And then October was behind us.
I spent the better part of a week traveling, campus calling for work in Indianapolis. I visited Purdue (an hour’s drive away in West Lafayette), IUPUI, and the University of Indianapolis, talking with instructors on campus as I do. All I feel confident in saying about Indianapolis is that it’s a place. It seems like a nice enough place to return to and visit for the first time. But I saw practically none of it. I stayed a fifteen-minute drive from the airport and didn’t get a real sense of the city, or even of the schools I visited. It just was a place.
But now it’s November, and all I have to do is write up my notes from that trip, which, if luck is with me, I’ll manage sometime before the end of the year.
Other than that short trip, my October was relatively uneventful. As usual, I read some stories, read some books, watched some movies, and listened to some music.
I read thirty-three stories in October. A lot of those were horror, perhaps appropriately enough, and several were from Penguin’s American Supernatural Tales collection. I might have more to say about that collection when I actually finish it — I’m very close — but overall it’s kind of meh. Some good stories, some arguably classic, but a pretty mixed bag overall.
Still, I read few others elsewhere that I liked:
- “Four Haunted Houses” by Adam-Troy Castro (Nightmare Magazine)
- “Sawing” by Lisa Goldstein (Nightmare Magazine)
- “A Diet of Worms” by Valerie Valdes (Nightmare Magazine)
- “Little Widow” by Maria Dahvana Headley (Nightmare Magazine)
- “Pagpag” by Samuel Marzioli (Apex)
- “Eating Science With Ghosts” by Octavia Cade (Asimov’s)
- “A Glass Kiss for the Little Prince of Pain” by Martin Cahill (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
In October, I read two books: Slade House by David Mitchell and I Am Providence by Nick Mamatas.
They’re both a little slight, but I much preferred the Mitchell book, which manages to invest you in some pretty unlikable characters…which may be one of the problems I had with Mamatas’ book. Maybe if I recognized the Lovecraftian crowd he’s directly parodying in the book, or was more widely read in Lovecraft himself, I would have enjoyed the book more. It has some nice touches, but I found it overall kind of disappointing.
I watched eight movies in October:
- The Legend of Hell House:
The Legend of Hell House isn't exactly scary, but it's almost absurdly atmospheric. I quite enjoyed it.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) October 2, 2016
- The Darjeeling Limited:
While it never quite shakes that Anderson tweeness, there's a real warmth and sweetness to The Darjeeling Limited that I really liked.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) October 2, 2016
- Ghosts of Mars:
Ghosts of Mars has some of the same DNA as Carpenter's better movies but it's some kind of weird mutant barely struggling for life.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) October 9, 2016
- Shadow of a Doubt:
Well Shadow of a Doubt ended dumbly.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) October 16, 2016
- Sleeping With Other People:
It takes a couple of odd turns, but I really enjoyed Sleeping With Other People. Alison Brie and Jason Sudeikis are delightful.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) October 19, 2016
- Futureworld:
In 1976, the NY Times called Futureworld "as much fun as running barefoot through Astroturf." They were being very generous.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) October 21, 2016
- Out of Africa:
It's not hard to see what people liked about Out of Africa enough to name it Best Picture. But it's also not hard to see why it wasn't.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) October 23, 2016
- Lights Out:
Lights Out has some interesting ideas (or some interesting enough twists on some old, hoary ideas), but it's not a very good or scary movie.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) October 30, 2016
And I listened to some music. So there.