Oh Hallowed Ween

In honor of Halloween, here is an illustration I did a couple days ago of a scene from one of my favourite movies - Ginger Snaps 2 - Unleashed.

I've been doing a few illustrations of this nature, so I'll do a post with them all soonish.

I've decided to recall a time when Halloween, thus horror, held true magic for me: puberty.
As an ode to my pubescent years, here are a few things that made me what I am today. If you ever had any shred of doubt about how uncool I am, kiss it goodbye.
(Couldn't find the photo of me as a dead cheerleader for Halloween, so here's me going through the My So-Called Life phase, aged 13 or 14):

MY TOP FIVE GODS AS A PRE-TEEN/TEEN:

R.L. Stine: I kinda ditched Stine as soon as my pubic hair started sprouting (that's a lie), however his books are what I cut my teeth on, and gave me a taste for blood. I think I inhaled every single book in his Fear Street series. I used to wait every month for a new book to come out at the local bookstore (or it seemed they came out that often). I think the first one I read may have been The Baby-Sitter. I had a really terrible habit of reading the last chapter first with these books, no idea why. I couldn't take the painful suspense maybe?

Between Stine and Pike, I think pretty much every single concept for any kind of horror movie involving teenagers has already been covered. I wish my dad hadn't given all my old books away. Sigh, nostalgia.

Christopher Pike: Where did you go? Legions of modern teens are being deprived. As a teenager I always thought he was the thinking man's R.L. Stine (which actually just translated to longer books, smaller font, and more nudity). So while everyone was still reading Stine I was feeling pretty smart. The first book of his I ever read was Witch. We moved when I was in grade eight, everyone at school hated me, so I used to read his books in the library during lunch hour. Bittersweet memories I suppose.

Also worth mentioning is THIRTEEN (13), which contained short stories by both above authors. It was the seminal collection of teen scares in the early 90s, in my humble opinion.

Stephen King: I devoured anything and everything Stephen King. I think I discovered his books in grade 7. Instantly became obsessed. I'm pretty sure I've read everything he's ever written pre-1998. But I also remember some of his best work being his non-horror stories; most notably The Body.

Joss Whedon: When Buffy aired on TV in 1997, I stopped needing friends.

Dean Koontz: Horror AND two page sex scenes per book. Need I say more? I remember being convinced Dragon Tears was the best thing I had ever read when I was in grade eight. I believe it was about a cop, a homeless woman, a man made of rats, and maybe something about freezing time.

MY FIRST FIVE HORROR MOVIES:

Cujo: It was my eleventh birthday party, and I was allowed to rent one movie "of my choice". This was the movie. I also remember we put water balloons in our training bras because we thought some boys were going to come. None did. But we were crawling up the walls and hiding in the bathroom this movie scared us so badly.

Bram Stoker's Dracula: My best friend turned twelve and was allowed to rent BOTH Dracula AND Mikey (unbelievable!). I loved Dracula so much (cuz of the werewolf-who's-really-a-vampire sex scene, obvs) that I got up super early in the morning to watch it again.

Mikey: I haven't seen this since that first time, all I remember was some kid kept getting adopted and torching/knifing his folks. Luckily because the kid was the monster, it didn't leave any lasting scars.

The Evil Dead(but I can't remember which one): I was in grade seven at a friend's house, and it was the middle of winter. Not only did I have nightmares for weeks after watching this, but her dad drove us out on his Ski-Doo to somewhere in their expansive forest (90 acres) when it was dark, then pretended the Ski-Doo broke down, told us to get off, and left us there. The whole long walk back I cried and screamed at every bunny-hop, while she maintained Patrick Batemen-level cool. My parents soon after stopped letting me hang out at her house. But not before my tiny eyes were traumatized by:

It: I was just so relieved that Jonathan Brandis didn't get eaten by an alien glow-spider.

This photo was taken over a week ago. Dinner and a movie (Army of Darkness). Much like what I do every night since moving to Montreal. Definitely not complaining.