it's always halloween if you're trying hard enough
people might look at you weird, but that's THEIR issue
It’s one of my absolute favorite holidays: Halloween!
Perhaps its just the Aquarius in me, but I ADORE all things spooky and always have. I was that weird kid that wanted to do ghost tours in every city my family and I went on vacation to. When I was like two, we went to Charleston, SC and I mistook the phrase “Ghost Tour” as “Ghost Store” and was epically crushed when I didn’t get to go buy a ghost to take home at the end.
That love of all things eerie really does bleed into most of the things I write. I love blending genres and putting in kissing where typically kissing is not. I am currently brainstorming an idea that is very spooky, and a place where kissing most definitely is not and it’s been a blast so far. Perhaps in the future, as I work on that project more, I will write some deep dive on the intersections of romance and horror.
But because I love genre-mashing, we’re going to rank how well my characters would fare in a horror movie!
Hallie
Hallie might be the protagonist of Love and Other Conspiracies, but a Final Girl, she is not. Our girl is a true hater of bugs and nature, so she might stand an okay chance so long as she’s not in some kind of Cabin in the Woods or Friday the 13th situation. However, she doesn’t like being inconvenienced either and hates being sticky. And blood is sticky.
Verdict: Dies in the first 30 minutes
Hayden
Hayden’s an outdoorsman. He’s always clad in hiking boots and could probably be ready to camp wherever and whenever. He also played hockey and ran track in high school, so he’s pretty athletic and fast. He also knows a lot about monsters, weird history, and scary movies, so he’d feel pretty well prepared. However, he’s a people pleaser and the local acts of service bitch, so he would most definitely die in some kind of heroic act trying to help other people.
Verdict: Makes it to the third act and gets an epic death scene
El (Book 2 FMC)
If anyone’s a Final Girl, it’s El. El is the kind of woman everyone underestimates, but she’s wildly resourceful and is great at playing the cards she’s given. She might not be the most physically capable character I’ve written, but getting murdered is absolutely not part of her influencer brand, so she won’t let that happen. She will fight like hell to survive and defeat the bad guy in an exceptionally cool way.
Verdict: Final Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss
Carter (Book 2 MMC)
Honestly, he’s too horny to make it very far. He’d be the kind of guy taking a girl to an abandoned Lover’s Lane to make out and would get killed by some Hook Man in the opening scene.
Verdict: Nice knowing you, baby girl.
This sounds like a premise for another Sims game with these characters…
ANYWAY
See below for some fun, spooky faves to close out Spooky Szn!
BOOKS
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
Have you ever wanted to see a real life mermaid before? You will not after this book. I still think about this horrifying book like a year after reading it. It’s yet another reminder to just simply NEVER MESS WITH THE OCEAN MY GOD. It does such a fun job with interstitials and multimedia elements, too.
Midnight Duet by Jen Comfort
While this isn’t inherently a Halloween/horror book, there’s something about The Phantom of the Opera that really gives Spooky Szn. This gender-bent retelling is absolutely bonkers in the best way. There are German hair-metal bands, very mean women, and rats named for Les Mis characters. Jen Comfort is an author who just commits to the bit and I will forever be grateful for that.
The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew
Reading this book made me feel like I was in high school again, devouring countless dark, speculative YA books and then not sleeping at night. Kelly Andrew is a fantastic writer who just nails scaring the crap out of you. I have an ARC of Your Blood, My Bones on my Kindle and I cannot wait to dive into it.
MOVIES
Scooby Doo (2002)
This is the church of our Lord and Savior, Freddie Prinze Jr.
Look, if there’s one thing to know about me, it’s that I have excellent taste in garbage. In fact, I eat it straight out of the trash can. The live-action Scooby Doo movies are legitimately some of my favorite movies ever. I grew up with them, but the humor is still great as an adult, and honestly, maybe even better. I have never seen a more perfectly cast ensemble. Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004) is also fantastic and Seth Green is there, but the first one is truly god-tier.
Scream (1996)
why are they doing this? who made all the creative choices in this scene? and why is it hot?
I know I am almost thirty years late, but it feels like a lot of people discovered Scream for the first time this yea, including me. I knew very little going into it, so I most definitely didn’t know it was a comedy. I didn’t know there’d be so much homoerotic stabbing and blood-covered snuggling. My new Roman Empire is thinking about the last 30 minutes of this movie and how ill-prepared I was for it. Who do I need to contact to get a companion film where we just go to Spirit Halloween with Billy and Stu as they pick out their little murder costumes and matching murder boots?
Ready or Not (2019)
If you like cool girlies in wedding dresses fighting off creepy rich people in a creepy but very cool mansion because they’re trying to sacrifice her to their satanic cult and Adam Brody looking like a prime snack for two hours, I have the movie for you! There is something so satisfying about a good slasher, and its even better when it manages to be just as funny as it is scary. One day, I swear I will write something with the vibes of this movie.
I hope everyone has a great and safe Halloween! I will be back in a couple of weeks with VERY EXCITING things to share.
Until then, your parting meme:
I recently read MIDNIGHT DUET and loved it!!! You're right that Jen Comfort COMMITS TO THE BIT!