Ania Ahlborn’s Within These Walls – When I’d Move Out of This Haunted House

It’s time once again to look at the age-old question of the haunted house genre – Why don’t they just move?  Sure, sometimes you’re snowed in at the Overlook and there’s no conceivable way to get out but most times, if I was in the protagonist’s shoes, I’d just up and move.  I don’t care if I was in debt and didn’t have the money or means to sell and buy again.  That’s what bankruptcy’s for!  Getting away from ghosts!  In fact, imagining when I’d move and the alternate story it would lead to as I watch/read a scary haunted house story is one of my horror coping mechanisms.  So, in honor of Halloween and all things scary and spooky, haunted and horrific, macabre and malevolent, I’m doing a li’l series about this.  In each installment I consider a haunted house novel and ruminate on when, if I were living within the events of the novel, I’d move the heck outta that house.  This time I’m looking at Ania Ahlborn’s Within These Walls which managed to freak me out in two horrible, particularly unfair ways! 

This piece contains minor spoilers for certain incidents in the novel but the ending and all major twists are left out of the discussion.  So read on based on your comfort with such spoiler territory ;D.

Jac Jemc’s The Grip Of It – When I’d Move Out of This Haunted House

It’s the age-old question of the haunted house genre, isn’t it?  Why wouldn’t they just move?  It crosses my mind with every haunted house movie I watch or novel I read.  Sure, sometimes you’re snowed in at the Overlook and there’s no conceivable way to get out but most times, if I was in the protagonist’s shoes, I’d just up and move.  I don’t care if I was financially in debt and didn’t have the money or means to sell and buy again.  That’s what bankruptcy’s for!  Getting away from ghosts!  In fact, imagining when I’d move and the alternate story it would lead to as I watch/read a scary haunted house story is one of my horror coping mechanisms.  So I thought, in honor of Halloween and all things scary and spooky, haunted and horrific, macabre and malevolent, I’d write a li’l series about this.  I’d read haunted house novels and ruminate on when, if I were living within the events of the novel, I’d move the heck out of that house.  First up, is Jac Jemc’s The Grip Of It which is simultaneously the best and the scariest haunted house story I’ve ever read!

This piece contains minor spoilers for certain incidents in the novel but the ending and all major twists are left out of the discussion.  So read on based on your comfort with such spoiler territory ;D.

The Joker Examined – Jared Leto and Suicide Squad (2016)

Happy Halloween everyone!!  As the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead weakens (thanks Samhain…), we’ll spend the night with lighted jack-o-lanters to ward off nefarious spirits and decked out in all sorts of ghoulish garb to blend in with the dead who will traverse the land of the living.  Or, you know, we may do all those things in the name of free candy (yay for Reese’s Cups!!!).  Either way, today’s Halloween and that means I’ve only one Joker left to examine in this series.  Yay!  So let’s say hello to Mr. Jared Leto.

The Joker Examined – Jack Nicholson and Batman (1989)

Last week I wrote about Cesar Romero’s madcap 1960’s take on the Clown Prince of Crime as an introduction to a Halloween series about two things that terrify me – clowns (gah!) and the struggle to understand the very real evil in our world.  The Joker, a character I feel personifies evil incarnate, will continue to be the star as we jump from 1966 to 1989.  It’s time to explore Tim Burton’s Batman, a film that succeeded in putting the “gothic” in Gotham and making Jack Nicholson even more unnerving.  Look at how the menace glints in his eyes with that smile!  Aaaagghh!