I’d originally planned do a review, with my 19 y.o. son, of Train to Busan, which was one of my favorite horror movies watched in the previous year. I’m always a sucker for a good Zombie flick, and this was one of the best I’ve seen in a while. (Go watch it. Keep some tissues nearby for the ending). But I kept getting lured into watching other horror movies, so he and I never got around to watching it again for the purposes of writing a review.
I also thought I might do a review of Midnight Mass, which is definitely my favorite horror film/series of the year and probably cements Mike Flannagan as my new favorite horror director. Yes it was brutal But it was so brilliantly written and acted. It was perhaps the most sympathetic horror story I’ve ever watched. However, the kiddo hasn’t watched it yet, and although I’ve tried talking him into it, he’s been reluctant.
Ultimately I decided to ask my son what horror movie he thought I should watch, and he picked one of his most favorites: The Descent (2005), which you can watch for free right now if you have Amazon Prime. First, can I say how thrilled I was to find out one of my son’s favorite horror movies features a band of totally badass women? It passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors, and while it has tons of gore and brutal fight scenes, it features absolutely zero sexual violence. I’m so proud. wipes proud mom tear from eye. While the movie poster features a quote that says something about it being the best horror thriller since Alien, I can’t quite agree with that statement. But I will say it was worth the hour or so I spent on it.
Here’s a blurb from Amazon: A girls’ trip to explore a [unmapped and “undiscovered”] labyrinth of North Carolina caves takes a terrifying turn in this spelunking scarefest.
Horror is highly subjective. What scares one person won’t scare another. In this case, the horror relies a lot on claustrophobia. I don’t necessarily have a nagging fear of enclosed spaces, though. In fact, I’ve explored quite a few caves over the years and always marveled at the experience in a positive way. But I think it’s fair to say that particularly element went over well (or dreadfully) with my son. There’s also the fact that he was born in West Virginia (mountain territory) and spends a lot of time there with extended family. He has intimate experience with old, abandoned mines and such and gets a kick out of exploring them for the horror thrill of it. I talked to him more in depth about this movie after we watched it this past weekend, and here’s what he had to say:
Me: Why is The Descent one of your favorites, and what about it, in particular, makes it scary for you?
D: The reason I like decent is because it’s a breath of fresh air.
Me: In what way?
D: I feel as if it’s similar to horror movies of that time but mixes physical horror with psychological horror. You have cramped areas, no map, no one knows we’re you are…
Me: So, it’s like the perfect storm of bad luck, and that type of construct is also kind of believable.
D: And growing up visiting mountains a lot makes this story scary because these things come up to hunt, and yeah that was a great way to put that storm of bad luck. Like, could they hunt you?
Me: What would you say was your most favorite scene or element? Or what one thing really stood out to you in this movie, where you were like: Oh that was cool! Or, That was especially scary! (WARNING: HIS ANSWER INCLUDES A SPOILER)
D: My favorite moment was when the main character is fighting the girl creature in the pit and has to kill it with a tooth bone. It shows truly how desperate she is to live plus how badass/resourceful she is.
Me: Oh yeah. That was a great (disgusting) scene.
D: Yeah, that’s why it’s my favorite. LOL.
Me: Anything else we should say about this movie?
D: If you like two badass women kicking creature butts, watch this movie.
Me: LOL. That’s perfect, actually.
Ultimately, the movie didn’t really scare me because the claustrophobia factor, a big element, didn’t elicit as strong of feeling of dread in me as it did for my son. I also felt the “monster” factor could have used a lighter touch, particularly in building suspense in the beginning. I would’ve liked more teasing, more suspense. I think the monster element could have happened more subtly over time until one big shocking reveal and the fight to stay alive and escape thereafter.
I can’t say, however, that the idea of trapping a group of women in a cave that has no obvious escape route, and then sending a ravenous horde that has evolved to thrive in the underground gloom after them, isn’t a great recipe for a horror film. It was, and it’s not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon this Halloween season. Besides, as I said before, horror is subjective. This movie might be the one that perfectly tickles your horror bone.
Boo-graphy: Karissa Laurel lives in North Carolina with her kid, her husband, the occasional in-law, and a very hairy husky named Bonnie. Some of her favorite things are coffee, dark chocolate, superheroes, and Star Wars. She can quote Princess Bride verbatim. In the summer, she’s camping, kayaking, and boating at the lake, and in the winter, she’s skiing or curled up with a good book. She is the author of the Urban Fantasy trilogy, The Norse Chronicles; Touch of Smoke, a stand-alone paranormal romance; and The Stormbourne Chronicles, a YA second-world fantasy trilogy.
Serendipity at the End of the World — Serendipity Blite and her sister, Bloom, use their unique talents to survive the apocalyptic aftermath of the Dead Disease. When Bloom is kidnapped, Sera is determined to get her back. Attempting a rescue mission in an undead-infested city would be suicidal, so Sera forms a specialized team to help retrieve her sister. But unfortunate accident sets Sera teetering on the edge of death. She must fight to save her own life, because surviving could mean finding family, love, and possibly a cure.
You can find it on Kindle Vella New episodes come out every Saturday
Reviewing Horror Novels: Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson & NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
I was working on an interview post for Meghan about Halloween, and that got me in the mood for a good horror story. Since I listen to way more audiobooks than I can afford to buy, I often rely on my library to supplement my Audible diet. When I went searching on my library’s audiobook app, I stumbled across The Hunting of Hill House. While I’m familiar with Shirley Jackson and the story on which a terrible 90s movie and a pretty good recent Netflix series is based, I’ve never actually read the source material. So, I decided it was time to remedy that.
I’m glad I did. Hill House is clearly a foundational story in the horror genre, particularly the hunted house sub-genre. You can see Jackson’s inspiration in so many stories that came after hers. Stephen King openly admits Hill House was a big influence on The Shining, for example. Eleanor and Danny Torrance have a lot in common. So does Hill House and Overlook Hotel.
If you know nothing about The Haunting of Hill House, here’s a blurb: “It is the story of four [paranormal activity] seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile [abandoned mansion] called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting”; Theodora, the lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.”
The main protagonist is Eleanor, who has an extremely sensitive connection to the house. Jackson, however, leaves what the house actually is, and what the haunting actually is, very much up to the reader’s interpretation. Read carefully from here on… my discussion will contain spoilers. For me the fact that Jackson made a point of mentioning Eleanor’s childhood “poltergeist” experience (an avalanche of rocks rained on Eleanor’s childhood home without any clear source or reason) meant it was Jackson‘s intent to show that the “haunting” at Hill House wasn’t entirely inside Eleanor’s head. Plus the book clearly states the other members of the party were witnesses the haunting events (beating on doors, vandalism of Theodora’s clothes, writing on the walls in what seemed like blood, a frigid cold presence that sucked the warmth out of rooms). Whether Eleanor is the poltergeist herself–she might be some kind of telekinetic–or is highly psychically sensitive to those kinds of energies is what’s so wonderfully ambiguous in this story. Ambiguousness plays a big part in heightening the story’s sensations of terror and dread, and it’s often my most favorite tool in horror.
I decided that, for me, I believe Eleanor was psychically sensitive to the energies of the house, which had a history and reputation for malevolence long before Eleanor’s arrival. Those energies manipulated her specifically because of her vulnerabilities and sensitivities.
The arrival of Ms. Montague (Dr. Montague’s wife and a self-proclaimed spiritualist/psychic) seemed to underscore this—she was the embodiment of dramatic irony. She was so insistent that the others in the party had no psychic ability. However, when she worked with “planchette” (as in a Ouija Board planchette), all the information Ms. Montague received from it had to do with “Nell” i.e, Eleanor, which proved how physically sensitive Eleanor was and how obtuse Ms. Montague actually was even, although she believed the opposite about herself. This irony was one of my favorite devices in the story. The results from Ms. Montague’s consultations with “planchette” were yet another clue that the things happening to Eleanor were not completely in Eleanor’s head. Yet, it also served to further muddy how much of what happened in the house was Eleanor’s doing and how much was the house itself.
In the end, it’s my belief that (BIG SPOILER) Eleanor’s spirit becomes a part of the house’s energies along with those of the others who died there before her. I think before her death, Eleanor was already starting to become a part of the house’s sentience, as if the house were absorbing her and vice versa. The house is basically an amalgam of all the people it victimized over the years.
I can’t believe it took me this many years to finally get around to reading this book, but I’m glad I did. It’s such a cultural touchpoint, I think it should be expected reading as much as Dickens or Shakespeare or Faulkner or Steinbeck, etc. It’s also interesting in its themes of female sexuality. It’s definitely ahead of it’s time and such a masterful portrayal of the “human condition”. I’ll fight anyone who says genre fiction can’t represent the human experience as well as literary fiction. Haunting of Hill House should prove all genre naysayers wrong.
After finishing Hill House, which was indeed very literary in tone and style, I was still in the horror mood, so I went back to my library app and found N0S4A2, which has showed up repeatedly over the years in lists of “best horror novels”. The book is by Joe Hill, who is Stephen King’s son. It’s written in a much more commercial and accessible style, and Hill is clearly influenced by the works of his father. So, if you’re a King fan, which I am, you might enjoy Hill’s books, too.
Again, for those who may be unfamiliar, here’s a blurb (with which I have taken great liberties):
Victoria “Vic” McQueen, a deeply flawed woman who spends most of the novel in a state of perpetual denial, has an uncanny knack for finding things using a Raleigh Tuff Burner bike and a magical covered bridge. Joe Hill is, as I mentioned, Stephen King’s son, so it’s no surprise this story is set in New England, and what is a New England story without a covered bridge?
The magic bridge eventually takes Vic to Charles Talent Manx, a soul sucking vampiric creature-person who drives a cool old Rolls Royce Wraith that’s a lot like Kit from Knight Rider if Kit were possessed by a demon. Or, you know, kind of like that evil 1958 Plymouth Fury in Christine, a book by Joe Hill’s dad. Anyway, Charlie Manx likes kids but not in that “kiddie fiddler” kind of way that everyone wrongly accuses him of, and he kidnaps and takes the kids to a perpetual childhood in “Christmasland” (Hint: Christmasland isn’t as fun as it sounds). Helping him is the “Gasmask Man”, a simple-minded, childlike man who really, really hates women, especially “Mommies,” and does everything he can to torture and abuse them throughout the book. Fun times.
Manx sees Vic as a threat and tries to do bad things to her, but Victoria manages to escape and spends decades dealing, poorly, with the emotional trauma of her magical abilities and her near-death run-in with Manx and Gasmask Man. She has some good times, even manages to fall in love with a wonderful cinnamon roll of a man (seriously, Lou is the best character in the book), and she writes some successful children’s novels (that sound so cool they should exist in real life), but literal demons from her past haunt her into near insanity, and her life starts falling apart.
Eventually Vic, Manx, and Gasmask Man have their final showdown when Manx, still pissed that Victoria got away from him all those years ago, comes to seek his revenge. She puts on her big girl panties long enough to get stabbed, burned, beaten, and broken a whole lot before she finally goes Grinch all over Manx’s Christmasland.
I’m not going to lie. I struggled with this book. There was a time when I had more patience and tolerance for horror that used misogyny as one of its elements. That the misogyny was presented as an evil thing that came from the “bad guys” who may or may not meet justice for their violent hateful ways isn’t enough justification for me anymore. I don’t have much stomach left for premises that are predicated on violence against children and women (mothers in particular). I feel like we’ve been victims in media far too long, and I’m just so tired of that trope.
That Vic, a woman and a mother, turns out to be a righteous hero (somewhat of an anti-hero at times) was perhaps a redeeming element. She’s a complex character, written well. She and Lou, a great gentle giant of a man who was a great contrast to the woman hating violence of Manx and Gasmask Man, are what made the book worth finishing. There were more than a few times when I wanted to give up on it, but Lou and Vic were worth rooting for.
I might read The Haunting of Hill House again in the future. It’s the kind of book that will, I suspect, stand up to re-reading and will reveal new secrets and themes and elements upon future study. For me, N0S4A2 has none of that. Not that a good entertaining book needs to be deep or literary to be worthwhile. The kinds of books I write don’t stand up to long term scrutiny either. But as far as horror goes, phycological terror always appeals to me more than bloody violence and gore. For that reason alone, I definitely recommend The Haunting of Hill House over N0S4A2. But, I think any well rounded reader, especially ones who are fond of horror, would get something out of reading both.
Boo-graphy: Karissa Laurel lives in North Carolina with her kid, her husband, the occasional in-law, and a very hairy husky named Bonnie. Some of her favorite things are coffee, dark chocolate, superheroes, and Star Wars. She can quote Princess Bride verbatim. In the summer, she’s camping, kayaking, and boating at the lake, and in the winter, she’s skiing or curled up with a good book. She is the author of the Urban Fantasy trilogy, The Norse Chronicles; Touch of Smoke, a stand-alone paranormal romance; and The Stormbourne Chronicles, a YA second-world fantasy trilogy.
Serendipity at the End of the World — Serendipity Blite and her sister, Bloom, use their unique talents to survive the apocalyptic aftermath of the Dead Disease. When Bloom is kidnapped, Sera is determined to get her back. Attempting a rescue mission in an undead-infested city would be suicidal, so Sera forms a specialized team to help retrieve her sister. But unfortunate accident sets Sera teetering on the edge of death. She must fight to save her own life, because surviving could mean finding family, love, and possibly a cure.
You can find it on Kindle Vella New episodes come out every Saturday
Halloween Spirits: A Pairing of Scary Movies & Contemporary Cocktails
Midnight Mass — Really more of a limited series than a movie, Midnight Mass is the latest Netflix entry from Mike Flanagan, the director who brought us The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and many more. He’s quickly becoming one of my favorite horror directors, and if you like scary movies but haven’t seen Midnight Mass yet, you really must: “The arrival of a charismatic young priest brings glorious miracles, ominous mysteries and renewed religious fervor to a dying town desperate to believe.”
The movie centers around a devoted population (most of the inhabitants of a tiny, isolated fishing village) who attend mass in a small catholic church. The congregants regularly participate in communion and eventually discover the sacramental wine is more than merely the symbolic blood of Christ. With that in mind, I’m paring this movie with “The Devil’s Margarita,” a tequila cocktail with a red wine “float.”
Add the tequila, lime juice and simple syrup to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass. Float the red wine on top by slowly pouring it over the back of a bar spoon so it pools on the surface of the drink. Garnish with a lime wheel.
The Shining — The Shining—directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on the novel by Stephen King about a haunted hotel, starring Jack Nicholson and Shelly Duval. It’s really one of the best horror movies out there and one of my perennial favorites. I can watch it over and over. That wild look in Jack Nicholson’s eye as he peers through the hole he just hacked into the door of the bathroom where his wife is hiding and snarls “Here’s Johnny!” will never not be scary as hell.
Fun movie fact: How is it that Kubrick, infamous for his painstaking attention to detail, allows Jack Torrance to order a glass of bourbon, only for the ghost bartender to pour from a bottle that is clearly Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey? Anyway… as for a cocktail pairing, I thought to find something older and classic that might have been served at The Overlook Hotel in its glory days. Instead of that, I cheated and checked Google. A website called 12 Bottle Bar has a recipe for a drink based on the movie. It’s called the “Jack Torrance”.
1 oz Jack Daniels 3 oz Advocaat 2 Dashes Angostura Bitters (optional)
Place all ingredients in a mixing glass half full with crushed ice. Shake and pour, without straining, into a rocks glass
Or, if something sweeter is more to your taste, maybe you’d prefer a little REDRUM Punch:
1 cup of orange juice 1 cup of pineapple juice 1/4 cup lime juice 1/4 cup rum 1/4 cup dark rum 1/2 cup of grenadine
In a pitcher, combine the juices, the rum, and the grenadine. Stir. Pour into ice-filled glasses and serve with an orange slice and maraschino cherries.
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil — From the hapless victims’ points of view, Tucker and Dale are the worst kind of psycho killers, but the audience is in on the secret. They’re really just a couple of good ol’ boys who want to spend a weekend alone in the woods getting back to nature and cracking a few cold beers. What happens during their vacation is really just a series of unfortunate, hilarious, and grisly events. With that in mind, you could probably crack a few Pabst Blue Ribbons to enjoy with this movie, but since cocktails is the theme, cocktails (made with beer) is what you’re going to get. The classic Shandy:
6 ounces pale ale or lager beer (Your favorite cheap beer works great for this!) 6 ounces ginger ale, ginger beer, lemon lime soda (Sprite), or sparkling lemonade For the garnish: lemon wedge (optional) Optional: 1 dash bitters adds a complex flavor
Add the beer and mixer to a glass and stir gently to combine. Garnish with a lemon wedge.
Cabin in the Woods — Similar to Tucker and Dale Vs Evil, Cabin in the Woods is another movie that brilliantly subverts the most cliché horror movie tropes. “Five friends arrive at a secluded cabin with clear rules for their retreat. But when protocol is broken, punishment is swift — and everyone will pay.” While Tucker and Dale use irony and humor as their main tool, Cabin in the Woods sticks to its horror roots. It’s got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty. It’s got monsters and nightmares galore. You want dismembered body parts? It’s got twenty (at least)!
Don’t watch the end if you have a weak stomach, but if a little (okay, a lot) of blood and gore is your thing, then a classic Bloody Mary might be the perfect movie refreshment for you.
Pour some celery salt onto a small plate. Rub the juicy side of the lemon or lime wedge along the lip of a pint glass. Roll the outer edge of the glass in celery salt until fully coated, then fill the glass with ice and set aside. Squeeze the lemon and lime wedges into a shaker and drop them in. Add the vodka, tomato juice, horseradish, Tabasco, Worcestershire, black pepper, paprika, plus a pinch of celery salt along with ice and shake gently. Strain into the prepared glass. Garnish with parsley sprig, 2 speared green olives, a lime wedge and a celery stalk (optional).
The Lost Boys — This was the first “real” horror movie I remember watching as a kid. I still love the soundtrack to this day. It was fully of great 80s cheese and glamorous vampire boys that would put poor Edward Cullen to shame. Classic duo Corey Haim and Corey Feldman use every tool in their arsenal—holy water, wooden stakes, and of course garlic—to battle a coven of blood sucking fiends and save their hot, broody older brother from supernatural, evil influences. If you want a drink that’ll keep away the vampires, too, then a Black Garlic Mojito might be just the thing for you:
1½ ounce dark rum 1 orange wheel, sliced into halves 3 basil leaves, plus 1 sprig for garnish 1 ounce black garlic simple syrup* Soda water
Muddle basil and half an orange wheel in the bottom of a rocks glass filled with ice. Add black garlic syrup and rum. Stir, and top with soda water. Garnish with orange and basil.
*Black garlic simple syrup ½ cup hot water ½ cup Demerara sugar 3 cloves black garlic 1–2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
To make syrup: Bring water to boil. Stir in the sugar until it dissolves. Pour the syrup into a blender and add garlic. Blend until the garlic is finely ground. Use a fine-mesh strainer to remove any solids. Add the vinegar and taste. It should taste slightly acidic with a sweet, earthy finish.
Boo-graphy: Karissa Laurel lives in North Carolina with her kid, her husband, the occasional in-law, and a very hairy husky named Bonnie. Some of her favorite things are coffee, dark chocolate, superheroes, and Star Wars. She can quote Princess Bride verbatim. In the summer, she’s camping, kayaking, and boating at the lake, and in the winter, she’s skiing or curled up with a good book. She is the author of the Urban Fantasy trilogy, The Norse Chronicles; Touch of Smoke, a stand-alone paranormal romance; and The Stormbourne Chronicles, a YA second-world fantasy trilogy.
Serendipity at the End of the World — Serendipity Blite and her sister, Bloom, use their unique talents to survive the apocalyptic aftermath of the Dead Disease. When Bloom is kidnapped, Sera is determined to get her back. Attempting a rescue mission in an undead-infested city would be suicidal, so Sera forms a specialized team to help retrieve her sister. But unfortunate accident sets Sera teetering on the edge of death. She must fight to save her own life, because surviving could mean finding family, love, and possibly a cure.
You can find it on Kindle Vella New episodes come out every Saturday
Meghan: Hey, Karissa! Welcome to Meghan’s HAUNTED House of Books! What is your favorite part of Halloween?
Karissa: I like that Halloween makes it culturally acceptable to indulge the darker side of our human natures. We can explore our feelings about monstrous and evil things without explicitly approving of them. The world is both light and dark, and most of the times we’re not supposed to acknowledge the dark stuff, but on Halloween, it’s acceptable.
I also love the aesthetics of Halloween—skeletons and bats and spiders and gothic clothing. I love costumes and how, for one night, you can be something or someone completely different. I love the idea of trick-or-treating, that we let down our guards and open our homes, even temporarily, to the community. It’s one activity that will never work as a virtual, on-line event. You only get the candy if you’re willing to go door to door and actually meet your neighbors. Some people hate that part of it, but I always liked the human interaction aspect of trick-or-treating.
Meghan: What is your favorite Halloween tradition?
Karissa: In my day job, I work in an office in a historical home in the downtown area of my city. My office/house is adjacent to one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, and that neighborhood goes ALL OUT at Halloween. They put up very elaborate decorations. The city shuts down one of the main streets in the neighborhood to keep cars out, and there’s a huge street party and tons and tons of trick-or-treating. Ever since I started working near that neighborhood about six years ago, I’ve been taking my family there on Halloween night. My kid is too old to trick-or-treat any more, but we enjoy going to see the decorations and the costumes. There’s also a Krispy Kreme nearby and we always stop in and grab some of the Halloween themed donuts.
Meghan: If Halloween is your favorite holiday (or even second favorite holiday), why?
Karissa: I don’t know that I have a favorite holiday because there’s something I like about most of them. I guess, if I had to choose, I like Thanksgiving most of all because it’s all the best stuff about Christmas but without all the commerciality and pressure to spend money and give gifts. I love to eat, I love spending time with my family, and there are fewer expectations. But Halloween might be my second favorite (even though we don’t get any days off from work for it. Why not? Who do I send a petition to about that?) because of all the things mentioned previously. So many holidays are similar, but there’s nothing else quite like Halloween, culturally speaking. It’s all about having fun, letting loose, indulging in fantasies.
Meghan: What are you superstitious about?
Karissa: I am not really a superstitious person, although I do sometimes feel afraid to acknowledge out loud when something is going well or when I’ve had a streak of good fortune. Some part of me seems to think that acknowledging good luck is the fastest way of making sure that good luck comes to an end. But I’m not afraid of anything like broken mirrors, walking under ladders, or black cats.
Meghan: What/who is your favorite horror monster or villain?
Karissa: This is a hard one, mainly because there are so many good ones. I conferred with my kid (who is 19 y.o. and not much of a kid anymore) and he chose the demon from the Jeepers Creepers franchise, and I agree he’s a good choice. He only shows up every so often, but once he does, he’s impossible to kill. No matter what you do (like run him over with the car until he’s pulp in the road), he just keeps coming back. And he has the scariest face ever. That is some quality special effects make-up right there.
But while the Creeper is high on my list, I think Tim Curry’s performance as the demon clown in Stephen King’s It is probably top of my list. He was utterly terrifying in the most subtle way. He could just stand there in his clown make-up and pointy yellow teeth and scare the bejeezus out of me.
Meghan: Which unsolved murder fascinates you the most?
Karissa: I do watch quite a lot of true crime shows and listen to podcasts, but I can’t say there’s one that really fascinates me more than another. I was intrigued by the story of Hae Min Lee’s death, and whether or not Adnan Syed, convicted for killing her, really did it. Check out Season one of the Serial podcast for the whole story. I have to say, based on what I’ve heard and what we know in the years since…I think there’s a really good chance Adnan didn’t do it.
Meghan: Which urban legend scares you the most?
Karissa: Not so much an urban legend but when I was little, I had a book of local, North Carolina ghost stories that fascinated me. Ever since then, I’ve had a special place in my heart for local stories like the Devil’s Tramping Ground and The Maco Light.
The Devil’s Tramping Ground is a camping spot located in a forest near the Harper’s Crossroads area in Bear Creek, North Carolina. Lore says that the Devil “tramps” and haunts a barren circle of ground in which nothing is supposed to grow. Things left there will disappear overnight. Of course, there are some scientific explanations for why this place is so strange, but speculating about the devil is more forum
As for the Maco Light, according to the most common version of the legend, Joe Baldwin was in the rear car of a Wilmington, NC-bound train on a rainy night in 1867. As the train neared Maco, Baldwin realized the car had become detached from the rest of the train. He knew another train was following, so he ran to the rear platform and frantically waved a lantern to signal the oncoming train. The engineer failed to see the stranded railroad car in time, and Baldwin was decapitated in the collision. Some say the head was never found
Shortly after the accident, residents of Maco and railroad employees reported sightings of a white light along a section of railroad track through swamps west of Maco station, and word spread that Joe Baldwin had returned to search for his missing head. The light was said to appear in the distance, before approaching along the tracks facing East, bobbing at a height of about 5 feet, and either flying to the side of the track in an arc or receding from the viewer. Other reports spoke of green or red lights, or other patterns of movement
Meghan: Who is your favorite serial killer and why?
Karissa: Although I like true crime a lot, I don’t tend to care for serial killer stories. It’s one thing to get a thrill from a fictional murderer like Mike Myers, but I don’t like anything that smacks of glorification of real-life killers in any sort of way. I tend to shy away from serial killer mythology.
Meghan: How old were you when you saw your first horror movie? How old were you when you read your first horror book?
Karissa: I probably had seen movies that were considered horror at an earlier age, but don’t remember anything specific. However, I do remember having a Halloween sleepover with some girlfriends when I was in middle school, I was probably about 12 years-old, and my mom let us rent The Lost Boys. I was absolutely enthralled. I don’t know if that can actually be considered a horror movie, but Kiefer Sutherland and his band of vampire misfits were certainly no vegetarian, sparkly Twilight vampires. I still love that movie to this day.
I can’t specifically remember when I picked up my first horror novel, but I do remember that The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree was one of my most favorite books as a little kid—I was always drawn to spooky things and didn’t scare easily. I read way ahead of my grade level, and I grew up reading Stephen King, Christopher Pike, V.C. Andrews, and Dean Koontz. My mom was very open minded about reading, and I have no memory of her discouraging me from reading anything.
Meghan: Which horror novel unsettled you the most?
As a kid, I remember reading The Tommyknockers by Stephen King and being so freaked out that I had to go outside in the daylight to finish reading it. But the most recent thing I’ve read that made me feel deeply unsettled is The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. The whole book is full of moments that took my outside of myself in a frightening, disturbing way, but there is a climactic chase scene near the end that is one of the most downright horrifying things I’ve read in a long, long time. Jones establishes a prolonged period of heightened tension that is torturous, but in a really good way, and it’s never boring or tedious. If you love horror and haven’t read that book yet, you must.
I also have to shout out to I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. It’s nothing like the Will Smith movie, by the way. It’s one of the most gorgeously written books I’ve ever read and filled me with so much existential dread. It’s also extremely timely and relatable to the current pandemic culture we’re all experiencing.
Meghan: Which horror movie scarred you for life?
Karissa: Horror, like comedy, is highly subjective, right? What scares one person won’t scare the next. I’ve watched tons of horror over the years and little of it has actually scared me. However, I can’t stand movies that are classified as horror but are actually just torture porn, such as House of 1000 Corpses. My husband, when we first started dating years ago, asked me to watch that movie with him and his friends. I ended up putting a blanket over my head and going to sleep instead of watching it. It didn’t scare me so much as sicken me. I still won’t go anywhere near that franchise, and I’m reluctant to watch any Rob Zombie productions because of that movie.
I wouldn’t say it scarred me, but George A. Romero’s ’68 Night of the Living Dead scared the crap out of my when I saw it years ago. It still gives me chills, and it’s still my favorite zombie movie, ever. With little in the way of special effects and nothing like CGI even remotely possible, Romero had to be clever. He used music and sound effects, lighting, and careful pacing to create a highly atmospheric movie that is thick with dread and horror. The opening scene, with that slow shambling zombie in the background, out of focus, slowly coming closer and closer… That was pure cinematic genius. I still prefer it over newer zombie movies that rely too much on CGI.
Meghan: What is your favorite Halloween costume?
Karissa: As a kid, I was kind of spoiled and precocious about costumes. My mom was crafty and could sew. I always insisted that she make me one-of-a-kind costumes, and she indulged me. The biggest hit of my childhood costume career was when I went as a whole bag of M&Ms. My mom sewed me a costume that looked like a classic bag of regular M&Ms complete with the logo and barcode—it was kind of like a giant, brown, rectangular dress. I painted my face to look like a green M&M poking out of the top and put M&Ms made from balloons on my shoulders. I won a costume contest, and my mom sent pictures of me to the Mars chocolate company that owns M&Ms. They sent back stickers, coupons, and a personalized thank you letter.
I don’t sew like my mom can, but I like making things, so I’ve managed to make some pretty good costumes for my kid over the years. He’s been Popeye (that was a big hit with the old folks in my neighborhood), a Ghost Buster, the Ghost Rider, Gene Simmons from Kiss, and many more. When I used to work in a bigger office, I once made fancy witch hats for all the ladies in my section to wear on Halloween.
Meghan: What is your favorite Halloween-themed song?
Karissa: Easily the answer to that is Thriller. I am Gen-X and was a little kid when that album came out. I loved everything Michael Jackson in those days. I didn’t see the video until I was a little older, maybe around seven or eight years old, and I remember being absolutely captivated by it. I still love the song and the video after all these years, even when it’s not Halloween.
Meghan: What is your favorite Halloween candy or treat? What is your most disappointing?
Karissa: When my son was still trick-or-treating, I always looked forward to taking his Mounds or Almond Joys. I love coconut, but he didn’t, so it worked out well for me to take those and leave the rest for him. I especially like Mounds because I prefer dark chocolate. I absolutely cannot stand Twizzlers. They taste like wax to me. Ugh.
Meghan: Karissa, this was fantastic! Thanks for stopping by. Before you go, can you leave us with your go-to Halloween movies and books?
Boo-graphy: Karissa Laurel lives in North Carolina with her kid, her husband, the occasional in-law, and a very hairy husky named Bonnie. Some of her favorite things are coffee, dark chocolate, superheroes, and Star Wars. She can quote Princess Bride verbatim. In the summer, she’s camping, kayaking, and boating at the lake, and in the winter, she’s skiing or curled up with a good book. She is the author of the Urban Fantasy trilogy, The Norse Chronicles; Touch of Smoke, a stand-alone paranormal romance; and The Stormbourne Chronicles, a YA second-world fantasy trilogy.
Serendipity at the End of the World — Serendipity Blite and her sister, Bloom, use their unique talents to survive the apocalyptic aftermath of the Dead Disease. When Bloom is kidnapped, Sera is determined to get her back. Attempting a rescue mission in an undead-infested city would be suicidal, so Sera forms a specialized team to help retrieve her sister. But unfortunate accident sets Sera teetering on the edge of death. She must fight to save her own life, because surviving could mean finding family, love, and possibly a cure.
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