Well, here it is, kiddos.  Halloween is here!  Plenty to do, eat, and see today.  First off: vote if you have the “early voting” option in your state.  Just get it out of the way, it might reduce your blood pressure (I’m about to head out the door and vote as we speak–I expect that it will add a few years to my life expectency).  If you don’t know who to vote for, I feel truly sorry for you.  Now more than ever, it is important to man-up on your decisions and take civic responsibility for our woebegotten nation.

So, how has VF been preparing for Halloween?  I’ve been busy, so no massive decorating sessions or elaborate trick or treat goodie bags.  So far I’ve been doing the horror film thing, as per usual, and it has gotten me in the spirit.  But what should I watch, you ask?  Night of the Living Dead ALWAYS works and is very easy to come by.  Here are two options for double features from Mountain Xpress critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther (and I can put another personal endorsement behind From Dusk Til Dawn, which I recently saw for the first time in 10 years and appears to have held up very well).  John Kenneth Muir endorses 2008’s The Strangers, a shooting star in a sea of lackluster horror releases.

But what do I recommend?  Listen, I’m the guy who recently watched Halloween III: Season of the Witch in hopes that it would be better than I remembered (it was: slightly), so I might not be the best for advice on this matter.  It was interesting insofar as it connected Irish pagan rituals to Samhain, a task with very few horror movies do.  (Thank this book for pointing it out to me.  Speed readers might want to take a stab at the whole thing before tonight so they can lecture their trick or treaters).  No, leaving that all aside, I will surmise two films of different vintages.  First, one of the finest invocations of the American tradition: Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow.   I have found myself thinking about this movie a lot lately and will probably give it a spin once I get back from the Halloween party I am going to.  Great cast, perfect atmosphere, and a vitality that is lacking in the Saws and Hostels of the world.  But what to pair?  Why not the pinnacle of British historical performance meets camp hysteria?  I’m not talking about Bend it Like Beckham!  I’m talking about Vincent Price in Theatre of Blood!!!  A vengeful actor takes out his frustrations on theatre critics who gave him bad writeups.  More than just harsh words: he kills them in imaginative and elaborate ways!!

That’s it: have some pumpkin ales, give some candy to the kidz, watch a flick or two, do the costume thing.  Have fun.