TMST is a weekly meme with optional participation hosted by Jen Twimom @ That’s What I’m Talking About. There isn’t a check in and she doesn’t have a linky (although you’ll find one at the bottom of this post for #LetsDiscuss2022, that also has a giveaway raffle). She does encourage you to leave a link to your post on her blog if you participate, just so she and others can find you!
Jen sends out an email with the upcoming prompts roughly every two months. To get them, just go to her blog and sign up to get her newsletters. Then, just write a post for the corresponding date’s topic!
Today – October 25, 2022 – the topic is: What are your favorite horror books or movies?
So, without any further ado…
So, what are my favorite horror books or movies?
As most of my regular readers know, I’m not at all into reading horror fiction. The truth is… I really don’t read your typical horror books, and I also don’t watch your typical horror movies, or TV series, for that matter. So, I bet you’re all wondering why am I answering this question.
Well, you see… aside for having an opening in need of a post this week, some people might say that some dystopian books, films, and TV shows are a sub-genre of the horror genre. There are several of those books I’ve read (although not all of which have been reviewed here) and enjoyed. These include “The Handmaid’s Tale” (I also enjoyed the TV show) and “The Heart Goes Last” by Margaret Atwood. Obviously, I read classic books like Orwell’s “1984,” and Huxley’s “A Brave New World” in my youth as school assignments. Since some of the things that happen in these stories are pretty scary to contemplate, I can say these are probably among my favorites.
That said, I have a confession to make. When I was young, I watched and was a devoted fan of the daytime, TV soap opera “Dark Shadows.” I mean, I was hooked, practically addicted to it. I’d run home from school to see it every day. Also, I had a HUGE crush on the main actor, Jonathan Frid, who was hardly the type of guy that most young girls would swoon over! But that was me. And NO, I didn’t watch the movie they made of this show with Johnny Depp, and I’m very glad I didn’t. From the trailers I saw, they made it into a joke – a satire movie about of horror show – and that pissed me off. I was very serious about the original show, and I therefore boycotted that new movie. (Now, with all the controversy over his divorce, I have lost all respect for him, and I have no respect for his ex-wife, either. It just felt like the whole thing was done for the spectacle and publicity they could get out of the trial. Yuck!)
Other than this, the only “horror” movie I’ve ever really enjoyed were the comedic ones, and in particular, Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein.” I guess that means I’m not really a true fan of the horror genre, so perhaps it is a good thing that where I live, we don’t celebrate Halloween! But don’t let me stop you from enjoying!
The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog 
Have you ever read any Peter Straub? Thinking of starting…
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No. What did he write?
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Ghost Story, I think. never tried him but i know he was huge in his time and he passed here in brooklyn recently and his daughter Emma, also and author, has been writing often about the grief
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Thanks… I’ll look him up.
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for sure
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Hello again; I just got through posting a review on Come Along with Me by Shirley Jackson; this is for next month; anyhow, I was reminded of her work: The Haunting of Hill House and I think this was made into a movie and so it might be worth watching; also there is the original with Vincent Price who will pay those who spend the night some sum in millions…but in the end, I can’t remember who was left standing; who remained?
I am sorry that I do go on and on; it is my way of communicating with others since I don’t have friends…no co-workers or what have you. I do have a wonderful husband but I am seen as not the wife. Sorry!
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Hm… Vincent Price… I remember I watched a few things with him in it… maybe an old time TV series based on horror stories. The Pit and the Pendulum was one for sure. His voice was scary. My father loved horror, but he didn’t pass that on to me!
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It is so great that you didn’t watch Dark Shadows with Jonny Depp. It must be one of the worst films I ever watched. It was atrocious with very inappropriate jokes and everything in the film fell flat. Neither director Burton nor Depp’s charisma could have saved it. I am really curious about the original series, though. I may check it out, if you recommend. Horror films that I enjoyed in past years were Rosemary’s Baby (1968), Babadook (2014), Midsommar (2019), Les Diaboliques (1995) and Eyes Without a Face (1960), to name just a few.
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I meant Les Diaboliques (1955).
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I saw a trailer for that film and refused to watch it. The original TV series was very complicated, and if you don’t watch from the first episode, you’re sunk!
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Thanks for this warning! I will watch from the first episode!
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I don’t like horror!
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I’m like you about horror, and love Young Frankenstein. Perhaps it’s a side effect of not liking horror, that I enjoy the comic takes on it so much (and so, my blog title!)
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Hehehe!
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I was a bit too young for Dark Shadows but I remember the buzz about it and I regret not having been part of that! Except for Masterpiece Theatre and local sports teams, I don’t watch much TV now. I probably would if I had a regular show but nothing has really interested me since The Good Wife went off the air. Maybe when The Crown starts up again next month!
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I’m watching The Good Fight now, the spin-off of The Good Wife. It is a bit… out there, but Christine Baransky is marvelous!
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I do enjoy Stephen King’s version of horror. Over the years his books have left me too frightened to use the toilet at night (It), nervous around Saint Bernard dogs (Cujo), scared to walk closely around Plymouth Furies (Christine), worried about vampires (Salem’s Lot) and absolutely terrified of Jack Nicholson (the film of The Shining), but I keep on reading his books.
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I’m glad you like his books.
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I rarely read horror as I need to sleep at night, but I do dabble in it. John F. Leonard writes mild horror and I read his ‘The Dead Boxes Archive’ which were short tales but most suitable for me.
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I vastly prefer old horror to new – new horror tends to be too dark and gruesome for my wimpish tastes! And I find horror works better in short stories than novels, on the whole. I honestly have too many favourites to mention, but Frankenstein deserves a special place, and I’ve developed a love/hate relationship with HP Lovecraft over the years – mostly love!
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Hello, I spent part of my day perusing this young adult book on the witches of Salem; the absolutely true tale of disaster in Salem if one is to believe this version; in fact, it sticks to the original tale/myth which is absolutely true. I had never heard that it might have been some seeds that made the children and some of the women sick and that in May of 1992, the state of Massachusetts, the city of Salem Village finally dedicated a memorial in honor of the slain ‘witches’ and that it is called the Salem Village Witchcraft Victims Memorial of Danvers. Those who suffered and were trialed etc. not only lost their lives but those left behind lost all their possessions: livestock, land, monetary units, everything was taken from them since they’d been accused and jailed and had to pay fees for each night spent in the prison cell; makes you wonder if that was not the real reason for the accusing…a cursory glancing back each time around the years in October? Just thinking out loud and thank you for sharing.
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I can not read horror or horror adjacent! Even reading reviews of horror traumatizes me! I’m very very susceptible to nightmares.
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Yes, I avoid the genre as well.
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