October Summary
I can't believe that October is over! 2021 has just flown by to me. Anyway, here is my October summary, which is more exciting than the last few months.
Writing Update
I wrote 885 words towards my novel this month. But I also participated in #13days13shorts (a spoooky art exhibition that takes place in the 13 days leading up to Halloween) so I wrote 13 poems, and I also participated in #preptober (a National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo prepping activity) so I posted on my instagram everyday. I also wrote 3 flash fiction pieces on my blog (I know...I missed a day).
So overall it was a productive month creatively. This is probably my last year doing #preptober too since I am certain I can finish my novel by December 31 (if I just focus on doing lots of writing sprints). Which is CRAZY to me!
Books Read
This was a slow reading month for me. I only finished one book:
In short - it wasn't great. I was a little disappointed. I thought the characters were 2 dimensional, and the scares just weren't there for me.
Movies I watched
I did get to watch some spooky movies this month though!
I know. You can laugh at me all you want that I haven't entered the conjuring universe yet - but I finally watched The Conjuring! I really liked it. I was of course familiar with Ed and Lorraine Warren and a lot of their cases. Visiting their museum is on my bucket list - but just never got around to watching the movies until now.
I love Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, and I think they work well together. I also have no idea how I didn't know that Ron Livingston was in this movie!
Anyway, I really liked this movie. I'm already a sucker for the occult, but I thought it was suspenseful, pretty to look at, and contrary to what some other movie critics have said, I didn't think the jump scares were there for no reason or that there were too many. A solid horror movie.
And while you can argue whether or not the story that it is based on is true - I liked that it stayed true to the "facts" of the story (or at least what I am familiar with anyway).
The second movie I watched is a continuation of the conjuring universe. Before I talk about this movie, I'm going to express a gripe.
The doll. The "real" Annabelle doll (quotes because I know people have different views on whether this kind of thing can even happen), was a Raggedy Ann doll. Not inherently scary, but made terrifying by its acts and the possession. The movie Annabelle doll is....terrifying. Not in a normal "dolls are kinda creepy" kinda way, but truly scary. Why would anyone want this doll in their home?
Anyway - while I don't think this movie is AS good as The Conjuring. I still really liked it. I liked that it ended where the Annabelle story that we are introduced to in The Conjuring starts - really linking the two movies. I also like that they didn't go the Chucky route (don't get me wrong, I like the Child's Play movies...but I would have found it really hokey if we saw Annabelle wielding a knife or talking).
I didn't particularly like the connection to the cult - it felt like something that was just kinda thrown in. And although they didn't go there - there was a nod to the mystical black person trope which I'm also not a fan of.
Other Updates
Halloween was a lot of fun! We had a lot of people out front of our house admiring our decorations.
I also got to decorate a spooky cookie barn, and ended Halloween by having some fun with friends :)
And now we are officially into "holiday season".
Until next time,
B.Strong &;