nick and j. had a very successful run of trick 'r treats last night.  the rain let up for a few hours to allow the little goblins to run the streets and ransack the houses in search of the greater pieces of candy.  i stayed home.  b. kept me company.  and handed out candy.  a pure delight.

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poet/editor/genius [yes, i think this dude is a genius] mark young put out another brilliant edition of his lit journal otoliths #35.  go there now!

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poet/editor/fantastic human being jean vengua just released her new lit journal local nomad.  the theme of the inaugural issue is MIGRATION.  do some reading!

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horror movies lately have been rather toothless affairs of late.  this new century started out with a bang with horror reaching back to its 1970s exploitation and gore roots [think the remake of dawn of the dead (2004), and saw (2004)] that was both gross and refreshing.  but there are indie horror flicks that keep the genre light shining.

during some downtime yesterday when nick was still at school i pointed my browser to youtube to search for short horror fiilms.  i spent a couple of hours watching a lot of dreck.  but the crap was leavened by several short films that were quite good and scary.

below are two of my favorite movies.  i know it is now post-halloween time.  we will soon be awash in christmas advertising and stories in the media about black friday and cyber monday.  buy buy buy!!!  sell sell sell!!!  before we get caught up in the holiday season take a few minutes of your life and get scared silly.

2AM: the smiling man



this short is based on, i believe, an urban myth [or truth, depending on who is telling the tale] of an incomniac's late night encounters with an entity dubbed 'the smiling man'.  the movie ends with a standard jump scare however the choreography of the smiling man, the editing of the film and music produce more than a little bit of the creeps.

inside



a young photographer finds an abandoned house fit for her project.  she gets a bit more for her pain than just a series of pictures.  again, wonderfully edited, well photographed, decently acted and with a smidgen of excellent FX, this is not your standard woman-as-victim exploitation pic as the film ends with just a bit of bite.