Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Boo!


Sometimes I think my brother is a genius. On his Facebook profile, under interests, he lists "Halloween."
Maybe it's an Ostow thing.
My mother grew up with thirteen brothers and sisters (total, not each--BUT STILL!), and learned very very very quickly how to bury herself in her schoolwork while distractions raged in the background. It's a habit that stuck, and while *I* was growing up and she was in grad school, I'd often wander into the den to find her finishing up her schoolwork while the tv flickered silently in the background.
Her backdrop of choice? Horror movies.
I was raised against images of old 50's monster movies and 70's slasher films, and when my mother took me to the local library, I eschewed the children's room (Sweet Valley High notwithstanding) for Stephen King.
While most of the stuff I write is cheerful and girlie, I definitely have a dark side. Whenever N goes out of town, I curl up with a glass of wine, the doggie, and a horror movie. And like my brother, Halloween is my favorite time of year.
This year, we're hosting our annual bash, and I've got my costume ready--zombie bride (perfect for someone recently engaged, no?). And in the spirit of the spookiest season, here's a list of creepy books I've been reading lately that I totally recommend. They are screamingly good:

1) BLISS, Lauren Myracle: Bliss moves from a hippie commune to a wealthy suburb and quickly discovers that evil spirits haunt her idyllic private school.
2) RHYMES WITH WITCHES, Lauren Myracle: the dark underside of popularity.
3) BOY HEAVEN, Laura Kasischke: three girls ditch cheer camp for the day with dark consequences
4) GENERATION DEAD, Daniel Waters: the arrival of a zombie population divides a small-town high school community.
5) ZOMBIE BLONDES, Brian James: the truth about the cheerleading team.

Hope that list helps to get you in the holiday spirit. And happy reading!

7 comments:

Meredith said...

I LOVED Generation Dead. And I just started reading Zombie Blondes yesterday!

~Meredith

Debbie Rigaud said...

You watch horror movies alone? Brave woman. I can't even watch "Casper" when I'm alone. :-)Have a fun Halloweeen!

lauren myracle said...

Ooo--I'm going to order Boy Heaven right now! How can I resist a story about CHEER CAMP and horror?

Hey, thanks for the nice words about BLISS and RWW. So glad they creeped you out! ;)

Anonymous said...

That's just like me. I'm all girly by day, but at night when it comes time to read, i'm all into the vampire fiction and books like Generation Dead (which i loved♥) Great Post :)

Micol Ostow said...

Lauren, you will love boy heaven!
Meanwhile, I just saw Quarantine last night and recommend it to those of you who like scary movies as much as scary books. :)

Wendy Toliver said...

Thanks for the book recommendations. I love Halloween too!

Kelly McClymer said...

My mother and her twin sister used to put on those old black and white scary movies -- and then spook us at the scary parts. And then laugh hysterically.

Every so often I catch one of those movies (I remember Sweet Charlotte, the rolling head...shudder) and they don't scare me now when I watch them. Only when I remember watching them as a child.

The new horror movies? The commercials give me nightmares.

Kelly