On 1 October 2025 I launched a YouTube Shorts series, 31 Days of Halloween. The concept is simple: one, one-minute (or shorter) Halloween/horror movie review every day for the month of October. These reviews are super lo-fi—just yours portly recording on a phone, sitting at a desk. No frills, no fancy editing, just me giving my impressions of the films in an unscripted, fast way.
In case you’ve missed any installments, I’m featuring the several days of reviews. If you want to catchup on Days 1-9, check out last week’s YouTube Roundup.
A quick note: most of the links below are Amazon Affiliate links, typically linking to the movie on DVD or Blu-Ray, as well as the books they’re based upon (or the novelizations of the films). I receive a portion of any purchases made through those links, at no additional cost to you.
Day 10: Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1991)
Day 10 is the stylish Francis Ford Coppola adaptation of the Dracula story, Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Grab it on Blu-Ray here: https://amzn.to/3VQAhfP
Get it on DVD here: https://amzn.to/46SnL4n
Or get the classic novel here: https://amzn.to/4o5eXzg
Day 11: Dracula (1931)
Day 11 is the Universal Monster classic*Dracula (1931), based on Bram Stoker’s novel of the same name.
Grab it on Blu-Ray here: https://amzn.to/4mRAOJo
Get it on DVD here: https://amzn.to/3WppCJc
Or get the classic novel here: https://amzn.to/4o5eXzg
Day 12: The Haunting (1963)
Day 12 is the 1963 adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, called simply The Haunting.
Grab it on Blu-Ray here: https://amzn.to/3Wslrwd
Get it on DVD here: https://amzn.to/3WqQvwi
Or get the classic novel here: https://amzn.to/3VWJl2R
Day 13: IT (1990)
Day 13 is the two-part miniseries IT (1990), based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name.
Grab it on Blu-Ray here: https://amzn.to/48RoAwX
Get it on DVD here: https://amzn.to/4nJGAhE
Or get the classic novel here: https://amzn.to/3ICJPrX
Day 14: It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019)
Day 14 examines the two IT movies from the 2010s, It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019).
Grab both films on Blu-Ray here: https://amzn.to/46UXAKv
Get both films on DVD here: https://amzn.to/3KJZgit
Or get the classic novel here: https://amzn.to/3ICJPrX
Day 15: Frankenstein (1931)
Day 15 is the 1931 Universal Pictures classic Frankenstein!
Grab it in glorious 4K here: https://amzn.to/3KJtORw
Or on Blu-Ray here: https://amzn.to/4nFLMCZ
Or on DVD here: https://amzn.to/4722wxc
Or get the classic novel here: https://amzn.to/4nMEGwG
Day 16: Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Day 16 is the 1935 Universal Pictures sequel to Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein!
Grab both films on DVD here: https://amzn.to/3L4yXne
Or get the classic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley here: https://amzn.to/4nMEGwG
Stay tuned for even more fun reviews!
—TPP
The Portly Politico 
The first time I read It, I was temping at the factory part of The Mirror Group (sorting newspapers for release) on an all night shift. It finished just before 5:30 on a Sunday morning and I was reading the denouement in an empty cafe. The revelation came and I launched the book across the room. For King, it’s either aliens or an Indian burial ground but back then, I was still new to his work. Even so, after wading through it, to be greeted by that…let’s say, I was ticked off. I tried my mind with another of his books – Desperation – and a similar ending had me breaking records for book throwing. Never again.
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I think the most generous reading of the ending to IT is that King was trying to make the titular terror into some kind of Lovecraftian cosmic horror. But I agree—it’s a letdown after all those hundreds of pages of development. King seems to excel at writing complex characters, but I’ve noticed that all of his protagonists tend to be writers who have come back home after or in the process of making it big. He inserts himself into a lot of his stories.
In his defense, though, Salem’s Lot (sometimes rendered ‘Salem’s Lot) is quite good early Stephen King. I enjoyed the television miniseries, too.
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The problem I have with King is his tendency to go on. He reminds me of that clip from Frasier – Slow Tango in South Seattle – where the titular character is reading a book which pilfers an event from his early life. After reading metaphor after metaphor of the main character leaving, he thumbs through 7 or 8 pages before he stops and reads, ‘and then he left.’ 😂😂
Stuff like that drives me crazy. Tautology can work if you’re not overzealous but you can describe an entire event in a sentence. King doesn’t because despite his sales figures, he’s not a good writer. At least he’s published though. My criticism will work better once I’m a published novelist.
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Goodness, yes. He writes sentences that last for two pages—or more.
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