BOOKTOBERWEEN

It’s still Booktober, and I’m still here, but not only does this week mark the final week of Booktober, it’s also Psych-Yourself-Up-For-Halloween week! Halloween is one of my favourite holidays, so I’m presenting The Eddie’s Sofa Official Guide to an Awesome Halloween.

(This guide is mainly for Halloween nights in, but it does include some helpful costume tips)


Books
The best way to get psyched up for Halloween? Read creepy books in the lead up. I will admit that I’m not a big reader of horror, but these are a few books I think fit the Halloween creepy quota.


How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found
By Sara Nickerson

This is one I’ve been meaning to do a post on for a while now; it’s been a long time since I’ve read it, but I remember it being particularly creepy. The characters are younger than I normally read about - the main character is twelve – but  it’s got all the good makings of a Halloween book; creepy old mansions, a mystery to be solved, kidnapped children and rat-men. What’s also interesting about it is that the narration of the story is done partially through comic panels. I remember it being fast paced, well written and gripping.


Angelfall and World After
By Susan Ee

I did some serious raving about Angelfall in a previous post called I Am Obsessed, which pretty much sums up how I feel about it. Despite just being really good, though, Angelfall is quite dark, violent and gory and the sequel, The World After, is even more so. The imagery is really descriptive, and it’s very hard not to get completely immersed in the story. I highly recommend the audiobook; the narrator is really good and the listening experience in general is really intense. As in, super vivid, I-can-still-picture-scenes-from-this, intense. And come on, it’s just SO GOOD.


Frankenstein and Dracula
By Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker

These two were actually originally on the list for last week’s blog post as well, until it turned into a rant, directed primarily at myself. Seriously though, where would any Halloween book list be without these two? I’m hoping I can get at least one of these done by this Friday. Bonus points are awarded if you read said books while wearing a Dracula costume, a Frankenstein’s monster costume, or a Frankenstein’s bride costume. Last week’s post also includes Jane Slayre, a vampire infested take on Jane Eyre, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which seems pretty self-explanatory to me. These are also excellent choices when preparing for Halloween.

Movies

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon

My goodness, it does not get much better than this in the way of Halloween movies. Rocky Horror should not be reserved just for Halloween, as it is a timeless classic, befitting any occasion, however, Halloween is prime Rocky Horror watching time. Provided it is frequented with and followed by much singing of the songs, because it’s Rocky Horror. Duh. The Rocky Horror Picture Show, while annoying to type over and over, is one of my favourite movies of all time. It’s funny, clever and creepy, with awesome songs, and is just generally perfect for such an occasion.

World War Z (2013)
Starring Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos

I will begin this by saying that I have not read the book, and that people who have read the book hated it because quite a bit of plot got left out in the transition from book to movie. As a stand-alone movie, however, I quite liked it. I went to see this with a group of friends, and just as the movie started, one of my friends said quite loudly “I heard this movie is really scary.” Thank you for that. While it was not as terrifying as he promised , it had a lot of jump scares. It’s not the best movie plot wise; it’s basically Brad Pitt fighting zombies, and that’s it, but as an apocalyptic action movie, it’s pretty awesome. Another good Halloween zombie movie is Zombieland, which takes a more light-hearted approach to the apocalypse, but doesn’t skimp on the action and violence, either.


The Polar Express (2004)
Starring Tom Hanks, Chris Coppola, Michael Jeter

Finally, you might be wondering “why is The Polar Express on this list? This is a Christmas movie.” You would be completely right in your assertion, but the reason that this movie is on the list, is that it terrified six year-old me so much that I have not wanted to watch it since. I don’t know about you, but that seems more like Halloween material than Christmas.



But seriously, you can fill this with pretty much any horror movie you want. Classic versions of Dracula or Frankenstein are also winners.


Television

Supernatural (2005- )
Starring Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins 

Ah Supernatural… I couldn’t not include this one. Seeing as the premise of the show is two brothers , Sam and Dean, driving across the US, hunting evil supernatural creatures, it seems to go without saying that Supernatural is perfect Halloween fodder. I could leave it here, and just say “watch Supernatural” but instead, I’ve made a list of some of the scariest episodes in my opinion.  While there is a line of horror that Supernatural doesn’t cross, a lot of the episodes are quite gory, some of them just downright terrifying, and they don’t shy away from violence, so proceed with caution. One thing that is good about it, though, is that there is a limit to how far the gore and creepiness goes, so I know that it won’t extend past the level of horror that I'm comfortable with. Supernatural is really well written, funny, with a lot of attention paid to the mythology of the creatures they fight, but I do think it’s more of a 15+ show. You have been warned.

Season 1 Episode 5: Bloody Mary
You know the game where you say “Bloody Mary” three times into mirror? Yeah, well in this episode, it works and, and Bloody Mary appears, and the brothers must stop her before more people die.

Season 1 Episode 11: Scarecrow
A creepy, pagan Scarecrow god demands sacrifices from the town surrounding it for a fertility ritual. This episode includes lots of chasing through corn fields, and man, that scarecrow is creepy. This episode also includes the classic Supernatural line “Dude, you fugly.” The moral of the story is, stay away from both corn fields and scarecrows.

Season 1 Episode 19: Provenance
This episode is about a family portrait from around 1910. Anyone who owns it dies, and when a newlywed couple suffer a painful death, Sam and Dean look into the history of the painting. This is a very clever episode with a really interesting plot twist. Like the next episode, I watched this one in the dark because I’m stupid, but my goodness was it fun.

Season 2 Episode 2: Everybody Loves a Clown
Right? Ahahah NO. Stupid person that I am, I watched this late at night, in the dark, because apparently I thought that would be a good idea. It was ultimately both a very good and very bad decision. A clown appears to children, and then convinces them to let him into their house where the clown then proceeds to murder the child’s parents. I hate clowns.

Season 2 Episode 6: No Exit
Sam and Dean confront the ghost of H. H. Holmes, the first serial killer in American history with the help of [super awesome] Jo, played by Alona Tal, who also played Meg in Veronica Mars. It’s super creepy, and involves a lot of crawling around far underground. Urgh.

Season 4 Episode 7: It’s the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester 
The ultimate Halloween must-watch; a witch is sacrificing innocent people to raise a very bad demon. This is a really cool episode because it goes into detail about the origins and folklore of Halloween. Entertaining, interesting and topical, what’s not to love?

Season 4 Episode 11: Family Remains
The brothers desperately try to stop a family from moving into a haunted house, but who or what is haunting it, and why aren’t they behaving like a normal ghost? I both love and hate this episode; it’s really interesting, and takes some unexpected turns, and it’s really scary but it’s also REALLY SCARY.

The X-files (1993- 2002)
Starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson

Aaagh I love this show! (as evidenced by the I want to Believe poster in my room) The X-files is about two FBI agents, Mulder and Scully who investigate paranormal cases. If Supernatural deals with demons and ghosts and the like, The X-files does UFO’s and government conspiracies… and more! It’s a really good series, and very witty and funny. I was going to make another list of episodes, but pretty much any episode will make for good Halloween viewing. Honourable mention, however, goes to the third episode of season 1, Squeeze, which freaked me  a lot. Not because of violence or gore, but because of the brilliant use of creepy music and its excellent timing.

So go forth! Grab some popcorn and any Halloween-themed foods, and binge watch to your heart’s content.


And finally, what every one’s been waiting for; some costume advice for those who haven’t yet come up with something:

1. Do not dress up as a sexy Ebola nurse (only 59.99) or patient, because no matter how funny any topical you think you’re being, it’s just wrong
2. Also don’t go as a sexy hamburger or corn, or really any kind of food for that matter
3. To be honest, stay away from sexy costumes all together. And finally;
4. If you go trick or treating and you come to my door, no matter how good your costumes are, you will most likely only get lettuce, because we don’t have candy. (True story)

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And that’s it! Happy Halloween!

Booktober Week 4: Six Books I Feel Bad For Not Reading, and an unexpected rant

I missed a week of Booktober, yes, but I am still here! I shall not abandon Booktober! I am back, and laying on the guilt with Six Books I Feel Bad For Not Reading.

So here’s the thing; all of the books I’m about to talk about are on my shelf. I own hard copies of all of them. I even created a separate shelf of classics, in the hope that seeing them regularly would encourage me to actually read them. I’m hoping that putting this on the internet, in its eternal foreverness will pressure me even more into stopping talking and starting reading.

Let’s start shall we?

The Catcher in the Rye
By J. D. Sallinger

This one’s first on the list because it’s everywhere. I feel like The Catcher in the Rye is just one of those books that you need to read because references to it are in so many other books. Every time I read John Green’s An Abundance of Katherines, I feel bad about not having read it. To be perfectly honest, I actually don’t know anything about the plot other than Holden Caulfield, a red cap and a field of some sort. I’m pretty sure that the plot goes slightly beyond that, but I wouldn’t know, now would I? *accusatory tone* TEYA. I shall report back on my findings once I finally pressure myself into reading the books on my list.

Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera
By Victor Hugo and Gaston Leroux

So, potentially little known fact about me, I am a big musicals fan. Big Fan. Huge. I love Les Mis and Phantom and want and have wanted to read the books for a very long time. I am a reasonable way through Les Miserables, but I think part of the reason I am going at a pathetically slow pace is the language. While it is accessible, it takes a little while to get into the headspace of understanding it. This means that it’s really not the kind of book to stop and start in tiny increments over a long period of time. Which is no excuse.

Gone With the Wind
By Margaret Mitchell

I’ve read a few pages of this but haven’t gotten far. Much like Catcher in the Rye I actually don’t know much about the story, to be honest, I prefer to read books without reading the blurbs, but I do know: 1861, southern USA, horses, Scarlett O’Hara and sixteen-inch waists. Part of me just wants the achievement of reading a 1000+ page book, but mostly, I think I’d really like the story. Also I'm pretty sure it would provide an endless supply of references I could make. I will say one thing though, it is daunting. Props to anyone who’s made it through it. Seriously.



My final two might be considered by some to be somewhat out of place in this list of classics, but I say they’re not.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Jane Slayre
By Jane Austen with some help from Seth Grahame- Smith, and Charlotte Brontë with some help from Sherri Browning Erwin

To be honest, there’s really no excuse for this one. I mean, the covers and titles should be enough. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies starts with the quote “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.” I mean COME ON, why have I not read this already? Jane Slayre is described as “A timeless tale of love, devotion… and the undead.” As someone obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Supernatural, and almost anything with vampires that don’t sparkle, I don’t see what’s stopping me.

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I was going to add some more books to this list and make it to ten books, but I’ve decided to stop it here, because in the process of writing this, I’ve come to a realisation. This post started out light hearted, but now, it has a *MESSAGE.*

Since before I can remember, I would always say that I couldn’t read a particular book because it wasn’t the right time and place. I would generally end up reading at a later date when it was the right time and place. To be fair, this saying was said most frequently when I was averaging between 60 and 100 books a year. Now, however, there are either a lot of books for which now is not the right time and place for me, or I’ve gotten out of the habit of reading. Or both. Either way, I don’t think I like it.

I think this should stop now. Dear everyone, including me: THERE IS ALWAYS TIME TO READ BOOKS. IF YOU DON’T HAVE TIME TO READ BOOKS, MAKE TIME. I am taking this opportunity to call out myself – especially myself- and anyone else putting off reading for any reason. Stop making excuses and just read the thing. You know you want to.

*mic drop*

Booktober Week 2: Books that made me cry

Booktober! Is it Monday? No! Is it Wednesday? No! Is it Friday? No! But is it still the second week of Booktober? Technically yes! So we will count that as a success.

We’re getting sad for Booktober: Week 2. Today we have Five Books that Made Me Cry Like a Baby

I would just like to clarify that I almost never cry during books or movies, so if they made me cry, they were hard-core. Also, crappy books don’t make me cry (unless they're so bad that I’m crying tears of agony)



The Fault in Our Stars
By John Green

Okay, so everyone saw this coming, but if I’m going to talk about books that made me cry, this one is automatically at the top of the list. I reread it, thinking “Oh, this time around I’ll be fine because I know what’s coming.” Nope, still cried. What’s worse is that I’ve read it multiple times, as in at least five times, and guess what happened every time? What was that Einstein quote? Oh yeah, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Yeah.



Looking For Alaska
By John Green

Basically, if John Green wrote it, and it’s sad, I’ll cry. I’d probably cry if he wrote a particularly bleak shopping list. I could sort of the the sad plot twist coming, but it still felt like getting hit in the emotional stomach. In this case the anticipation made it worse, and the fallout after said plot twist, was to raw and emotional.

Allegiant
By Veronica Roth

I mentioned in my last blog that the ending of Allegiant was spoiled for me by a particular  Tumblr user who I will not name. *AHEM* And while I did not appreciate a major plot twist being revealed, the fact that I knew what was coming did not stop me from feeling ALL THE SADS at two in the morning. It was so intensely written and accessible, that I felt everything the character felt. To anyone interested, the Sads are worse ridiculously late at night.





Mockingjay
By Suzanne Collins

While we’re on the subject of sad books at two in the morning, let’s talk about Mockingjay. I will admit, Mockingjay is not my favourite Hunger Games book, I personally feel that the plot goes down-hill as the series goes along, but, it is still well written, with shameless heart string-pulling and PRACTICALLY EVERYONE DIES, so I'm sure you can guess what I was doing at two in the morning. I think there’s a pattern emerging here…




Wallflower
By Holly-Jane Rahlens

Finally, the only book on this list that isn’t actually sad. I talked more in a previous post about the magic that is Wallflower, but it's so beautifully written and intense and just nice, that my brain said something along the lines of “I-love-this-book-so-much-and-it’s-so-good-and-nice-and-happy-and-emotional-and-I-feel-all-the-emotions-now-oh-no-cryingaah” and that was it for me






I realize now that this post makes me sound somewhat emotionally unstable, but hey, you know what? I’m not ashamed of crying, if books manage to make me cry, that means they’re really well written. (Unless, of course, I'm crying because the book is so painfully bad…)

So, the moral of the story is don’t be ashamed of crying, don’t read sad books at two in the morning, because that’s dumb –trust me, I’d know – and if you don’t mind a bit of a cry, then read these books, because they're good! Promise!

Booktober Week 1: The Ten Commandments of Book-ness

Say, what month is it? Why it’s Booktober, of course! November is for the moustachioed and bearded people, but Booktober is our month, the month of the book nerds! (Bearded and moustachioed book nerds feel free to join in on the fun) Is it technically the middle of the week? Yes! Did Booktober technically start three days ago? Yes! Will that stop me from revelling in my Booktober joy? NEVER!

To kick off Booktober I present: The Ten Commandments of Book-ness.


1. Thou shalt return all books that thou hast borrowed
The amount of times I’ve thought “Oh I really want to read that book…” only to realise not only did I lend it to someone who never gave it back, but they then also left the country, is ridiculously high. Don’t be a jerk; return books you borrowed. Especially library books.


2. Thou shalt not leave books open and face-down
WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS!? This one, right here is the root of all evil. There is a special place in whatever form of eternal punishment you believe in, reserved for people who do this. WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS?! THIS IS GENUINE, NON-SARCASTIC OUTRAGE.


3. Thou shalt not dog-ear, write in, or generally deface other people’s books
Please refer to commandment number 2


4. Thou shalt not post or talk about spoilers without clear and obvious warning beforehand
How do you think I found out about the MAJOR SPOILERS at the end of Allegiant? Yep, Tumblr. Don’t be that person, use spoiler warnings. This also applies to TV shows. *Accusatory glare*


5. Thou shalt read the book before seeing the movie
Yes, on *some* occasions, the movie is better, but movies completely skew your mental image of characters and places when you’re reading. If you read the book first, then when you see the movie, you can sniff in indignation every time anything is different to how you imagined it, and explain loudly how a certain event ACTUALLY was. You can do this, see, because you read the book. Plus, when the movie is over, you can loudly proclaim “THE BOOK WAS BETTER” if/ when necessary.


6. Thou shalt not mock other people’s fandoms/tastes
This is less of a nerd rant vehicle for me, and more of a general rule of common decency. I don’t care if someone likes Twilight, or My Little Pony (even though that doesn’t really count as a book) or anything else that conflicts with your tastes, if it makes them happy, it’s nobody else’s business to criticize them for it.


7. Thou shalt be wholly unashamed of thine tastes
Similarly, if you like books that other people make fun of you for, forget them and revel in the happiness you get from these books. [Substitute other forms of entertainment-based media where appropriate]


8. Thou shalt recommend books to others
Even if the book in question is your favourite and you don’t want anyone else to have it because it’s yours.


9. Thou shalt read widely
Don’t limit yourself to just one genre; get out see the –literary- world! There are so many amazing books out there; don’t read within just one type. Explore! Be free!


10. Thou shalt cry unashamedly when reading sad books. (Especially The Fault in our Stars)
There is absolutely no shame in crying. There is especially no shame in crying when reading a sad book. There is EVEN LESS SHAME in crying while reading a book written by a heart-crusher such as JOHN EVIL GREEN. (Okay, so maybe that’s not his middle name)


And one more for good measure:


ExtraBonusNumber11. Thou shalt not waste thine time reading crap books
In the words of my mother: “Life is too short to spend it reading crap books”



And that’s it! Go forth and read! Here’s hoping that this is the month where I successfully follow through on a theme!