The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

Well, it's September 22nd and the first official day of fall! As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been leaning into the autumn (and more importantly spooky Halloween) vibes for some time now, but now summer is definitively in the rear-view.

One of the things that was important to me in launching this new blog was that I wanted to be more casual and personal. This isn't about producing (capital C) "Content". I was inspired by the chronicles of Kenna Rae, which is much more introspective than anything I've ever written.

That doesn't mean I don't have plans to just geek out about some games I'm playing or some movies I've been watching. That's an important thing to me, too! I'm just not interested in trying to sell you on "reviews" (or something like that) to get those ever-important serotonin-producing clicks and metrics.

So yeah, this post might feel more like a "dear diary" journal entry and that's on purpose.

I had big plans for today. Well, big plans for me. There's a new alien abduction horror film out today - dropping on Hulu in the US and Disney+ in Canada - No One Will Save You. I only first heard about it on Bloody Disgusting a few weeks back, but I've been eagerly anticipating it since then, so I thought it might a nice spooky flick to take in on this day of days.

But how to make it appropriately autumnal? Well, that step was easy! First, a nice hike after dinner to take in the foliage. After that, I'd get some apple cider and maybe a pumpkin spice flavoured treat; some of these Great Value pumpkin spice cookies were what I had in mind (I've been decrying the virtue of Great Value sandwich cookies for years now - don't sleep on them). Then I'd enjoy my snack with the aforementioned scary movie.

It wasn't meant to be, though. I'm sick. Big time sick. My kids picked up a bug earlier in the week, so I knew my time would come, but for all my extra hand washing, disinfecting, and avoiding of runny noses, this virus has found me and gave me a well-placed smack on the back of the head.

Am I bummed? Yeah, for sure. But I've really got to learn to let these things roll off my back more. I put so much mental headspace into ensuring that I "make the most" of this time of year, that if I don't enjoy some sort of fall/spooky activity whenever I have a free moment I feel like I've somehow - I dunno - failed? Wasted my precious time? It's hard to describe.

My wife has complained about me during this time of year before. Every single night from the end of August up to October 31st I'm trying to watch a horror movie, or play a scary video game, or take in an old Halloween special or something. There's no casual watching of unseasonal TV or a laid-back rom-com.

I've tried to be more chill this year. Instead of just ignoring anything that isn't categorically "spooky" I've been trying to keep up with shows like Only Murders in the Building and The Wheel of Time. Any other year and I would've let these stockpile until after Halloween.

And why? I'm not sure. But I can tell you for sure that the strain I was putting on myself to enjoy all the things I wanted to between the end of August and end of October was just ruining my indulgence of the season. A real catch-22.

So tonight... I sleep. But soon enough I'll be celebrating the true start of autumn properly. And until then? I'm going to try my best to just let it be. It is what it is and if I don't enjoy something seasonal tonight it'll be okay.

Although I can't lie - I'm definitely going to watch this creepy-looking alien movie, even if it's in bed on a tablet, while I'm downing something medicinal. Wait... do they make pumpkin spice NeoCitran!?

Are you enjoying your spooky season? Do you take it chill - like I'm striving to - or are you over-focused on "getting it all in"? Let me know on your preferred social platform!

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Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make!

One thing I look forward to every fall is the Turner Classic Movies October schedule.

Once upon a time, if you wanted to watch any sort of monster movie you likely had to turn to late-night television to get your fix. With the advent of video, more options became available, but for the vast majority of horror and sci-fi films, you still had to keep your eyes on your local TV guide.

Those days are most certainly gone. With streaming and so many rare and forgotten films getting Blu-ray releases you can pretty much find anything you want to watch, when you want to watch it.

There's still something about watching an old horror film on broadcast TV that is so appealing for me, though. It's the nostalgia talking, I know. I have lots of black-and-white monster movies on DVD, but I kinda prefer letting TCM do the programming for me!

Also, there are still lots of films that you would think would easily be available on streaming or video that just aren't that accessible, unless you're willing to shell out the big bucks or have a region-free player at your disposal.

And so, every year around mid-September I start frequenting the TCM website to see what offerings they'll have available during October and, let me tell you, they rarely disappoint!

In the years past there have been very definite themes. One year, it was all kaiju films from Japan. For a few years TCM was exhausting the Hammer horror archive, much to my delight. And there have been many, many years that I can recall classic Universal was the focus.

The last few years it's seemed like a smorgasbord of all these films. I've also noticed that they've started including more (ahem) "contemporary" works from the 70s and the 80s.

It's hard to tell what the theme - if any - will be this year, but as of today I was able to view the first few days of TCM's October schedule and I thought it would be fun to share some of the upcoming horror films you can check out on Turner Classics, provided you still have a cable TV package!

Let's consult my handy-dandy spreadsheet. /me adjusts his glasses...

Stylish, I know!

As an aside, let's start with the purple section at the top. Although the focus of this post is the October horror films that TCM is known to offer, I couldn't help but draw your attention to a block of giant bug movies coming up on September 15th! TCM posted a blog about the special theme night, which mentions six films and includes Mothra, but I couldn't find it on either the US or Canadian schedules. That aside, the are some fun sci-fi monster films coming mid-month that you may enjoy!

The October proper schedule shows a veritable dog's breakfast of options and I can't say that I'm upset about it!

We've got a pair of giant kaiju films, some classic Universal, a Hitchcock, a few sci-fi monster flicks carrying over from September, a Hammer Frankenstein, and even some Tony Scott!

At first glance, it doesn't look like there's a cohesive theme here, but honestly there still could be down the line. It may come in the form of nightly blocks dedicated to different production companies, actors, or time periods. We shall have to wait and see!

And I know that unless you're in the Pacific or Central time zones these airings would have to be firmly programmed into your PVR, but there will very likely be more prime time slots dedicated to the horror genre as we get closer to Halloween.

If you're looking for one more little adventure to try during the spooky season, you might find something fun on your TV guide! I find it more and more difficult to find anything in the horror genre freely playing on broadcast TV, but TCM will certainly hold the line this October, if you want to give it a shot!

You can even relive those nights long past of waiting up until the late night monster movie played on TV, while you hid under a blanket and thought up your escape plan back to your bedroom once the movie was over!

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