It’s over everyone. Spooky month has come to a close and I am so very sad. I absolutely love October. I watched a scary movie or show everyday and on Halloween day I binged a whole bunch of Halloween movies: Halloweentown, The Addams Family, Hocus Pocus, Scooby Doo on Zombie Island, and A Nightmare on Elm Street (gotta get that slasher in, ya know?). I also revisited Netflix’s Halloween special, The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell. It’s such a strange but delightful show and Christine’s talent is off the charts!
I didn’t watch movies all month though! I made sure to get my spooky reads in too!
Addie LaRue wasn’t necessarily part of the theme but since it came out in October, I read it anyway because I just HAD to. Also, it includes a devilish god of darkness. So that counts, right? By the by, it was a wonderfully written book and I loved the beautiful tragedy of Addie’s life journey. I can’t say I was as invested in Henry’s POV but the book balanced out nicely in the end. I’m not sure I’d say it’s Schwab’s best, though. For me, I think Vicious or A Conjuring of Light are her best!
Mara Dyer was not what I expected and it’s chock-full of those early 2010 clichés, but I enjoyed it regardless. In fact, I’m dying to get my hands on the second book after that cliff-hanger.
And I’m so glad I finally got to read Frankenstein. I was really surprised by how short a time Frankenstein actually spent with his monster, but the rest was familiar. Shelley’s descriptions of the land and the monster’s speech were beautifully detailed. It’s not my favorite classic, but I won’t dismiss its brilliance.
I REALLY enjoyed reading Neil Gaiman’s books. I think I can admit that Coraline might have been my favorite book of the month. The movie is fantastic and the book is absolutely amazing as well. Even better, actually, as most books are. I can see myself rereading it for years to come.
This just breaks my heart. I was so excited to start another series by Kerri Maniscalco. I love the Stalking Jack the Ripper series. Naturally, I had very high hopes for this one. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much that I liked about this book and if ever I manage to write a review for this, I’ll tell you all about it. For now, I guess I’ll say that the characters didn’t work for me, the witchy elements weren’t thoroughly explored, and the plotting was dangerously loose 🤷🏽♀️
I didn’t get to watch Psycho like I planned, but I got to watch most of the movies I wanted to see.
I tried the original Evil Dead, but nah man. Hated it from start to finish haha. And I also watched Halloweentown, but I think that is a movie for nostalgic viewers. If you didn’t grow up with it, you’ll have a harder time falling in love with it when you’re older. I couldn’t get past the cheesiness. It was cute, but not my favorite watch of the month. I’ll still be watching the second one next year though!
LOL
- October movie marathon. A daily stream of creepy, scary, funny movies and shows for the Halloween spirit
- Lots of reading got done in October. And I FINALLY got to read Frankenstein
- This isn’t necessarily a positive highlight, but my home had been threatened by a raging wildfire and my family was evacuated. None of us were home when the order was issued so I wasn’t able to grab a thing. I’ve never been so scared to lose everything. It’s a memorable experience and hopefully I’ll be ready if anything like that happens again. Time to make a go bag (especially one with my favorite books 😉)
- I reached 100 books in October!!
Goodreads Check-In
I’ve done it!!!! My goal had been 85 books, but I’d reached that about two months ago. And now I’ve reached 100! I’m so excited 😀 This is the most I’ve read in a year, I think. I wonder how much I’ll have read by the end of this year. Maybe 120??? Let’s aim for that then!
Even though I couldn’t go to Halloween Horror Nights this year, October was still a pretty good Halloween filled month, books and movies both!
After this election is over, maybe I can focus on reading again and stop having mini heart attacks. I’ve got a pretty good set of books in mind so I really hope I can get to them before the month is out.
Hope everyone had a great October and that November is a fantastic month for you!
The Uncharted Word 
You watched SO many good TV shows. I’m so envious. I barely hit a dent on my to-watch list. I saw the movie Coraline before I read the book and the book DID NOT disappoint. I loved it!
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Do we ever manage to cut down our watchlist? I still feel like I’ve got a million things to watch haha . I’m so glad we can enjoy Coraline in BOTH a book and video format. Such a great story. Many thanks to Neil G. and Henry S. for giving us a masterpiece 😄
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I didn’t watch enough spooky things this year, but I did watch the new Addams Family which I thought was cute.
So sad that Kingdom of Wicked didn’t work out for you.
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I was too but I’m still interested to see where the story goes, Hopefully, it gets better! I haven’t watched the new Addams Family movie but I really enjoyed the 1st one. Really funny!
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ahhhh congrats on reaching 100 books, that’s amazing!! 😀 And I soooo agree with you on Addie LaRue! I loved it and it was a beautifully written book, Addie’s life was so interesting, and that ending was brilliant, … but I couldn’t care about Henry that much lol I also spent my October watching my favorite Halloween movies – I mostly watched Halloweentown 😛 And I’ve been considering watching Bly Manor, but I’m easily scared, so for now, only considering hahahaha
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Thank you Marta! I really didn’t think I’d read so much this year but I’m really happy to have caught up on so many amazing reads. I hope you gave Bly Manor a try. It wasn’t as good as Hill House (IM0) but it was still a decent Oct. watch 😃
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