Halloweentober Day 11

Dark Harvest.

From the opening scene this movie is beautiful. The cinematography is a pleasure to behold in this movie. There is never a wasted shot, a dull moment, even when the pace loosens the tension a bit to let you breathe. Every shot is filmed to make you feel like you're in a fairy tale or fantasy.

This is one example where I personally enjoy the movie a bit more than the book. I mean no offense to Norman Partridge. The book is good, fun even, but I kind of think the October Boy had too many nicknames and he liked them all, so he just threw them all in there. The movie sticks with Sawtooth Jack. This works a bit more, as does making the antagonist a stone cold pumpkinhead scarecrow killer. I think the book Sawtooth was a little more compassionate. The movie Jack lays waste to everyone who gets in his way to town.

The winner of this contest to kill Sawtooth Jack receives a new Corvette and 25K spending money from the town's Harvester's Guild. What a cool, sinister sounding name! The parents win a new house on the posh Westside of town, too. What the Guild fails to tell the town's young boys is that the winner's real prize is to be mounted atop the T-frame in the middle of the cornfield, as your corpse turns into the next Sawtooth Jack. And so the tradition begins again next harvest.

I do think the climax, or twist, was one I did see coming down the long straight black road, which isn't a negative. The story is still really good. The idea of the town submitting to some Celtic God and his twisted game to keep their prize crops alive every harvest gives this film some decent mythology. I personally love this aspect of the story. The characters are for the most part more than serviceable. I enjoy each of them, especially Officer Friendly. This guy steals the show with every watch. I think he was robbed out of a bigger role here honestly.

Some of the scenes with Ol' Sawtooth are really creepy, and the monster goes plenty dark in his journey to the church before the midnight bell tolls. Even though this movie did not get a physical media release (yet, and I really hope it will) it will still in my Halloweentober rotation every single year. I urge you to give it a watch if you haven't yet. The Halloween/autumnal vibes are worth the price of admission alone! It's almost laughable how many jack-o'-lanterns are scattered throughout the town, but in all honesty, if I were in charge I'd do the same to my town.

Sad Monday

The Ravens got their asses handed to them. I've been writing the film script all day, trying not to think too much about it. It's just a game, right? Well...

A Small History on Halloween in the States

Here's a link . This is a quick little read about Halloween and its development in the "New World". I've been a stanch believer that Halloween in America today is well and truly crafted here, though very much of traditions from the "Old World". But the conglomeration of the holiday is well and formed here in the States, from the carving of the first jack-o'-lanterns to trick or treating as a homegrown manifestation. A lot of these Halloween traditions were simultaneously developed up north with our Canadian cousins too, I'm sure. But with the bigger population Halloween became larger here in the States. And this story gives us some insight into the idea that while Halloween has some traditions that date back to pre-Christ times, what we celebrate here today in America is very much a melting pot of our own construction. This is important to me as this holiday is very much a part of the American experience and identity. If I have to say it aloud, I hav...

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.

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