All Hallows Eve reads

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Sun October 19th, 2008, 12:53 pm

[quote=""Vanessa""]Has anyone read Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian? I'm sure that mentions Vlad the Impaler! I actually loved this book which seems to be a bit of a marmite book - you either love it or hate it.[/quote]

LOL re the marmite Vanessa (which I love). The Historian was a DNF for me. I really liked it at the start; it had that cosy Victorian Gothic feel, but I faltered mid book and the cookery magazines started coming out.

So it went back to the library uncompleted.

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Sun October 19th, 2008, 12:57 pm

Yes, I love marmite, too!

nona · Post by **nona** » Sun October 19th, 2008, 1:34 pm

oh the Historian, I agree with most that it did get dull for a chapter or two but then it picked up again, I didn't think i would like it but ended up loving it.

I'm waiting till friday to order it but Bathory: Memoirs of a Countess is supposed to be an accurate telling of Elizabeth Bathory and her some 600 virgin victims, I read a page or two and my gosh if she truely witnessed what she did as a child no wonder her elevator didn't go to the top floor! you kinda feel sorry for her.

Madeleine · Post by **Madeleine** » Sun October 19th, 2008, 4:39 pm

It's true The Historian does sag a bit in the middle (too much description of post-war Hungary) but it does pick up again and overall I enjoyed it, and some of it was quite creepy! I wasn't that keen on the original novel of Dracula, but love the Gary Oldman film - it has its flaws I know but it looks great and GO is brilliant as Dracula, I also like Sleepy Hollow because it's creepy and gruesome but also quite funny, and JD is great in it of course.

My Halloween read was going to be The Man in the Picture by Susan Hill, but as I've been sent The Heretic's Daughter to review I'll probably be starting that around the 31st, still it is about witches!

Carine · Post by **Carine** » Sun October 19th, 2008, 5:12 pm

Yes, I read the Historian as well and it did drag a bit at some point, but there was something there that kept me reading anyway and I did love it overall.

Sleepy Hollow was great and so was The Others !

I have a good "ghost" film ready for Halloween, it's called The Haunting. I hope it'll be good.
I like a good "ghost" film aslong as it's not with "the devil" ! When I was a lot younger I went to see The Exorcist in the cinema and, ridiculous as it may sound (!!), it scared me ! Since then no more "devil" films for me !!

Michelle2 · Post by **Michelle2** » Sun October 19th, 2008, 6:33 pm

[quote=""Ash""]Don't forget to read Frankenstein as well; I was amazed, when reading it for a book group, how many levels and themes it had.

Oh, favorite Dracula movie that I was tricked into seeing (I love silent movies) - Nosferatu.[/quote]

Frankenstein.....I was so looking forward to it. I hated it. Couldn't finish it.

Count me as one who didn't like The Historian, either. Did not finish.

I haven't read Stephen King since high school. I may get a few of his books to freak me out in the Halloween season.

princess garnet · Post by **princess garnet** » Sun October 19th, 2008, 6:36 pm

I've read Among the Shadows by LM Montgomery. This collection of short stories has a darker tone, unlike her other novels or short story collections.

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Sun October 19th, 2008, 7:14 pm

oh interesting. I never heard of those. Hmm may have to put it on the every growing list!

Ludmilla · Post by **Ludmilla** » Mon October 20th, 2008, 12:35 am

[quote=""Carine""]I have a good "ghost" film ready for Halloween, it's called The Haunting. I hope it'll be good.
I like a good "ghost" film aslong as it's not with "the devil" ! When I was a lot younger I went to see The Exorcist in the cinema and, ridiculous as it may sound (!!), it scared me ! Since then no more "devil" films for me !![/quote]

I hope you have the 1963 version of The Haunting with Julie Harris and Clarie Bloom. It's so much better that the more recent version with Catherine Zeta Jones. However, nothing quite compares to Shirley Jackson's book (one of my favorites; I re-read every five years or so).

The only time I've ever seen the Exorcist my friends (in the throes of hormonally driven teenage love) left me alone in the middle so they could make out. I never forgave them! Imagine -- alone in a dark room watching that.

I like to read short stories this time of year. Usually I can make time for them when I can't for a novel. This year, I've picked out Ambrose Bierce's haunted civil war stories and several others by Algernon Blackwood.

nona · Post by **nona** » Mon October 20th, 2008, 1:49 am

An American Haunting is really good, kinda creepy in a way. The Amittyville Horror with Ryan Gosling gives the viewer the Eebby-Gebbies or was that just me?