October 2022 Recommended Reading and Viewing

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

The fall season is officially here, as are the Halloween holiday seasonal traditions. As the weather changes, I'd like to once again dip into the spooky side of things with some recommendations suitable for chilly nights and ghostly happenings. May you find as much enjoyment out of these as I did.


Reading: 'Salem's Lot (1975) by Stephen King

King's second published novel tells the story of writer Ben Mears, who returns to his childhood home of Jerusalem's Lot, Maine (affectionately nicknamed "'Salem's Lot" or "The Lot") to exorcise some old memories by writing a book about the derelict Marsten House which looms over the town on a hill; coincidentally, the same house has recently been purchased by Austrian antiques dealer Kurt Barlow, though he is never seen publicly. The disappearance of a local boy one night becomes the catalyst for strange happenings, as Ben comes to the realization that the town population is slowly being transformed into a brood of vampires. A mix, in the author's words, of Dracula and Peyton Place, the novel is significant for being one of the first instances of some of King's recurrent themes, such as the underlying corruption of small-town America and the politics of the time represented by the story (in this case, the crimes of the Nixon administration and government subterfuge). A major work of vampire fiction, it remains a favorite of many constant King readers.

Mass Market: https://www.amazon.com/Salems-Lot-Stephen-King/dp/0307743675/
Trade: https://www.amazon.com/Salems-Lot-Stephen-King/dp/0345806794/
Hardcover: https://www.amazon.com/Salems-Lot-Stephen-King/dp/0385007515/
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Salems-Lot-Stephen-King-ebook/dp/B0019LV31E/



Viewing: The Lost Boys (Joel Schumacher, 1987)

This black horror-comedy finds a divorced mother and her two sons moving to the California town of Santa Carla, where the elder brother falls in with an eccentric biker gang which invites him into their fold. Eventually, the gang is revealed to be a group of vampires, which the elder brother is slowly transforming into, and the younger brother seeks out the help of two young self-professed vampire hunters to take down the gang and rescue both his family and two other half-vampires who wish to escape the curse. A success with critics and moviegoers, the film is something of a turning point in popular vampire fiction, being aimed more towards a youth culture as opposed to the distinctly middle-age Gothic tales of Hammer, for instance; it manages to balance traditional horror scares with a winking self-awareness, aided by a sleek contemporary visual design and an excellent cast.

DVD: https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Boys-Richard-Donner/dp/B004FQX5D4/
4K+Blu-Ray+Digital: https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Boys-Ultra-Blu-ray-Digital/dp/B0B7PZDYFW/
Amazon Video: https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Boys-Corey-Feldman/dp/B003F44QRQ/


Happy Halloween, everyone! Enjoy the fall!