The New Year has started and we hope that it will bring you the peace, joy and harmony that we all seek.

Ok, so last week we introduced you to the scary part of Hollywood and their take on the "haunting season."  Now it's time to go back just a little further with some movies whose sole purpose was to "Scare You Silly!"

October is here and Halloween month has commenced!!!!  To start off this Spooky Season here are some amazing movies whose subjects continue to fascinate and whose origins are based on history!  Diving into a classic is "The Night of the Living Dead".  Zombies go as far back as 1697 in literature, as well as being referenced in the Bible.  In Ancient Greece, archeologists unearthed graves that contained skeletons pinned down by rocks and other heavy objects.  An article, published in 1997, in the British medical journal, The Lancet, described three verifiable accounts of zombies.  This movie does exactly what it is supposed to do and that is to put the fear so close to the surface that you are on the edge of your seat waiting for a moment to feel safe!!  Here is the link to read up on some history and truths behind Zombies!  https://www.history.com/topics/folklore/history-of-zombies.   "Nosferatu" and "Salem's Lot".  What do they have in common?  Vampires!!  While starting out as folklore "Nosferatu" was a silent film adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula.  Stephen King wrote "Salem's Lot" based on his teaching of this novel, as a college course.  This movie scared the daylights out of me!!!  It's taken me three tries to finally watch the movie in full.  While the idea of Vampires is intriguing, most wonder if they are real.  There are Vampire Chapters in place both internationally and in the US, including New Orleans, (shout out the "The Originals"!)  Check out this link and see if you don't become a believer! https://www.today.com/life/holidays/are-vampires-real-rcna35691   And honestly, what would Halloween be without "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"?  My personal favorite is the one with Jeff Goldblum.  He does an amazing job as Ichabod Crane, running from the Ghost of the Headless Horseman, (played in this movie by none other than football Hall of Famer, the great Dick Butkus).  But who is this mysterious Horseman, and is he real??   A Rhode Island author, Christopher Rondina, has researched who he believes to be the Horseman in his book "The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow, the Lost History of the Headless Horseman".  I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.  Christopher's in-depth research is very compelling.  Here is the link! https://www.ghostboypress.com/product-page/legends-of-sleepy-hollow   We know that these are not the only movies out there that put the Halloween thrill of being frightened into your hearts!!  So let us know what movies or books that you love to get scary with!!  Email us at info@aventurine.com or share a comment!        Blessings! Heidi and Jane