Taking a brief break between dealing with some family responsibilities. More on them later, because I don't want all my posts to either be locked and about heartbreaking things or exchange letters.

I tracked some of the media I consumed for spooky season this month. (Which is almost over? HOW?) Here are some of the movies. (Links go to trailers on YouTube.)

Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000): Probably a rewatch for me, but I could not remember a single detail about it. More fun than I expected.

The Curse of La Patasola (2022): Another that was more fun than I expected.

Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005): It was fine. There were a lot of moments of characterization I loved.

Sissy (2022): Fuck I loved this one. Did not expect to once I realized the premise, but it was so, so good.

La Furia del Hombre Lobo (Fury of the Wolfman) (1972): So fucking weird. So fucking great. (I recapped this for this year's Snark at the Moon! over on Devil's Elbow.)

Werewolf By Night (2022): I did not like this as much as I hoped from the way people talked about it, but I really enjoyed it. Very visually nostalgic, and I adored a couple of the characters.

Grimcutty (2022): Fuck, this, too, was far more fun than I expected. Love, love, love the teen girls in particular.

The Requin (2022): Sort of run-of-the-mill shark survival, but I enjoyed it. Did not fucking recognize Alicia Silverstone for a hot minute.

Hunter, Hunter (2020): I loved this movie, but it was not at all the movie I thought I was watching, and I loved this despite the hard turn to rapist.

Black as Night (2021): My favorite movie of the season, and one of my favorite vampire movies ever. The main characters is the fucking best.

I saw this when it first came out in theaters in the U.S., and I did enjoy it. (On the big screen, there were some moments which set off my claustrophobia and my vertigo, so I hope the same thing won't happen on my television. I didn't mind that kind of reaction, it just made the horror of it more real and more fun.)

I was struck, watching it the first time and watching it now, but how the characters are developed so well in the beginning. I care about the women, and am curious about their relationships. That's part of why the horror is so horrible later, because I do care.

Is that a British horror trend? I say that because Sarah does the same thing when she writes horror, develops the characters and their relationships before she even hints at the horror side of things. I really, really like it.

I think I may have to write some girl slash for this movie. I'm quite taken with Juno and Holly in particular, and their adrenaline addiction.

After this, if I still can't sleep, I may have to watch The Cave. Unlike Sarah, I enjoy both movies. (This may be because I watched The Cave first. Plus I am in love with Piper Perabo as Charlie.)

Edited to Add: One of my favorite quotes. "I'm an English teacher, not the fucking tomb raider."

Edited to Add (2:01 a.m.): That's a big no on the whole being better on the small screen. One scene in particular set me off. It's kind of hard to breathe right now. (Only a slightly tight chest, which is nothing compared to in the theater, but still.)

I really want good fiction about werewolves and vampires. I'm not sure what, exactly, I want, but something where the "monsters" are actually the heroes or the anti-heroes, if need be. Fanfic or original fiction or anything. (Though, beyond those two, what fiction is left?)

Of course, I should be writing, and need to get back to it.

Also, does anyone know of any Lost Boys authors? I'm looking for people to maybe do the remix musesfool runs, if she runs it this year. I don't think I have enough stories in any other fandom to do it otherwise. Hmmm.

Watching Stir of Echoes. Interesting. But back to the writing.