18 MORE DAYS 'TIL HALLOWEEN

Simplistic but mood setting October decorations at my house

WOMEN IN HORROR RECOGNITION MONTH: FEISTY FEMALES & CLASSIC SCREAM QUEENS

In honor of Women in Horror Recognition Month, I present my top 3 of feisty females & classic scream queens.







P.J. SOLES
Born Pamela Jayne Hardon, P.J. Soles is an American actress mostly known in the horror circuit for her classic roles as Norma Watson in Carrie (1976) Lynda van der Klok in John Carpenter's Halloween (1978).

Being portrayed in the 1976 movie Carrie, as Chris Hargensen's right-hand girl, Norma Watson is almost as cunning and conceiving as the former. With her hair pigtail braided and constantly dressed in her baseball cap, Norma is literally a snide bitch with a bad attitude.

Nancy Allen as Chris Hargensen and P.J. Soles
as Norma Watson in Carrie (1976)

Being one of the 'mean girls' Norma is seen early in the movie hitting Carrie White in the head with her baseball cap, and taunting her when Carrie starts panicking over her late first period. Norma's also a major player and co-conspirator in the Ewan High Prom Night plot to humiliate Carrie. During the infamous last scenes of Carrie, Norma is seen collecting the ballots for prom king and queen and replacing them with rigged ones, just to alter the result and have Carrie White voted as queen. As the pig's blood gets dumped all over Carrie during the crowning, Norma is among the first to laugh at the terrible sight, mostly because the group's plan had worked so perfectly. As Carrie uses her powers for revenge on the high school kids, a fire hose turns on itself and Norma catches the full blast of the hose's spray and gets knocked out against a table.

P.J. Soles as Lynda van der Klok in Halloween (1978)

A couple of years later P.J. Soles came to play the supporting role of Lynda van der Klok, the final victim of Michael Myers, in John Carpenter's Halloween from 1978. Supposedly John Carpenter wanted her for the film after seeing Carrie and wrote the part of Lynda especially for her because of the way she said the word "totally".

Lynda's the typical bad friend who doesn't give a shit about the fact that Laurie doesn't have a date to the upcoming dance and writing her off as suspicious when the latter becomes anxious about being followed. Lynda is more concerned about getting high and laid as she orders her boyfriend Bob around like a servant.

Other trivia: In 2005 P.J. Soles starred as victim Susan in Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects.

HEATHER LANGENKAMP

Heather Langenkamp is the famous face of Nancy Thompson, the primary protagonist and final girl in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) and Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994).

While studying at Stanford University, Heather Langenkamp was cast by Wes Craven as the teen heroine Nancy Thompson in the first movie of the A Nightmare on Elm Street series. Wes Craven was looking for a non-famous face and a non-Hollywood character to play the part, and beating out more than 200 actresses, Heather met this quality. Becoming one of the original Scream Queens, Heather received the Best Actress Award at the 1985 Avoriaz Film Festival.

Heather Langenkamp as Nancy Thompson in
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

In the original A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Nancy is the teenage girl who has begun experiencing nightmares about a disfigured, burnt man in a red and green sweater, Freddy Krueger. The man in her dreams has knives for fingers and she soon discoveres that he has the capability of entering people's dreams and killing them in their sleep. Becoming Freddy Krueger's arch-nemesis, Nancy develops the capability of pulling things out of her dream and forms a plan to pull Krueger into the real world, where he falls victim to a series of booby traps Nancy has set up. Nancy finally defeats Krueger by taking back the energy she has given him and stripping him of his power.

Heather Langenkamp as one of the narrators in
Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010)

Nancy has often been seen as a rarity in the horror genre for being an intelligent and insightful young woman. As a 'final girl' Nancy differs not only in the way that she avoids sex, drugs and juvenile behavior, but also her intent on how to defeat her monster. Only Nancy can recognize the important link between the real world and the dream world, and only Nancy knows that she needs to take active action to take down Freddy. Different to most victimized females, Nancy avoids the sexuality of horror and her anti-victim posture set a whole new example of a Scream Queen.

Other trivia: Heather Langenkamp served as executive producer and narrator to the documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010) and co-director and actress in the biographical documentary I Am Nancy (2010).

Together with her husband, David Leroy Anderson, Heather Langenkamp owns and operates AFX Studio, a special effects make-up studio that has done special make-up for several major movies and horror movies, amongst them Dawn of the Dead.


JAMIE LEE CURTIS

Jamie Lee Curtis as Elizabeth Solley in The Fog (1980)

Although Jamie Lee Curtis has compiled a body of work that spawns over many genres and within many categories, she's still best known best for her roles within the horror genre, starring in John Carpenter's The Fog (1980), the low-budget Canadian slasher Prom Night (1980) and Terror Train (1980).

Perhaps best known for her debut role in John Carpenter's Halloween (1978), Jamie Lee Curtis garnered the title Scream Queen as the movie was considered the highest grossing independent film of its time, earning accolades as a classic horror film.

Just as Heather Langenkamp was the arch-nemesis to Freddy Krueger and the female protagonist of the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, Jamie Lee Curtis plays the same role to Michael Myers and the Halloween series, in the first (Halloween), second (Halloween II) and seventh (Halloween H20: 20 Years Later) movie.

Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode in Halloween (1978)

Laurie Strode bears a unique combination of innocence and smarts (mixed with some paranoia) which saves her life during the 20 years of being stalked and victimized by her brother Michael Myers. Laurie starts out in Halloween (1978) as a bookworm who babysits after school and who doesn't do drugs or sex. The same way Laurie avoids the trap of sexuality in horror, she avoids the trap of dumbness and curiosity and leaving nothing to chance, it's her paranoia that keeps her alive after Halloween II (1981).


Other trivia:  Jamie Lee Curtis has an uncredited voice role as curfew announcer/telephone operator in Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982). Jamie Lee Curtis is the daughter of actor Tony Curtis and actress Janet Leigh, and was cast as Laurie Strode because John Carpenter "knew casting Jamie Lee would be a great publicity for the film because her mother was in Psycho".

HALLOWEEN TOP 10: HORROR FRAGMENTS THAT HAVE AFFECTED MY PAST AND FUTURE

Long have I loved horror movies and many have the elements been that somewhat have altered my view upon life and disabled me in some aspects of it. I'm referring to elements that have put such a mark on my childhood and youth that I, still on this day, have a hard time looking past the frightened memories from my earlier years.

#10 - Pandemics
After watching endless of hours of zombie movies topped up with the most recent pandemics like Rec, Quarantine and The Walking Dead, I'm convinced that these stories have some real life influence. After watching History Channel's Zombies: A Living History I'm even more convinced that 1) zombie-like states have existed within humans through out history, and 2) if the cause for this state will spread, it will do so through some pandemic. And every time I hear reports on some new H5N1 or SARS I'm convinced it's the start of some Armageddon/Ragnarök pandemic.

The Walking Dead (2010)

#9 - Camping
My undying love for 80's horror brought me to Friday the 13th at a very young age. Followed up by Campfire Tales, Cabin Fever and most recently The Ruins and Eden Lake, the brutal consequences of going camping or hiking are rather evident. Combined with the old story about a couple of young people who got brutally stabbed do death whilst camping in the same woods as where I was born, these movies haven't really contributed to the safe and comfortable feeling of camping. My love for the outdoors and my obsession with sleeping in tents or whatever hut is available (yes, I was a girl scout for many years) still take the overhand, and mostly I can enjoy camping even though it wouldn't surprise me if some lunatic showed up in the middle of the night and attacked our tents.

Friday the 13th (2010)

#8 - The woods
The house where I was born is surrounded by thick, tall beech trees that during fall have a striking resemblances to the woods in The Blair Witch Project. This movie has probably had the strongest influence on me. I've been interested in the paranormal since I was in Junior High and the unexplainable has always fascinated me, making ghost stories and mocumentaries the most intriguing movie and book material. Although I haven't lived in that house, or those woods, since I was very young, I've still gone there several times a year with my family, and during October to February the place has always led my mind back to the great impact that The Blair Witch Project had on me.

To make matters worse, my other family home (in which I grew up and moved away from 4 years ago) was also surrounded by thick woods of pine trees. And as you might've guessed already I'm a huge fan of Twin Peaks and have been since I watched the show for the first time when I was 14. Being 14 years old, struggling with my own social life and inner troubles, I was very emotionally affected by Twin Peaks. Given the strong but subtle importance of the woods in the show, and its underlying importance in life, the story that it held in the show became somewhat present in my everyday life as well.

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

#7 - Off-beaten tracks
Every damn time I'm out driving I'm worried about running out of gas, making a wrong turn, stopping at the wrong gas station or offending some outback douche while I'm asking for directions, just to end up in some sequence from Deliverance (I actually don't understand why my parents let me watch that movie at all), The Hitcher, Wrong Turn or The Hills Have Eyes. This was my first fear when I was on my road trip through the Pacific Northwest, US and BC, Canada last fall. Driving alone for five days. Taking shortcuts through the mountains in Washington State so I wouldn't get caught in the snowstorm (or the Twin Peaks woods) before I'd reach the border. I was sure there were gonna be some banjo playing inbred kid just waiting for me to make the wrong turn. Luckily my driving skills are exceptional!

Deliverance (1972)

#6 - Children
Although my biological clock is turning and churning and tolling I have a hard time forgetting the mass psychoses that was Children of the Corn, the hamstring slashing Gage in Pet Sematary, Antichrist personified in The Omen or becoming mysteriously pregnant as in Rosemary's Baby. The list could be made long. What if my kid turns into Samara or an Esther psychopath?

Pet Sematary (1989)

#5 - Motels
My conviction that some motel managers run their business for other than money making purposes made me a bit skeptic during my road trip in the States and Canada last year. I tried out carefully at a hostel in Seattle the first night, but after being stalked by a drug addicted South American guy all night (who later that night fled over the Canadian border since his Visa expired that same day) I realized that crowded places might not be the best option after all. Since my budget didn't allow me any 5-star suites I swallowed my fear and spent two nights at different motels in Squamish and Nanaimo, BC. These sound like very harmless small towns which they in fact were. But stopping in the middle of the night after driving for hours and checking in to a motel alone with three unknown men in the reception claiming that no room is available but the one right above the reception when you know that the parking lot in front is not nearly half full... is kinda unsettling. After watching Psycho and Hostel I knew I would never set my foot in a motel. But now I have. And all by myself.

Psycho (1960)

#4 - Space
Probably nothing is as scary as the uncomprehending. Never ending space? Distant planets? The serious risk of getting lost and never be able to come back? Disgusting creatures as in Alien? Writhing tentacles as in The Faculty? Nuff said. 

Alien (1979)

#3 - Empty school hallways and locker rooms
Basically every teen slasher has a sequence taking place either in empty hallways, dark locker rooms or bathrooms in school. Scream has Mr. Hambry's death scene in his school office. Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master has Sheila's classroom death and the 2010 remake A Nightmare on Elm Street has Kris' nightmare sequence in both class room and hallways. Cherry Falls has Jody's chase in the school corridor and the library. Carrie has the bully scene in the locker room.

When I went to school for the last two years I was always a bit nervous staying after hours. And now at work I have to move through a huge locker room to get to my locker. And the lights can't be turned on manually, instead they automatically turn themselves on with a motion sensor that reacts painfully slow.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

#2 - Clowns
The headline speaks for itself. Not only have I been terrified of clowns ever since I can remember, but being a Stephen King fan since early years didn't really help my case when I insisted I'd watch It. Such a terrible mistake. Not even today, as an (in most cases) grown adult, can I face a clown or even see one at a far distance without having this gut wrenching horror gripping my insides, making my palms sweat and my brain cells FREAK OUT. This fear has stretched so far that it also goes for people wearing masks or being disguised in general. I have a hard time even when my boyfriend wants to run around in his Autobot-mask (yeah, he's turning 30 soon and is a die hard fan of Transformers). 

It (1990)

 #1 - Haunted Houses
Combining my fear for masked people in general with the fact that all people are born with two fears in life - one of them being frightened of sudden noises or movement, results in my most awkward fear of Haunted Houses. And I'm not talking about being a little spooked; I'm talking about panic attack-hyper ventilation-type of fear. This is however something that's grown on me during the years, as I can't remember being this afraid when I was a child.

When I visited The Haunted House at the local amusement park in Stockholm last summer I completely freaked out. Simply because people wearing masks or other forms of disguises make me so uncomfortable that I can't function properly. I panicked, hyper-ventilated and screamed so much that not only did I get the condescending looks from a freakin' 10-year old, but I made the British personnel who were working the house as ghosts for the season, stop their haunting routine and come check that I didn't need medical attention.

The same thing happened at The London Dungeon. Not only is it scary itself since the torture chamber, Sweeney Todd's barber shop, Mary Jane Kelly's bedroom and all other parts of the dungeon is in fact reenactments and replicas of actual historical places and events. But its simple ghouls and haunted settings are enough to utterly terrify me from all my sense.

House of 1000 Corpses (2003)

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM FREDDY KRUEGER!

I might have the best boyfriend ever. He got me a signed happy holidays from Robert Englund himself. My only problem now is where to hang it in our apartment so that everyone can see it as soon as they step inside the door.

(He also stood in line for 2 hrs to get me a signed copy of Kat von D's book plus a ticket to see Devin Townsend.)