Scary Stories

September is here, and September is basically the First of Halloween. I don’t have decorations up yet in my house, but it’s just a matter of time. Mostly, I’ve been keeping myself hopping with deadlines since I got back from Providence. However, I’ve also seen a few movies, and written about some of them, so let’s talk about that real quick…

In recent releases, I caught Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (which I loved) and Ready or Not and Satanic Panic (which I liked) all at the Screenland Armour, not to mention the disappointing Itsy Bitsy via a screener and The Curse of La Llorona (which I didn’t review anywhere) on a plane.

At the risk of damaging my reputation as the guy who actually likes Conjuring movies, The Curse of La Llorona wasn’t anything to write home about, though Velma did her best and it was dark enough that “on a plane” was far from ideal viewing conditions.

What was an ideal viewing condition was seeing Satanic Panic in a crowded theatre of like-minded souls at the Screenland. Speaking of ideal viewing conditions, I also re-watched, for the umpteenth time, both Matango, which I was lucky enough to get to introduce, and Occult at NecronomiCon Providence.

Tomorrow night, I’m watching It: Chapter Two, which I’m excited about. Those of you who have been around for a while probably remember me being mixed on It: Chapter One, which I haven’t seen since I caught it in theatres a couple of years ago. But time has been kind to my memories of that movie and, even if it  hadn’t, Chapter Two is where the stuff that I’m more interested in starts to percolate to the surface, at least theoretically, and I’m hoping it gets real weird.

If nothing else, there’s a carnival midway in the trailer, and I am always on board for carnival midways.

I usually watch and review more older movies than newer ones, and while that hasn’t been the case the past few weeks, there have been a few, including the genuinely great Alice, Sweet Alice and the incredibly problematic but fascinating Cruising. Also The Legacy, to continue my parade of reviews of rich Satanist movies.

Screenland Armour has unveiled their Shocktober lineup for 2019, and tickets are supposed to go on sale sometime today, though I haven’t seen that happen yet. I’ll link when it does. There’s a bunch of stuff in there that I’m going to be a part of, including introducing a couple of my favorite Vincent Price flicks! I’ll post dates when I’ve got ’em.

I’ll also be attending some stuff that I’m not in charge of, including seeing Goblin score Suspiria and Deep Red live on the 8th and 9th, catching the Nerdoween Triple Feature (my annual tradition) on the 18th, going to Analog Sunday on the 13th, and attending the fourth annual (I believe) CarpenterFest on the 25th.

In non-movie-related news, I’ll also be co-hosting a shindig at the Afterword Tavern & Shelves in the Crossroads on October 23. We’re calling it A Ghoulish Evening with Orrin Grey & Signal Horizon. Costumes are encouraged, there’ll be books and libations for sale, and more details to come as the event draws closer.