31 Days of Halloween: Day 31

Day 31

Halloween II (2009)

Ah, Halloween. The quintessential movie for the day...of Halloween. This Rob Zombie remake has a darker take of the original film, but it really works.

The movie begins where the last leaves off, after Laurie kills Michael Myers (please, if you didn't know that, you are our of touch). You also know that Michael never really dies....hence the remakes and sequels.

What's different between the 1st Laurie and the 2nd is the dark turn in her personality. I guess if I survived a crazy blood bath, I might be a bit more hostile and reliant on prescription drugs than I would have been.

Gorey, like the original remake, and grittier. Just like it should be. The ending was interesting and creepy and it makes me wonder....might there be more Halloween movies from our dear friend, Rob Zombie?

Thank you for following me for the last month as we relived or investigated for the first time the fun, fantasy or fear of Halloween. :-)

31 Days of Halloween: Television Edition

I felt that it was only fair to mention the great television shows that have to do with the paranormal an different...

AMERICAN HORROR STORY - Weird series, but creepy for sure.

BEING HUMAN - started as a BBC show and was brought to the US only last season. The idea of a vampire, werewolf and ghost all living together...love it.

CASTLE - ok, not your normal paranormal, but it does deal with a crap ton of death. With a great cast, you can't go wrong.

DARK SHADOWS - A soap opera dealing with death and vampires. It was a seventies show that was brought forth to the eighties and now is in the works as a major motion picture with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp.

DEXTER - a serial killer helping the police department, and they don't' know it. WTF?! How cool is that?!

DOCTOR WHO - This show has been around since the ice age. Ok, not as long as that, but it in itself is an institution, dealing with aliens and the like since what seems like the dawn of time.

HARPER'S ISLAND - a great miniseries that didn't do too well in the ratings. A whodunit of magnificent proportions. It should have been around longer...but we did find out who the killer was...

HAVEN - Weird things happen in Maine...that's for sure. Just check out this show!

MOONLIGHT - Too many shows about vampires? Don't think so...this vampire is a Private Investigator...and he doesn't do things by the book.

TALES FROM THE CRYPT - I remember watching this show from time to time when I would visit someone with HBO. Creepy and awesome!

THE TWILIGHT ZONE - the classic television show about the weird. If you haven't seen the series or the movie, please do.

THE WALKING DEAD - one of the newest shows that has a cult following. Who doesn't like zombies?!

TRUE BLOOD - Set in Louisiana, you have the best of telepaths, vampires, werewolves, werepanthers, fairies, shape shifters, etc. With a huge fill of blood, gore and sensuality, you can't go wrong.

Warehouse 13 - How would you like to save the world's treasures, whether they are historic or mystical? Join the Warehouse 13 team...and you'll be good to go.

X FILES - The greatest alien show of all time. It had great twists and turns that no other show of its kinds had.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 30

Day 30

Shaun of the Dead (2004)



After a movie like 28 Days Later (2002), why not have a bit of fun. This movie is enjoyable because it is farce on all of the great zombie movies: Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Dawn of the Dead (1978). Each great movies in their own right...and what 'Shaun' delivers is greatness too. Just in a different way.

Mild mannered Shaun steps into the hero shoes as England becomes overrun with zombies. With the help of his best mate and ex-girlfriend, Shaun battles the dead and helps save the day. Classic. What gives it a twist, is the antics.

One of my favorite bits is the day after the zombies appear, Shaun is walking through the neighborhood on his normal route and nothing is normal. Everything has gone to hell and he's not noticing a damn thing. The blood on the cold case is great and I love that he's oblivious to it.

The characters are great as well. Simon Pegg is fantastic as Shaun and I do enjoy his friend, Ed, who is just a lazy s.o.b. who plays video games all the time and spends most of his remaining time at the local pub.

Overall, fun movie...especially after quite a few serious ones.


Similar Movies

Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Dawn of the Dead (1978)


Up Next

Halloween II (the FINAL MOVIE of 31 Days of Halloween!!)

31 Days of Halloween: Day 28 and 29

DOUBLE FEATURE DAY

Day 28

Let Me In (2010)



Let The Right One In was the title of the Swedish version of Let Me In. I have to say that this movie was almost scene for scene, which I loved! A young boy unknowingly makes friends with a young girl...who's really a vampire.

One obviously difference, besides language, was the location. Obviously, the original took place in Europe, while this remake takes place in Los Alamos, New Mexico. I find this funny now with family in New Mexico...and I can see Los Alamos from the back porch.

Everything from the jungle-gym in the apartment complex courtyard with the Rubik cube to the outdoor hockey scene, this movie had it all, with a few artistic changes...that a bigger budget allows.

Our two youngsters are great in this movie. Kodi, from the movie The Road, and Chloe, from the movie Kick Ass, are brilliant. They encompass the original kids dynamic, while adding a great dimension of their own.

Also, the addition murders that the 'father' commits are shown in greater detail in this movie, which I appreciated (at this time of year). The bullies deserve a shout out as well, because I wanted to reach through the screen and hit them myself.

I even love that the film takes place in the 80's, like the original. Overall, fantastic remake that lives up to the original! Check out both of them!!


Day 29

28 Days Later (2002)



I never saw this movie before today and I enjoyed it. Cillian Murphy's breakout role before his turn as the Scarecrow in Batman Begins and the villain in Red Eye.

The world has gone from populated by 'normal' human beings to being 'infected' by the the end of 28 days. Now, the survivors, however few they may be, must try to survive even longer, taking down anyone in their path.

The opening sequence involving the chimps and the scientist saying they were 'infected' with rage...was odd. "Its in their blood and their saliva" he cries out. But its rage...and yet, those infect become zombies basically.

The nice thing about this movie is that its not your typically zombie movie. Its more about the people and their effect on other people. I enjoyed Chris Eccelston in this film as well, and as one of my favorite Doctor Whos, I do find it fun when he's a bad guy. :-)


Up Next

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

31 Days of Halloween: Day 27 (and READER'S CHOICE)

Day 27

The Brood (1979)

This was a slow movie, but it had its interesting moments. Honestly, I had high hopes for this one from the description as well as the music playing on the menu page of the DVD. I unfortunately was a bit disappointed.

The father of a little girl (ps, he was in Invasion of the Body Snatchers as well) is tired of bring her to see her mother. Her mother is being treated for some psychological disorder that is keeping her in isolation. I will preface that having seen the full movie, she needs to be in isolation. Anyway, having seen his daughter's back (which is bruised and scratched) he says he would no longer bring her back to the institution for visitations.

And this is when all hell breaks loose.

The doctor treating dear mommy is trying to get her to release her rage, not knowing that she is creating a brood of demonic children. The children then get out and kill who ever the rage is directed at (the grandmother, the grandfather, the school teacher). They kill in a very simple, but effective way: bludgeoning them to death.

The school teacher's death is pretty cool...as its in front of the children. Nuts.

It all culminates in having to face the brood and the mother head on in the institution. There is a rather disturbing scene when the mother 'gives birth' to the latest brood member and her clean-up method is just wrong for a human. Ick.

Anyway, it wasn't the greatest movie ever, but I give it points for creativity and the disturbing factor.


Now, Friday, I will not be able to watch a movie, so I'm giving the readers a choice on the double feature that I will watch on Saturday. You get to choose one of three movies and I have already picked the second movie of the day, found at the bottom of the blog. Your choices are:


Interview With A Vampire (1994) - next to Dracula, one of the most classic vampire movie/book ever.



In The Mouth of Madness (1994) - an investigator hired to find a missing horror writer tracks him down to a New England town filled with nightmare scenes right from the author's books!

Let Me In (2010) - the American adaptation of the Swedish vampire film about a vampire girl who befriends a human boy.





Then later on Saturday...

28 Days Later (2002)

31 Days of Halloween: Day 26

Day 26

Session 9 (2001)



This was a weird movie...and while there was some gore in it, it was mostly psychological. It was also very slow to get going and get to the point.

The premise follows a hazmat team who get the winning bid on cleaning up an abandoned psych hospital. Upon their arrival, strange things start to happen in their personal lives, especially in the boss'.

Its a pretty difficult movie to follow at times, as there are cut ins from the workers to home lives, to one of the men listening to old psych sessions (hence the name...) leading up to what happened about 30-40 years prior.

I don't have much good to say about this movie, which is sad considering that I enjoy many of the people in the movie (David Caruso from CSI: Miami and Josh Lucas from Glory Road). The problem was the it was tough to follow, not scary (though it did remind me of some of those episodes of Ghost Adventurers) and in the end, confusing but at least it did provide some closures.


Up Next

The Brood (1979)

31 Days of Halloween: Day 25

Day 25

30 Days of Night (2007)

I remember seeing director David Slade's vision of vampires in theatres. Funnily enough, he went on to direct a very different interpretation of vampires later in his career with The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Two different forms of the creatures who supposedly roam at night.

This film takes place in Barrows, Alaska, the northern most town in the US. In the winter, they experience 30 days of night as the earth's rotation limits the sunlight. What a perfect setting for vampires to come in and ravage the town, right? Who's to stop them, you ask? How about Sheriff Josh Hartnett?!

While dealing with personal issues, his estranged wife for one, he must now save the town from these blood-thirsty beasts. There are some cinematically cool scenes, specifically dealing with blood on the white snow as well as the scene where the vampires light the oil on fire creating this glowing cage.

I enjoy this movie for how creative it is. The vampires send out a human, who wants to become one of them, to cut off all communication of the little town, including burning cell phones, killing sled dogs and tearing apart a helicopter. Once the town is secluded from the outside world, the vampires attack, swarming in to devour anything in their path. Never pristine looking (they are always covered in blood), you see how viciously they attack their prey (all teeth are used, not just the typical two).

The interesting (but again, kind of predictable) ending is clever, but of course, has repercussions. I would be interested to see something about how the town comes to terms with the bloodbath that has occurred...as well as the survivors. Oh wait...you can always tune into 30 Days of Night: Dark Days (2010), which was released straight to video without any original cast members. Hmmm...

Similar Movies:

Interview With A Vampire (1994)

30 Days of Night: Dark Days (2010)

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)

Up Next

Session 9 (2001)

31 Days of Halloween: Day 24

Day 24

The Mist (2007)



I'm a fan of Stephen King. He's the man who scared me silly as we child. His story/movie, IT, is why to this day I'm terrified of clowns. The Shining was great. Secret Window...well, if you read my blog, you know how I feel about it. Then we have...The Mist. I enjoyed it, but not for the normal reasons.

The premise is that a bad storm passing through a small Maine town. This large rolling mist is making its way down from the mountains and soon, it engulfs the entire town in its smoke like consistency. Next thing you know...panic is every where. There is 'something' in the mist. It's snatching people up, but you can't see it.

Then as the movie continues, you see glimpses...a tentacle here, a huge bug there, a small dragon like creature, spider looking things and then finally, something akin to Godzilla in the mist. Interesting, right? Sure...but nothing compares to the other issues.

The issues: people turning on people out of fear. I think the greatest line in the movie was when one guy says to another "you scare people enough, you can get them to do anything." It's right. People will do crazy things when trying to protect themselves. The problem is that people don't think clearly when trying to do so...and those terrified enough...can easily be influenced by those around them.

I don't think I've ever been so mad at a character before. Marcia Gay Harden's character is worse than any villain I've ever seen in a horror movie. She doesn't wield an axe or a knife...but her words are deadly...and what's worse...they are righteous. I say righteous as in religious. God is the one bringing this down upon them; its the end of days, etc. Let me tell you...had I been in that situation, I would have done my damnest to shut her up.

While I saw the ending coming, I still liked it. The filming was great, particularly the last 10 minutes of the movie. I could sympathize with many of the characters. I do give Mr. King amazing credit for his characters. They are detailed and everyday people and I think that's what makes it that much more terrifying. I think the idea of being trapped with people who could turn on you in a minute is far scarier than having to face what's outside in the mist.


Similar Movies:

The Shining (1980)
It (1990)
Pet Semetary (1989)


Up Next

30 Days of Night (2007)

31 Days of Halloween: Day 23

Day 23

Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

Freddie Kruger...he's up there with Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees and Leatherface...in terms of serial killers...and remakes.

I have to admit that I have never seen the first Nightmare on Elm Street, the one that launched Johnny Depp, but I have seen some scenes from the film. I highly enjoyed this version. Like the Rob Zombie version of Halloween, you learn more about the psychopath's history, understanding where he's coming from. In Kruger's case, you fear him, feel for him, and then you are back to fearing him. It's a great twist that leads you on this chase for the truth.

Jackie Earle Haley is great as the knife-fingered villian and Rooney Mara is good as Nancy, his 'favorite'. I feel that Haley is just good at being creepy; Little Children (2006) anyone? I do have to give a shout out to Kellan Lutz, who bites it in the first 10-15 minutes of the movie, who is one of my Twilight boys (he plays Emmett Cullen) and to Katie Cassidy, who I first saw her in the horror mini-series Harper's Island (2009) (more on television series on a Blog Extra).

About halfway through the movie do you find out what actually happened to Kruger, but it's not towards the end that you discover whether it was true or not. I'm not sure I buy the climax of the movie, (not going to give it away), but I did enjoy the actual end of the movie (the last 15 seconds). Think Friday the 13th, but not int he same way. Pretty cool.

All the scare tactics I did see coming; the heroin in the closet, the clawed dog, etc. I didn't anticipate the hallway of blood though. Pretty cool...and it falling into her bedroom. Pretty awesome. This is definitely one to watch!


Similar Movies:

Friday the 13th (1980/2009)
Halloween (1978/2007)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974/2003)
Freddy vs Jason (2003)


Up Next

The Mist (2007)

31 Days of Halloween: Day 22

DOUBLE FEATURE

Day 22

The Addams Family (1991)



My plans got twisted around a bit and so I decided to use what the good cable stations gave me: an Addams Family double feature on ABC Family's 13 Nights of Halloween. Convenient, right? I thought so.

The first Addams Family movie I hadn't seen in ages! The second one seems to be on all the time, but the first...lovely. I had forgotten the premise until I sat and re-watched it and remembered all of the fun things about the movie. I used to watch the television show (in syndication of course) and I loved it. Come on...a show about a creepy family...why wouldn't I like it?!

Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston are PERFECT as Gomez and Morticia Addams. Their chemistry was beyond fantastic and they had the mannerisms done flawlessly. While Christopher Lloyd is decent, I'm not entirely sold on him as Uncle Fester. I do feel he does a good job...I just don't feel he pulled it off as well as Julia and Huston.

Christina Ricci, as Wednesday Addams...this was her movie that gave her the break she needed. And there is something so creepy about this little girl, showing no emotion, and putting her brother, Pugsley, into an electric chair.

The premise of this first film was that Fester had been missing for 25 years and this mother and son, along with the Addams' lawyer, concoct a plan that the son will pretend to be the long lost brother of Gomez Addams.

You start to see 'Fester' struggle with who he is and go back and forth between family and the money in a battle of good and evil...but who is good and what is evil is what is in question. I really enjoyed this movie as it brought a great old television show to the forefront of cinema and allowed a great family to live again...or die. :-)


Addams Family Values (1993)



Ah...at the end of the first film, you find out that Morticia is expecting a baby...so another Addams is coming into the world. At the beginning of this movie, she has the baby and thus sibling rivalry is born.

Pugsley and Wednesday are feeling shunned and do what they can to destroy the baby. They are thwarted at every turn, much to their dismay. Enter storyline number two: Debbie. She's a nanny who is brought in for the children...and she's after Fester's money. She's a black widow killer...and she has her sights set on her next target.

To get the two older children out of the way, she tells their parents that they wish to go to...SUMMER CAMP! The images of these two dark children amidst sunshine, greenery and blondes is hysterical. I really enjoyed the 'life-saving sequence' at the lake. It's just great dry humor that makes you smile.

While the summer camp frivolities continue...ending in utter chaos at the annual play, Debbie moves in for the kill so to speak, marrying Fester...and unsuccessfully trying to kill him. Debbie's final sequence as the psychotic killer that she is should have been longer. Joan Cusack played her so well and her slide show of her rise to becoming what she was is great!

A great sequel in my opinion and if you liked the show, you'll love the films!


UP NEXT

Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

31 Days of Halloween: Day 21

UPDATED!

Day 21

The Mummy (1999)

This may not be the first film that comes to your mind when I say the words Halloween or horror, but the original film with Boris Karloff, back in 1932, was more of a horror film, especially for the time.

This version focus's on those trying to get away from the mummy, rather than the mummy himself, as in the original. A librarian, itching to make her niche in the Egyptian history field, joins a former soldier (and ex-con) along with her brother, in seeking out the city of the dead. Along with a group of Americans looking for the same thing, they release an ancient mummy bent on releasing the 7 plagues of Egypt and bringing his lost love back from the dead.

I love all of the CGI moments in the 1999 as I feel that CGI was really starting to come into its prime at the time. How they were able to work on the mummy's regeneration was fantastic, rebuilding him piece by piece, but still leaving sections of him missing. Pretty cool if you ask me. Also, making the plagues happen (I particularly like the flies coming from the mummy's mouth).

I think this movie is made by Jonathan, Evelyn's brother, who is basically just a waste of space. He's got great comedic timing and is played tremendously by John Hannah (of Four Weddings and a Funeral). The chemistry between Rachel Weisz and Brendan Fraser is very believable. I enjoyed their 'drunken' scene together (or rather her 'drunken' scene with him). I think its one of the most lighthearted scenes in the movie...which was rare considering the mummy is killing everyone and sucking the lives out of them. Fun times!


Similar Movies:

The Mummy (1932)
The Mummy (1959)
The Mummy Returns (2001)
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)


Up Next - DOUBLE FEATURE

The Addams Family (1991)

Addams Family Values (1993)

31 Days of Halloween: Day 20

Day 20

The Thing (1982)



Overall, this is a very interesting movie. Another possession movie...two days in a row...but its very different from Body Snatchers, particularly in how its done.

This movie takes place in a remote camp in Antarctica, where there are a group of people doing scientific work. After a helicopter crash with two Norwegians, they are stuck with a stray dog that the helicopter was chasing. After the 'dog' goes haywire in the cage with the other dogs, they realize some 'thing' is among them.

The scare factor in this movie is pretty low...but the effects are fantastic, particularly for the early 80's. I can only imagine what the most recent version of this film (released this month) looks like. The gore factor was high, but not in a completely grotesque way (I don't really think there is a 'too grotesque' movie, but I'm sure one could be brought to my attention). I felt that the level of blood and gore was just right for this movie, and fairly realistic in its presentation.

The idea that there was something basically assimilating the humans in the camp and creating duplicates that were taking their place...crazy. Kurt Russell, who played the lead MacReady, was his usual self. I liked his take on this character though. I felt that it wasn't too crazy...(i.e. Captain Ron) and it wasn't all bad ass (i.e. Escape from L.A.), so he was tolerable. :-)

Having seen this movie, I'd be willing to check out the remake, in theatres now. From what I can tell, the new movie is more of a prequel to this 1982 version...basically telling the story of the Norwegian camp. Interesting...

I'm currently kicking myself for not being able to be down at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights this year as they are featuring the new version of The Thing. I bet those haunted houses would be something.


Similar Movies:

The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
The Thing (2011)


Up Next

The Mummy (1999)

31 Days of Halloween: Day 19

Day 19

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)



Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum and Leonard Nemoy in one cast...craziness. I had never seen this movie and I actually enjoyed it greatly. Though, I think its because of a book I read rather than the movie itself, but its still worked nonetheless.

One day the city of San Fransisco is fine and then the next day new flowers have popped up all over the city and now people are...changing. Not just changing...becoming entirely new....people. No...not people....things.

They get you when you are sleeping. They chase you when you awake (sing that to the tune of ''Santa Claus Is Coming To Town'). PS...the scene where they are all asleep and the pods pop up...creepy and gross!

I mentioned a book that deals with the body snatching idea, but in more detail and more of the aftermath. This is a must read if you are into alien possession (and can handle a bit of romance). It puts you in the mind of those who are still human and in the mind of those who aren't. Its a great concept that I feel was explored thoroughly in this book.

Book:

The Host by Stephenie Meyer


Similar Movies:

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
The Invasion (2007)


Up Next:

The Thing (1982)

31 Days of Halloween: Day 18

Day 18

Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride (2005)



The claymation extravaganza continues with The Corpse Bride. Another collaboration with Tim Burton and his muse, Johnny Depp, in a deep, dark and twisted tale of an arranged marriage that almost never happens when the groom accidentally weds a corpse instead.

Victor, voiced by Depp, is a nervous wreck about his upcoming nuptials to Victoria, until he meets her and falls in love. But, needing to practice his vows, he heads into the woods and repeats his vow...and ends up married to a corpse that happened to be in the area (yup...he put the ring on her and everything...and he didn't know).

What ensues is a fun arrival into the land of the dead (underneath the land of the living...appropriately enough) which includes an explanation of how Emily, the corpse bride, ended up down there. Unfortunately, he tale is not a happy one (she was killed and left for dead while waiting for her betrothed).

While it is a predictable story...what isn't nowadays...I still find it fun and clever. Danny Elfman does a great job as well, again, though I do feel that Nightmare is the more classic and more creative musical he has come up with. I do also really like the shapes of the characters. From the tall and statuesque mother-of-the-bride to the short and stout father-of-the-bride and both of Victor's parents (also thin and stout...though in reverse), each character has a distinct build that I find is fantastic.

While it's not Nightmare Before Christmas, I feel that its a great second venture into the world of claymation for Tim Burton and his crew. Be sure to check it out!


Similar Movies

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1994)


Up Next

The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

The Witch City

Salem, MA: aka the Witch City

This Sunday Andy P and I ventured into the heart of Halloween to visit the town of Salem. Known for things like The House of the Seven Gables, the birthplace of Nathaniel Hawthorne...and oh yes, the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.

In 1692, a bunch of teenage girls, who apparently had very little to do, starting claiming that some of the townsfolk were witches. The town back then consisted of about 1,500 people...and roughly 10% of them (150) were accused of witchcraft. By the time it was all said and done, 20 people were executed (19 hanged and 1 pressed to death), not including the 3 who died in prison and the 2 dogs that were killed (yup, they killed dogs because of witchcraft).

Since our theatre had just closed our production of The Crucible about one week before...I felt it was as good a time as any to revisit (I went once with my parents when I was younger) the town where it all went down (yup, it rhymed).

Our first stop: The Salem Witch Museum



It was just as I remembered it, right down to the wax figurines and the red victim circle on the floor. Everything was fresher in my mind having just see our production, but it was all as I had remembered from years before.

After lunch, we headed in search of some haunted houses. I knew of two, but walking back from eating we hit a bike parade. It happened to be Bikers Against Breast Cancer, as October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It was pretty cool...seeing all of the bikers. However, the best part was watching all of them dressed up; not just the leather...but in Halloween costumes, with spiderwebs across their handle bars and skeletons sitting in the 'backseat.'

Once we got past the bike parade, we made our way into the Witch Village near the Salem Wax Museum. It was here that we ran into this lovely lady...

We visited two Haunted Houses at this time: Frankenstein's Laboratory and The Haunted Witch Village. Both were short and fun...partly due to the fact that we were the only ones going through at the time (note to all: go during the day to a haunted house; there will not be a line).

I got a little jumpy during the second because there were clowns...and yes, they found me. I was literally shaking it off for a good 5 minutes following the excursion.

Next, we went into the neighboring graveyard. We weren't the only ones. I have to admit: I like walking through graveyards...but this seemed a bit weird, with a bunch of other people wandering around. I wondered if our downstairs neighbors minded. I guess they are probably used to it.

But look who we found!

If you look closely, you will see that its Judge Hathorne of the Salem Witch Trials. We tuned into a graveyard tour at the time we reached the headstone and the tour guide mentioned that in his later years Hathorne did admit to making a mistake, getting swept away into the girls' stories during the trial of Rebecca Nurse, but that they went through with her execution to make a point.

Also...Hathorne's relative, his great grandson, Nathaniel, was so disgusted with his great grandfather and what he did back in 1692, that he added a W to his last name. Thus, it was changed from Hathorne to Hawthorne, to help others think that he wasn't related.

After a wonderful 5 hours in the Witch City...and two sweatshirts and a shot glass later...we headed away from Salem to the second part of our Sunday adventure: a haunted house.

We went to Fall River, MA, about an hour and a half from Salem, to visit The Factory of Terror.

When we arrived, it was shortly before 6:30pm, the time it opened...and there was already a line. It wasn't too long, so we hoped right in, and before we knew it, we were purchasing our tickets at the Bates Motel front desk. The haunted house boasts 3 haunted houses, which are all intertwined into one long maze. There are splits between the 3, where you would pick up 3D glasses or drop them off...but everything wound seamlessly into the next.

I was in the front of our group (a place I covet) and I lead the pack into the darkness. Soon, the screaming group of girls got left behind (no loss from us) and we continued forward. I do think that I am a pest in haunted houses. I don't scream. I may jump from time to time, but no screams ever come out of me. So...the creatures in a haunted house will probably see me as one of two things: 1) a challenge or 2) a waste of time.

Each section was great, with their own things that got you. In the first section, Bloodworth Manor, killers like Freddie Kruger and Michael Myers followed you around. In the 3D section, you were told to walk through walls that you didn't think you could actually go through. In Phobia Mayhem, your nightmares came to get you with big spiders, extreme darkness and claustrophobia. I think the claustrophobia was the best. There were three sections of it throughout the Phobia Mayhem section...each getting tighter and tighter...until you finally reached the end...

...and this is what you met...

I can't wait until the next one! Until then faithful readers....