Is “Horror Drama” A Thing Now?//October 233rd, 2020

I’m going to guess that everyone has, at least once, clicked on a movie on a streaming service and had it not turn out to be what they were expecting.

Sometimes it’s for the better. Last summer I found an amazing hidden gem of a Halloween-themed movie called Lost Creek on Amazon Prime. I clicked on it thinking it would be as mediocre and silly as most of the other little known movies I try to watch based solely on the fact that they have the word “Halloween” in the title or a pumpkin somewhere in the poster, but it surprised me in the best way. I will write a full review of it one day (in short, I will say it’s required viewing if you’re a 90s kid who loved Are You Afraid Of The Dark?) but today I want to talk about a movie that I just watched that, sadly, surprised me in the opposite direction.

SPOILER WARNING: I will reveal the ending in this post!

Let me start off by saying, I went into this movie knowing absolutely nothing about it, but when you find a movie marketed to be about zombies in the horror section, and it stars Arnold Schwarzenegger of all people, you do go in with a certain sort of expectation. I expected to see a movie about a man tearing through anything, human, zombie or otherwise, in the race to save his daughter from turning into a zombie herself. I honestly wasn’t expecting a whole lot of gore, but surely action would be on the menu, right? And a satisfying conclusion?

Sadly, no.

I have watched some bleak stuff in my time, horror and otherwise, but I’ll start this off by saying, no movie I’ve watched in a one time has actually depressed me as much as Maggie did, right from the very start. Honestly, the movie does what it sets out to do as far as creating a heartbreaking and hopeless atmosphere, I can say that much. Many times throughout the movie, I found myself near tears, which isn’t a bad thing. I like when movies create emotion, there’s little point if they don’t make you feel something, but this was just...not what I was expecting at all.

By the time we hit the halfway mark, it becomes pretty clear that this is not a horror movie, at least not in the traditional sense. I was starting to develop the same issue with Maggie that I’ve always had with The Walking Dead (and I know I’m in the minority with the latter, don’t @ me, it’s just a personal opinion I have): Too much about the people themselves, not enough actual horror for me. I am generally not a person who enjoys drama as a movie or TV genre, and Maggie is infinitely more drama than horror, or even action.

Still though, having invested so much time into the movie, and feeling the grim determination of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character throughout, I felt there had to be a solid climax coming. He was either going to find a cure or have to end the story on an even more depressing note by having to put his beloved daughter out of her misery himself, right? Both options were eluded to (though more so the latter) at different points throughout the movie. I had a feeling a happy ending was out of the question, just with the overall depressing tone of things.

But is there some amazing climax here? Even a depressing one?

No, not really.

The movie ends with Maggie throwing herself off the roof of her home, while thinking about her long-deceased mother. And that’s it.

I’m not going to say it was really a bad movie. It was emotional and poignant, and it is interesting to see the other side of the zombie apocalypse and what a person would go through while making a more gradual change, it just wasn’t at all what I thought it was going to be, and I feel like nothing really happened over the course of the movie. It was literally just the last bits of a dying girl’s life, and when the movie was finally over, it occurred to me that this could very easily have been a Lifetime-esque movie about a girl with cancer or any other incurable disease. It was almost as if someone decided to try to make a “Fault In Our Stars” type movie for horror fans. And, personally, while I won’t deny enjoying the occasional chick flick, this just wasn’t my cup of tea. Not necessarily bad, just not what I was expecting and not what I felt like seeing tonight.

I suppose it’s worth a watch if you’re into zombie stuff, but be warned: It is not a horror movie and very easily could’ve been written about any other affliction.

Stay spooky, my friends.

I'm Not So Sure About This Social Media Thing//October 94th, 2026

I started this blog six years ago on New Year's Day. I had been through some major life changes in 2018/2019, and really found myself along the way. I felt as though I really had cemented a place for myself within the Halloween community on social media, and often, when I would caption my posts on Instagram with snippets of memories, or a specific feeling that maybe not many others could understand, I would get comments and messages from new friends and followers, complimenting the way I wrote, sometimes even asking for more, and so, the idea to start a blog again was born, and, silly as it may sound, I am very proud that I've managed to stick with it as long as I have. Long work hours, personal problems, bouts of anxiety and depression....none of that has ever fully stopped me from coming back and doing what I love. But, lately, I have been feeling a little off about social media in general, and that's something I really would like to talk about, as I feel it taking a to...

Here’s Where The Story Ends//October 337th, 2020

Everyone has moments in their life when they feel like giving up. That feeling of “This is never going to happen, so why keep trying?” Sometimes it relates to a thing that would be trivial to anyone else, sometimes it’s about something more life-altering. But, we’ve all been there. I have moments of discouragement with this blog. Times I’ve told myself, “No one cares”, or “No one will read this”, etc., but I continue on, for the joy of it. And sometimes, something amazing happens. If you haven’t read my previous post, Have You Seen This Pumpkin? , I would strongly suggest doing so before continuing on with this story. The short version is, I saw a pumpkin in someone’s window when I was twelve years old, and have spent the last twenty-one years trying to find it for myself. When I published that post, I wasn’t expecting much of a response. I was really just hoping to hear someone say, “Yes, my family had this pumpkin when I was a kid!” Or “I once saw this in a neighbor’...

Tales From A Walk: April 5th, 2026; AKA Easterween/Creepster/Zombie Jesus Day, Etc.

Someone asked me once When do you stop mourning the previous Halloween and start looking forward to the next one? That's always been a hard question for me to answer, as I am always looking back or looking ahead, depending on the situation. I often see what was, and what will be again, simultaneously. But today, I went for a walk. Probably my first full walk since Christmas time. That last walk, the remnants were still there. Though it was a different holiday entirely, I still met some rotting pumpkins, and some dead leaves clinging to their brittle branches. Then two back to back winter storms came in February, burying us in two feet of snow both times. I don't know that I've ever felt more like I was in alternate reality, or farther away from Halloween. Today was different, though. When Easter comes, you hear all this talk of spring, and new beginnings, and that sort of thing. And I guess it never really hit me how that can apply to Halloween as well. Wal...

Katie Pumpkinhead’s Pumpkin Patch

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