Monday Morning Movie Review: The Haunting (1963)

17 April 202316 April 2023 The Portly Politico4 Comments

Last week I reviewed Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, which prompted several readers to recommend the 1963 film adaptation, The Haunting. I rented the flick on YouTube for about three bucks, and found it to be a mostly faithful adaptation of the book.

Indeed, beyond a few changes to some of the characters (Dr. Montague is now Dr. Markway, and his wife is not an insufferable Spiritualist but instead scoffs at the idea of ghosts) and the elimination of Arthur, the overbearing boys’ school headmaster, it does a great deal to enhance the book, a rare case where the movie, if not necessarily better than the book, is at least a worthy supplement to it.

Lazy Sunday CXCVIII: Spring Break Short Story Recommendations 2023

16 April 202314 April 2023 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

Another Spring Break is in the books and I’m back to the grind tomorrow. It’s five weeks of classes, one week of exams, and one week of teacher meetings until I’m free—free!

Before heading into the final leg of the school year, here’s a look back at last week’s Spring Break Short Story Recommendations:

“Spring Break Short Story Recommendation 2023: ‘Barn Burning’” – An excellent William Faulkner short story about a man with a penchant for burning barns and his young son, caught between family loyalty and righteousness.
“Spring Break Short Story Recommendation 2023: The Haunting of Hill House” – Not a short story, but a novel—maybe a novella—but so good, I had to recommend it. A classic of the haunted house genre that everyone should read. Plus, it’s by Shirley Jackson, one of the best horror and thriller writers of the twentieth century.
“Spring Break Short Story Recommendation 2023: ‘The Bottle Imp’” – Robert Louis Stevenson gives his Hawaiian twist on the “deal with the devil” genre in this anxious but delightful story.
“Spring Break Short Story Recommendation 2023 & Supporting Friends Friday: Stacey C. Johnson’s ‘Survey of Poetry’” – Fellow blogger Stacey C. Johnson‘s blog Breadcrumbs is a treasure trove of literary “breadcrumbs”—little morsels of poetry, flash fiction, non-fiction, etc. Her “Survey of Poetry” is a must-read, especially for fans of plucky cephalopods.

Happy Sunday—and Happy Reading!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Spring Break Short Story Recommendation 2023: The Haunting of Hill House

11 April 20238 April 2023 The Portly Politico6 Comments

Today’s installment of Spring Break Shorty Story Recommendations is actually not a short story, but rather a novella or short novel, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. My copy is the 1984 Penguin Books edition, which runs at about 246 pages of text. That seems like standard novel length, but the print is a bit large, and while there are distinct chapters, the book feels like a very long short story or a shorter novel.

Nevertheless, it’s my blog and I have decided to feature this chilling novella in this year’s Spring Break Short Story Recommendations. It is a classic of the haunted house genre, and is a powerfully psychological tale.

Open Mic Adventures XII: “Ghostly”

1 November 202225 October 2022 The Portly Politico2 Comments

On last week’s Open Mic Adventures post, Ponty noted that there aren’t many Halloween songs, while Christmas enjoys an embarrassment of riches in that regard.

That got me thinking: I should showcase my Halloween song here on the blog! Fortunately, I played it—“Ghostly“—back on Tuesday, 18 October 2022.

TBT^4: On Ghost Stories

20 October 202220 October 2022 The Portly Politico4 Comments

Ah, yes—ghost stories. They are perhaps my favorite variation on the short story form. I always find it fascinating that the Victorians liked their ghost stories at Christmastime, but it makes sense—what else are you going to do on those long, dark, cold nights? Best to huddle around the fire and spin some yuletide yarns.

Every culture has its ghosts, spooks, haunts, haints, devils, and the like. As I’m writing this post, I’m reading about the boo hags of the Gullah culture of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Apparently, homes in the Charleston still feature porch ceilings painted “haint blue” to ward off evil spirits.

Looks I’ll be heading to the hardware store for some Behr Premium Ultra Lowcountry Haint Blue.

With that, here is 14 October 2021’s “TBT^2: On Ghost Stories“:

TBT^2: Things That Go Bump in the Night

13 October 20228 October 2022 The Portly Politico4 Comments

It’s the so-called “spooky season” again, which naturally turns my mind to things not seen. Lately, I’ve been pondering the pre-modern mind, and how differently pre-moderns saw the world. It’s hard for us to wrap our minds around it. What must it have been like to fear God—naturally (as in, without the scientistic arrogance we moderns seem inculcated into at an early age)? To suspect mercurial forces at play in every tree or lonely bog?

There’s so much we don’t know; so much we can’t see (even if it’s caught on video). Ironically, for all of our assuredness about how the world works, we find ourselves in an age of constant epistemological confusion, one in which we seem incapable of knowing what is True or not.

Heady contemplations, indeed. The possible existence of Bigfoot or any other number of odd creatures, corporeal or otherwise, is not insignificant: if supernatural beings exist, God Exists (or, more probably, because God Exists, there are all manner of spirits and angels and the like at work, just beyond our perception).

Spooky stuff! With that, here is “TBT: Things That Go Bump in the Night“:

Monday Morning Movie Review: Prisoners of Ghostland (2021) and Incident in a Ghostland (2018)

22 November 202120 November 2021 The Portly Politico10 Comments

Today marks the official start of my glorious Thanksgiving Break. My sage advice—to sacrifice Columbus Day as a day off in exchange for an entire week of freedom for Thanksgiving—has apparently, via osmosis, found its way to my school’s administration, and after slogging it out for three months, we’re finally reaping the benefits of that sacrifice.

This past weekend was also the first time in a few weeks I did not have to travel out of town for one reason or another, so I have watched a lot of movies on Shudder—the good, the bad, and the forgettable (I also managed to get in a late-night session of Civilization VI, eschewing my most recent playthrough as the Celts and cranking up a new run as the Incan Empire, which is slowly expanding across South America at the time of this writing). I managed to catch two flicks with the word “Ghostland” in their titles, one memorable and somewhat good, the other absolutely terrible: 2021’s Prisoners of Ghostland and 2018’s Incident in a Ghostland, respectively.

TBT^2: On Ghost Stories

14 October 20216 October 2021 The Portly Politico10 Comments

It’s that time of year again—the so-called “spooky season,” when Halloween decorations go up, scary stories get told, and overwrought bloggers with delusions of grandeur stage over-the-top concerts from their front porches (well, maybe that last one is just me). As the weather turns cool and the leaves begin to fall, it’s almost impossible not to settle in with some hot coffee and a good collection of ghost stories.

So, for the second year in a row, I’m looking back this TBT to 2019’s “On Ghost Stories,” a post that now will hold the distinction of being a perennial favorite.

One might think that as scary as the real world is, we’d spend less time reading spooky fiction. It seems the opposite is the case. Perhaps the idea that malevolence is not necessarily the result of human frailty, but rather due to wicked supernatural influences, is oddly comforting. That evil is the result of our fallen nature—and, of course, the malignant supernatural influence up on it—is a bit easier to forget, perhaps, when reading about some ghostly figure wreaking havoc in the English countryside.

More likely, it’s just that we enjoy being scared—when we can easily flip off the television or close the book. Horror is fun when there are no real consequences attached to it. Then again, just watching horror movies probably isn’t healthy (I’ll report back if I suddenly get any macabre urges).

Well, whatever the reason, a good ghost story is hard to pass up. With that, here is “TBT: On Ghost Stories“:

TBT: Things That Go Bump in the Night

2 September 20211 September 2021 The Portly Politico66 Comments

Despite my griping about South Carolina weather in yesterday’s post, the first day of September was surprisingly cool and overcast, giving the slightest taste of the crisp autumnality to come. This time of year always gets me thinking about Halloween and spooky stuff, especially as everything feels more magical.

Our modern minds have diminished and dismissed the supernatural as mere superstition, often accompanied with attempts to explain away supernatural phenomena with explanations that themselves require faith to believe. That “faith” is in scientism, a counterfeit “religion” built purely on a material understanding of the world.

We see but through a glass darkly. There is more to our world than meets the eye—more to it than what we can observe. God tells us much of what is there—at least, what we need to know—and Scripture seems to suggest we shouldn’t go looking for things beyond Him and His Son.

Seems prudent to me. With that, here is 2 September 2021’s “Things That Go Bump in the Night“:

The Portly Politico

One Southerner's unique, erudite, conservative perspective in a hectic world

Tag: ghosts