Warming up, cooling down
I can't believe it's already October! In many ways, my favorite month, but so fleeting. I've been getting into the spooky mindset with some really good new (to me) horror authors. I read Laird Barron's The Imago Sequence which you can read IN FULL online at that link (!) and enjoyed it a lot. But throughout the whole thing, I found myself comparing it to Thomas Ligotti's Teatro Grottesco, the collection of short stories I read just before. It's so haunting and still stuck in my head — and dare I say, better? Generally, I don't like comparing two separate works of art like that, but there's a human tendency to relate things you've consumed recently. Anyway, after finishing Barron, I went back to an older collection of short stories by Ligotti called Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe, which piqued my interest since it's been reprinted as a Penguin Classic. It's no Teatro, but it's great in its own right. If anyone else is a fan of weird, Lovecraftian lit and you're reading this, let me know what I should read next! (I need to actually just read Lovecraft, though... which I haven't yet 🫣) Other media consumption plans for the month include rewatching Over The Garden Wall — one of my favorites — which I own on DVD. I also want to see The Substance with my friends in theaters sometime soon. I really love seeing a horror flick in theaters, but only a couple of my friends actually feel the same way, and coordinating plans as an adult is so hard! We'll get there. The apartment is really coming together, too. I just signed up for a gym membership in my new neighborhood and I want to start going back. My energy has dipped significantly since stopping. I really need it for the motivation it gives me throughout the day. I'm at the age where I can no longer ignore my body's need for physical activity, and unfortunately, walking everywhere just isn't enough. I know I'll get back on track, but starting is always the hardest.