* If you would like a daily dose of music every single day of October - and who wouldn't? - be sure to visit Melodrama. I've been thoroughly enjoying the selections, which are nicely eerie and spooky and Halloween-relevant but not the same standards you've already heard a million times.
* On the latest PotterCast, the podcast of the Leaky Cauldron, I join the wonderful Potter Pundits as a special guest to discuss the relationship of Gothic literature to the Harry Potter universe. Our spooky segment begins 31 minutes into the show, and you can listen to/download the podcast here. This is the first half of a two-part discussion, and I'll post again when the second half goes live.
Now it's poll time again! Here's another Halloween-related question to ponder. There is a long tradition of spooky child characters in film and television. Who is the creepiest of them all?
Who is the creepiest fictional child from film and television? (You may choose more than one if you like.)
Rhoda Penmark from The Bad Seed (1956)
2(6.9%)
The children from Village of the Damned (1960)
1(3.4%)
Anthony Fremont in "It's A Good Life"/"It's Still A Good Life" from The Twilight Zone (1961/2003)
2(6.9%)
Karen Cooper in Night of the Living Dead (1968)
0(0.0%)
Rosemary's baby from Rosemary's Baby (1968)
0(0.0%)
Regan Teresa MacNeil from The Exorcist (1973)
1(3.4%)
Damien Thorn from The Omen (1976)
2(6.9%)
The mutated babies from The Brood (1979)
0(0.0%)
The children from The Children (1980)
0(0.0%)
The Grady daughters from The Shining (1980)
2(6.9%)
Carol Anne Freeling from Poltergeist (1982)
0(0.0%)
Isaac Chroner from Children of the Corn (1984)
0(0.0%)
Charlie McGee from Firestarter (1984)
1(3.4%)
Robin Maxwell's baby from V: The Final Battle (1984)
0(0.0%)
Henry Evans from The Good Son (1993)
1(3.4%)
Cont'd
Eve 9 and Eve 10 in "Eve" from The X-Files (1993)
0(0.0%)
Claudia from Interview with the Vampire (1994)
4(13.3%)
Kyra Collins from The Sixth Sense (1999)
0(0.0%)
Anne and Nicholas Stewart from The Others (2001)
0(0.0%)
Samara Morgan from The Ring (2002)
2(6.7%)
Tommy Ferguson from Miracles (2003)
0(0.0%)
Maia Skouris and Isabelle Tyler from The 4400 (2004-2007)
0(0.0%)
Takeo from The Grudge (2004)
3(10.0%)
Jamie in "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances" from Doctor Who (2005)
5(16.7%)
Tomás from The Orphanage (2007)
0(0.0%)
Lilith from Supernatural (2008)
0(0.0%)
Abby from Knowing (2009)
0(0.0%)
Esther from The Orphan (2009)
0(0.0%)
Another not listed (see my answer to the next question below)
1(3.3%)
Fear the evil spawn of the ticky boxes!
2(6.7%)
The creepiest fictional child wasn't listed above. He/She is...
Spooky Text of the Day: Today's text is the poem "The Phantom-Wooer" by Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803-1849).
A ghost, that loved a lady fair,
Ever in the starry air
Of midnight at her pillow stood;
And, with a sweetness skies above
The luring words of human love,
Her soul the phantom wooed.
Sweet and sweet is their poisoned note,
The little snakes' of silver throat,
In mossy skulls that nest and lie,
Ever singing "die, oh! die."
Young soul put off your flesh, and come
With me into the quiet tomb,
Our bed is lovely, dark, and sweet;
The earth will swing us, as she goes,
Beneath our coverlid of snows,
And the warm leaden sheet.
Dear and dear is their poisoned note,
The little snakes' of silver throat,
In mossy skulls that nest and lie,
Ever singing "die, oh! die."
