We took a walk in Kew Garden's Maple Grove Cemetery yesterday. I was struck by the turtles at the pond all gathering at the foot of the goose statue. I also photographed two monuments, one an angel on top of a rock, and the other for the grave of a dead child, which I found both creepy and sad.

Tonight's movie was APRIL FOOL'S DAY! "Muffy hasn't been in an institution for three years, she's been at Vassar!"

New book out now! www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G122LTN...

We are the only creatures on Earth that celebrate and uplift those who hoard resources. Everything we do is backward.

I love second drafts! There's often a lot of heavy lifting to do, but I love how everything starts to cohere!

Tonight's movie was SLEEPAWAY CAMP, which features this all-timer of a putdown: "She's a real carpenter's dream, flat as a board and in need of a good screw!" (Spoken by Judy, the best character, who eats the scenery in every scene!)

"New York officials including Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul condemned the defacement of a Brooklyn yeshiva Wednesday after red swastikas were spray-painted onto the building."

Two episodes into WELCOME TO DERRY and I'm still not loving it. In fact, I'm a little bored.

Alert! The e-book of THE GOOD HOUSE by @tananarivedue.bsky.social is on sale for just $1.99!

Some takeaways from yesterday's NYC mayoral election: 1) When voter turnout is this high, it means people are unhappy with the status quo and want a change.

Good news: it's not arthritis! Bad news: it's a torn meniscus!

Christmas has come early! There's a new live-action Godzilla short film!

It's election day here in NYC (and other places)! If you haven't already, please go vote! And please remember to thank your poll workers! Speaking from experience, it's a long and mostly thankless day for them.

R.I.P. Diane Ladd, who, despite a long and distinguished career, I always associate with David Lynch's WILD AT HEART for some reason.

🖋 My free monthly newsletter went out to subscribers this weekend! You can read it for free at the link and check out the many spooky things I did during the Halloween season! Don't forget to subscribe while you're there so you never miss a newsletter!

The Twisted Spine, NYC's first bookstore for horror and dark literature, suffered terrible water damage during last week's insane rainstorm and will have to close for repairs. I threw them some bucks to help them get through this difficult time. Please consider helping out if you can.

This morning's MRI of my left knee went smoothly. I'm looking forward to seeing what's going on in there! (Also, mentally preparing myself to learn it's probably arthritis.)

"The float, entered into the Hanover Area Jaycees Halloween parade by St. Joseph School in York and towed by Metcalf Cleaning LLC, depicted a replica of an Auschwitz concentration camp gate with the phrase 'Arbeit Macht Frei,' which is translated to 'Work sets you free.'"

When I came home, Alexa was watching the recent Flash movie on HBO Max. I caught the last 40 minutes or so and thought it was a mess.

We had a blast seeing a preview of ROB LAKE MAGIC WITH SPECIAL GUESTS THE MUPPETS on Broadway! Kids will love it!

Noodle definitely didn't want to be at the vet's today for her annual checkup. I couldn't help laughing when she tried to escape by jumping into the exam room's mini fridge! Of course we had to take a picture!

Movie #3 in my Halloween triple feature was GINGER SNAPS, which I watched with Alexa, who'd never seen it. She said, "I enjoyed that," and, "I liked the practical effects!"

Movie #2 in my Halloween triple feature was BURNT OFFERINGS (1976), which is still as creepy and inscrutable as ever. That damn chauffeur gets me every time! It's too long and it's directed like a TV movie, but Bette Davis is great and that ending is a doozy!

Movie #1 in my Halloween triple feature was CANDYMAN (1992)! It's still great, one of those rare examples of a movie that strays far from its source material and becomes something even better. It also shows what an icon Tony Todd was. (1/2)

#FridayReads An ARC of DIGITAL INC. by Richard Curtis, about how the e-book revolution transformed the publishing industry.

I love monsters. I especially love the Universal monsters. But for some reason, I just can't get into THE MONSTER SQUAD. I've seen it a few times, including in the theater when it first came out, and it always leaves me feeling meh.

👻 Happy Halloween! Today also marks my 25th anniversary as a published author! My very first story, "La Bête est Morte," appeared on October 31, 2000 with the publication of BELL, BOOK & BEYOND: AN ANTHOLOGY OF WITCHY TALES, edited by P.D. Cacek!

Middle age is primarily about opening a new kitchen sponge and going "this is much better"

We tapped out after the first episode of Season 4 of THE WITCHER. Aside from the story becoming overly complicated and the dialogue verging on satire, we just fully bounced off of Liam Hemsworth. It really shows how important Henry Cavill was to keeping the show watchable.

Halloween Adventure, one of my favorite stores in NYC, is profiled in the Times!

I'm so excited that Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani, who made THE STRANGE COLOR OF YOUR BODY'S TEARS, have a new movie coming out!

Tomorrow!

My newest acquisition from the Twisted Spine! (Cassandra Peterson has come a long way since steaming fish in the dishwasher--a trick Vincent Price himself taught her!)

Kind words from @lindajonesnyc.com, narrator of the Dr. Laura Powell audiobooks!

My review of VIDEOTAPES FROM HELL: A VISUAL HISTORY OF CULT, COLLECTIBLE, AND CRAZY VIDEO COVERS, edited by Stephen Jones.

Surprising absolutely no one, Disney+ has decided not to continue partnering with DOCTOR WHO. We all knew it was coming. If they were interested, they would have said so long before now. Read my thoughts over at Facebook:

Sad news. FAWLTY TOWERS is one of the very best British sitcoms, and I have many fond memories of watching it with my father in Hong Kong.

Who cares if John Carpenter didn't like THE SUBSTANCE? It doesn't change my experience with the movie at all. I quite liked it! It seems to me a lot of folks have too much time on their hands.

We had a blast at last night's Halloween Special: Celebrating Peter Straub at Books Are Magic! The panel discussion with @emmastraub.bsky.social, @danchaon.bsky.social, @natcassidy.bsky.social, and @kellylink.bsky.social was fantastic! (1/2)

Season 13 of FUTURAMA on Hulu is fun, but I think the show is starting to get a little stale in its old age.

This morning I was reminded of the Zombie Walks that used to happen all over the country, and I was shocked to realize the heyday of the Zombie Walk was 15-20 years ago!

Alert! The e-book of ANCIENT IMAGES by Ramsey Campbell is on sale for just 99¢! I read this one recently and enjoyed it!

Seven years on but never forgotten.

I got my face painted like a zombie for a Halloween screening of SHAUN OF THE DEAD at the United Palace Theater!

All of the ballot printers were down at our early voting site except one, but we still managed to vote this morning!

Inspired by the recent movie-viewing of friends, I think this year's Halloween triple feature will be amended to: 1) Candyman (1992) 2) Burnt Offerings (1976) 3) Ginger Snaps (2000) It's unusual not to have any 1980s horror in my Halloween movies, but I think it's a good lineup. (1/2)

We had a great time at Emily Mintz's legendary annual Halloween party tonight! Here's a picture of Amy Goldschlager taking her turn against the Cheshire Cat piñata!

We had a blast on Boroughs of the Dead's "Uncanny Upper West Side tour! Here's our tour guide Adrienne in front of the undertaker's entrance behind the Dakota!

Halloween is just one week away! I'd better start stocking up on candy for me...um, I mean for the trick-or-treaters! Yeah, trick-or-treaters! That's the ticket!

#FridayReads VIDEOTAPES FROM HELL: A VISUAL HISTORY OF CULT, COLLECTIBLE, AND CRAZY VIDEO COVERS edited by Stephen Jones