Halloween Ends: My $0.02

Halloween is my favorite holiday and my favorite horror movie series. I’ve been a fan of The Shape since I was old enough to understand what it was. I’ve seen all the movies multiple times (even the ones I hate I’ve seen more than once), and I consider Michael Myers bae, but that’s a whole other conversation for another day. 

I’ve seen Halloween Ends three times. Normally, I do a short review of the movie and post it on my Facebook page for my friends. But I wasn’t able to do that because I have so many feelings regarding this movie. I loved 2018, and was okay with Halloween Kills. I knew going in to keep my expectations within a particular range, and even with that caveat, I was sorely disappointed.

Let me say this: Halloween ended. It fucking ENDED. There is no disputing that. Michael can’t come back from THAT. And let me say this: Somebody will reboot the series in five years, and I will be in the theater when that happens. 

Having said all that, spoiler alert.

Horror 201: Content Creators--Chilling Tales For Dark Nights

My dear friend Noob, who is a fellow horror head, passed that love onto her daughter, whom I will call Zip. I was eagerly sharing with her about finding Mortis Media and how much I enjoyed it. Zip countered with Chilling Tales for Dark Nights, and if you’ve read any of the later chapters in “Switchblade Romance,” then you know that I am a card-carrying stan of the channel. With CTfDN, I hit the scary story motherlode. What makes it different from Mortis Media is that they have different narrators. I quickly became a fan of Jason Hill and Otis Jiry. Both channels are awesome, but CTfDN edges out MM due to the various and multiple narrators. Worth checking out, for real.

Horror 201: Content Creators--Mortis Media

One time, I found a Boris Karloff story anthology online one night called Tales of the Frightened. I listened to it every single night as it helped me fall asleep. One night, after about two months of the same old same old, my YT algorithm spit out something called "10 Scary Tales in the Snow," or something to that effect. I clicked on and discovered Mortis Media. Mortis Media has hundreds of scary stories (short and long) that range from A to Z in terms of themes and I was in heaven. The narrator—Mortis I assume his name is—has a very soothing voice and never fails to put me to sleep. Definitely look into Mortis Media out if you’re into scary stories to help you sleep or anything else.

Horror 201: Content Creators--CZsWorld

I don’t even recall when or how I stumbled upon CZsWorld. My man CZ does horror movie character histories and they’re really good. He also has a series called “Things You Missed…” which goes into detail about the little details hidden in horror movies that only real fans of the genre and series can truly appreciate. The horror histories are great from the perspective of a horror movie lover and that of an author. I love the depth that CZ goes into with his character analyses. In addition to other things such as hosting creepypastas and doing “Dead Talks” on his channel, CZ also creates horror short films of his own. He’s a fascinating creator and lover of horror, so he’s alright with me. Check him out.

Horror 201: Content Creators--Cody Leach

I found Cody Leach’s channel around the same time I found Dr. Wolfula. Cody is a horror head and the bulk of his content is horror-focused. He gives thoughtful and complete reviews of his favorite horror films, and he is a stalwart fan of Michael Myers and anything Halloween-related. I’ve only been following Cody for a year, but I really like his content; especially his rankings of all things Halloween and his love for other horror franchises. Check him out if you like detailed movie reviews and cinematic rankings.

Horror 201: Content Creators--Decker Shado

Randomly found Decker’s channel six or seven years ago. Like Off The Shelf Reviews, Decker reviews movies of all genres, but it is his horror reviews that keep me tuning in. He reviews good horror flicks as well as trash horror flicks. Decker calls himself “The Internet Personality With the Best Hair,” and it’s applicable because he has long, curly locks. He’s funny as hell; I’ve found myself cracking up many times watching his channel.

Decker frames his horror series reviews under the title “The Summer Of (insert horror franchise here),” and spends late spring and summer binging and discussing all of the movies in a given franchise. Decker is very entertaining and worth checking out. His “Summer of Halloween” & “Summer of Freddy vs Jason” reviews are laugh out loud hilarious.

Horror 201: Content Creators--Off the Shelf Reviews

I’ve been following these guys for a few years now. Iain and Gary are buddies who like to review movies. For the record, they review movies in most genres, but they are definitely horror lovers and that is evident when they review those movies. Just listen to them talk about John Carpenter's body of work and their extensive review of the Halloween series. It feels like you’re sitting down and chatting with old friends who like the same movies you do. Love Iain and Gary.

Horror 201: Content Creators--WhatCulture Horror

I found WhatCulture not too long after I found WatchMojo. At first, their content was all-inclusive, but as more videos were being made, they had to split the main channel into spin-offs that focused on whatever the category was. Therefore WhatCulture Horror was born. Most of the segments were analyzed by Ash Millman, who quickly became a favorite—and not just for me. She has a cool voice and I find it soothing listening to her speak.

While I appreciate WhatCulture Horror’s content, it does get repetitive. I mean, how many times can you make the same or similar list? Yet they manage to do so, but I still watch because I enjoy the show.

Horror 201: Content Creators--The Horror Geek

Around the same time I found Dr. Wolfula, I also found The Horror Geek. Mike Bracken, aka The Horror Geek, focuses on gory horror movies he calls "Sick Flicks" and awards Barf Bag ratings (from 0 - 5) based on how gory the movie in question is. What I like about THG is that he reviews lesser-known cheesebucket horror movies that only real lovers of the genre would know about, and his movie reviews are filled with puns and are subtly hilarious. “Do you kids even remember (insert reference here)? Christ, I’m OLD!” hits different when you’re my age and you know exactly what he’s talking about. And I don’t think I’m old at all, but I digress.

Because THG has a vast knowledge of old school horror cheddar, I’ve found myself looking for movies that I haven’t seen yet. Sometimes I am lucky enough to find them online, but it doesn’t happen often. Regardless, THG’s reviews are satisfactory and enjoyable. Check him out.

Horror 201: Content Creators--Dr. Wolfula

So last year around Halloween, I was looking for commentary on Halloween Kills and stumbled across Dr. Wolfula. I am not sure if the good Doc identifies as male, female or non-binary, as s/he wears a wolf costume and speaks in a fairly high-pitched voice. Dr. Wolfula is a horror aficionado (obvs) and s/he does a series every year that s/he calls "Ahhhctober!" I watched the reviews on all the Halloween movies, the Friday the 13th movies, and the commentaries on Tales From the Crypt and became an instant fan. You will too, so go check her/him out.

Horror 201: Content Creators-Dead Meat

Dead Meat is a YouTube channel solely dedicated to horror.  The channel, the brainchild of James A. Janisse, features podcasts with James and his wife Chelsea, but the bread and butter of Dead Meat is the Kill Count. The Kill Count is a series where James reviews horror movies–past and present–and counts the number of kills within said movie. This is how I got hip to Dead Meat, sometime in 2018. I looooove the Kill Count.

James is a true student and lover of horror; you can tell in his enthusiastic reviews.  He does not focus on any particular subgenre; he’s all-inclusive and honest. I have spent hours and hours watching Kill Counts as they are thoroughly enjoyable. Recently, James began doing horror podcasts with his wife and they’re usually good and informative.

If you’re a lover of horror movies and want a different take on a review, check out Dead Meat.

This Year's Horror Celebration

Hey Dilettantes!

This has been a busy time for me. I had to have oral surgery a couple of weeks ago to remove an infection under one of my molars. I'm still lost as to how that could have happened, but I'm definitely feeling much better now.

It's October and you know what that means. I had this year's topic selected after I completed last year's celebration. I knew how I wanted to present the information and was excited about it. Unfortunately for me, I've been suffering from massive writer's block for the better part of a year. I can barely write a single word, which is one of the reasons I haven't been blogging much. Entropy, my current project, is languishing in my Google Docs, waiting for me to write something other than the words "Chapter 1."  

The writer's block has also affected this year's Halloween celebration. I'm simply not inspired to write on the topic I chose--at least not this year. And because I can't, I'm not going to force the issue. What I think I'll focus on instead--and what may work best for my current state of mind--is posting random entries, similar to what I did for Horror 101.  

I can tell you that some of the posts will focus on certain YouTube content creators that I've been following for several years and don't think I've ever mentioned here in the Dark. But that's about all I can say. I do hope to meet my self-imposed count of 10 posts, but we will see what happens.

Happy Halloween, Dark Dilettantes! I hope you enjoy whatever it is I'm about to post. And here's hoping it helps my writer's block.