Nearest Book Meme

At the suggestion of The Atheist Blogger

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 56.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next seven sentences in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now things were different, and he cared enough to have figuratively backed Mitch up against the non-figurative wall of Thomajon's, a small bistro on Sunset Strip. They had been friends since meeting at a studio party and discovering that they were fellow Chicagoans, transplanted like the palm trees. Both had been dutifully nostalgic about the Loop, critical of L.A., and cynical about the movie business. Now, three years later, Mitch was working steadily behind a camera, pulling in large, satisfying paychecks, and Legget, a man with producing aspirations, had drifted, bobbed, sunk, floated, and somehow survived the Hollywood waters.

There was no doubt in Legget's mind about why Mitch had been reluctant to see him, not after their last psyched-up luncheon at Tail o' the Cock. "Look, let's not even talk about that," Mitch said generously, waving his blunt fingers in a wipe across the past. "You were pretty low, Norman; this town had you talking to yourself. Uh, by the way, you working?"

from "The Moving Finger Types" by Henry Slesar, a part of "Don't Open This Book!", featuring selections chosen by Marvin Kaye.

I am tagging anyone who wishes to participate - let's see what book you have right next to you!

Wow! Huh? Ugh.

Tonight, a bunch of sites I came across over the past week that piqued my interest, confused my brain or made me roll my eyes.

Off we go...

Late for Halloween, but a great list of 100 Horror Movie Posters! Like any horror movie, here's the sequel, 100 MORE Horror Posters!

A blogger asks why we don't have more "Nick and Nora" couples in movies. I'd like to know, too.

Never saw "From Beyond the Grave", but now I want to. And I have to wonder if the creators of "Friday the 13th: The Series" HAD seen it!

Cool site. Good reviews.

Artist Mark Bennett has floor plans of TV show homes for sale.

The end is near for Monk. :(

Free pics for blog posts at PicApp. Haven't used it yet, but I like the idea.

Snackerrific. I will try the Tim Tams, mate!

Turkey Day is coming! Are you prepared???

Write or Die. This is a VERY handy tool for writers who need a little motivation. Haven't used it yet, but with NaNoWriMo half over, I may be giving it a try.

And a nod to Laura! Her Linkdumps inspired me to do this. Thanks!

Have a great night, everyone!

Re-Ranking HMV's Top 50 Horror Films

Okay, so this has been bouncing around many of the horror blogs out there. HMV released their ranking of the Top 50 Horror Films. It is not surprising to me that no one has agreed on it. Horror fans are bemoaning the lack of older films and the inclusion of some newer ones.

50 films are a lot of films to rank, and I don't think you can find two fans who can agree on such a list. What scares one person enough to send them cowering under the covers may only generate a yawn in someone else. But, maybe that is the fun of these lists. They can start a debate (hopefully friendly and fun) of what belongs and what doesn't, of what should rank higher or lower.

Anyway, I took the top 50 films from their rank and RE-ranked them in the order I would put them, from #50 on down to my #1. Of course, there are movies I wouldn't include in the list (The House on Haunted Hill remake? really?) And there movies I would include that aren't listed (I personally think the original Black Christmas is damn creepy!)

But, just taking the list given, here is my RE-ranking of their Top 50:

(first number is my rank, second number is the film's HMV rank)

50) 41. House on Haunted Hill. William Malone (2000)
49) 35. Rosemary's Baby. Roman Polanski (1968)
48) 13. Lost Boys. Joel Schumacher (1987)
47) 4. The Silence of the Lambs. Jonathan Demme (1991)
46) 18. An American Werewolf in London. John Landis (1981)
45) 46. The Mist. Frank Darabont (2008)
44) 30. Salem's Lot. Mikael Salomon (2004)
43) 14. Dawn of the Dead. George A Romero (1978)
42) 45. The Changeling. Peter Medak (1980)
41) 27. The Evil Dead. Sam Raimi (1981)
40) 38. The Entity. Sidney J Furie (1981)
39) 22. Candyman. Bernard Rose (1992)
38) 43. It. Tommy Lee Wallace (1990)
37) 9. The Wicker Man. Robin Hardy (1973)
36) 8. Ring (Ringu). Hideo Nakata (1998)
35) 37. The Orphanage. Juan Antonio Bayona (2008)
34) 44. Audition. Takashi Miike (1999)
33) 49. Shutter. Masayuki Ochiai (2008)
32) 48. The Vanishing. George Sluizer (1993)
31) 50. Planet Terror. Robert Rodriguez (2007)
30) 24. Carrie. Brian De Palma (1976)
29) 36. Child's Play. Tom Holland (1989)
28) 47. Suspiria. Dario Argento (1977)
27) 28. Hellraiser. Clive Barker (1987)
26) 34. Misery. Rob Reiner (1991)
25) 17. The Blair Witch Project. Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez (1999)
24) 7. A Nightmare on Elm Street. Wes Craven (1984)
23)11. The Birds. Alfred Hitchcock (1963)
22) 5. Saw. James Wan (2004)
21) 2. The Shining. Stanley Kubrick (1980)
20) 3. Alien. Ridley Scott (1979)
19) 10. The Omen. Richard Donner (1976)
18) 1. The Exorcist. William Friedkin (1973)
17) 20. Poltergeist. Tobe Hooper (1982)
16) 23. Scream. Wes Craven (1996)
15) 26. Final Destination. James Wong (2000)
14) 33. Wolf Creek. Greg McLean (2005)
13) 19. Se7en. David Fincher (1995)
12) 12. The Thing. John Carpenter (1982)
11) 39. Nosferatu. FW Murnau (1922)
10) 29. Hostel. Eli Roth (2005)
9) 42. The Haunting. Robert Wise (1963)
8) 40. Night of the Living Dead. George A. Romero (1968)
7) 16. Jaws. Steven Spielberg (1975)
6) 25. Friday the 13th. Sean S Cunningham (1980)
5) 31. The Descent. Neil Marshall (2005)
4) 21. The Amityville Horror. Stuart Rosenberg (1979)
3) 32. The Hills Have Eyes. Wes Craven (1977)
2) 15. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Tobe Hooper (1974)
1) 6. Halloween. John Carpenter (1978)

So, there you go. Like I said, not my ideal choice for the top 50, but I worked with the films from the HMV list.

I know you disagree, and that is okay with me!

Every Vote Counts!

NaNoWriMo has begun!

Halloween has come and gone and November is underway. This means that NaNoWriMo has begun!

For those who don't know, this is the National Novel Writing Month. The goal of all who participate is this: Write a 50,000 word novel from November 1st to November 30th.

Daunting? Yes. Crazy? Yes. Impossible? No!

I participated last year and actually finished in time, writing 50,000 + words and completing a novel. I was amazed, relieved, tired and proud. Let's hope this year goes as well. I have written each day of November so far, and while I am a little short of the average for each day, there really is no set "rule". Just write, write and write some more.

Last year, I chose a children's fantasy type story, something that had been bouncing around in my head for awhile. It came out pretty good, and I am happy with the final product.

This year, I chose a fiction story based on my all-time favorite show, "Friday the 13th: The Series." I have long been unhappy with the show's abrupt cancellation and the unresolved way the characters were left. Some little kernel of this story has been growing in my head for close to 20 years, and I decided it was time now to get it out and down on paper, er... screen.

Basically, what I am trying to do is write a novel-length piece of fan fiction. Which means that while it should be a lot of fun for me to write, and for some die-hard fans of the show to read, it could be a very niche piece. But, I am okay with that. If I do a good job, it will hopefully be readable to non-fans, as well. And that is all I can do, my best.

So, I have begun. Three chapters in, I have 3,288 words written and at least 46,712 to go. Yeehaa!