Horror Nights, Papa Midnite's Club, and Lovecraft Country
One Hell of a road-trip
Horror Nights Past
I’m a huge fan of Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights (HHN). There was a Twitter question a while ago that asked what you could take about for 30 minutes straight for a presentation and HHN would definitely be one of those topics.
I absolutely live for this annual event. As a TL;DR: Halloween Horror Nights is one of the largest and premier horror events of the year, running from late September to early November. It’s biggest draw, thanks to Universal Studios, is the massive budget behind the event. Each year, HHN features 10 “Houses” —some built on soundstages, others in tents that are either original houses or IP houses— and several “Scarezones” that are open-area walkways spread across the park. Some of the recent IP houses have been themed to Rob Zombie’s House of a 1000 Corpses, The Thing, The Walking Dead, and Happy Death Day, to name a few.
Growing up in Miami, I would see commercials play during the summer to promote the event. As a tween with a computer, I would stalk the HHN website daily to check out if any updates had appeared to tease the year’s theme. I would spend hours online reading about the event and the Icons like Jack the Clown, The Director, and The Caretaker.
My family didn’t do a lot of vacations when I was growing up, unfortunately. We did a trip to Disney’s Magic Kingdom when I was around 6 or 7. Later on, we did a fun family cruise to the Bahamas. But it wasn’t until 2007 when I got to attend my first Horror Nights.
I was 11 and the theme that year was "Carnival of Carnage and alongside fan-favorite Icon Jack the Clown, Freddy Krueger, Leatherface, and Jason were also icons. That year, my favorite House was Freddy’s “A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dreamwalkers” and I remember being so scared but so excited. The opening of the house was a medical tent filled with tv screens, equipment, and fog machines, with a speaker announcing that to remain calm as Hypnocil took effect. Immediately after that, we walked into the larger soundstage with 1428 Elm Street to greet us. Of course, we “met” many Freddys in the house.
I later got to attend the 2009 Ripped From the Silver Screen event, but hadn’t been back in years. Since settling into life in New York, my fiancé and I have tried to make a yearly October vacation to Orlando for HHN, always returning in time for me to compete in the division’s Halloween costume contest. This year was going to be the big 30th HHN anniversary and also a mini-honeymoon for my fiancé and me. But Coronavirus!
I’ll miss getting scared in the houses, eating twisted taters, and drinking beer while watching scareactors chase unsuspecting guests with chainsaws. It’s not the October I envisioned, but I’ll be celebrating Halloween at home with some of my favorite scary movies.
One Good Scare: Constantine (2005)
TW/CW: suicide mention/depiction, cancer
“This is Constastine. John Constantine. Asshole.” This movie has to be my favorite of Keanu Reeve’s. I’ve always and still am really into the mythology of angels and demons and this movie combines this interest with Keanu, Rachel Weisz, Tilda Swinton, Shia LaBeouf Gavin Rossdale as demonic Balthazar, and a Lucifer played deliciously well by Peter Stormare.
So what’s it about? (spoilers ahead!) Constantine follows titular John Constantine, an occult detective who spends his time exorcising demons and sending them back to Hell. He also is in the midst of battling a worsening lung cancer, caused by his chain-smoking cigarettes. Constantine, who tried to commit suicide as a teen, can “see” half-angels and demons who roam the earth. Because of his suicide, Constantine won’t be able to get to Heaven when he dies and instead is doomed to Hell, where his exorcised enemies gleefully await. This is akin to Batman being sent to Arkham Asylum. When we meet Constantine, his path becomes crossed with Weisz’ Detective Angela Dodson’s. Angela is grieving her identical twin sister, Isabel’s death which has been reported a suicide and devout Catholic Angela is denial of her sister’s actions. When a clue from Isabel, seemingly from the beyond, leads her to Constantine, they become part aware of a larger nefarious plot to bring about the son of the Devil, the Antichrist, and the end of the world.
First off, this cast has so many beautiful people! Truly a win!
Second off, I absolutely love the mythology that half-angels and half-demons in this movie roam the earth to try to influence mortals towards good or evil, Heaven or Hell. This depiction of hell as this post-nuclear apocalypse wasteland is also so much fun. You see cars and skyscrapers in various state of decay as Hell continually burns. It’s incredible. More depictions of Hell in movies, please!
This movie is simply well-written and well-paced. It never fails to satisfy during a rewatch. If we ever get a sequel, you’ll find me there opening weekend. But it really is tied together in the climax when Lucifer, himself, comes to personally collect Constantine’s soul. Peter Stomare always plays such wacky, slimy, or wild characters and he is a perfect Lucifer. The white suit, the black tattoos, the black goo covering his bare feet and staining his pants. Incredible! TW: suicide depiction
Creator Spotlight - Vixen by Micheline Pitt & La Femme en Noir
If someone asks me on Twitter or Instagram where I’ve gotten my clothes from, eight tens out of ten, I respond “Vixen!” I’ve been slowly trying to phase out shopping at fast fashion retailers and looking to buy more expensive and sturdier pieces.
(Above: I’m wearing the Miss Kitty Coat from Vixen and the Serpent Wrap Dress from La Femme en Noir)
Vixen is owned by designer, model, director, Renaissance woman Micheline Pitt. The brand is inspired by vintage silhouettes with a modern touch, as well as by horror movies and Halloween. She also co-owns La Femme en Noir with Lynh Haaga, a goth glamour shop.
I admire a lot about Micheline and Lynh. They’ve cultivated a lovely, affirming, safe space within The Vixen’s Salon Facebook group. Both shops are also incredibly size inclusive featuring sizes XS to 4XL. And during California’s shutdown earlier in the year, Micheline closed her storefront, took over order fulfillment and shipping with her husband, and paid her staff their full salaries while the lockdown was in effect.
I’m giving Vixen and LFEN a shoutout in this newsletter for their incredible shops, but also for their new and upcoming collaborations with Paramount Studios. Tomorrow at 3pm PST/6pm EST, Vixen will drop the first of two new collections. This one features a line of clothing and accessories inspired by Pet Sematary. While the second, a Sleepy Hollow collection will debut later on La Femme en Noir.
(pic credit: Vixen by Micheline Pitt)
If you want to support small businesses and look fabulous doing so, I highly recommend both shops.
A Visit to Lovecraft Country
TW/CW: racism mention, police brutality/violence mention, death mention
Misha Green’s Lovecraft Country is the fucking show of the fall. That’s it! If you’re not watching it, you need to be. This show completely takes the genre’s conventions and breathes new life to them all with a stellar cast. Lovecraft Country uses cosmic and occult horror combined with the racist horrors of a Jim Crow Era as its backdrop.
There is also a companion podcast for the show called Lovecraft Country Radio, co-hosted by Ashley C. Ford and Shannon M. Houston. There is an incredible line from the 2nd episode covering “Whitey On the Moon” where Shannon Houston says “So many horror films that we love have perpetuated this violent myth of the Black body as disposable.” Horror is a genre that has long made Black characters the first or second to die in a movie. It’s been long dominated in the mainstream by white directors, casts, stories, etc.
But Black creators have always had a hand in the history of the genre. I highly recommend watching the documentary Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror on Shudder and also reading the nonfiction novel that provided the basis for the documentary: Horror Noire by Robin R. Means Coleman, PhD. Both the doc and the book cover representation, creators, and the history of horror from the 1890s up through 2017.
I want to take this moment to end this newsletter with a call to action for various causes. If you have the ability to donate, please consider one of the causes below. If you’re unable to, consider sharing or boosting them on social.
The Mutual Aid Response Network’s Hurricane Laura Relief Fundraiser for Southwest Louisiana
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