Halloween’s A-Comin’

In the spirit of the season, I shall postpone my review of STAR WARS: Fate of the Jedi: Omen until a later time, which may be tomorrow, or may be never.  Now that that’s done, that means I’m starting (finally) on Joe Abercrombie’s The Last Argument of Kings today at lunch.  I cannot wait to dive in and see what’s going to happen there and see how The First Law series ends.

Enough of that.  Let’s take a look at some Halloween themed stuff.1.  Post-Apocalypse survival.  Growing up a fan of Scooby-Doo, this picture blows me away.  I can imagine the world in which Velma and Scooby find themselves in, but I wonder what sacrifices they were forced to make to survive.  “Jinkies,” I can hear Velma say, “this post-apocalyptic vampire and zombie infested wasteland is a tough life, eh, Scoob?”  Anyway, I thought the image was pretty cool, and this could be an interesting comic/Adult Swim show idea.  This image originates from here, by the way, if you’re interested.

I’m not sure what it is about the post-apocalyptic genre that I love so very much, but I do like it.  Whether it’s reading a book or playing a game like Fallout 3, there’s something very attractive in the post-apoc setting.

2.  Zombies.  I found a very interesting article called “Zombie 101,” written by Matt Zoller Seitz.  Basically there is a few paragraphs written about zombies and their cultural significance to us, which is interesting to read.  However, at the end of the article, Seitz has created a 12 minute video essay that really drives home the point.  The essay pays homage to all sorts of zombie films and I really enjoyed watching it.  You can find the article and essay here.

Have you noticed that recently both zombies and vampires have become very, very popular?  I’m sure Twilight had something to do with the vampire revival, but I have no clue what started up the zombie revolution.  I grew up with zombies, and I can remember my mom waking me up at night when I was a wee lad to watch a movie with her because she was scared to watch it alone.  That movie was Night of the Living Dead, the defining zombie movie.  (Okay, in the haziness of my mind it may not actually be NotLD, but I’m pretty sure it was one of Romero’s classic B&W zombie movies.)

3.  Jack-O’-Lanterns.  This year I’ve decided to do some actual pumpkin carving other than a traditional Jack-face.  I’ve not chosen exactly what I want to carve yet, but I have narrowed down my options.  There are a lot of ideas out there, and some cool stencils, too, if you’re interested in trying it out.  If it turns out good, I’ll try to post a picture.

4.  Candy.  Man oh man oh man do I love candy.  Hard candy, like Runts, Gobstoppers, Sprees, Nerds, Sweet Tarts, Bottlecaps, and suckers, are a constant nag to my sweet-desiring mouth.  Soft candy, like Chewy Sprees, Skittles, Shock Tarts, and Gummy anythings, are an equal temptation for me to scorn.  And then there’s chocolate.  There’s just something that’s hard to ignore when you’ve got chocolate, especially dark chocolate, tempting you, calling out to you, begging you to bite into its wonderful bark.  And adding peanut butter to the chocolate is often something I cannot refuse.  Dang, now I really want some candy.  Maybe I can convince my brother-in-law or my cousins to part with some of their loot after the party this weekend.

I hope you all are ready for Halloween.  I know I am.  Plus, I’m planning on making another cheesecake for the party this weekend.  I may try and put a Halloween spin on it, even, if I think I’m up to the challenge.

(NaNoWriMo is approaching quickly, and I, like Dave, am chomping at the bit.  Actually, I’ve cheated a bit and wrote a few things down in my planning stage.  But I’ve justified myself, telling myself that I have to still write 50,000 words in November.  And I’m getting my 360 today…)