Skyfall (the other countdown)

Just for tonight (maybe just for tonight), I will quickly blog about something else than Halloween. That said, if you read my previous post in English, you would know that Peter Fleming, Ian Fleming's brother, wrote at least one horror story, so by proxy and by talking about the creation of a blood relative., I still sort of keep in the spirit of the season. Sort of.

So my long time readers know that I am a big James Bond fan and that I have been eagerly waiting for the release of Skyfall. Even though it is released just before Halloween, at a time when my mind is set on horror rather than other kinds of fiction. I am seasonal like that. But not enough to not think about my other little obsessions. And Bond movies are one of them. It was made official recently that Adele is going to sing the theme song, although it had been rumoured for quite a while now. I care little about Adele or her music, I am not a fan of her but I don't dislike her. I was fairly optimistic about her singing the theme song. In any case, it couldn't be any worse than Madonna in that dreadful movie which I should not name (I hate it that much). Now, a bit of the song was "mysteriously" leaked in the media (you can listen to it here). From the little we can hear, I am very happy. It sounds like a good, old, classic Bond theme song, with a voice that is powerful, yet subdued enough, it covers you and brings you the "Bond atmosphere", the solitary life, the danger, the glamour... It fits the Craig era perfectly, more so than the previous two I think. Maybe I am now overly enthusiastic, but I am very excited about the movie.

The Pan Book of Horror Stories

This is of course one of my countdown to Halloween blog posts. Which is simply a plug for a book that I am reading at the moment. I say a plug, not a critic or a review, as I have not read it all and cannot judge it completely.I am talking about The Pan Book of Horror Stories. I bought the volume 1 out of whim on Amazon. I loved the nasty black cat on the front cover, with sharp fangs and angry eyes, ready to strike. I wonder if it is part of a story. It is certainly an interesting find and an unusual type of horror for me to read. So far, most of the stories I read in there had barely or no supernatural element at all, they are grounded in reality and hence are based on psychological horror. I was expecting more classical types of horror stories, like in this anthology. That said, I have not been disappointed. Because the stories are very well written, and produce their own brand of anxiety. Oh, and there is at least one classic horror story, The Kill by Peter Fleming (the brother of the other Fleming) a good old werewolf story, enjoyable even when it is predictable, almost because it is predictable. Just for thos story, the anthology is worth the purchase. But if you want to read it without buying The Pan Book of Horror Stories and don't mind reading fiction online, you can find it here. Still, read in a cold autumn night in the living room, or in say an empty train station, it is so much better an experience. So hurry up and buy it before the 31st.