Terrortory and a Little Halloween Pumpkin Man

I found this cool lil Halloween Pumkin man on Etsy months ago and forgot he was in the closet. He's made himself at home here, and honestly, he scared T, and she doesn't want him running around the house. So, he's stuck in my office for the time being. I don't know that I'll be able to keep him cooped up during Halloweentober, however.

Really, it's not his fault, it's mine. I had her watch Terrortory with me, a local Maryland horror anthology, and Smiling Jack freaked her the hell out... Smiling Jack could be this guy's dad, the resemblance is uncanny. Smiling Jack is a dark, mirrored pumpkin pail candy bucket-headed supernatural killer in the woods.

Terrortory is a film set in a Bermuda-Triangle-like land of horrors in Western Maryland where monsters of all kinds will kill you, if you don't follow the rules. The rules become evident throughout the two films, while the sequel's plot is outright dependent on it. I found Terrortory I and II on Tubi (God bless Tubi, really) last year but didn't watch them, only added it to my list.

Then, a few weeks ago, I scrolled by it and a name was listed with whom I'm familiar. It turns out a friend from way back was a writer and director of the first film and producer of the sequel! I phoned him up and we got together. He gave me a copy of the DVD which I'm super grateful for. These films are fun horror anthologies, but I fell in love with Terrortory when I realized Dan Doran had helped put these together. That these films are local products is just the Reddi Whip on top.

Terrortory II is much more slick with less of the mistakes of the first film, both in terms of storytelling and production. The ending of the film is creepy AF and I sat there, surprised and smiling with the climax. The lore is expanded upon in the sequel, and it works really well.

The ending of TII is really FN cool. Spoilers: It is really dark and interesting, with the coven of the supernatural killers kneeling before a dark god of the Terrortory. The dark god (I don't know if he has a name) has a family hostage and provides the husband with a choice to either save his daughter or his wife. After some reluctance the husband's indecision bites him in the ass and the dark god makes the choice for him and reduces his wife to ... well watch it for yourself because it's too cool to spoil. It's dark and surprised me with how hard it went. It also described more of a certain character's part in the story.

Halloween night he will be out giving candy to trick-or-treaters. That is his day, what he was born for. You can find your own Halloween Pumpkin Man here and let him do all the work this Halloween so you can stay in and watch horror movies or bob for apples all night long.... Watch Terrortory 1 and 2, I think they are worthy Halloween flicks.

Marketing

Is it ever too early to market your book? This question is retroactive to pre-publishing, too. I know very little about marketing. In fact, I guess I know nothing at all. My plan has always been, from the beginning, to get my story out there . To have people read it - that's the point to all of this. That's why this blog exists. And yet now I find myself searching for new, constructive ways to market this book. So far, I've been searching for an artist for the cover. I have it completely planned out, but I could screw up a stick figure, so I'll leave this to the pros. I'm wondering if it's too soon to design a website. Would a website even work for an unpublished work? I don't know. These are things I am looking into to help market my first novel. I've never had much use for an ego, but is self-promotion really egotistical? Or will it only hasten my prospect for publishing? Hmm.

Let Me Just Say This

You know the saying, "It could be worse," right? And I understand it. Hell, I live it! I am absolutely the last person you would call ungrateful. I feel blessed, for lack of a better word. But I wonder sometimes just how mental I really am. Maybe it's just American culture. I'm the bi-product of decades of televisional (did I just create a new adjective?) violence and heroism and drama and love. So I often wonder what the big deal with life is all about. Before I get too deep, I'll explain. Via television or comic books or novels or whatever, only ghosts, robots, vampires, aliens and probably God exists. Here, in our reality, all of this stuff is science fiction. Well, that leaves a sour taste in my mouth sometimes. I mean, how boring is our reality really? While the cosmos completely make me rethink everything that I know and believe, here on Earth life is far from extraordinary. There are no men in blue and red tights flying through our soaring skyscrapers and ...

White Out!

Right now, it's a white-out; snow has covered everything. And lightning is lighting the earth up in blinding white brilliance - I'm in awe. Thunder now, rattling windows and echoing into oblivion. Candles are lit and I'm reading a ghost story and I'm feeling euphoric now. Diet Pepsi and Op, what a feeling.

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