Blogtober Day 30: Halloween Plans

So, tomorrow is Halloween. Yay! And, of course, with such a big holiday coming up, the only topics of conversation I've had for the last week are "What are your Halloween plans?" and "What are you being for Halloween?". I'm going to answer both questions right now.

What Are You Being For Halloween?

Unfortunately, and annoyingly, a dumb work meeting I was supposed to have last week got rescheduled for Halloween. My initial costume was going to be a boxer, but since that's "not appropriate workplace attire" I'm going to put a bunch of name tags on my work clothes and be "Identity Theft"

What Are Your Halloween Plans?

My neighborhood doesn't get a lot of trick-or-treaters, so I don't expect much of the night will be spent actually giving out candy. I plan to watch Scream followed by Trick'R Treat and then go to bed, because Halloween is on a Thursday.

What are your Halloween plans? What costume are you going to wear?

Blogtober Day 29: Top 5 Halloween Candies

We're two days away from Halloween! With the holiday so close, all I can think about it is all of the discounted candy I'm going to buy on November 1st. With that said, today I'm going to talk about my favorite Halloween candies. Before I do that, let me give you my opinion on candy corn, because I know that's a point of contention. I don't like it. I don't think its the Worst Thing Ever, but I refuse to consume it.

Now, to candy I do like:


5) Blow-Pops
I like lollipops. I also like gum. This one combines the two.


4) MilkyWay
I don't know how they make these taste so good, but somehow they do. Other chocolate and caramel candy bars have tried and failed to recreate the magic of Milky Ways.


3) Hershey's Bars
Yes, these are pretty standard and boring, They're also classics. And you can't really go wrong with something as simple as plain chocolate. It's a pretty safe bet in case any trick-or-treaters have allergies.


2) Skittles
Skittles are just amazing. I think I read an article saying they're the most purchased Halloween candy last year. Either way, they're good and I enjoyed them.


1) Reese's Cups
I love peanut butter, I love chocolate. I love the two of them together. And that's why Reese's cups take the #1 spot.

What's your favorite Halloween candy?

Blogtober Day 9: Favorite Vampires

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There are a lot of vampires in fiction. This is mostly because of vampires, or vampire-like beings, having a noticeable presence in folklore. Some are demons that are completely terrifying. Others sparkle in the sunlight and seem to wander around high schools. Some are made of felt and teach children to count. Others sell cereal. My point is, we've made and remade the vampire more times than I could count. Yet, with so many vampire characters, and so many different types of vampires in fiction, everyone has to have a favorite. I'm going to talk about a few of mine since we're getting close to Halloween and vampires fit into the spirit of the season.

Count von Count, Seasame Street

I'm starting off with the first vampire character I, and many others, ever see. Count von Count, the friendly vampire resident of Seasame Street. Yes, he's a Muppet who teaches children to count, but given his general appearance and the fact he's a parody of Bela Lugosi's Count Dracula I'm counting him (pun intended). The Count loves counting and he'll always have a special place in my heart for that. Also, I'm a math nerd, so me liking Count von Count really isn't shocking.

Spike, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel

Spike was a great character on Buffy. Angel was as well, but sometimes he was a little too broody and that annoyed me. He wasn't explicitly a "I want to kill you" type of vampire, but he also wasn't like vampires in Twilight, The Vampire Diaries or True Blood who just wanted to fit in or be normal. There was no desire to pretend to be human, or more disturbingly, hide as a high school student. He was a token bad boy, but also not completelt evil. Spike was cool and added something to vampire mythos that was missing, a sense of humor.

Count Dracula, Dracula

I can't reasonably talk about my favorite vampires without mentioning Dracula. While vampires had been part of folklore for centuries, Bram Stoker's novel was what brought them into prominence. He's the archetype vampire that later characters were based off of, with a number of his strengths and weaknesses being used in later characters. There is a reason why when most people hear "vampire" they picture someone who looks like Dracula, and not Robert Pattinson. Dracula is a classic vampire. He defined the genre. Without Dracula, we might not have Buffy, True Blood or the dozens of other vampire characters or stories that we do,

These are my three favorite vampires, what are yours?

Blogtober Day 8: The Scariest Book I've Ever Read

Halloween is the time of year when everyone thinks the most about fear and horror. It's when most horror movies are released in theaters. We watch scary movies, we read scary stories and inevitably, Halloween season is when we start comparing horror stories. I've never had a conversation about the scariest book I've ever read, or the scariest movie I've ever seen that hasn't taken place in the fall. Halloween is on everyone's mind, and with it comes thoughts about fear and horror.

In keeping with the season, today I'm going to discuss the scariest book I've ever read. That honor goes to a not-so-little book by Stephen King called IT. Some of you might've heard of it, there's this murderous clown named Pennywise and there were two movies made about the book in the last few years. I know IT being the scariest book I've ever read probably isn't surprising. Many people rate it pretty high on the scare-scale. However, unlike most horror novels, IT stuck with me for a while. 

Since the novel is 1,000 pages long, it wasn't something I could read in a single sitting. This meant that it took me several days to read it in its entirety. As a result, there were some nights, while reading it, where I had difficulty sleeping. Even after I finished the book, it still took me a few days to return to my normal sleep schedule. Some of this is probably because I read IT a little younger than I should have, being around 14 when I picked it up. King doesn't hold back on the gore and the violence, and given his literary skills, the picture he paints is vivid. The rest of why the book effected me so much has to do with the premise itself. IT can take any form in order to become what you fear the most. For obvious reasons, thinking about a monster that could appear looking like the thing I'm most afraid of, is troubling and makes it difficult to sleep.

IT is an excellent book. I'd recommend it to any horror fan that hasn't read it, if any exist. However, it's also the scariest story I've ever read.

What is the scariest book you've ever read?