Stories Around the Campfire and the Purpose of this Blog

Okay folks, hunker down around the campfire with me for minute. Open your senses for a few a brief period of time and really take it in. Listen closely and you can hear the night sounds of the forest, the odd shuffle beneath a bush, objects falling in the distance, the high pitched squeak of a bat overhead, and maybe the occasional howl of a coyote from some far away location. Pull your gaze away from the fire and take a look into the surrounding trees. Was that the bright shine of firelight reflecting off of a pair of eyes? And is that something dark and sinister in the trees or is it just a branch caught in the wind?

This scene is pulled directly from my childhood. I loved being in the forests during the day. There was wonder in finding some hidden meadow, fishing in a stream, and crossing paths with the occasional deer or rabbit. Rain or shine, it was a magical place. However, when the night approached, that’s when my imagination really came to life. This was the time of ghost stories around the campfire. Chills to delight in the safety of the firelight and fears to keep me wide awake in my tent in the darkness. Was that a deer stepping on underbrush in the dark? Or was it the ghost of the old hermit who had once lived way off in the hills, quietly stalking us in the dead of night? I became addicted to the feeling of fear and suspense those many years ago. And the fascination has never left me.

And of course, since my birthday happens to be 3 days before Halloween, I think I just began to associate ghosts, goblins, and things that go bump in the night with times of celebration.

With all this being said, I have to admit it. I am a complete geek when it comes to films. And there is no better place on the web for film geeks than Aintitcool.com. I have been addicted to that website for years now. Serious films are mentioned and paid attention to. But the treasure of that website really resides in their love of genre films. One of these genres is horror, both serious and satirical, and they are celebrated as pieces of high art. Every year I’ve looked forward to the month of October. This is when one of their critics, under the moniker of Quint, created a daily article for the entire month entitled “Horror Movie a Day” or “HMAD”. And he goes everywhere in his quest for new and old, bloody and atmospheric, quality and cheesy, macabre pieces of celluloid to share with his readers.

I’ve often envied that job and have always wanted to take a crack at it myself. To be honest, I’m really not too qualified for this sort of thing. I’ve never been to film school and I can’t really say with any certainty what the qualifications for a film critic are. However, I love and live for good cinema, or at least my definition of it. I can appreciate the subtle working of films such as “The Fountain” or “Slumdog Millionaire”. However, I did attend a midnight showing of “Jackass 2” and laughed harder than could remember for some time. Highbrow and lowbrow are both my playgrounds.

My film collection is quite large and it does move in many directions. But the basis, well actually most of it, revolves around horror or horror themes. Honestly speaking, I am obsessed with horror movies, simple as that. Sheesh, even my house has become littered and covered with objects surrounding this very obsession. It has been quite awhile since I’ve visited some of these delightful little nightmares and this seemed like a good excuse to spend some time viewing the things that, oddly enough, bring a smile to my face. In addition, I haven’t been doing any writing for some time. So, I felt it might be fun to write about something I love. Henceforth, my own version of “Horror Movie a Day”.

Now I can’t promise that I’ll keep to my daily schedule. However, I can say that I will do my best. In addition, I can also say that I will do the best I can to be as objective as possible when viewing these films and commenting upon them. And yes, I do own some great classics…but I also own some real stinkers as well. Truth is, I’ve still been able to find some merit in the truly bad ones when it comes to one scene or two and have forked over some hard earned cash for that few seconds of horror gold. Never fear, I’ll give you the heads up. Primarily, I’ll be starting from A to Z in my collection. In addition, this won’t be purely horror, with the exceptions being films that have the elements of horror, such as “Coraline”, “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, and “Eraserhead”.

Thanks for being willing to even check out this blog surrounding my strange obsession. Maybe you might enjoy it enough to check back every once in awhile. I’m looking forward to doing it. Here’s hoping you dig it too.