Halloween/Horror News

 I don't normally do two posts in one day...Especially on a Saturday. But I couldn't really wait because Midnight Mass came out yesterday (I posted about that earlier) and one of the things I wanted to mention in this post is kind of time sensitive because it might sell out. I guess I'll talk about that first.

Makeup Revolution released two new palettes for Halloween, Deadly Desire and Into the Night. I ordered them both from Ulta (I'll have a post towards the end of next week after I've had a chance to use both of them) for $15 each. I'm not waiting to post about them because last time, the Ghost Stories palette sold out before I posted about it, so I'm thinking they're making limited quantities of their Halloween collection.

I'll also probably have a post about Survive the Night by Riley Sager sometime next week. It depends on how I feel when I'm typing it, I might just skip it. (That should tell you how I felt about the book.)

Halloween Wars season 11 started last week and I know sometimes I can be hard on things so I was glad to see everyone else hated the new format as much as I do. In past seasons, each team would consist of a cake artist, sugar artist and pumpkin carver and they would make these incredibly detailed creations with components from each of their areas of expertise. You'd see these giant pumpkin creations with beautiful blown sugar work and those were always the standouts because first of all, there are a ton of cake shows already and also...A lot of the time, the cake artists didn't use cake, they used Rice Krispie Treats. So what did they do this season? Got rid of pumpkin carving all together. Sugar work is no longer a requirement. It's just cake. It's Cake Wars. Which I wouldn't mind normally, but this is supposed to be Halloween Wars and for 10 seasons there was pumpkin carving and sugar work and that's what I was expecting this season. That's what Halloween Wars is. If all that wasn't bad enough, for some UNKNOWN REASON, they got rid of Jonathan Bennett and replaced him with that guy from Ghost Adventures and his knockoff Annabelle doll. I watched one episode of Ghost Adventures and hated it, they claimed everything was a damn ghost with no proof. Nothing would even happen, but IT WOULD BE A GHOST. It's obnoxious. He's obnoxious. I didn't even finish watching the episode, I turned it off in the last 10 minutes, I'm not watching this season.

Now that my rant is over. I ordered Monster Mash cereal from Target because I couldn't find it in any of the stores I went to. It still isn't here, but my mom knew I was searching for it and she found it when she was shopping, so she picked a box up for me. I'm not a huge cereal person, but in the spirt of Halloween, I had to try it, you know? I think it tastes like Cap'n Crunch. It doesn't really have a lot of marshmallows, but I'm fine with that. I never really liked marshmallows in cereal, like Lucky Charms (even though I thought they looked really pretty).

My next Halloween decor post was going to go up on Monday, but I ordered a couple more things that probably won't arrive until the end of the week, so...That's unfortunate. And the thing is, that second Halloween decor post was supposed to have three items. That's it. A candle holder and plug in from Bath and Body Works and a throw blanket from T.J.Maxx. I don't know what happened, but things spiraled out of control.

Lastly! It's almost October! That means it's almost time to start reading A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny again, one chapter for every day of the month. This is a tradition every year and I'm excited to pick it back up again.

Midnight Mass

This isn't really a review, I just...Finished watching it this morning and wanted to talk a little bit about it. The thing is, I don't want to spoil it (even though I figured out most of the plot by the end of the first episode) and I don't know how to not spoil it without being extremely vague and making very little sense. So that's what this post is.

Midnight Mass is a show from Mike Flanagan, who also made The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor, both of which were incredible and I highly recommend watching them. I originally watched Hill House because one of my favorite r/nosleep writers, The_Dalek_Emperor, worked on that show. And I loved it. Hill House and Bly Manor are both excellent pieces of storytelling and Midnight Mass is just as good. However, whereas Hill House and Bly Manor deal with ghosts, Midnight Mass is its own thing.

If Mike Flanagan being behind this show wasn't already enough of a reason to watch Midnight Mass, here's another: A lot of the cast from Hill House and Bly Manor came back for this show, including Rahul Kohli (who I wish we saw more of this time around) and Kate Siegel. On top of that, Zach Gilford from Friday Night Lights also appears on the show. Zach Gilford has this real..."Aww, shucks" thing about him. Like Jimmy Stewart. (I'm not saying they're similar in any way other than that.) I don't know, maybe I just see him that way because of his character in Friday Night Lights. Either way, I like him as an actor.

Midnight Mass is about an island that consists of a small fishing community. It kind of reminds me of Innsmouth. It looks like the Fishing Hamlet from Bloodborne. This community isn't doing great. Some of the townsfolk are very religious, which is fine...At first. But they begin to experience "miracles" and because of that, they become more devout. More people start going to mass. And again, that's fine...But it begins to become cult-like. I'm not religious, but I don't see anything wrong with other people being religious until they become extremists and use their beliefs as an excuse to hurt other people. I'm just going to say it, I hate Bev. She was manipulative, racist and just pretty awful in general. She reminded me a lot of that evil hag from The Mist. You know, the one who when she died, everyone in the movie theater cheered. I was so annoyed every time she opened her mouth. She is the problem, people like that are the problem. There is something so unsettling about watching a person like her manipulate otherwise good people...And taking them down this rabbit hole that pretty much leads to hell. And yeah, Bev wasn't responsible for all of it. But whereas the other person seemed to have good intentions (again, the road to hell, right?), she never did. So without giving too much away, this show is pretty much about a normal town being manipulated into cult-like behavior. And the way it's done is kind of brilliant, in a really terrifying way. Everything these people are told makes sense based on the Bible. But it clearly is not what it seems.

I do have to say that in the first two episodes, animals die. I want to point that out because if you're like me, that's going to bother you. A lot. You see like, 100 dead cats and a dog dies. And it's not like it's two seconds and it's over with. These scenes go on forever. It's awful. I ended up fast forwarding a lot of it because I couldn't deal with it. I know it's fake, but it's still upsetting.

Overall...I liked Midnight Mass a lot. Great acting, great storytelling. I think this is probably the creepiest of the three shows I mentioned in this post. It's extremely disturbing and upsetting. I pretty much sobbed for the last 15 minutes of episode 7. In my opinion, the plot of Midnight Mass is more interesting than Hill House and Bly Manor, but at the same time, one of the plot points is like...My least favorite thing in horror movies, I usually find that particular thing extremely boring (again, trying to be vague) so part of me was like, Are you kidding? But it really wasn't boring, thankfully. I also found this particular thing to be very predictable, like I said, I figured it out in the first episode. Maybe it was supposed to be obvious.

SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON. 

It's a vampire. I don't care if they believe it's an angel, it's a vampire. This show was Jonestown meets 30 Days of Night. That's all I wanted to say.

Horror News/Things I've Been Enjoying Lately

 I never blog just to like...Talk about things. I mean. I do, obviously, but it's always a dedicated post, you know? It's never just random things I feel like talking about. So I figured I would do that now because there are a few things I wanted to discuss.

First of all, on September 13th, it was announced that BEETLEJUICE IS COMING BACK TO BROADWAY! (Not to the Winter Garden, though.) I'm SO excited. Beetlejuice is my favorite Broadway show, I saw it 4 times before it closed and I was supposed to see it a 5th time, but then Covid happened and the show closed and it wasn't supposed to come back, but it IS and that news made me so happy. Live theatre is one of those things that brings me so much joy and I've missed it a lot. The past couple years have been hard, for everyone, and to have some good news about a show that means so much to me really lifted my spirits (no pun intended). I can't wait to see if any of the original cast is coming back, I loved all of them, but especially Kerry Butler. So I hope she comes back.

Purple Kiss released "Zombie" this month and I love it. For the most part, my K-pop days died with 2NE1, Infinite and SNSD, but every now and then I'll listen to newer groups and I really like Purple Kiss' music. "Zombie" is a really fun song and the MV is great, too.

I have another Halloween decor post coming, but Michaels' customer service is not okay and they flat out refused, multiple times, to help me locate a package that they said shipped over a week ago, but for 8 days was never received by Lasership, so...That finally got here today, but at this point, I might as well just wait to post it until after I go to Sleepy Hollow, in case I buy anything while I'm there. 

Old news, but news I'm excited for anyway. Fatal Frame 5 is being released for the PS5 in October. I loved it when I played it on the Wii U (and that's probably still going to be the best way to experience it because of the way it utilizes the gamepad), Fatal Frame is my favorite horror series. So I'm looking forward to that. And hopeful that it means we'll get another Fatal Frame release in the future (maybe in VR or AR??). I'm also really happy that Nintendo no longer has exclusive rights to the franchise. Fatal Frame 4 was never released here (you could import it and mod your Wii, which is what I did, but still, it sucks that it never got a NA release) and I kind of feel like Nintendo didn't care enough about the series.

Alan Wake is being remastered as well. I always wanted to play that game, but Xbox was never really my thing and I never had a PC that could handle the game, so it's cool that I'll be able to play it on the PS5 next month.

The Dark Pictures: House of Ashes is also being released next month...I'm a little less excited about that. I loved Until Dawn, it's one of my favorite PS4 games and I really thought I would like the Dark Pictures Anthology, but I kind of hate how (SPOILERS) nothing you think is happening is actually happening in those games. I could get past Man of Medan because I thought it would be a one time thing, but when they did the same thing with Little Hope, I was kind of annoyed. So I don't have high hopes for House of Ashes, but I'll still play it.

I've been playing Vampyr lately. I really enjoyed it at first, it reminds me a lot of The Sinking City. But, as with all video games that have a ton of dialogue and are longer than 15 hours, I'm starting to reach a point where I just want it to end. And I'm only halfway through the game. I also feel like I've hit a wall. There are harder enemies roaming the streets now and I'm extremely underleveled because I haven't been killing the NPCs. I'm not sure if I'll end up finishing the game.

Netflix announced Midnight Mass, from the creator of The Haunting of Hill House. I really enjoyed Hill House and Bly Manor, so I'm sure this show will be just as great and well written. It will be available to stream on September 24th. Netflix also just released Nightbooks and Squid Game. I don't think the latter is technically horror, but it looks interesting.

Lastly, I watched Malignant with Jack. I think the picture sums up our feelings perfectly.

Horror Books/Movies/Shows for Kids

 I never really post about horror aimed specifically at kids because I don't have kids, so I never really think about it. But I figured since we're approaching Halloween, I would make a post about the Top 3 horror books, movies and TV shows for children. This is a very 80's/90's list. I have no idea what's out there for kids today. If anything. I feel like the 90's kind of treated kids like little adults, people weren't worried about scaring us. Whereas now...Things are a little different. The parents I know seem way more concerned about what their kids watch/read/eat/wear/etc. than my parents ever were. I mean, I saw A Nightmare on Elm Street when I was three years old. (And clearly, I'm a totally well-adjusted adult who consumes so much horror that I decided to start a blog about it and I decorate for Halloween in August. Completely. Normal.) Anyway. Here are some of my favorites from when I was a kid.

Top 3 Books:

The Scary Book by Joanna Cole and Stephanie Calmenson

This is a great book for young readers who aren't quite ready for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. The illustrations are cute and not likely to traumatize your children. The Scary Book is separated into several chapters, consisting or stories, poems, tricks/games and jokes.

Some of the stories included in this compilation are silly. The scariest story in this book, for sure, is Taily-po. And the only reason I say that is because I've read another version of Taily-po, as an adult, that absolutely terrified me. The version included here has a much happier ending.

The tricks and games chapter of the book would be a lot of fun if your kids are still kids by the time this pandemic is over and you're throwing a Halloween party for them. You're taught how to create a headless man, trick your friends into believing you found a severed finger in a box, make your friends believe they're being touched by a ghost and you learn how to play the Dead Man Game, which is where you make everyone close their eyes and touch things like peeled grapes and spaghetti while making them believe it's actually someone's eyes and brains.

Scary Stories to Tell in The Dark (Series) by Alvin Schwartz

This series was the only thing thing I knew about the Dewey Decimal System until I started working in a library. 398.2 SCH is the area you're likely to find it around, in case you're ever looking for it. When I was a kid, I used to borrow these books from the library constantly. I would return them and then check them back out again. It was always Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Short & Shivery.

As with The Scary Book, some of the stories here are silly. But unlike The Scary Book, others are downright horrifying (I'm looking at you, Harold.) I think my fear of looking out my window at night actually stems from reading The Window as a child. There are times, to this day, when I'll have my window open on a rainy afternoon and I'll forget to close it before the sun sets and then I'm too afraid to close it because what will I see outside my window? There's a good mixture of folktales and urban legends in these collections. The stories aren't the selling point of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark though...

The illustrations are. The only way to read these books is with the original drawings. Several years back, the series was rereleased with new illustrations because the originals were too scary for kids. And I completely understand why. I still can't look at whatever that thing is from T-H-U-P-P-P-P-P-P-P. It's not even a scary story, it's supposed to be funny, but I'll be damned if that thing isn't one of the creepiest images I've ever seen. I remember being afraid to sleep with the lights off after I read that one as a kid. I urge you to really gauge your child's tolerance for horror before presenting them with these books because they probably won't sleep for days and then you're going to be stuck checking under their bed and in their closet and you never know what you'll find hiding there.

Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine

I was really into Goosebumps for about a year before I moved onto Fear Street. Originally, I wanted to include that series in this post, but I think Goosebumps is more appropriate.

This hit series from R.L. Stine has been around since the early 90's and kids still love these books today. There were several spinoffs, including Give Yourself Goosebumps (a Choose Your Own Adventure series), but the original books were the best. Some of the most popular titles were The Haunted Mask, Night of the Living Dummy, and my personal favorite, Say Cheese and Die! (a story about a camera that takes pictures of future misfortune.)

Goosebumps was so popular that it was even turned into a TV show and as recently as 2015, there was a film about the series, starring Jack Black as R.L. Stine. There was also a sequel released in 2018, which I have not seen, but the original film was cute and Jack Black makes anything better.

This is a fun series that probably isn't going to scare your kids too much. If they're too old for The Scary Book, but you don't think they're quite ready for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, give Goosebumps a try.

Top 3 Movies:

The Halloween Tree

This animated film is based on Ray Bradbury's novel of the same name. The movie is also narrated by him. It originally aired on ABC, but Cartoon Network added it to their lineup around Halloween.

I have a post about this movie already, if you want to read a bit more in depth about it, but I really enjoyed it. The movie takes place on Halloween night and follows four children who go on a journey to save their friend, Pip. They travel across the world (and time), where each of them learn the meaning behind their costumes, as well as the true meaning of Halloween. It also shows what people are willing to sacrifice for their friends.

Personally, I do think this movie could be a bit scary for a younger audience, so keep that in mind if you know your children scare easily.

Daffy Duck's Quackbusters

I know Looney Tunes has its issues. A lot of them. But I loved these cartoons as a kid and I especially loved Daffy Duck's Quackbusters.

In this film, Daffy Duck receives an inheritance and is forced to start a legitimate business where he treats his employees with caring and kindness. No, I'm not kidding. Every time he treats Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig badly, we see the money in his safe dwindling down until he starts behaving nicely again. Daffy's "legitimate" business is a group of paranormal investigators, tasked with everything from exorcisms to dealing with an abominable snowman. Fun shorts are strung together to create a full length movie.

Some of my favorite Looney Tunes shorts included in Quackbusters are Hyde and Go Tweet, Claws for Alarm and Transylvania 6-5000. This movie isn't scary at all and can be enjoyed by children of all ages.

The Monster Squad

Okay, parents. Be careful with this one, it's a bit inappropriate and extremely politically incorrect (it was released in 1987, if that tells you anything) and parts of it are frightening. If your children are under the age of 12, I would hold off on this one.

A group of young kids belong to a monster club and it's all fun and games until they realize monsters are actually real and Dracula is about to open a portal that will plunge the world into darkness. Featuring an all star monster cast of Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the Wolf Man, the Mummy and "Gill-man" (aka The Creature from the Black Lagoon), this is the best monster mashup film since Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (also a great movie for kids).

There's one standout scene where the kids go to "Scary German Guy" for help translating Van Helsing's diary. Horace says, "You sure know a lot about monsters," to which the older man replies, "Now that you mention it, I suppose I do" while the camera is aimed at the numbers tattooed on his arm. It's a horrifying moment that I didn't understand when I was younger, but every time I see it now, I'm struck by it.

Top 3 TV Shows:

Tales from the Cryptkeeper

We've all heard of Tales from the Crypt, right? But did you know that in the 90's, there was an animated version for kids called Tales from the Cryptkeeper? I remember watching this on Saturday mornings (when I was actually home and not forced to go to religion classes and miss all the awesome cartoons that aired on Saturdays) and thinking it was the best cartoon ever. I still think it's one of the best animated series ever.

The premise is the same as the live action show, in each episode, the Cryptkeeper tells the audience a scary tale, but these ones are appropriate for younger viewers. There are all kinds of stories, ranging from people who are actually plants, monsters inside a mine and a train full of vampires.

My favorite Tales from the Cryptkeeper episode is Uncle Harry's House of Horrors. There's something so unsettling about carnivals, don't you think so? That's why so many horror movies and books take place there.

Tiny Toons' Night Ghoulery

Say whatever you want, tell me Tiny Toon Adventures is a non-horror TV show and this was just a one time special and it doesn't count, but it's staying because it was awesome.

Inspired by Night Gallery (a horror anthology series), Tiny Toons' Night Ghoulery features shorts inspired by classic horror tales and movies. It's not actually scary, but it is a lot of fun, especially when you know what each segment is referencing.

In this Halloween special, you'll find spoofs on The Tell-Tale Heart, Duel, The Devil and Daniel Webster and more, including one that references Abbott and Costello films like Hold That Ghost and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

And finally, I couldn't have written a post about horror for kids without talking about Are You Afraid of the Dark? at some point. This was a horror anthology show in the 90's and it's still so popular to this day, that Nickelodeon brought the show back (although now, instead of being an anthology series where different stories are told weekly, each season tells one long story). Each week, the members of the Midnight Society would sit around a campfire in the middle of the woods and one person would tell a scary story that they wrote.

As with any anthology series, some episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark? were better than others. A couple of my favorites are The Tale of the Pinball Wizard (after ignoring a warning from his boss not to play a pinball machine, a boy is trapped inside it, where he has to battle zombies and a witch to save the princess) and The Tale of the Midnight Madness (a struggling movie theater receives a vampire film, from recurring character Dr. Vink, that's almost a little too real).

Again, I would say to use your judgment before letting your children watch this show. Some episodes are genuinely scary. I still have nightmares about my grandmother's basement and I'm convinced it's because of The Tale of the Dark Music. Are You Afraid of the Dark? is a fun show, but some episodes might be too much for younger viewers.

The Witch's Diner - Episode 2

 

We learn two things at the beginning of this episode. One, it seems as if CEO Oh doesn't approve of Hee Ra killing people. And two, Gil Yong has been suspended from extracurricular activities because of his "fight" with Yeong Jae.

I didn't mention it in the last recap (because I wasn't sure what we were seeing and I'm still not sure), but for the second time now, we're shown a flashback of a little girl, running from someone or something. It looks like it could be a nightmare Jin is having. Maybe a memory from her childhood. My theory is that she's met Hee Ra before, based on Hee Ra's interactions with CEO Oh and the fact that she seemed to be following her in the first episode. I'm not sure what her interest in Jin is, but there's something there for sure.

(Throwing this out there in the middle of my post, the music in this show is good, it sets the creepy-whimsical tone well. But I want a legit K-drama OST. That's my favorite part of dramas and I'm waiting for it.)

On her way to work, Jin sees her competitor being carried out on a stretcher. She tells herself it has to be a coincidence. I would think the same if someone told me they were a witch and could grant me a wish. What are the chances of that being true?

There's a man we haven't seen before, but he's behind on some kind of payments and is avoiding the loan shark who is looking for him. He watches Gil Yong at his job - a job he himself had applied for and was rejected from. Listen. Gil Yong is a good kid and if this man does something to him, I'm going to be so annoyed. He keeps taking matches out and snapping them in half, throwing them on the street. Why? What does this mean? Does it mean anything?

When Hee Ra arrives at work, Jin confronts her, asking if she really killed that woman. Hee Ra says no, Jin killed her. It was her wish. That's not the kind of revenge Jin wanted though. (It's the Monkey's Paw.) Hee Ra tells Jin she's a hypocrite, asking since when is revenge a "soft and nice" wish? Lightning flashes and we see glimpses of Hee Ra's face illuminated by it, again showing what she really looks like. I have only ever watched Song Ji Hyo's romantic comedies, seeing her as a villain is interesting and she's doing a great job here.

Jin runs from the restaurant, in tears, either because she's responsible for someone's death or because Hee Ra scared the hell out of her. Or both. She feels extremely guilty for what her wish has caused. She comes across Gil Yong, who is in therapy as part of the school's disciplinary action for the "fight" he had with his friend. He confides in Jin that when he was young, he caught a deadly illness. He no longer remembers that and in time, he says he won't remember this incident either. He has a good disposition and seems to make Jin feel better through their conversations with each other. I like the friendship developing between them. It needs to stop there though. It seems like Gil Yong has a crush on her, but she's about 10 years older than he is. Don't make this weird.

In school, Yeong Jae's phone rings during an exam and he's kicked out of class. My heart seriously breaks for this kid. Gil Yong tries to catch up with him after class, but his knee is injured. His doctor informs him that he can't exercise for a month and he may have to miss his next track competition.

While Jin is out with Yoon Mi, she tells her about the witch and says, "We take our words and thoughts lightheartedly. But there's actually power in them. Terrible things can happen because of them." We're all taught this from a young age, right? To think before you speak. This applies to so many different situations, but let's think about it in terms of bullying, since it applies to this show. I know it's a problem in my own country and I've read that it's a problem in South Korea, as well. The most known example I think people have seen in the past couple years are the deaths of K-pop idols, driven to suicide after the hateful comments and harassment they receive online. It can happen to anyone, but I'm using this example because it's so publicized. Your words carry weight. You may think they're nothing, but they can hurt people. I know I'm going off on a tangent, but what Jin said here was really important and I wanted to include it.

There are rumors spreading that Yeong Jae attempted suicide because of his "fight" with Gil Yong. Gil Yong goes to visit him at the hospital and Yeong Jae tells him that he tried to jump from the school's roof, but his legs were shaking and he must have wanted to live after all. In an attempt to comfort Yeong Jae, he says it isn't over for him, but Yeong Jae thinks having to live like this is even scarier.

Hey, there's another witch! And she's here to lecture Hee Ra about overstepping. At work, Hee Ra has a list of rules for Jin: Don't question her, don't eat anything she cooks, she decides opening hours and she can do whatever she wants. She's the boss now and the first thing she wants to do is redecorate.

Gil Yong is standing on the edge of a roof, believing everything is over now, including college, because he can't compete in the track meet. He receives a phone call from Yeong Jae as he's about to step off, and his friend says he won't lose to those bastards at school. This gives Gil Yong the strength to step away from the edge.

CEO Oh is called to redecorate the entire diner and it looks exactly like the one from the beginning of the first episode. Jin is not a fan, exclaiming, "We're not a tarot shop." She asks CEO Oh what his true identity is and he tells her, "It's best to think of me as a supporter who gives help without being noticed." Thanks, that clears everything up. Gil Yong walks past the diner and decides to go inside, noting that he hasn't had anything to eat. Hee Ra asks him to take a seat, to which Jin opposes, saying he's not a customer (clearly trying to protect him). Jin takes him outside, saying she needs a word with him, and we see a flash of two photos in Hee Ra's possession, one of Jin and her mother and another of (what appears to be) Gil Yong and his mother. Hee Ra says, "Now we've gathered everyone." What is she planning?

Outside the diner, Jin warns Gil Yong that the witch can grant wishes and he says he believes it since she's the one saying it to him. She tells him there's no guarantee that he'll be happy if his wishes come true, he'll have to carry the burden of even the smallest wish. Gil Yong asks what will happen if he makes a wish to help someone, when Hee Ra interrupts, telling him to either make a wish or get lost. He goes back inside and makes his wish (we aren't told what it is yet, but Hee Ra says he's a wacko) and asks that it be kept a secret. Once he's finished eating, the witch hands him a business card and he leaves.

That night, Jin wakes up and sees what looks like a corpse lying next to her. Was it just a dream? She returns to work and learns that Gil Yong is now a part timer at the diner. Someone is standing outside in the shadows, with a knife, watching them. That person, who turns out to be the man from earlier who lost out on a job to Gil Yong, enters the diner and pulls the knife on Jin, before Hee Ra appears and asks what's going on.

I'm really curious about why Hee Ra is gathering these people together. She doesn't seem entirely evil, although she's definitely questionable. I'm excited to see what happens in the next episode.

The Witch's Diner - Episode 1

 

The Witch's Diner is about Jeong Jin, who loses her job and boyfriend of five years in a string of bad luck. After deciding to open a restaurant with her mother, it goes bankrupt. Jin then meets Jo Hee Ra, a witch who is capable of granting wishes, for a price. In exchange for a wish, Hee Ra wants to borrow the restaurant. It becomes a great success, but at what cost?

I started watching this K-drama because I'm a fan of Song Ji Hyo on Running Man and I always like to support the Running Man members in their other activities. Also, a supernatural themed K-drama? Sign me up. The Witch's Diner is currently streaming on Viki, if you're interested in watching it. It was adapted from a novel written by Goo Sang Hee. I googled it, I don't think there's an English translation and while I can read 한글, I don't understand 99% of it, so unfortunately, I won't be able to read the book.

(Disclaimer: I don't know if I'll be posting about each episode as it airs due to my work schedule being all over the place while our building is closed this summer. It may have to be whenever I can find some extra time.)

Episode 1 begins outside the Witch's Diner, where a sign reads the following:

1. Operating Hours: Sunset to sunrise.
2. Menu: Differs depending on the request.
3. Price: Insanely expensive so not everyone can eat here.
4. *However, all wishes are possible. The effect is certain.

First of all, the cinematography of this shot is incredible. The set looks like it belongs in a dark fairytale (literally, it's kind of hard to see sometimes). It's stunning. I hope the production value continues throughout the rest of the episodes.

We see a father who is down on his luck, inside the diner. He invested everything he owns into a bad deal that didn't work out. He lost his home and is about to be living on the streets with his children. His wish is to win the lottery so he can provide for his kids. The cost? "That look in your eyes...I like it," says Hee Ra. That sounds ominous. As promised, the father wins the lottery. Running from his house, intent on taking everything from the man who took all of his possessions, he gets into his car, where his vision blurs and he begins to scream.

Jin is an office worker, struggling with a job that requires her to work long hours and deal with an abusive boss. One night, at a company dinner, she's attacked by her boss' wife, who thinks they're having an affair for no other reason than Jin had the misfortune of being seated next to him. When Jin arrives home, drunk and stumbling (and in a much better mood than she was before), her mother tells her she is "not a person, but an alcohol bottle." The next morning, when she arrives at work, her boss fires her because if he doesn't, he claims his wife will kick him out of their house. To make matters worse, that same day, her boyfriend breaks up with her, saying they've grown apart. He really had to do it at that moment?

Hee Ra and CEO Oh (played by Ha Do Kwon, who has been a guest on Running Man several times and is incredibly funny) go to a rooftop apartment that's so beautiful and impossibly large on the inside that I had to rewind and make sure I didn't miss something while typing this. If this is how a witch lives, I want to be one, too.

The next character we're introduced to is Gil Yong, a student. (If the spelling of these names changes from episode to episode, it's because I'm basing it on the romanization of Viki's subtitles and they aren't consistent. This is why I think learning 한글 is important before learning to speak Korean, romanizations are never the same and you're likely to end up misspelling the actual words if you base it on the romanization. That's not important right now though.) He runs track, but suffered an injury. Jin's friend, Yoon Mi, is a teacher in Gil Yong's school.

One night when Gil Yong is working, he sees a friend from school, Yeong Jae, walking home with a bruised face. He asks what happened to him, but Yeong Jae tells him to leave him alone. Inside Gil Yong's job at a convenience store, Jin comes in, drunk, to buy a coffee, before going back outside and crying. Gil Yong attempts to comfort her, but she says she's okay (she clearly is not) and goes home.

The next day, Jin's mom says she knows she lost her job and tells her to take her time looking for a new one. For now, she suggests they buy a restaurant together. They put all their savings into purchasing one from a woman who is looking to sell the one she owns. At first, the restaurant is very busy and seems to be doing well, but then the chef asks for a two week vacation. How can you run a restaurant with no chef? Well...You can't. Business dies down. It turns out that the woman who sold Jin her business is a scam artist and opens a new restaurant right across the street, stealing her customers. And guess where the chef is! Not on vacation. I'm so mad. There's always one evil woman in these shows (it's usually the rich boyfriend's mother/aunt/grandmother) and it looks like she's it. Jin's restaurant was already doing poorly, this is really going to be the end for her now.

At school, Yeong Jae is being bullied. I really hate kids. Gil Yong notices he's sick. Yeong Jae tries to leave the classroom, but some brat refuses to let him out and he throws up. Gil Yong tells him to leave, that he'll clean up, and Yoon Mi runs over to help him. Afterwards, Gil Yong follows him to the bathroom and gives him a change of clothes. They go to Yeong Jae's home, where his mother is suffering from a terrible cough, reminding Gil Yong of his own mother (I'm 99% positive she passed away).

Later, after receiving an urgent voicemail from Yeong Jae, Gil Yong goes to meet him at the junkyard. It's a trap. His bullies forced him to call and lure Gil Yong there. This is hard to watch. Any time someone is being tortured (and this kid really is), it's sickening. I hope these little monsters get what's coming to them. Soon. Yeong Jae is forced to fight Gil Yong, and he punches him in the face. The cops come and break up the fight. Back at the police station, the bullies lie and say those two were going to fight and they tried to stop them, and for Yeong Jae's sake, Gil Yong goes along with this, lying and saying he instigated it. The officer in charge makes a snide remark about how it's "always like this" when people come from "that family environment." Jin (who is there after causing a disturbance at the competing restaurant) overhears this and says it's discrimination. She calls the cops out and says you can tell that Gil Yong and Yeong Jae were the victims and the others were the perpetrators. The two boys are free to leave, thanks to Jin.

After posting a "for rent" sign at her restaurant, Jin is met by Hee Ra, who says she'll take over the business and in return, grant Jin a wish. Jin asks her to leave and touches her shoulder, which does...Something. Is she transported somewhere? Seeing another dimension? Is it a vision? Either way, they're no longer in the diner, they're in front of a mansion. Hee Ra tells Jin, "There are things that you can't see, but still exist in this world." She says what Jin is seeing isn't reality, but information. If you eat her food, your wish will come true. She tells Jin to make a wish and if it comes true, leave the restaurant to her. Jin's wish is revenge on the woman who scammed her. Honestly, I think Jin's getting off easy. Sure, she'll be responsible for whatever happens to her competitor (and her customers if Hee Ra takes over), but at least she won't lose her sight like the man at the beginning of this episode. After eating the meal Hee Ra prepared for her, rats begin to invade the restaurant across the street, giving her competitor a heart attack. Once the wish is carried out, Hee Ra's face is shown transforming from wrinkled to beautiful. Do these wishes help keep her young?

This was a decent first episode. It set us up for whatever's about to come next. As much as I don't want anyone to have someone else's misfortune on their conscience, I kind of hope Gil Yong will eat there next and get even with those brats from his school. Also, as a side note, "restaurant" is a word I can never remember the spelling of, but after typing it 500 times for this post, I don't think I'll ever forget it again.

Top 5 Supernatural Themed K-dramas

I'm a huge fan of K-dramas. They're cute and fun and I like the fact that, for the most part, they're one season long and typically run between 16 and 20 episodes. They're not a huge commitment, they're easy to binge watch and they end before the writers are out of story ideas and run the show into the ground. Throw in some supernatural elements and I'm hooked. Here's a list of some of my favorite supernatural K-dramas.

5. Let's Fight Ghost

This drama stars Kim So Hyun as Hyun Ji (a ghost) and 2PM's TaecYeon as Bong Pal (an exorcist). Hyun Ji enlists Bong Pal's help to find out how she died, and together, they team up to put spirits to rest.

This isn't my favorite K-drama, but it has romance and comedy and in general, it's enjoyable. It just isn't as strong as some others on this list.

4. Master's Sun

Master's Sun was destined to be a hit with Gong Hyo Jin and So Ji Sub as its stars. Gong Shil can see ghosts. She's terrified of them. The only reprieve she gets from seeing them is when she has physical contact with Joong Won, a not-so-pleasant CEO, who reluctantly allows her to hang around him, if she helps him solve one of his own problems.

With two incredible lead actors and great writing, it's no surprise that Master's Sun is as popular as it is. The story is interesting, the ghosts are creepy, the romance is perfect (I don't want to say it's hate-to-love, more like...disgust-to-love). The only problem I had with this drama is that, like most K-dramas, (SPOILER ALERT) one half of the couple goes away for years, breaking them apart, and only reunites with their other half in the last five minutes of the final episode. This is what happens in 95% of K-dramas and it can be incredibly frustrating, but it hasn't stopped me from watching them.

3. My Love From Another Star

First things first, I can't talk about this drama without talking about the lipstick. YSL Rouge Pur Couture #52 sold out for ages because it was rumored to be what Jun Ji Hyun wore in this drama. When it finally restocked, I bought the lipstick myself. It's pricey, but worth it, it's a beautiful coral color, perfect for spring and summer.

So what is this drama actually about? Min Joon (Kim Soo Hyun) is an alien, stranded on earth since the Joseon Dynasty era. He lives next door to an actress, Song Yi (Jun Ji Hyun). The two begin to fall for each other, but love is never easy in K-drama land and aside from the physical toll even kissing Song Yi takes on Min Joon, Song Yi's life is also in danger.

My Love From Another Star has a little bit of everything. If your favorite K-drama genre is supernatural, historical, romance, comedy or drama and you haven't seen this incredibly popular drama yet, give it a chance.

2. Oh My Ghostess

Bong Sun (Park Bo Young) works at a restaurant, where she's repeatedly reprimanded and taken advantage of because of her timid personality. She can also see ghosts, a great cause of stress in her life. Soon Ae (Kim Seul Gi) is a ghost who can't move on because of a grudge she has from her death (which she can't remember the cause of). Believing that her unresolved issue is that she died a virgin, she possesses Bong Sun and tries to seduce her boss, Sun Woo (Jo Jung Suk). Because of her shy personality, Bong Sun comes to an agreement with the ghost, allowing Soon Ae to continue possessing her and investigating her death, if she helps Bong Sun get closer to Sun Woo.

Oh My Ghostess is one of my favorite K-dramas. I really enjoyed the friendship that grows between Bong Sun and Soon Ae and I loved seeing Bong Sun become a more confident woman because of it. As a warning, I'll tell you that for as cute as this drama can be at times, it also gets very dark and left me sobbing more than once.

It's also worth noting that there's a Thai remake available on Netflix that is extremely faithful to the original Korean version.

1. Goblin

Finally, we've come to my favorite K-drama of all time, one of the most beautiful stories ever told.

Kim Shin (Gong Yoo) was a general, sent to war repeatedly by a jealous king, hoping he would die in battle. Kim Shin returns, victorious, and the king has him killed. Because Kim Shin has killed so many people while at war, he is cursed to become an immortal goblin, with his own sword sticking through his chest, causing a great deal of pain to him, until he meets the "goblin's bride." Goblin's bride is the only person who will be able to see the sword he's impaled with and she'll have the ability to remove it, finally allowing him to die.

One night, after a pregnant woman is hit by a car as Goblin observes, he decides to intervene and save her and her unborn child, much to the annoyance of the Grim Reaper (Lee Dong Wook) who was scheduled to take them away. Eun Tak (Kim Go Eun), the unborn child, grows up with the ability to see ghosts (can you tell this is a recurring theme in supernatural K-dramas?). After her mother passes away, in a scene that made me ugly cry, the Grim Reaper appears, still searching for her after all this time.

By chance, Goblin and Grim Reaper end up living together, a situation neither is happy about. When Eun Tak and Goblin meet, she tries to convince him that she is the goblin's bride and eventually moves into his home, which, as you may have guessed, causes even more strain on Goblin and Grim Reaper's already tense relationship.

There is so much more to this story and I can't talk about it without giving away major spoilers, but trust me, if you're looking for a drama with a lot of depth, this is it. The actors are incredibly talented, the writing is flawless and the OST (one of the most important parts of any K-drama) is perfect.

Day 28: Favorite Horror Anthology Series - Nightmares and Dreamscapes

Nightmares and Dreamscapes aired on TNT one summer, probably around 10 years ago, give or take a few. It's inspired by Stephen King's short stories (not all are from that particular collection though). It was 8 episodes long and most were very entertaining. My personal favorites were:

1. The End of the Whole Mess, a story about two brothers and one's attempt to "cure" violence, which ends horribly.
2. Crouch End - A very Lovecraftian tale about two newlyweds who end up in this hellish area.
3. You Know They Got a Hell of a Band - A couple finds a town called Rock and Roll Heaven and soon realizes that the ghosts of dead musicians (including Buddy Holly, which I think is why I really like this episode, if I'm being honest) inhabit it.

But the real standout is Battleground, a story about a hitman who is assaulted by toy soldiers. The reason this episode was so special is because it aired without commercials and I believe it was almost a full hour long. I sat there and watched the entire episode with my cousin, completely engrossed in it, and only after it ended did I say to him, "Hey, was there any dialogue in that episode??" While watching it, I never even realized that not one word was spoken the entire time. It was brilliant. The episode was so well done that you never notice until after it's already over and you have time to think about it.

This is an overall great collection of stories and if you're a fan of Stephen King's work, you would probably really appreciate it.

Honorable mention 1: Alfred Hitchcock Presents - With any long-running anthology series, there are bound to be hits and misses. Most of these episodes were pretty good though, notably "The Creeper" about a murderer who targets blonde women and "The Gentleman From America" about a man who takes a dare to spend the night in a haunted house.

Honorable mention 2: Night Gallery - I said it in a previous post, but Night Gallery is the horror version of The Twilight Zone and if you only ever watch one episode, I highly recommend "The Cemetery" from the series' pilot. This episode is about a painting that keeps changing, becoming more horrifying each time Roddy McDowall's character looks at it. I have a large poster of Cesare from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari hanging behind my bed and I'm always reminded of this episode whenever I look at it.

Honorable mention 3: Are You Afraid of the Dark? - This was a kid-friendly anthology series that was downright scary at times and prompted my fear of mirrors. With a wide range of episodes about everything from hungry hounds, to a pinball machine, to an all too real version of Nosferatu, there's something for everyone to enjoy.

Day 26: Favorite Horror Themed Cartoon (Series, Special or Movie) - Daffy Duck's Quackbusters

Daffy Duck's Quackbusters is pretty much a bunch of "scary" Looney Tunes shorts slapped together, with a few scenes added in between to create a story. Daffy inherits a fortune, but to keep it, he must use it for "good in the world" and "display honesty in all business affairs." So he does what anyone would do and puts together a paranormal investigation team made up of himself, Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig. You can probably guess how this turns out, right? This is a fun movie, one I've been watching since I was a kid. What makes Looney Tunes great is that you can watch it when you're younger and enjoy it, but as you get older, you understand all the little jokes that went over your head as a child and it makes it even better.

Honorable mention 1: Tales From the Cryptkeeper - This was a kid-friendly Saturday morning cartoon version of Tales From the Crypt. It was one of my favorites and it's a shame that it didn't have a longer run because you don't see many horror-themed cartoons for kids.

Honorable mention 2: Tiny Toons' Night Ghoulery - This was a special that aired on TV, inspired by Night Gallery, which was basically the horror version of The Twilight Zone. Each cartoon short is inspired by a movie or story, such as Hold That Ghost, The Devil and Daniel Webster and The Tell-Tale Heart.

Honorable mention 3: The Halloween Tree - Based on the book by Ray Bradbury. Some changes were made for the movie, but it was still really well done. It's about a group of kids who, while trying to save one of their friends, learn the meaning behind their Halloween costumes and the true spirit of Halloween.

Honorable mention 4: The Adventures of Raggedy Ann & Andy "The Beastly Ghost Adventure" - I actually have this on DVD because I'm big on nostalgia and I always remember thinking of this as the "ghost whistle" episode when I was a kid. The Raggedy friends are terrorized by a ghost and have to figure out a way to get rid of it. Thinking about it now, even though these are all cartoons, they're pretty scary for kids. Maybe that's why you don't really see anything like this anymore.

Honorable mention 5: Halloween is Grinch Night - Everyone knows about that other movie, but have you heard of this one? The Grinch is out to frighten the Whos again during a storm, but he's interrupted by a child named Euchariah. Euchariah ends up inside the Grinch's wagon, which is filled with all kinds of nightmares, and he tries to stall the Grinch until the storm dies down. I'm reminded of this movie and the song "I Wouldn't Go Out on a Night Like This" every time the wind outside picks up and the skies darken.

Honorable mention 6: Fantasia "Night on Bald Mountain" - If you want to traumatize a kid, this is what you make them watch. I don't know what Disney was thinking, but this terrified me as a child. I didn't even see it in Fantasia, I saw it in some kind of Halloween special Disney aired once and they showed scary clips from all their movies. This was one of them. They can keep it.

Day 25: Best Horror/Halloween Special from a Show That Isn't in the Horror Genre - Running Man Episode 98

Running Man is a Korean variety show where the members have to perform various tasks that usually end in name tag elimination (or at least, it used to). The members each have a velcro name tag on their backs and other members have to tear it off,, or sometimes shoot it with a water gun.

In episode 98, the members find out that one of them is actually a zombie. Before they all become zombies, they have to find water guns and shoot anyone who has been infected by the head zombie. It's a fun episode, and the one that really made me love this show. The Running Man members are very funny and the show is extremely entertaining anyway, but this episode was special and if I could only recommend one episode to people, this would be it.

Honorable mention 1: Dawson's Creek "The Scare" - So there were actually 2 horror themed episodes (that I can remember) of this show. One was the episode with Jen in the radio station (that traumatized me for life), and the other was The Scare. Dawson invites his friends over to have a seance, Jen receives creepy phone calls, there's a serial killer on the loose and Pacey picks up some weird, older woman who may or may not be a threat as well. Fun is had by everyone except Jen and Dawson because they were unbearable the entire first season. And most of the second season...Most of the series, actually. So was Joey. Why did I like this show?

Honorable mention 2: Boy Meets World "And Then There Was Shawn" - Scream was clearly very popular at the time this episode aired. Cory, Topanga, Shawn, Angela and Kenny (don't worry about him) all end up in detention because of Cory and Topanga's drama. The lights go out and when they come back on, Kenny is dead. This is followed by a fun little song playing over the loudspeaker, a threatening phone call, someone running around in a mask and a pile of dead bodies. It's a cute episode. There's another episode where Jack invites a witch to move in with him that was also really good.

Honorable mention 3: Community "Epidemiology" - I tried to watch Community for a while and it was pretty good, but I just couldn't stick with it. I really liked this episode though. During a Halloween party, there's a zombie outbreak. That's it, that's the episode. Watch it if you want to laugh.

Honorable mention 4: The Hogan Family "Nightmare on Oak Street" - I can't even remember the kids' names, but after watching a scary movie, the three boys each have nightmares. Until the day I die, I will never forget this episode. One nightmare begins like it's just a normal day, the kid sits down at the table for breakfast, his older brother is acting like a zombie to scare him (until he gets yelled at by their aunt) and then he asks for...I think it's the cereal. At this point, the camera isn't aimed at the older brother anymore, but when it pans back to him, he's a zombie. The aunt is also a zombie. The kid is flipping out, like any reasonable person would, and he yells for his father, who comes in, puts a decaying hand on his son's shoulder and says, "If there's anything I hate, it's a zombie," in a low growl. It was so terrifying when I was a kid, and I loved it so much that I never forgot it.

Day 24: Favorite Horror TV Show - Penny Dreadful

To be honest, I almost stopped watching Penny Dreadful after the second episode. Eva Green's acting made me so uncomfortable (and I mean that as a compliment) that I didn't think I could handle it. I'm so glad I stuck with it though because it's such an interesting take on the classic monsters. I loved seeing those worlds come together the way they did in this series. It was well written and as horrific as it sometimes was, there was more to it than that. I wish it had gone on longer than three seasons because I really loved those characters and wanted to see more of them.

And while we're here, I have to mention my favorite scene. [SPOILERS] It's right after Victor shoots Lily and Dorian, who are dressed in white, and the two begin dancing to "Melting Waltz" (my favorite song in the series), while blood soaks their clothing. It sounds weird to call this a beautiful scene, but it really was and it's one I can watch over and over.

Honorable mention 1: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Everyone knows what Buffy is about, I don't need to talk about the plot. What I will say is that the show is timeless. Yes, if you go back to the first season, it's so 90's it hurts, the fashion is straight out of 5-7-9. But it was witty and fun to watch and it was so surprising to see what a great show it was because the movie that inspired it was absolutely ridiculous.

Honorable mention 2: Harper's Island - This show aired one summer several years ago and it was a murder mystery. A group of friends go to an island for a wedding and people begin getting killed off. It wasn't necessarily scary, but it was an entertaining show. It sort of falls apart at the end (okay, "sort of" is being kind), but I would still recommend it if you're looking for something quick to watch.