Overlook Hotel, July 4th Ball, 1921

Well, I forgot to celebrate a very important anniversary yesterday: as it was July the 4th (as the Americans say), it was... the 100th anniversary of the July 4th Ball 1921 of the Overlook Hotel. Thankfully this meme reminded me. I don't know what happened then, but we can agree that it must have been a very special ball. And I hope that yesterday all my American friends partied like it was 1921. On a side note, Halloween is only 118 days away, so I have started reading horror stories.

"YOU are the caretaker"

For tonight's second countdown to Halloween's post, one of my favourite scenes from one of my favourite horror movies. Again it belongs to psychological horror: there is no gore, not even a jump scene (although the film has a good deal of both). From this post's title, you will of course recognised The Shining, and more particularly that scene in the gentlemen's room, when Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) talks to a butler who turns out to be the ghost of Grady, his predecessor, who committed suicide after murdering his wife and daughters. Grady is played by Philip Stone, a great underrated British actor. He is the one who really makes the scene work I think, making Nicholson's character more and more uneasy as the scene progresses, until he looks genuinely worried and maybe a bit scared himself. And I love how gradually and so seamlessly Stone turns Grady from a helpful butler into this pure malevolent figure, fanatically devoted to the Overlook. The reveal happening, of course, with the fateful line: "I'm sorry to differ with you sir, but YOU are the caretaker, you've always been the caretaker. I should know sir: I've always been here." It gets me every time.

Maze and horror

I took this picture in Derbyshire and it illustrates tonight's countdown to Halloween post. What you see here is the middle of a maze, or rather the view from the middle of a maze. On face value, a maze is simply a large play area, where finding your way to the center and back is the game. But it has far deeper significance. The maze, any maze, is a potential place of danger. One can get lost in it, who knows what danger, human or not, lurks in it. It is also, symbolically, the human mind, where dark thoughts hide like a minotaur. Who can forget the maze in The Shining? The movie was in my mind the whole time I was walking there. Not the climax, but a scene near the beginning, when Danny and Wendy Torrance explore the maze for the first time. A brilliant piece of foreshadowing and a perfect example of (very subtle) daylight horror. I put it here for your enjoyment:

Scottish Island Caretaker (job advert)

This might be of interest to some people, you never know. I thought it was quite interesting, in any case. My brother mentioned on Facebook this job opportunity published on the Daily Mail in Scotland: caretaker for the remote Inchcolm Island and its abbey. Isolated, with long periods of solitude, images of The Shining automatically come to mind, in a gothic horror setting. On the plus side, there is little opportunity to spend the money you earn, you have a whole island to yourself and the site is obviously gorgeous. If you can survive the cabin fever, retain your sanity and not go on a murderous rampage Jack Torrance style (''you are the caretaker, you've always been the caretaker'') the first time you see another human being, there is enough material there to write your own horror story. In case anybody reading is interested.