The Horror Of...Halloween Night, Agatha Christie's Poirot - Hallowe'en Party, Mystery By Night

Halloween is ever a time of spooks and goblins. Even the pranksters and the tricksters love to come out to play. But sometimes, the murderers also get out. And we cannot have that, can we?

At times like that you want the sharpest minds and eyes at work. Through the falling leaves, the rapid dusk, and along the forgotten paths, the sleuths will make things right.

So today let's enjoy the efforts of one such sleuth. Hercule Poirot. Drawn out in the wake of a Halloween tragedy in...

Agatha Christie's "Hallowe'en Party".

Hercule Poirot, Mystery By Night

Starting in 1920 the world began it's journey beside a curious and discerning little Belgian newcomer to British society. Mr, Hercule Poirot.

A creation of the great Agatha Christie, he can be seen as an amalgam of many living and fictional detectives of the day. But the unique combination of traits made the character beloved to this day. For Christie though the character became an annoyance, "a creep", but she had an audience for him so she had new stories published of his into the 1970's.

The small man in his impeccable clothing, the fastidiously managed mustache, curious walk, and broken English was idea to be contended with. He might seem a humorous figure, but in truth he was an experienced and knowledgeable investigator.

Once he was a respected Belgian police officer who rarely failed to bring his targets to the law. Respected and happy living in his homeland, his time there came to an end with the invasion by Germany at the start of World War I. Injured in the fighting he was taken to England as a refugee.

There he took time to convalesce and find his feet in this new land. Grateful for the security of England he decided to apply his skills anew, now as a private detective.

As a detective he was highly successful, often being called into cases of the highest echelons of British society to sort of thefts, murders, and disappearances. The work helped make him wealthy enough to eventually retire and only take cases of personal interest.

Dready. Set. Halloween!

October has sprung and it's time to start up or prepare a marathon of spooks, scares, macabrey, terror, candy, masks, rotten eggs...Sorry, I feel my mind is wandering onto other To Do lists.

And I was pleased this year that even in August I was seeing the Halloween treats coming out in some places. Christmas likes to make it's presence known so early, so Halloween needs it's space in our lives to. Oh, if only Halloween could move to grab Thanksgiving and push Christmas back.

But maybe I'm being silly.

Creeping Up On Halloween With The Hardy Boys

Wait? Is Halloween over? Or can I count Daylight Saving, and the fact it's night still?

Oh, well. Either we're finalizing Halloween this year, or slowly ramping up for next year. (What? Is Christmas coming up? I hadn't noticed.)

So let's take one more trip back before we stop our creeping for a few days, or weeks, or months. And we again head back to the 1970's. -- Hey? Between this KISS, Paul Lynde, and The Halloween That Almost Wasn't. Was there a hidden theme this year of the 70's? Weird.

Rifftrax, Getting Ready to Riff

It's time to welcome some more Rifftrax shenanigans. For the Spring and Summer they are planning out some events, outside their regular output of new movie riffs (Cyborg Cop 2, etc.).

By Rifftrax, I mean Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy, the leads of the last half of the run of Mystery Science Theater 3000. They went on to put out DVD's where they skewered bad movies (like Giants of Marathon) as The Film Crew. Then they eventually found themselves continuing the laughs at Rifftrax. (Many of the other writers and faces of Mystery Science Theater 3000 worked on Cinematic Theater, a similar concept.) Along with releasing riffing commentaries and some movies with the commentaries laid over, they do live shows. But now we get something new.

The Horror Of...Cast A Deadly Spell, A Mystery By Night

Ah. Hello, again. Don't mind me. I'm just out enjoying nature, seeking to call the Great Old Ones back to...Oh, you know.

And out, traipsing about where the Byakhee warble, makes one nostalgic. Perhaps for something with a little mystery. And, of course, a proper dose of horrific doom in the works.

So, let's go for something a bit Lovecraftian. Something from the 90's. Something with Fred Ward, Julianne Moore, and David Warner (and a bit of the old Clancy Brown). Yes, let us Cast a Deadly Spell.