Sunday, October 30, 2005

Halloween is tomorrow!


Tomorrow is the big holiday! I tested out my costume last night ( a"winter fairy" with a borrowed sparkly tiare), and it seems to work well. Those long, drapey sleeves are a pain for driving, though. The fog machine is ready, and the big orange pumpkin is full of candy.

Over at Risky Regencies, there has been a lot of talk about scary things in history, Gothic novels (remember those? Heroines running away along cliffs in their nighties?), lots of fun things. It reminded me of a movie I saw ages ago, probably in high school, though I can't remember the name or any of the actors in it (maybe Kay will remember). It was about Byron and Shelley and their pals, all gathered in Italy to talk about Frankenstein-ish stuff and have sex with each other. I remember it was huge fun, in a guilty-pleasure way, and might be good viewing for this season (since I am a wuss and can't handle things like The Exorcist).

My friend Rinda (who, BTW, throws a seriously great Halloween party) has a new website offering hilarious, writer-related items like t-shirts, mugs, etc. I especially like the "My Spirit Guide Thinks You're Hot" shirt. Check it out at http://www.cafepress.com/thewritesnark

And today's pic is Halloween in the third grade. :)

3 comments:

Cara King said...

Amanda, there were two movies (at nearly the same time) that were about Byron and Shelley et al -- "Gothic" and "Haunted Summer." I'd guess you're remembering "Haunted Summer" -- which is a truly guilty pleasure. It has Eric Stoltz as Shelley, Philip Anglim as Byron, Alice Krige (Borg Queen) as Mary, Laura Dern (Jurassic Park) as Claire, and Alex Winter (from Bill & Ted) as Dr Polidori. Great fun!

Cara

Amanda McCabe/Amanda Carmack/Laurel McKee said...

Yes, that was it! Haunted Summer. What a hoot. I remember now that Bill (or was he Ted?) was in it. :) Never saw Gothic, though, was that any good?

Kelli McBride said...

HAUNTED SUMMER is HORRIBLE! Of course, let me give you the context. I was substituting in Brit Lit II for a teacher (2 months), and she wanted me to show this film. Though she gave all of the other Romantics 2 full class days of discussion, she only gave Byron 1 day and showed this film for 2. So, I showed it without having the chance to preview it first. Imagine my horror at the FULL FRONTAL NUDITY. But even worse was the complete sleeze job they made Byron to be. "Poor Claire" and "Poor Polidori" - it made me sick. So I had to take time out of class to completely undo the damage this film did.

GOTHIC is interesting - with Julian Sand as Shelley and Natasha Richardson as Mary Shelley. I think Gabriel Byrne is Byron. It is very dark and bloody - Mary has these nightmares that foretell death. It's much spookier than HAUNTED SUMMER.