Girls, We Have Got To See "The Touch Of Satan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                      This 1971 piece of crap, directed by Don Henderson, was actually released theatrically on August 23 of that year, featuring a bunch of actors who went nowhere--Michael Berry, Emby Mellay, and Lee Amber.  And wait till you see those Seventies clothes and hairstyles!  People even now will ask if folks actually dressed like that.  I can say with assurance, being alive back then, they did; the Seventies was NOT a tasteful, glamorous period in fashion.

                                       What is wanted here is trash, and this film delivers it.  The family dynamics depicted here are paving the way for the film that two years later, in 1973, would become the gold standard--"The Baby," with Ruth Roman.

                                         Michael Berry plays a young itinerant named Jodie, who wanders onto a California farm, where two sisters are witches.  One I guess won with the Devil; she is 127 years old, and goes around seducing everyone in sight, looking like a knockout.  The loser sister ends up looking like a wrinkled, genuinely 127-year-old crone, and goes around stabbing wandering trespassers with a pitch fork.  I mean, can you honestly blame her?

                                          I don't know who plays Grandpa, but this is the big, Oscar nominated role.  Grandpa's thing is, before bedtime,  indulging in the fetish of sniffing the dirty window curtains in his bedroom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I don't even want to know what they smell like, but this scene has got to be seen to be believed.

                                            I am not sure Satan would be able to sit through this!

                                            But in the wake of films like "The Baby," "Spider Baby," and "Switchblade Sisters," it adds up to a hilariously campy quartet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                             Live it up, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Truly Brilliant, But Lurid, Collection Of Short Stories!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                          The first thing I want to clear up about this book is the author.  The book is written by one person, and his name is Nana Kwame(first name) Adjei-Brenyah (last name).  He can write some truly haunting stories, and he has here.

                                             This makes the 11th book I have read on "The New York Times 100 Most Notable Books Of 2018 List."

                                             "The Finklestein Five" was my favorite, showing how violence begets violence, offering a reworking of the story of the four little Black girls killed in a church in Birmingham, Alabama, back on September 15, 1963.  "The Hospital Where" shows the horrors of medical institutions to everyone, and minorities in particular,  And "Lark Street" depicts a couple haunted by the fetuses of the expectant twins they aborted.  Huh, you say?  Well, believe me, darlings, it works.

                                                  These stories get under the reader's skin.  Yet one cannot turn away, because the writing is so compelling.  This debut is probably the short story collection of the year, and it is a shame The Times did put it on their Ten Best list.

                                                   Had I more room, I might have included it on mine.  And this from someone more partial to sprawling narratives than short stories.

                                                     An unforgettable debut demanding attention, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Girls, "Santa Claws" Is Sure To Outdo "Mirace On 34th Street!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Christmas Horror Image #3!!!!!!!!!!

                                    Just look at that cover, darlings!  It certainly offers something different. for those seeking a break from Holiday mawkishness.  It was made in 1996.

                                      I have never even heard of this movie, but I have GOT to see it.  It is full of twisted sex.  The title character, as a child, discovers his tramp mother in bed with some guy dressed like Santa Claus.  Hope the film had the wit to use Jimmy Boyd's "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" on the soundtrack, during this scene!  Probably not!

                                       Anyway, he grows up, of course, to hate women, and become obsessed with Santa Claus.  He develops an obsession with an erotic horror film star, named Raven Quinn--don't you just love it??????--and begins stalking her in his Santa Claus suit.

                                       Will Santa get his gift?  Or will pieces of Raven be strewn, under the Christmas tree?

                                         Find out for yourselves, darlings, and have a Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas Horror Image #2--The 1997 Movie, "Jack Frost!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                     Girls, I have never seen this one, but it sounds like a hoot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                      The title character, Jack Frost, is actually a serial killer, being transported in a truck to his execution.  When the truck collides with some genetic material that gets all over him, the guy mutates into a killer snowman, who seeks revenge on those who would execute him.

                                       This is NOT "Frosty, The Snowman," darlings!  No laughing and playing here!  Just seasonal kill in Christmas costume, and I am sure some victims include some nubile beauties.  I mean, the genre wouldn't have it any other way.

                                        "Jack Frost" actually spawned a sequel; so, how about that?

                                          Actually, he's kinda cute!  He looks like he is all about having fun!

                                          "In the meadow, you can build a snowman," darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're Off And Running With The Holidays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                 Here it is, December 2, and Chanukah begins tonight.  This is the earliest one I can remember.

                                   Bring on the blintzes, latkes, and sour cream.  It is time to light up some candles.  Flame away, all you flamers, Jewish and not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                     What a nice way to usher in the month, with the Festival Of Lights.

                                      My we treasure all we hold dear in our hearts, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                      I know I am violating some traditions this year, dolls, so, in keeping with that, here is LIZA, delivering "City Lights."

                                         "Love those lights," girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas Horror Image #1--"Merry Christmas, Boys And Ghouls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                  Has Santa gone anorexic?  That will never do, but in Horror Christmasland, anything is possible.

                                  At  least he is smiling.  And greeting everyone, carrying a bagful of gifts. But who knows what horrors that bag holds?

                                   Don't you just love it, dolls? It's horror, yet full of tradition.

                                    We're in for some finale to this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome To December, Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                     This month is crammed with activity--shows, parties, visits, gifts, and in between all this I have to blog and try to at least make my reading record of 100 books.

                                       As those who have been with me awhile know, each December, I do a Christmas related theme.  That will be maintained, but, because this year's pick is so unorthodox, I am going to incorporate, every several days, some Holiday tradition.

                                         Like starting off this month by the perfect Victorian December calendar, from the opening of the Golden Books edition of "The Night Before Christmas."  My favorite version, by the way!  It set me on the road to Victoriana.

                                          Now, the theme of this year is going to be....Christmas Horror.  See what I mean?  Very unconventional.  Besides horror films centered around Christmas there will be Grand Guignolesque displays of Holiday cheer!  Heh!  Heh!  Heh!

                                           Today is special for me, personally, both happy and sad.  Thirty five years ago, today, I  pulled up stakes, moving from Highland Park, New Jersey, to my first apartment, in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.  The sad part is so many important people in my early life are now gone.  But I have others, most importantly, my beloved David.  But I miss the ones who have gone.

                                             So, let us kick off the month, with the first horror image!

                                              Have a Merry, and Ghoulish, Christmas, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!