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Big fan of Ruth Wilson and this has been on my list for a while...

My thoughts on Burnt Offerings

I just finished reading the book Burnt Offerings today and am up for discussing it! I know I said in the last blog post that this one would be about Cedarburg, but I'm doing some research about the town and its buildings first. This time I will be adding a little history to my photos.

So, onto Burnt Offerings. How about that cover? It's intriguing, right?

My Burnt Offerings adventure began when I watched the movie version of it a month or so ago. I saw it being advertised on the Comet channel as a movie coming up. Do you guys get Comet? It's a channel that plays old B-movies and Sci-Fi stuff mostly. It's good for a laugh and the occasional scare. If you'd like to get a glimpse into the kind of channel I'm talking about here:

Comet TV schedule 

So, Comet did a somewhat funny ad for the movie version of Burnt Offerings and I was intrigued. I always like a good haunted house story. But Comet being Comet, they only said the movie would be playing some time that month without giving an exact date and time. So I ended up renting it from the library.

The first thing I noticed before watching Burnt Offerings was that an older Burgess Meredith and Bette Davis were in it! I went in to the movie expecting to enjoy watching them and they did not disappoint. They were both perfect in their roles. But beyond that, I had some issues with the stiff acting in this movie. Actually, I had issues with the movie in general. I don't want to give too much away, but I don't think I will by saying that Burnt Offerings was disjointed in parts and not believable to me. I don't expect to believe in every event in a supernatural thriller, but I need to believe in the characters. If I don't think a person would act like what I'm watching, or if I can't connect with the characters,  it's hard for me to get into the movie as it goes along. I cared about Bette Davis' character (Aunt Elizabeth) but that's about it.

Watch out Bette!

OK, really quickly and with no spoilers... A couple (Marian and Ben) their son David and Ben's Aunt Elizabeth are staying for a few months of the summer in what is basically a run down mansion. They were looking for a place to get away, so when they read an ad for this place, which is of course way, way, way out in the middle of nowhere, their interest was piqued.

When they go to check out this big house, they meet an eccentric couple of siblings, who they'll be renting it from. One of these siblings is played by Burgess Meredith, who is hamming up his four minutes in this film big time. It was a highlight.

These two siblings offer Marian and Ben the house for the summer at an unbelievable rate. However, Ben assumes there must be a catch! The catch is, Marian and Ben must look after Mrs. Allardyce, the siblings' mother.

They are told that they must bring Mrs. Allardyce meals of food on a tray and leave it outside her bedroom door three times per day, every day they are there. The siblings tell the couple that they probably won't see Mrs. Allardyce. They say she is a frail 85 year old and just keeps to herself. OK, here is my major complaint (of many) with this movie. Why, oh why, would this couple not ask to meet Mrs. Allardyce before accepting this offer? They're willing to sign on to spend a summer taking care of a giant house and an old lady they haven't met?

Yeah, that's the house.

Well, Marian and Ben take the offer and move in for the summer. Keeping this spoiler free, let's just say things do not go well. There is a supernatural bent to this, and taking care of "Mrs. Allardyce" is the bad idea it sounds like. I'll also say that I'm 50/50 on the end of the movie. There is one moment at the end that is super for a ghost story and gives me the creeps as I think of it now. But then there is a lot of gratuitous gore, that just leaves you asking "Why?"

I listened to the commentary on this DVD, mainly to give someone a chance to explain why they went the way they did with that ending. The commentary was done by the director, the producer, and Karen Black who played Marian. Karen Black was a nice sounding woman with some stories she remembered from filming this. Here's one that stood out: there's a moment when Oliver Reed, the man who plays her husband Ben in this, keeps turning her away from the camera. It happened again and again, so only the back of her head showed, while he faced the camera. She decided that he wanted to be the only one getting camera time! So, eventually Karen Black asked him to stop so the audience could see her as well and his response was to say nothing and angrily stomp off for some time. And here, I thought their fighting in this movie was an act!

Are we having fun yet?

One thing made clear over and over on the commentary was how the director, Dan Curtis and Karen Black thought the Burnt Offerings book was the most boring thing ever and that this movie was a vast improvement on it. They said they couldn't remember a bit of the book, except for the ending which leaves you wondering what even happened. Well, considering how much I disliked a good part of the end of their movie, I decided to give the book a go. I figured "It can't be worse!" Well, guess what? The book was a ton better! I actually found myself being angry at those on the DVD commentary because of the wrong idea they gave. We're all free to have a different opinion on a book, but why would Dan Curtis want to produce and direct a movie based on a book that he found so forgettable? And why would some dialogue in the book and movie match word for word, if he spaced the whole thing? I actually felt lied to by a DVD commentary, which is pretty strange.

Burnt Offerings the book, by Robert Marasco, was so much more detailed and sensical. I understood the characters and their motives. Events were explained and wrapped up in ways that weren't even attempted in the movie. I liked the characters more and cared about what would happen to them. And far from boring, it was the kind of book that kept me up late at night, quickly turning the pages. Oh, and the end was completely clear! Much more clear than the end of the movie! You even get an explanation for the title in the book. I can only think the people on that DVD commentary were on some kind of ego trip, saying their movie was so superior. After finishing the book today, I wanted to get a time machine so I could go back and somehow get involved with the movie production and make the movie more true to form!

So, meh on the movie, but I recommend reading the book! But just so you know, this isn't a cheer-fest. This story is dark, but it makes you think. It makes you think about materialism and the priority money/things are for some people. In that way, it was a good follow-up to reading Jaws for me. Another book from the 70s that is about materialism and money being some people's main goal, even above their family and friends. Come to think of it, in both stories, some people die because of one person's greed.

An interesting piece of trivia is that Stephen King loves this book. Burnt Offerings was published in 1973 and The Shining was published in 1977. That's something to keep in mind when you notice how much these two stories have in common! (I'm talking about the book version of the Shining more than the movie.) I think Stephen King was pretty heavily inspired! Actually, I just looked that up and read that he was admittedly inspired. The Shining is much scarier to me, though.

So, have any of you read or watched Burnt Offerings? Or maybe both? I'd like to discuss the differences between the two with you guys. Some people say Burnt Offerings was the scariest movie they'd ever seen. I was only scared by that one moment I liked at the end, but the book had me on the edge of my seat. I'd call it a supernatural thriller more than a horror novel, though.

Speaking of the book, I took a few photos inside of it, to take you guys on a trip down memory lane. Well, this first one will probably take you down memory lane. Looks like after 1990, the librarian was scanning the books instead of stamping them. Either that, or no one has checked this out since 1990! I'm trying to remember when they stopped stamping them. You know, I kind of miss the date stamp. It seemed official somehow. 😉

This second photo goes with an older set of memories. Look at all these suggestions for what you could find at the library!

Phonograph Records! I wonder what kind of Government Documents they're talking about. And Sheet Music! I think you can still order that through the library, actually.

As I said before, I'll be working on that Cedarburg post. I picked up a few books about that town and have been enjoying looking at pics of it from the Civil War times! It's mind-blowing to look at photos of buildings from the 1800s that look the same today. To think, I've stood where a horse and buggy can be seen in some of these photos. So, I'll be researching and writing and hope to be sharing that one soon!

Ba-dum Ba-dum

Check out what I found on the lakeshore recently!

It's probably a piece of ceramic (note the cracks) but at first I thought it was a tooth. I can't decide if the front or back looks more tooth-like.

This was a fun find, because I was reading JAWS during the time I found it. So, finding it on the sand, I immediately thought "shark tooth!" Nevermind that we don't have sharks around here.

Finding this "tooth" was as fun as that time I found a piece of creepy wood that looked just like the one I'd seen in The Fog! Also, that femur-like piece of wood. A reminder: The rocks have teeth!

JAWS was the book I brought along on our trip to Colorado. I read about one page on the way out there, but polished off quite a bit on the way home.

When I took the book out of my carry-on bag, I noticed something had pierced a hole through multiple pages of it! It could have been a pen I was carrying or some feathers I was bringing home. I wasn't even all that annoyed, because I thought it was fitting for this book. It looks like it survived a shark attack.

Chomp! Chomp!

I'll try to leave a relatively spoiler-free review of this book. I really liked it and recommend reading it. There isn't a boring moment. The book is far more complex than the movie, which I watched after finishing the book. The characters in the book have so many more dimensions and are far less likable than they are in the movie. That's part of what kept the pages turning. I kept wondering "Are they really going to do that?" (For the most part, yes they are)

Actually, the only man I did like in the book was the police chief (Brody). He wasn't perfect, but he did the absolute best a person could do in his situation. And he recognized his flaws and tried to work through them. I found him very sympathetic. I can't say I really liked any women in this book. The woman who was closest to being likable was an old lady who works in the post office, and she just rants about the shark being God's wrath. So yeah, there weren't any likable female characters here. In fact, when I saw that the police chief's wife was going to be in the movie, I was disappointed. I couldn't stand her character in the book! Turns out I didn't need to worry, because she was cool in the movie.

As for Hooper the scientist, he was awful in the book too! In the movie he's a funny, friendly guy you want to hang out. It's like night and day. That's no accident. I read that Steven Spielberg asked Richard Dreyfuss not to read JAWS, because he didn't want him to act at all like the scientist in the book. Spielberg was even less forgiving than I am about the characters in the JAWS book. I read that he didn't like a one of them and found himself rooting for the shark!

Now, I didn't want Jaws to eat everyone in the book, just most of the characters! I was seriously thinking "I could make a list of who could be shark-bait in this story". But you don't always get the justice you're looking for in this one. And I think that was part of the point. The author drove home that this is a fish that is purely an eating machine. The shark doesn't have human emotions, and he's not evil. It's hard not to think of the shark as a villain, but he's really just a shark being a shark. And if you think about the shark like that, it's truly terrifying. You can't reason with this creature; it will eat you if you're nearby. It's a seemingly random story about people who are in the water at the wrong time. Although, I will say Jaws seems to have far more strategies than I would expect a shark to have. 

JAWS is a book that deals with class divisions, status symbols, status in general, greed, jealousy, and money, money, money. I guess that's what all those things fall under really: money. There are characters in this book whose priorities are way out of whack, at least in my opinion. Money, or the amount of money they appear to have is way more important to them than other people. This book is so relevant now. I wonder if it's even more relevant today than it was when it was written?

I also wondered about the author, Peter Benchley and where he was coming from. I expected him to be a lot like the police chief character he'd written, an average enough guy who is around a lot of snobs, and therefore sensitive to snobbery. I was surprised to read that the author grew up spending his summers on Nantucket Island and went to Harvard. I was confused, because he had the kind of background the unsavory characters in his book had. But then I gave it some thought and decided that made sense in a way. Chances are pretty good he met some people who were into money and status along the way. So he had chances to observe a certain type of person, the type of person he clearly didn't admire!

I can't help noticing that I made the same kind of prejudgements on the author as some of the characters in his book made. It's probably natural to take a little bit of information about a person and assume a whole lot more. JAWS was messing with me, because I was constantly making judgements about characters based on a little information and then changing my mind. For instance, a character I thought I'd like because of his views on animals, the environment, and education turned out to be a self-centered sleazebag. And a character who had completely opposite views from mine on every issue in the book, turned out to have some common sense know-how and problem solving skills I admired. So reading this was stretching my brain. It was just another reminder not to prejudge people too quickly, or assume someone is a great person because you agree on many issues, or assume there are no admirable qualities in someone you don't agree with.

So in the middle of all this social commentary hitting you over the head like a brick, and a few dysfunctional relationships, a shark sometimes swims through the story and eats people. The book is way more about how these people relate than it is about a shark. The shark seems to be in the book as a catalyst for these people to interact for better or worse (mostly worse). Sometimes the characters are awfully shark-like themselves. There are a few predators! As I mentioned before, Steven Spielberg didn't like the people in this book, but he did think the shark was cool. So he decided to take the third and final part of this book and center his movie around that. The shark became the star.

After reading JAWS, I picked up the movie version of it from the library. The DVD I watched must have been watched a lot, because it kept cutting out. Those interruptions cut down on the suspense, but I still saw enough that I could piece the story together. The DVD case had a shiny coating, which gave it this watery effect. It was a special 30th anniversary edition. Much like my book, this DVD cover looks like it was attacked by a shark!

So, JAWS the movie was fun. I found it less scary than the book, maybe because it kept cutting out or maybe because the book was more scary. The book certainly was more descriptive! Sometimes a little too descriptive. Woo! They would have needed some new kind of rating for this movie if they showed everything in that book. Gore-city!

Anyway, the movie has some humor added in the way Spielberg does it. The only humorous parts in the book were parts I'm not even sure were supposed to be humorous. Maybe they just were to me. But you can tell the movie is supposed to be funny in parts. It's pretty light and fun for a killer shark movie. I liked all the characters in the movie, except for that smarmy mayor. There are so many more layers to him in the book and you find some sympathy for him there. But in the movie, he's pretty much one dimensional smarm.

Would you trust a man wearing that anchor jacket?

The police chief, the scientist, and the sea dog (Quint) are a group of guys you could comfortably crack open a beer with on a boat. It is so not that way in the book! Oh man, Quint in the book! I think the shark is more tame. Seriously, that man had some issues in the book. But in the movie, he's more fun-crazy, sings old piratey type songs, and tells tales on the boat. Quint's character in the movie gets as close to any of that regular guy vs. rich guy banter, but that doesn't really amount to much of anything. Oh, and if you think the book ends like the movie, nope!

So, if you want to get scared, read the book. If you want to have some fun and get a few scares, watch the movie. And if you want to get a whole lot of laughs, watch Jaws the Musical! I found some clips of that on YouTube. What a riot! Here's a little sampling from one theater group's show.

Chrissie's Last Swim:

Link: Chrissie's Last Swim video

Hehe. I think it's pretty clever how they made the "water". I wondered how that could be shown on a stage.

I wish that shark was in the musical, but I think this might be one of Katy Perry's backup dancers. I just checked, and oh yeah. I remember that half-time show. 😊

So, I'm guessing most of you have watched the movie version of JAWS, but has anyone read the book? Or been on the Universal ride where you get up close and personal with the shark? Boy, is that a memory that will be part of me forever! If you'd like to get a quick glimpse of what I saw as a six-year-old when the shark came right up next to us, you can watch part of this 80s promotional video for Universal Studios in Hollywood. Skip to the 6:47 mark:

Link: JAWS ride in the 80s

I remember looking right down into his mouth. No wonder it took me this long to crack open the book or watch the movie! The shark and ride in general seems to have changed quite a bit from the videos I've watched online. I know it's gone altogether in Florida. Well, I look forward to discussing Jaws with you guys!

P.S. ~ Of all the days to read this Shark-related news item! Get a load of this:

Deputize the Shark!

That's right, a man escaped police by jumping into the ocean and then was followed by a shark. I think he was probably ready to be saved/arrested at that point!  

Halloween Shopping in Denver

At the end of our trip to Colorado, Mom and I traveled back to Denver. Our hotel had a big benefit; it was across from a new outdoor shopping mall. And the best Spirit Halloween store I've ever been to was a part of that mall.

We saw some of these same props back in Wisconsin, but they seemed more special here. And the werewolf with those trees seemed perfect for where we were.

The werewolf was probably my favorite prop. Here he is without his eyes glowing. That's scary in a different way. The werewolf makes some pretty believable growling noises as you walk by. To show you:

The Limb Ripper

Check out the Ouija Board section! I didn't see any of this stuff at the Spirit store here. Now that I'm having more time to look this over, I'm seeing a planchette ice cube tray! There's also a Ouija pot holder, bottle opener, placemats (that could actually be used as Ouija Boards!) towels, glasses, candle holders... they've thought of it all. Even what looks like a jug of Ouija moonshine? Not sure about that one, but most of this stuff is pretty cool! That metal bottle opener is clever.

This still has me laughing:

Mummified Skull:

How about this zombie dude? Nice touch with the one shoe.

And for you haunted doll people:

I think she was supposed to move around or something. There were a bunch of smaller standing props clustered around. I was sure they'd move when I came over, but nothing happened. Maybe it was time for a new battery?

We had a great time looking around. I even got a few scares when the props leaped out toward me or made a sudden noise. It was fun to jump up and then laugh a bit at myself for doing so.

That happened with this Forest Demon. This video shows the way it pops up to be frighteningly tall: Forest Demon Demonstration. It really looms over you! The demon's comments are a little cheesy, and somewhat insulting, but the movements... yikes!

This talking tree wasn't going to scare me too much in a store, but maybe if someone put him in a wooded area at night he could be more scary. He says some kind of cheesy/threatening things as you walk by. I found a video of him in action: Deadly Roots

This one gave me the biggest jump scare. I know he doesn't look like much here, but if you find yourself in a Spirit store, give this one a try. Let's just say if you put this on your porch holding the trick-or-treat candy like he is here, you'll have quite a show to watch.

I'm not even going to share a video of the scarecrow, because it would be more fun for you guys to experience this as an in-person surprise.

There was a sort of Area 51 space in the back. At one point, when we were checking out these alien props, I got a really goofy scare. I didn't realize there was a door in the wall next to me. An employee came out of it, carrying some boxes and spooked me. I went "eek!" and jumped and she said "I'm the scariest prop here".  She helped get a few of the tired props going and added to the fun atmosphere there.

This alien is laid out on a table when you walk up to it, but then it slowly rises.

There was even a spaceship flying above us.

After having a fun time getting scared at Spirit Halloween, we checked out some of the Halloween items in JCPenney.

I might need this hat...

How cute is this little truck? I like any display that involves a vintage metal truck that's full of something.

We also went into our first Charming Charlie store. I only knew of their web site before this. I didn't realize that they had actual brick and mortar stores.

Charming Charlie was selling these sugar skull masks. Aren't they cool? I feel inspired to make something like this.

This is a view down one of the pathways between shops. Isn't this festive with the lights? I thought this mall was laid out really nicely.

Across the street from this mall was a Target. They had a little bit of Halloween out at this point. There were these big heads that looked like they could be part of a mascot costume.

One of these could have actually been part of my high school's mascot costume. This looks enough like a Panther, right?

Who could resist spinning the "Hand of Fate"? I like these kind of vintage looking props. I didn't even notice the skull with the glowing eyes until now! I guess my mind was in other places at the time. It was getting to be time to head to the airport when I took this. Anyway, neat skeleton hand on this too!

And then there are these old-timey busts. This looks like it should be at Disney's Haunted Mansion. I'm sure this bust said something, but I can't remember what! It looks like he was in the process of saying something as I took this pic.

Other than the Spirit Halloween store, there was another great surprise to see from our hotel window. We had this amazing view of the sun setting over the mountains. Check this out! Especially the last one.

OK, guys. Get ready for the perfect Halloween sunset!

Woo! You can't beat that.

Tomorrow night is our annual Witch Party! So there will be many pictures in the future! This year's theme is black cats.