Hello fellow Halloween Love readers and welcome to another edition of my guest column I like to call Tales From The Blake where I discuss happenings and such that are currently going on in the horror genre and possibly share a small story from childhood.
In this issue, I’ll be talking about another popular theory regarding the references set to be included in the new Halloween film; I give my verdict on the new ghost documentary I was able to watch this weekend called Demon House; I’ll also share some love about a novel series that doesn’t get the credit it deserves; and finally, I’ll talk about that fan made Nightmare On Elm Street trailer that’s been making its rounds through the horror community and why you should skip watching it in favor of a series on YouTube that totally captures the tone of what a real Nightmare reboot should be all about.
“The Urban Legends of Michael Myers”
Last week, I talked about a news article in which Danny McBride stated that the new Halloween film would somehow reference the previous films even though they’re totally being removed from continuity. Different theories have been spread throughout the horror community with some being reasonable and others being completely insane.
One theory that seems to be picking up steam is one that I kind of hope turns out to be true. Urban legends. This theory believes that the filmmakers of the new Halloween will use urban legends as a way to reference the old films while at the same time being able to start fresh from the ending of the 1978 original classic. And trust me, it’s a pretty good one.
There’s a sixty-year gap between the first one and the brand new one being released this October, so what has Michael Myers been up to all that time?
“Some say that Michael Myers survived being shot six times on Halloween in 1978, and didn’t stop that night. He went on to stalk Laurie Strode at the hospital and kill even more people before his doctor blew them both up. I heard afterward that the Strode girl faked her death and went into hiding, but twenty years later in 1998, Myers came back for her. He was unsuccessful because she cut his freakin’ head off after they battled.“
“No, that’s not how it goes. You may be right about the hospital explosion, but Myers and his doctor both survived that encounter. Now, the whole Laurie Strode faking her death thing is crap because she really did die. Car accident. She left behind a little daughter, and in 1988, Myers came to kill her after being in a coma for ten years. The cops thought they had killed him, but he returned a year later in 1989 and tried to kill the little girl again. They both went missing that Halloween night and were never heard from again until 1995. It got weird then, and I heard Myers was involved in some kind of cult that made him want to kill his family members.“
See where I’m going with this?
This theory that’s out there supposes that a lot of people have spread urban legends involving Michael Myers, and this is how the new film will be able to heavily reference the sequels, but not have to worry about keeping them in as canon. It’s really a great theory, and it’s one I would definitely love to see happen when Halloween returns to theaters this October.
“Welcome To the Demon House”
This past weekend saw the release of a heavily-hyped documentary involving a house in Gary, Indiana, that is supposedly the most haunted house ever, and is rumored to be a “portal to hell.” This documentary was also said to be the scariest documentary ever. I love scary documentaries, so how could I pass something like this up?
I was able to find Demon House available to rent and buy on Vudu, so, rather excitedly, I rented it without viewing the trailer and only the IMDb synopsis to go on:
“Paranormal investigator Zac Bagans documents the most authenticated case of possession in American history.“
Verdict: The documentary starts off very slow, and builds up like something scary is going to happen, but sadly, nothing ever does. If you’re a skeptic when it comes to the paranormal, then prepare to be mostly bored. If you believe, then prepare to be teased for ninety minutes without any sort of payoff. Though, if you enjoy those cheesy ghost hunting television shows, then give it a shot because this documentary is about the same type of quality you’d expect from one of those.
“Zombies Vs. Superheroes”
Back in 2012, I was searching the internet trying to find some good horror novels that were worth reading. I’m not big on horror novels because, for the most part, they don’t really interest me. It always seems like you have two choices: paranormal or Stephen King.
Now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but sometimes I’d like to read something else besides tales of ghosts or have the story I’m reading always by Stephen King. I could be looking in the wrong section; I don’t know.
Anyway, I was on some website that was talking about some good horror books, but none of them really interested me except for one particular novel: Ex-Heroes.
In the synopsis provided, it said that this book was “The Avengers meets The Walking Dead.” I don’t really like zombies. I get bored when it comes to zombie movies, so the thought of reading one wouldn’t appeal to me unless it was unique, and superheroes being involved was definitely unique.
I was able to get a copy, and I began to read it with pretty much zero expectations. Wow. After about the second chapter I literally couldn’t put it down. The only reason I stopped reading it was because my Kindle died and I had to wait for it to charge.
I don’t want to talk too much about the plot because I don’t want to ruin the story for you, but what I most liked about the book is St. George (aka The Mighty Dragon) and the other superhero characters.
St. George is such a great character that I will straight tell you that he is my favorite superhero. Ever. Read Ex-Heroes and you’ll find out just how good this guy is.
I’ll give you this much about the plot: St. George and his team of superheroes defend a small group of humans from Exes (the name given to the zombies of the story) in Los Angeles. Another cool thing is that they’re holed up inside Paramount Studios. Seriously.
Give it a read. It’s great. Another great thing is that after you’re done, then you can read the other books in the series. Yep. There’s four more after the original, and they’re all just as good too.
That’s it. Go read it. I give this book series my highest recommendation, and I hope one day some movie or TV exec will give the series its deserved chance of coming to the big or small screen, so we can see The Mighty Dragon come to life out of the pages.
“One, Two, Fan Trailer Poo”
Yeah, that title may seem a little bit childish, but the more I see those fake Nightmare On Elm Street trailers, the more I hate them.
My news feed on Facebook has recently been flooded with those trailers, and it’s always the same heading saying how the trailers are real and a new Nightmare movie is coming out this year. Stop. Stop this nonsense. Be glad that those lame trailers aren’t real. They look really bad.
You know as good as they do that we’re eventually going to get another Nightmare reboot. I say that if this new Halloween film is a success, then we’ll probably be getting that reboot sooner rather than later.
Until then, I would like to recommend a series that is currently on YouTube called Krueger: Tales From Elm Street. There’s like four or five episodes right now with another one on the way, and it showcases how Freddy Krueger rose up to serial killer infamy before becoming our favorite dream stalker.
The series is well worth your time, and Roberto Lombardi does a fantastic job as Freddy Krueger; it’s like he’s a reborn Robert Englund.
That’s it for this week. Not a whole lot of news floating around about horror that I want to talk about besides the announcement that The Devil’s Rejects sequel is currently in production. I’d say that’s a good talking point for next week’s column. Until then, stay cool.
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