*lizzie starr: TALES FROM THE MIST

Thank you, Cheryl, for allowing me to visit during the release celebration for the Tales From The Mist anthology! Writing a short story for a collection of creepy stories was a fun and interesting experience. My story is Dead Lily Blooms. Someone wants vampyre Lily dead, and a bargain with Death has been struck. Death send servant Agaar to bring Lily to him, but the task becomes more complicated than either Death or Agaar anticipated.

But I don't really want to talk about writing today. Instead, how about one of the things Cher and I have in common?

A love of movies! And in light of the anthology, perhaps I should talk about horror movies.

Except I don't really like them. Too often horror equals slasher, and I see no reason for all the blood and surprise and running through the woods in bra and panties. I'll admit to going to a few bloody classics and usually just laughed at the audience's reaction. I jump just as much as the next person even when expecting someone to jump out from hiding. And there are a couple of movies I simply can not watch--and who know why those affected me and others didn't.

I do like classic horror movies, in classic black and white, even though now they can seem so campy without all of today's special effects and CGI monsters. Yeah, the 'monster' still jumped out from behind a tree or suddenly appeared at the heroine's bedside flashing long incisors, but there was usually more of a story there than some of today's movies. A psychological scare to make you stop and consider that shadow in the corner more than a knife-like fingernail slash to leave an audience screaming in their seats.

Then there's those classic classics such as Billy the Kid Vs. Dracula. Hey, this has to be a class movie. It stars a Carradine (John) after all. And often ran with another classic Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter.

Hmm, after adding Young Frankenstein to my favorite's list, I'll have to say I enjoy somewhat silly 'horror' movies the best.

So, what are your favorite movies or television specials to watch at this time of year? As for me, I think it's time for a Hocus Pocus fix.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*lizzie made up games and stories to keep her company as a child. So, a witch lived in Grampa’s weather research station and was only held at bay by waving a certain weed. An ancient road grader morphed into a boat carrying wild adventurers to islands filled with sheep that turned into lions and cannibals.Now, the stories of her imagination have found their way to paper and pixels. Filled with fantasy and love, these tales take her far from the mundane world.

When *lizzie has to return to that mundane life, she’s *the Lunch Lady* at a private school. Happily, those who know *lizzie have become accustomed to her writer’s ways and just shake their heads when she goes off on some fantastical tangent, asks strange what if questions, or just has to find a piece of paper and a pen that actually writes.

You can discover more about *lizzie at her website, blog, Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note from Cheryl: I am reading these stories right now, and they are really really good. They take me back to my roots as a reader, when I only read Stephen King, Dean Koontz, etc.. I highly recommend the anthology. It's available as a print book or for your Kindle.