Drive-in Trailers: Anthology Horror

Sometimes you want something besides a full-on horror film. You want a taste of several things. A creepy cornucopia. A vicious variety. A -something something alliteration scary-. That's where anthology horror takes the cake. I've always loved short stories, on the page and on the screen. Hopefully the following trailers (obscure and mainstream) can give you something new to watch this Halloween.

The first trailer isn't a real one, from what I can tell, but anyone who hasn't seen 'Dead of Night' is really doing themselves a disservice. It's one of the best. Also, note that I adore all of the Amicus films, but it'd be a bit boring if I just focused on them alone. Also, reserving any Price-related trailers for a strictly Vincent Price-centric post.

Book(s) of the Week: Kwaidan - Stories and Studies of Strange Things

By Lafcadio Hearn

I have always found myself fascinated with a good short story. Especially the kind verging on folktale. They are so tied to the culture they originate from, one can almost believe a folktale has some tie to real historic events. 'Kwaidan' (very...very roughly) translates to 'Weird Tales', but often we interpret them as horror stories alone. Possibly due to Lafcadio Hearn, who was so influential in bringing a slice of literary knowledge to the Western world in regards to Japan.

When Japan was becoming less isolated from the rest of the world, many westerners seemed to mock them for their seemingly backwards behaviors and views, and Kaidan/Kwaidan, a tradition of story-telling originating in the Edo period was practically outlawed in the process to make Japan look more developed. Many stories Lafcadio Hearn documented might have been lost forever, if he hadn't taken pen to paper. My point being that this book not only contains excellent stories, but bits of history in it as well. Very much worth reading for fans of classic as well as modern horror literature.