Tag Archives: halloween

This Halloween Was No Trick

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How was your Halloween? Mine was pretty good. My littlest had her first trick-or-treating extravaganza ever. She’s four now, which means she wasn’t really able to go trick-or-treating last couple years because of Covid. But she went last weekend and she made the most of it.

It was a mixed experience for me. I’m a big fan of Halloween, as some of you could probably guess. I’ve been catching up on my horror movies and so on.

There were a ton of people out there. That’s what made it a mixed bag for me. I don’t like crowds, not unless I’m the one standing up in front of them. (Then it’s totally okay.) But I just don’t do well with big groups of people these days. And there were a lot of people out. So frankly, I was pretty uncomfortable most of the night.

On the other hand . . .

It felt great. My heart was full. Honestly, I absolutely enjoyed and savored so many different people out together in the nice weather having a good time. Most people handing out candy were on their driveways, enjoying the evening. It was such a shift from the last couple of years.

I hope you were able to either pass out candy or have some yourself. I hope you had a good time. I hope the world was kind to you. That’s the thing about Halloween and those of us who love it. We love the scares, we love the ideas and the dressing up and the black lipstick and the skeletons and everything else. But in my experience, there are no more friendly, or approachable, or kind people in the world than fans of Halloween and horror. I don’t know if there’s a cause and effect relationship there or not, but most horror people I have met over the years I’ve been singularly cool.

I hope you had a wonderful Halloween, and Sarah would like you to know, it’s always a good time to trick or treat.

Take care,
~ Tom


P.S.
If you have avoided my horror stories thus far, let me recommend Those We Bury Back. It’s a quick read about a haunted house, inspired by some real events. Not scary, it’s more of a creeper, and I promise you a happy ending. Check it out here today.

Halloween Horror Review: Train To Busan

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Train to Busan pits a band of survivors against a speeding train full of zombies.

 

I mean, really, what else is there to know?

 

The film goes on as most zombie films that have taken a class or two in pacing, letting the opening build relationships and lay out the scenario before the horror begins. By 13 minutes in, we’ve seen this all before, but the script and performances do their job, endearing us to a businessman Dad, his daughter, and their family plight, which is the couple’s impending divorce.

 

But then right around 15:00, shit gets real.

 

Suddenly the passenger train is filled with infected undead, who merrily and bloodily go about creating more of themselves as they feast on the passengers. The great physical performances by the infected deserve recognition. These impressive acrobatics are accentuated wonderfully by the music, sound effects, and cinematography.

 

There’s not much we haven’t seen before — lots of hair-raising near-misses and escapes, and wondering which of the rag tag group of spunky survivors will be next to go. (I will say when the last of them clocks out, it is pretty tragic.) The addition of the train as the primary setting gives the goings-on a nice sense of, pardon me: momentum.

 

Like many zombie flicks, the ultimate cause of the zombie outbreak is left pretty vague, although it is somewhat addressed in a quick phone call just past the halfway mark.

 

It feels, though, that mostly the filmmakers are simply building on what others have done before without adding anything particularly new to the canon. The rules are the same: don’t be seen, don’t be heard, don’t get bit, keep going like a bat outta hell for the One Place That’s Safe while Protecting Those You Love . . . with a splash of Who Are The Real Monsters?! mixed in.

 

It is not a bad thing that these tropes are well-worn. They are well-worn for a reason. If you pick up a film like Train to Busan after seeing the trailer, it’s because you have genre expectations. Those expectations are met well in Train. So while there’s nothing new here, the film is a hell of a lot of fun for fans of the genre.

 

The math is simple: If you like zombie movies, you will like Train to Busan.

 

Happy Halloween!