Monday, January 23, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
H.H. Holmes
Watched an interesting documentary on America’s first serial killer, H.H. Holmes… pretty gruesome stuff. Not too long ago, I heard that the story of H.H.Holmes might be put into a movie. Honestly, after getting an idea of how he was and how he came to be, his story is practically begging to be told on the big screen. Think: late 19th century medical student turned serial killer… who then builds a castle purposely designed to house his dark secrets… like I said, pretty gruesome stuff.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Sherlock
I am basically obsessed with BBC’s Sherlock, a mini series featuring Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson on their adventures through London. This series, however, takes the classic literary characters and places them in modern day, along with modern technology, modern London, and modern mysteries. I so wish there were more episodes than three a season, but at least they are all very good!
Friday, January 13, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Gammell vs Helquist
It has been brought to the attention of many a haunter and/or Halloween enthusiast that our favorite series of childhood ghost stories has now undergone the “R” word… redesign. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a series that we have all grown up reading whether we read these tales to our friends over a campfire, in the library, or under the covers with a flashlight. With all the hype these books brought to our childhood, we always looked forward to getting the wits scared out of us from these books. However, as we all know, what really kept us coming back were not so much thestories, as it were the illustrations. Stephen Gammell’s drawings from this series gave the stories their true edge. Their abstract and disturbing imagery really sunk deep down into our psyches, and boy did they give us a few nightmares. Who could forget the stern look on "Harold"’s face as he hung form a think rob by a string, or the eyes of "The Thing," not to mention the spiders hatching in "The Red Spot", or the lifeless skull of the woman in “The Haunted House?” How about Addy Finch walking toward us with her cane, or even the simple blood dripping from the window in “Sounds?” All of these images, although gruesome were ones we remember from our childhood and are still ones we look to for spooky inspiration.
Stephen Gammell's Covers
After hearing about the new look of the “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” series, I had to check it out at The Haunted Closet & Adventures in Poor Taste. I have to admit that I am really fond of the new drawings, they are incredibly charming, uniform, and still spooky. I have become a big fan of Helquist since I finished The Series of Unfortunate Events, where his work was outstanding.
Brett Helquist's Covers
But of course, they lack the intensity, wildness, and bizarreness that Gammell’s incredible work brought to our young lives. I do admire their beauty and style, but while looking at the compared drawings I can’t help but wonder if this ‘redesign’ was done to purposely make the drawings less scary…
Stephen Gammell's Harold
Brett Helquist's Harold
I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I must say that it seems the intentions behind the change were indeed to keep things a little less disturbing for the future generation. If this is so, then I say if we could do, they can too! At the end of the day, I must say both versions have a beauty all their own, and at least they are both spooky. Although, as Haunters, we are a very nostalgic people... hopefully the future generation will still keep going back Scary Stories like we did, regardless. Hey, every kid's got to have their nightmares, right?
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Happy New Year's!
Many New Year's resolutions this year; things to blog, movies to make, friends to entertain, relationships to build, art to discover, life decisions to make, and of course laughter to be had...
