was.

6. What character from any horror film would you most like to play?

Kim (Winnona Ryder’s character) from Edward Scissorhands. Le Sigh.

7. Freddie or Jason?

Neither… I always found those films boring and just meh.

8. What is your favourite Halloween treat?

I love all candy. Halloween-specific, however, I love those “Kisses” candies. Mmm.

9. Ghosts or Goblins?

Ghosts. Goblins are boring unless they’re David Bowie in tights.

10. What’s your scariest paranormal expereince?

I cannot confirm it was ~paranormal~ but I did have a really creepy experience once when I was living in Minden. It was about 9 years ago. I was sitting alone in the basement using the computer, it was probably about 1 am and everyone else had gone to bed. Pups (one of our dogs) was sleeping on the couch, as he used to hang around whoever was up latest at night. I was typing away on the computer, the tv was on mute in the background, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Pups wake up, sit up, and stare at the basement doorway like there was someone standing there. It caught my attention and I looked too, but didn’t see anything there. I went back to typing, but then I noticed Pups sniffing the air like crazy, and his face took on this sort of “expression” like he was watching someone. It’s hard to describe, it just seemed like he saw or recognized someone or something there. Then, to further freak me out, he started to turn his head, in a very slow and purposeful way, as if he was following something as it moved across the room. He turned his head until he had to rearrange himself on the couch to “follow” whatever it was further, and meanwhile, I’m watching this thinking “WTF?! THERE’S NOTHING THERE!” Anyhow, he “followed” this thing around the edge of the room and to what appeared to be right in front of my desk. He stopped and stared in the same spot for a while, then glanced at me quickly, and then back at the same spot again. His little nose was still sniffing like crazy. I was looking, trying to see what the hell he was watching, but there wasn’t anything there. No bugs, no fluffs caught on a breeze, nothing. I couldn’t smell anything unusual either, but Pups’ nose was going like a plate of roast beef had been brought into the room. Then Pups just sat and looked at me expectantly for about a minute, while I decided I’d turn off the computer and head upstairs. It sounds really lame, but it really creeped me out at the time. It was like he watched something/someone walk into the room and stop right beside my desk, and then expected me to notice and react to it. I shuddered like crazy when I turned my back on the room and went upstairs. I told the family about it the next day, but they just said that Pups and I are weird.

11. Do you believe in ghosts? Why?

I’d really really love for ghosts to exist – it would make life infinitely more interesting - but I always fall short of completely believing. I either assume that there is absolutely nothing going on after we die, or that it’s so fucking awesome and amazing that people don’t want to come back to tell us about it.

12. What was your favourite Halloween costume?

I went as a “princess” several times, which usually involved a fancy women’s dress someone had found at a thrift store/church bazaar and some make-up. One year, I wore a pink dress that had several layers of sheer pink ruffles with a silver tinsel wig. Mom did my make-up with tons of glitter and dark lipstick. I just loved it, despite having to wear a snow-suit under my dress. I was probably about 8. I kept the wig and wore it around the house until it fell apart. Those were the days.

Like

Unlike