Ghoulish Friday Five

Here's today's "Ghoulish Friday Five"

1. Do you enjoy a good fright?
Yes and no. I enjoy roller coasters, fast cars, the kind of stuff that feels like it takes you to the edge without actually doing so. I think I'd like skydiving if I could convince myself to pony up the money for it. But do I enjoy that "OHSHITI'MGONNADIERIGHTNOW" moment when my heart stops and my whole body gets flooded with adrenaline? Not particularly. So, there you go.

2. Scariest movie you've ever seen
"Alien." Not even close to a contest. I still watch that movie in the dark by myself when I really don't want to sleep ever again.

3. Bobbing for apples: choose one and discuss:
a) Nothing scary about that! Good wholesome fun.
b) Are you *kidding* me?!? The germs, the germs!
I'd have to go with (a) for my answer. Yes, I suppose there's some unsanitary stuff, but every place I've bobbed for apples has felt clean to me. In a world where I could die because some wild pigs got into a spinach patch 2,000 miles away, I'm not really too concerned about sucking up some shared spit from the apple barrel.

4. Real-life phobia
Hmmm - this is a tough one. I don't like creepy crawlies at all, but I can deal with them - Beloved tends to go into hysterics sometimes when she's had too much. I went through a phase where I was REALLY scared of heights, but that seems to have passed. I do NOT like the woods at night without company - I've seen "Blair Witch" too many times to feel comfortable in that situation. So let's go with that, even though I know it's probably just a wabbit that's making all the noise.

5. Favorite "ghost story"
I'm one of Stephen King's "Constant Readers," so as you can imagine I've got lots of material from which to choose. But some others first:
6. That Hitchcock Record from when I was a kid. Our friend Cory had a record of Hitchcock stuff. He loved to shut us in his bedroom, turn off all the lights and play the record. One side was typical ghost story fluff: the mice in the haunted house who kept getting bigger while waiting for "Earl" or whoever, etc. But the other side was a longer story about a haunted mansion, complete with sound effects. I, of course, envisioned Cory's bedroom as the room in the mansion where the ghosts made themselves known, and even today I think of it every Halloween. Thanks a lot, Cory.
5. The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe. Actually, I could do a top ten list from Poe alone, but this one always haunted me more than many others.
4. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. Creepy - 'nuff said.
3. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. Again, a creepy tale of foreboding and haunted love. Beautiful and tragic all at once.
2. The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe. Here's a phobia for you: being buried alive. Yeah, let's go with that. Being drunk wouldn't help at all.
1. The Raven by Poe. Bleak and full of despair. Best when read separate from modern interpretations - just sit down, read it from start to finish, and see if you're not covered in goosebumps.

Okay, now for my favorite Ghost Story: Bag of Bones by Stephen King. This book holds some of King's best storytelling and most creepy inventions all at once. It has very little, if anything, to do with King's magnum opus, the Dark Tower, which might be one of its strengths. It's a masterfully told story that I devour every time I pick it up.

There you go - and a ghoul-free Samhain to you all!