🎃 Constant Curiosity - Spooky Edition | #2
🎃 Constant Curiosity - Spooky Edition | #2
The Haunted Mansion, Favorite Horror Movies, Haunted Houses, Plague Doctors, Trick or Treating & Dracula
Greetings and Happy Halloween! 🎃
Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. I love spending the month of October watching classic horror movies, going to haunted houses, and enjoying the fall weather.
👻 The Haunted Mansion’s Wallpaper
Have you ever looked closely at the wallpaper in the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland? It’s full of spooky and ghostly faces. The wallpaper was designed this way to give riders the subtle feeling that they are always being watched. Cool, right?
🚶 The Cemetery Path
I like going on long walks through the cemetery. Specifically, a local cemetery I’ve known my whole life. As a kid, I would ride my bike through it as a shortcut through town. I didn't think much of it then. It was just a path on the way to my destination.
🧟 My Favorite Horror Movies of All Time
Horror movies allow filmmakers to explore themes that would otherwise be difficult for society to digest.
Here are my all-time favorites:
Texas Chainsaw Massacre - This film is true horror at its finest. You can viscerally feel the terror of the actors throughout the unforgettable scenes in this movie.
The Shining - Ever wanted to see what it is like to descent into madness? Look no further than The Shining.
Rosemary’s Baby - Sometimes, the scariest things are what you don’t see. This movie masterfully uses realism to create a palpable sense of dread and helplessness.
Get Out - This is the only recent horror movie to make my top five list. Unlike most horror films, this film’s protagonist consistently makes rational choices. It’s a wild ride that defies the expectations set by other genre classics.
Psycho - This movie is a masterclass on the art of suspense, which is equally captivating and influential. The infamous shower scene, for instance, changed the landscape of horror movies and violence in film forever.
☠️ Plague Doctor’s Outfits
Did you know that outfits worn by Plague Doctor’s during The Black Death may have accidentally been effective? The distinctive beak-nosed masks were designed this way so they could be filled with pungent-smelling herbs. They believed if you prevented your nose from smelling the “miasma” of the plague, you would be safe from being infected. While this wasn’t scientifically accurate, the simple act of wearing a mask that covered their face and eyes seemed to make plague doctors less at risk of being infected than others.
If you find the Black Death as interesting as me, I highly recommend this Audible course I’m currently taking: The Black Death: The World's Most Devastating Plague.
🏚️ The World’s Scariest Haunted House
Did you know there is a haunted house where you are literally kidnapped, tortured, and dragged through all manner of horrible scenarios lasting up to 6 hours? It’s called McKamey Manor, and it looks seriously disturbing. See excerpt from their website below:
I’ve done some intense haunted houses, but even this one is too intense for me.
You can learn more about it in the film Haunters. But please, please, don’t sign up for it.
🧛 Recent Read
Dracula by Bram Stoker. There is perhaps no character in horror more ubiquitous than Count Dracula. Yet, the original version of this classic vampire character is much more nuanced and sinister than the standard pop-culture caricature suggests. This book is a perfect Halloween read that I would recommend to any fans of horror.
🍬 Trick or Treat
The tradition of Trick or Treating in America originally started in the 1930s, and kids went door to door receiving homemade sweets, gifts, and food. Then, in the 1970s, there was an increasing worry that razers and poison were being added to homemade treats. That’s what lead to the popularity of pre-packaged candy, which is the staple of Halloween today. Trick or Treating has since become a billion-dollar industry.
That’s all for now.
Stay spooky,
Isaac 👻