Halloween Discussion Forums, Costumes, Horror!

Pumpkin_Man wrote: No, I'm really not a fantasy kind of a guy. I'm more into the old traditional Gothic style horror stories like "Dark Shadows," "Dracula," "Frankenstein," and "The Wolfman." Stories of that ilk. I also enjoy a good 'haunted house' story, and I love a good Sci Fi story. But I never went in for the "Harry Potter" franchises. My nieces all are nuts about it. They own all the books as well as all the movies on DVD. When a new "Harry Potter" flick comes out, it's like a huge event on the family web site.

Mike

Murfreesboro wrote:How did you resolve the babysitting dilemma, Spooky?

Spookymufu wrote:

Murfreesboro wrote:How did you resolve the babysitting dilemma, Spooky?

we went during the day while the kids were in school, we saw the first showing of the day

We definitely need a like button!!

Spookymufu wrote:Mike, his new movie is right up your alley then, you'll enjoy it, it's only "Harry Potter" in that Daniel Radionuclide stars in it.

Spookymufu wrote:Whos Daniel Radionuclide????

Murfreesboro wrote:I'm sure I'll see it at some point, but I'm glad I've been forewarned that it has some children who are endangered.

Today I am actually going in to Nashville to see the touring production of South Pacific, so I won't be seeing any movies this weekend.

Arthur Kipps is sent to Crythin Gifford to attend the funeral of Mrs. Alice Drablow and to see that her estate papers are all in order. The task should be simple and done with in a few days, but Kipps soon discovers that Drablow's papers are not in good order and Eel Marsh House has a dark secret of its own.

I have to say that I did enjoy this book. Though it did spook me a little, I didn't find the story very dreadful or intensely scary-- it was more unsettling. Yes, that's the word.

It took me a while to get into the "old-style" language that is used in the book (didn't help I happened to have vertigo at the time and the words wouldn't stay seated on the page), but once I was used to the language I thoroughly enjoyed the story.

I love how the story started as a frame story-- with the telling of ghost stories at Christmas and how Mr. Kipps was clearly out of sorts when asked to tell a ghost story for he had his own, real story of specters. Then he determined to write his terrible story down-- a story whose conclusion was only foreshadowed by the most minute details in that first chapter.

Overall, the story was linear and easily followed. It didn't leave much to the imagination, which is why it was so easy for one's imagination to take flight. I did love Mr. Daily's role in the novel-- especially providing Mr. Kipps the dog, Spider, who was to keep poor Kipps company at the melancholy estate. The eerie specter of the woman in black, the nursery and rocking chair, the pony trap and whistling for the dog... and the strange, but delicately foreshadowed events transpiring in the last few pages of the book before the sudden end of the story were fantastic.

The story, though it ended abruptly, was deliciously savory in all respects of this connoisseur of the macabre. It was a delightful read-- which I cannot say about many horror novels.

Movie Update:
Thought I should add some commentary on the book versus the film, which I have just come from seeing.

There were several rather large differences between the book and the film. The frame story from the book is not the same. In the film, Kipps is already melancholy because his wife died giving birth to his son. In the film, Kipps is also in debt (in the book he just wanted to be a partner in his lawfirm.) While major portions of Kipps' time at the estate represent scenes from the book and the overall premise of story remain the same-- the execution of book to film was quite good... and the differences actually enhanced the film, I thought.

I guess the short of the long is that you can't watch the film expecting it to exactly follow the book-- but rather enjoy it for it's differences. Differences such as how the children die-- in the film you actually get to see quite a few disturbing scenes involving the children. The film also has those annoying startle scenes. Brace yourself when you see the palm print on the window!