Summer is here and, while I know you’re still counting the days ’til Halloween, here are some fun ways to make the most of these sweltering months (1 of 2)
As a horror fan, summer is my least favorite season. And I know I’m not alone. When its summer, wearing your (usually) black horror t-shirts becomes extremely difficult. The sun beats down, and you feel like you’re going to turn into a pile of smoldering ashes like Max Schreck in Nosferatu (1922). Everyone is out enjoying the summer with big smiles on their faces, happy that the sun is out, that the sky is blue and the darkness, doom and gloom (which we as horror fans thrive on) has been lifted. All this then culminates in the world feeling over exposed and leaves many (including myself) in the horror community feeling not only hot and sticky, but isolated and alone.
Thankfully there are things we as horror fans can do to survive this season. I hope you enjoy this list, I hope it helps, and I hope to see you not as a pile of ashes but a fully regenerated horror loving human in the fall! (Click here to read Part Two of this article.)
1. Watch Summer-Themed Fright Flicks
Jaws on the Water Presented by Alamo Drafthouse
This one, like many on this list, is a no brainer. Many of you have probably already planned to do this, or already have done it. But even still, it didn’t seem right to start a list like this without having this as number one.
2. Curl Up With a Good Book…Or Ten
This again is something many of you horror book worms were probably planning to do, or have already done, but for those of you who tend to not venture into horror literature, why not give it a try this summer? There are tons of horror books (especially in the quick read and quick chills world of early R.L Stine pre-goosebumps) that are perfect if you’re looking for something short, easy, and a little bit creepy and campy (see what I did there?). Also, if you’re so inclined and able to do so, read your summer shockers in a place that matches their setting. If it’s a book (or film) that’s set in the woods at a camp ground, why not read (or watch) it there surrounded by the world the book is set in. This may not be plausible for some. But for those outdoorsy horror explorers, like myself, who don’t pass up a chance to pitch a tent when summer rears its ugly head, this may be for you.
3. Take a Horrific Trip
There are sooooooooo many creepy and crazy places horror fans can go (besides filming locations) to feed their horror need. In my fifth article for Morbidly Beautiful, I wrote about guide books that are great for horror fans wishing to take a trip.
4. Go on a Cemetery Safari
Many horror fans are taphophiles, defined by yourdictionary.com as “A person who is interested in cemeteries, funerals and gravestones”. That means a summer day spent in the local cemetery is just what the mortician ordered to combat summer rigor mortis. Take a camera, the kids, or your dogs (your fluffy kids) and have some fun in the sun among the monuments of those long departed. Maybe google the graves of famous people and see if any of them are in your local cemetery, and then go find them, snap a picture, and take a rubbing (if allowed). Or just aimlessly meander and marvel at the dates from which average Joes, and not so average Joes, lived and died.
5. Go to the Beach in Scary Style
Many people go to the beach when it’s summer, and horror fans are no exception. So why not go over to Kreepsville 666 and get an Elvira Coffin Beach Towel…or to sourpussclothing.com and check out their kooky and sometimes retro-spooky swim ware for “gals” (sorry guys…there’s always black swim trunks that you can get most anywhere). Then you can go swimming and beach sitting in horror style!
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