Welcome to Halloween 365!

Hello everyone!

Welcome to Halloween 365. This blog is all about Halloween and also has nothing to do with Halloween. Allow me to explain...

Halloween is my favorite holiday. We'll get into why in a minute. The month of October always fills full of potential to me. Like anything is possible and I can achieve whatever I want. I want this feeling to last all year. As such, I have designed this blog to deal with keeping that Halloween feeling alive. Some friends may join me for guest articles. As it is, I have decided that Halloween is, for me, about 12 things.

1) Identity- You choose who to be for one day a year. Why not make yourself who you want all the time?

2) Mortality- No holiday gets us closer to the grim visage of death, but should we fear the reaper?

3) Escapism- All holidays are about this to a certain degree but I would argue that, along with the identity aspect, Halloween allows for a deeper level of escapism.

4) Wish Fulfillment- This kind of goes along with identity but, in addition to being who we wish we could be, we also behave in ways we normally wouldn't.

5) Horror- duh. But separate from mortality as there are fates worse than death bouncing around on Halloween.

6) Fun- I mean, for real. What is Halloween without some fun?

7) Exploring Evil- A safe way to peer into the darker sides of our souls.

8) Indulgence- Eating sweets, getting drunk, hookups...this is one of the more indulgent holidays.

9) Tradition- This holiday is perfect for creating annual traditions.

10) Creativity- How creative can you get? This holiday will let you know.

11) Fear- The only holiday that encourages you to face your fears.

12) Friends- The antidote to all the fears and evil is spending time with those you love.

So, all of my posts will be dealing with one of these topics. I may divide them by month. I may just write about whatever I feel like.

Today is All Saint's Day and it is pretty special because I am moving into a new house (for me). It is actually the home of some friends of mine who are working several states away for the foreseeable future.  I feel like I am in the Shining. Not just because I am moving into a fully furnished home to be a caretaker. But also because this month is NaNoWriMo.

For those who don't know, that is National Novel Writing Month. I wrote a horror novel a couple of years ago and just finished with rewrites this year. That has given me the courage to write a new one this year. So, just like Jack Torrance looking for inspiration in the Overlook Hotel, here I am moving into a place by myself for the winter in hopes of finishing a second novel.

Now, you may be thinking, how the hell are you going to keep up a Blog and write XXXX number of words daily? Well, this is a little stroke of genius I had. My book will contain chapters that are also blog entries. So, every day, I will add to the content of this blog and knock out some of my NaNoWriMo word count at the same time. Just to let you know, the blog entries will be about all things horror, so this blog will be pretty one track for a bit.

As another little cap on the Halloween 2015 experience, I try to watch 31 horror movies I have never seen before every October. Here is the complete list of the films I watched with a 1 to 5 star rating by each one.

1. Would You Rather- ***
2. ABCs of Death 2- ***
3. Banshee Chapter- *
4. Preservation- ****
5. + Ones- ***
6. Creep- ***
7. Beneath- ****
8. Crave- *
9. Proxy- **
10. VHS Viral- **
11. Dead Snow 2- ***
12. Crimson Peak- ****
13. Extinction- ***
14. Honeymoon- **
15. Intruder- ***
16. Wolfcop- **
17. Ginger Snaps- ***
18. The Voices- **
19. The Nightmare- *****
20. American Terror- *
21. At the Devil's Door- *
22. The Houses October Built- ****
23. The Pact 2- **
24. Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead- ***
25. The Babadook- ***
26. Spring- *****
27. The House at the End of the World- *
28. Let Us Prey- **
29. Twixt- *
30. Late Phases- ***
31. The Haunting- ***

My two favorites were The Nightmare and Spring, neither of which are solid horror. The first is a documentary about sleep paralysis that hit super close to home with me. Your mileage may vary. The latter is a romance with elements of horror. Anything 3 stars and up I would say is worth seeing. Less than that, watch at your own risk. Be back tomorrow with a book chapter!