scariest books for halloween

Flavorwire put out their 50 scariest books of all time list. It by Stephen King; Piercing by Ryu Murakami; The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty; Ghost Story, Peter Straub; American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis; Hell House, Richard Matheson; Bram Stoker’s Dracula; The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood; H.P. Lovecraft’s The Best of H.P. Lovecraft; The Turn of the Screw by Henry James are the top ten! 

I have to admit that I haven’t read any of the top 10- I loved Poe (he is 22) in high school and I think all his stories are pretty scary: Tale Tell Heart, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum and The Cask of Amontillado.

I also read The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski but don’t remember it being THAT scary and it came in 25. Maybe I need to reread it? I also read #45 In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. I found it more gory than scary which is often the case for me where American “horror” is concerned. 

The scariest thing I ever read was the first scary adult book I remember. It was called Stories that Scared Even Me, ed. Alfred Hitchcock; the first among many of Hitchcock’s works (love his movies!) that I would come to love. Stories selected by Mr. Hitchcock include: Casablanca by Thomas M. Disch, Fishhead by Irvin S. Cobb, Camera Obscura by Basil Copper, A Death in the Family by Miriam Allen deFord, Men Without Bones by Gerald Kersh, Not With a Bang by Damon Knight, Party Games by John Burke, X Marks the Pedwalk by Fritz Leiber, Curious Adventure of Mr. Bond by Nugent Barker, Two Spinsters by E. Phillips Oppenheim, The Knife by Robert Arthur, The Cage by Ray Russell, It by Theodore Sturgeon, The Road to Mictlantecutli by Adobe James, Guide to Doom by Ellis Peters, The Estuary by Margaret St. Clair, Tough Town by William Sambrot, The Troll by T. H. White, Evening at the Black House by Robert Somerlott, One of the Dead by William Wood, The Real Thing by Robert Specht, Journey to Death by Donald E. Westlake, Master of the Hounds by Algis Budrys, The Candidate by Henry Slesar, and Out of the Deeps by John Wyndham.

All I remember is that I was up at night, staring into the dark, hoping no murderers were lurking behind closed doors.

What scary books are still lurking in your memory?

excitement at the library!

A young woman ran into the library today asking me to call 9-1-1. She’d run behind the desk I work behind and my initial reaction was to ask her to get out from our workspace until it registered what she was saying. I was about to ask why when another young(er) woman ran into the library shouting something about “beatin’ yo ass…”

what Circulation normally look like

Sheesh! A little decorum here! You’re in a library for god’s sake. I told her to leave and then picked up the phone and quickly dialed (what was that number again???). She said something about not giving a damn then went on to threaten the woman behind me. Meanwhile her friends had run in and were trying to get her to leave. After a few moments of cajoling they finally pulled her out of the library. I assumed they didn’t want to deal with the police and were leaving for good but continued talking to the operator.

The woman who’d asked for our help went to the door to see what was going on outside, suddenly ran back to the desk as the door burst open again and the petite persecutor ran back in determined to get at her prey. I told her she needed to leave but she would have none of it and told me to “shut up, bitch… “ and more, then went on dramatically with well her name & age but I was talking to the operator at this point and trying to multi-task with both conversations was getting a bit difficult. Then she started toward the desk. Cara (the circulation clerk who was working alongside me) and I moved over in front of the woman she was threatening in a semi-circle. I was determined she was not going to hurt anyone but I have a hurt shoulder and I am not quite sure exactly what I could have done in the event she really came at us- but it was instinctive I guess. Fortunately, her friends moved in again and pulled her back just as things got fairly tense.

At this point it’s pretty- well, strained would be an understatement. One silly lady started complaining that there were people yelling in the library and said we should tell them not to yell (she complained to Cara). You have to wonder what she was thinking? I’m not sure we’re really worried about the yelling ma’am… So we’re gathering more information about what the girl is wearing for the Emergency Operator when the, what I have determined to be, sixteenish looking girl really comes bursting back in. I tell her to leave- again. Her friends grab her again and pull her out one last time. I don’t know what has convinced them this time, but they do leave at last, getting into a SUV and drive with two adults off of library property. The young (but quite a bit older than the one who’s been causing the trouble which is why she said she didn’t want to fight- dind’t want to get charged with beating up a minor) woman we’ve been helping says the women in the vehicle and the friends who were pulling her out were all going to jump her but it seems they were waiting outside until the time was right but the one hotheaded girl couldn’t wait, she kept coming in to intimidate and harass.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Or not.

what's your favorite paranormal creature?

As for me… I would love to believe that an alien came down to visit of a raw winter’s eve but I do find it hard to believe the stories that are told by abductees. I do believe that it’s likely there is life Out There that we may be able to communicate with one day.  I love the idea of time travel and think that may explain Nessie (hey, maybe an Elasmosaurus found a time portal- anyone see Primeval? Maybe it explains Bigfoot too!).  

Elasmosaurus: from wikipedia

 

Paranormal, in a nutshell refers to encounters that lie outside the spectrum of normal experience or scientific explanation or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure. Most commonly this will refer to ghosts, UFOs/ETs, Bigfoot, the Lochness, Werewolves or Vampires, etc. 

As writers, it’s the events that lie beyond the scientific explanation, mathematical equation or simple account that fires up the imagination. When I think about what I want to write, I don’t need to write about the paranormal event I believe in (or don’t) but the ability to allow the mind to invent a world outside the tangible and explainable allows one to write a love story that tears the world apart or move through time barriers, etc. So what about you? Is there a ghost in your closet?

Bela Lugosi Dracula (Wikipedia)

We just finished the last season of the BBC version (and the original one. The SyFy version was D.U.M.B.) of 'Being Human' and I really enjoyed the characters in it. I particularly enjoyed the werewolf.Tom was more likeable than George (found him a bit whiny after while). And now we’re getting ready for Walking Dead (have to stream it after it airs). 

‘Tis the season!

hope for migraine sufferers?

In other words me. 

And you. if you have migraines or chronic headaches, cluster headaches- hope for you too.

My neurologist (just think I’ve paid hundreds of dollars for this info and you’re getting the benefit of my medical experience for free!) told me about a device on Wednesday that could help my migraines on a permanent basis. I tried it out and wasn’t too sure as I still woke up with a migraine on Thursday. However I don’t think immediate results are expected and I was supposed to try it two more times. The second time was Friday and the third will be Monday. Friday I again woke up with a migraine but the pill I took was not as effective as it usually was. Frustrated, I left the house armed with backup pills and the hope that maybe the treatment would help. Well…

no picture of me with it on, alas!

Amazingly, I sat with the tiara (that’s what my doctor called it) and let it do its electrode thing (it feels a bit like being massaged only way more intensely) and after 20 minutes I felt much better. And this morning was my first migraine free morning in 10 days. It might be a coincidence… but it might not. Fingers crossed. I have another treatment on Monday and we’ll see how that goes. If it goes well, I might just have found some hope in a little crown for my head.   

It’s called a Cefaly.

And it is... A prevention program designed to increases the production of endorphins and raises the trigger threshold of the pain.

 They say there are:

No Side effects. Cefaly can replace or reduce the consumption of painkilling medication, with no side-effects.

It's an effective pain relief:  blocking pain and provides relief during attacks.

Reduce Stress: An anti-stress program produces general relaxation and a strong sense of well-being.

So there you go. The only problem is... it's not available in the U.S. and it's not covered by insurance (don't ask) so it will be an out of pocket expense. It will be pretty expensive but if it ends up working it could save me a lot of money because I wouldn't have to go to my specialist anymore (he may be sorry he introduced me to it!) and migraine meds. It could really save me money in the end.