Letter #33: One More Round (of Spooky)

Clinging to the remnants of spooky season for one more week

Dear readers,

I’ve still got some spooky left in me, as it’s still the week of Halloween, so I’ll be doing just a *smidge” more of spooky content today.

Today’s letter will be more of a hodgepodge of spooky things I’ve consumed recently and thought I’d share.

(Plus, I didn’t feel like I could put the season to rest until I had talked about Interview with the Vampire now that I finished it.)

Interview with the Vampire Update

Update after last week: Rather appropriately, I finished this book on Halloween. (One major plot point actually happens on Halloween too!)

Having finished the story, here are my thoughts**:

**I’m doing my best to avoid blatant spoilers for anyone who has not yet read it, just briefly mentioning a few events I felt needed to be pointed to. But you can skip this whole section if you don’t want even the slightest spoilers!

This is a book I view in the same vein as the way I view certain classics I’ve had to read for school: It has literary merit and it’s well-written, but I don’t like it. I’d consider the book to be an interesting character study (especially of the protagonist, the vampire Louis), study of human nature, and exploration of both vampire morality and lore.

It ended with such despair and pain that reminded me strongly of 1984, despite the books being nothing else alike. (Both stories end with the protagonist essentially giving in to the despair of their situations. Arguably, in that despair, there’s a kind of freedom, but both are quite eye-opening and tragic conclusions.)

I was never scared for any of this novel, so I wouldn’t call it scary, but it was so unsettling. To me, it’s a horrifying book, without being truly frightening. It gets very dark very quickly; I’d call it a page-turner because things just shift from melancholy-but-sorta-fine to oh-no-that’s-danger in an instant.

Also, every relationship Claudia has with anyone, but especially Louis, is incredibly creepy, and was not something I expected at all going into this book, so be warned. (I also never really got over nor forgave the whole spectacle with the poor mortal onstage in the theater of the vampires.)

While I suppose I’m glad I’ve branched out this year and read a fair bit outside of my comfort zone, this book is not exactly my cup of tea.

Mystery Incorporated, The Pines Twins, and This Playlist

When I began compiling song ideas for two of my favorite mystery-solving groups (Mystery Incorporated and Mabel + Dipper Pines), I started realizing that I was putting a lot of the same songs together, so I’m grouping the two teams here.

I get a lot of similar vibes from the Scoobert Doobert crew and the Mystery Twins, particularly from the combination of Gravity Falls and the Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated run of arguably one of the most famous crime-solving detective dog shows ever.

I recently watched the entirety of Mystery Incorporated and really enjoyed it, especially season 1. The art style, theme song, opening credits, and general plot all give the show a more sinister, updated vibe I really dig. It’s still rated TV-Y7, so it’s not actually what I would call “scary” or “correct in terms of physics,” but the writers gave the characters more personality (especially Fred, who is now very much in love with his traps) and an underlying mystery to solve for the overarching main storyline.

JelloApocalypse made a video detailing a LOT (almost all) of Scooby Doo shows/movies and goes into this show in great depth, if you’re interested. I also love that he dresses up as each character! His video is what made me want to watch the whole run of Mystery Incorporated, which I had never actually seen until this year.

I grew up watching re-runs of the original show from the ‘60s. It’s also where I learned what dry ice was, because that original show just loved using dry ice.

If you’re interested, here’s my playlist themed to both shows:

The History of Sin Eaters and Funeral Biscuits

Another fascinating video from Tasting History with Max Miller. I love both food and history, so getting videos about food history? Yes.

He has wonderfully informative videos about all kinds of subjects (I’ve seen most of his Titanic food series), but this one covers the “corpse cakes” and biscuits people would eat in preparation for burying their dead, along with the history of the village “sin-eater.”

As usual, he also includes an adapted historical recipe for gingerbread funeral biscuits!

More to See:

• The Book Leo reading 7 scary stories in 7 days

• Abby Cox finding cursed vintage Halloween decorations

• Karolina Zebrowska’s next installment in the Miss Tatternickle series!

Hope you had a lovely October and here’s to a cozy November!

Best wishes and happy reading,

Quote of the Week:

“Have you come to sing pumpkin carols?”

-Linus from It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Works Cited (MLA 9th):

Mattern, Jessica Leigh. “57 Short Halloween Quotes to Get You in the Spooky Spirit.” Country Living, Hearst Digital Media, 12 Sept. 2022, https://www.countryliving.com/life/g4559/halloween-quotes/#:~:text=%22Double%20double%20toil%20and%20trouble,fire%20burn%20and%20cauldron%20bubble.%22&text=%22When%20black%20cats%20prowl%20and,luck%20be%20yours%20on%20Halloween.%22&text=%22There%20is%20magic%20in%20the,when%20pumpkins%20glow%20by%20moonlight.%22&text=%22Ghosts%20and%20goblins%20come%20to%20play%20on%20October's%20final%20day!%22.