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Favorite Holloween Story/Tale?

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Madeleine
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Currently reading: "Mania" by L J Ross
Preferred HF: Plantagenets, Victorian, crime, dual time-frame
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Post by Madeleine » Fri October 29th, 2010, 4:56 pm

I've never read Sleepy Hollow but love the Burton/Depp movie, it's so atmospheric and beautifully filmed, with a nice line in dark humour too. I saw the Disney version a few years ago and wasn't that impressed, Ichabod is certainly different to JD!

There was a TV version of "The Woman in Black" several years ago, but they're making a new big screen film of it now, with Daniel Radcliffe as Arthur Kipps.
Currently reading "Mania" by L J Ross

chuck
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Post by chuck » Fri October 29th, 2010, 5:20 pm

Madeline ...I agree on the Burton/Depp film....Great imagery....Look forward to seeing Radcliffe "The Women in Black"....I prefer my Ghost stories to have Historic touch to them...Modern day Ghost stories don't work for me unless they bring out a Historic haunting/event aspect to the story....

annis
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Post by annis » Fri October 29th, 2010, 5:56 pm

I still have a soft spot for Poe's wonderfully gothic Masque of the Red Death.

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cw gortner
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Post by cw gortner » Fri October 29th, 2010, 6:36 pm

I agree, Poe's Masque of Red Death , and also, for sheer creepiness, his The Tell-tale Heart.
And while overly long at moments, I still think Anne Rice's The Witching Hour is a Gothic masterpiece.
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SonjaMarie
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Post by SonjaMarie » Fri October 29th, 2010, 7:05 pm

When I was a huge crush on Gabriel Byrne, I listened to his reading of "Red Masque" many times.

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Madeleine
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Currently reading: "Mania" by L J Ross
Preferred HF: Plantagenets, Victorian, crime, dual time-frame
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Post by Madeleine » Fri October 29th, 2010, 7:14 pm

[quote=""cw gortner""]I agree, Poe's Masque of Red Death , and also, for sheer creepiness, his The Tell-tale Heart.
And while overly long at moments, I still think Anne Rice's The Witching Hour is a Gothic masterpiece.[/quote]

Oh yes, The Witching Hour is excellent, it's a huge book but she holds the story together well, for the most part, and I found it very creepy in parts - Oncle Julien :eek:
Currently reading "Mania" by L J Ross

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EC2
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Post by EC2 » Fri October 29th, 2010, 9:49 pm

Stephen King's The Shining. I still read it every couple of years because as a ghost story it is superb (not talking about the film, just the book). One of the few where I have almost been scared to turn the pages. What a classic.

Another one and a rarity is Gorden Honeycomb's Dragon Under the Hill. It's about a little boy who becomes possessed by some ancient forces from an uncovered Viking grave - seriously scary.

Films. Sleepy Hollow. The Others. The Sixth Sense. And for great fun and I can watch it again and again, Hocus Pocus. Bette Midler is superb as Winifred Sanderson and some of the one liners are a hoot.
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

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annis
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Post by annis » Fri October 29th, 2010, 10:08 pm

Hear, hear for Dragon Under the Hill- it's one I read when I was about 12 and it was so compellingly creepy that I never forgot the title! It's the story of the disastrous events which befall a family when their young son, Erik, accidentally disturbs the ancient burial place of a Viking warrior. I think I probably talked about it elsewhere - I have a vivid memory of lying huddled in bed one night with this book, scared out of my wits, and a thunderstorm raging outside. It really felt as if Thor and the old Norse gods might be only a lightning flash away. It deserves a reprint!

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EC2
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Post by EC2 » Fri October 29th, 2010, 10:18 pm

[quote=""annis""]Hear, hear for Dragon Under the Hill- it's one I read when I was about 12 and it was so compellingly creepy that I never forgot the title! It's the story of the disastrous events which befall a family when their young son, Erik, accidentally disturbs the ancient burial place of a Viking warrior. I think I probably talked about it elsewhere - I have a vivid memory of lying huddled in bed one night with this book, scared out of my wits, and a thunderstorm raging outside. It really felt as if Thor and the old Norse gods might be only a lightning flash away. It deserves a reprint![/quote]

Oh Annis it really does! I think I was in my teens when I read it from the library - several times. It's one I ought to get a copy of on the 2nd hand market. Even now I remember the brooding figure of the one-eyed man and I was almost scared to turn around myself. So atmospheric. You just knew something awful was going to happen. I think I originally picked it up because I recognised Gordon Honeycomb as a TV newsreader and I was curious, but boy he could write!
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

annis
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Post by annis » Fri October 29th, 2010, 10:34 pm

I don't know of anyone who's read this book who doesn't remember it vividly. It was one of my first purchases when I discovered the online secondhand book market.

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