31 Days of Halloween - Day 16: My Halloween Costume

I have decided what I wanted to be this year. It's a stroke of genius, really. This costume idea will be cheap, easy to make, and I'll have no problem pulling it off. Who am I going to be this year? Drum roll please...

MICHONNE from The Walking Dead!

All I need is a katana and a head scarf. I have that angry black woman look down. Been practicing that all my life! I already have the rest of the costume components in my wardrobe. Except for combat boots. Oh well, I can substitute my black Chuck Taylors for that. Oh, I forgot about the dreadlocks. Oh, damn! 

31 Days of Halloween - Day 15: Halloween Movie Marathons on TV

Every year around this time, cable networks will do their own versions of a Halloween countdown where they do a round-the-clock marathon of horror themed movies they temporarily have the rights to. AMC is normally my favorite for these marathons but SyFy Channel does them too now. Even Disney has gotten in on the action. Here's a partial list below of where you can find your favorite horror movies for the Halloween month:

AMC - Fear Fest - They normally do a weekly version of this every Friday night called Fear Fridays, but lately that's been lacking. The films you'll find here are all the Friday the 13th movies (even that God awful Jason X), most of the Halloween franchise, and various others. AMC has a real hard-on for the Halloween movies, particularly Halloween 4 and 5. AMC, for the most part, shows the better quality horror films than many other cable networks.

SyFy Channel - 31 Days of Halloween - Of course they would do horror marathon for Halloween. Problem is, it's SyFy channel. Yeah, they show some decent stuff once in a while, but generally it's SyFy originals like Megapiranha vs. Octoshark or some stupid shit like that. The best thing they've shown this week: The Mist. That movie freaked me out. Those little spider things with faces? *shiver* If you're into the normal crap they show on SyFy, then go for it. I'd still recommend checking out the schedule first to see what DECENT films they have coming up. I'm still mad the bastards copied the name of my Halloween blog series. LOL

ABC Family - 13 Nights of Halloween - Here, you'll find pretty much what you'd expect from the "Family Channel": kid-approved Halloween movies such as Adams Family and Hocus Pocus (my fave as a kid.) Nothing gory or above a PG-rating, which should make parents happy. The scariest thing you'll see? Harry Potter 1-6.

FEARnet - Nothing much to see here in the way of mainstream horror movies. Their OnDemand service has a limited number of films (and most of them suck) and even fewer on their site. The crowning glory are the horror shorts you'll find on FEARnet. Those make up for the lack of movies.

Travel Channel - Okay, you won't find movies here. NONE. However, if you're a travel nut like me, you'll appreciate their haunted destinations theme. Many of the shows highlight the best places to travel on a haunted tour, the best haunted houses, Halloween attractions, etc. So if you're planning a Halloween-themed vacay, watch this channel.

Don't forget to check out premium cable channels like Encore or utilize your OnDemand service to find other Halloween goodies for the month of October.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 14: The Walking Dead Season 3 premiere

Yes, yes, YESSSS!!!! If you haven't figured it out, I'm over the moon that Walking Dead is back again (especially since I get to watch it in HD on my brand-new LED flatscreen. Thanks to my stepdad for the wonderful birthday gift!) This season is already gearing up to be better than the last. SPOILERS below so I suggest you turn away now if you have been living under a rock unable to see the premiere.

We pick up several months after the events of the season 2 finale. Lori Grimes is still preggo and ready to drop that baby any moment. Rick is dragging the group from place to place frantically looking for somewhere safe they can hunker down in more permanently when the time comes for Lori to have the baby. We finally see the prison, which will be the main setting of this season. Good God that place is creepy and depressing. It also seems that my worst fears have been confirmed and the writers are hinting at a Daryl/Carol pairing. Oh FFS no! The interaction between them was just awkward with Carol going "oh this spot is romantic, want to screw around?" Nothing against the actress that plays Carol, but she's one of the most unsexy female characters on the show and that line's delivery was completely unbelievable. Gross, now I have to go bleach my brain.

I was most proud of Carl, Rick and Lori's son. He's grown up quite a bit since the start of the show. He went from being a spoiled brat to turning into a young man who can finally handle himself. I like the way Rick trusts him and we get to see Carl utilizing his gun skills to take out walkers left and right. With Carl pulling his weight finally and the desperate situation the survivors are in, the group seems to be working together much better now. Even Carol has come around to appreciating what Rick has done for them all, which is a complete 180 from her opinion of him last season.

Walkers in riot gear? How awesome is that?! There are other survivors in the prison? Uh oh. I smell trouble. Never trust a felon that's been locked up without any females that weren't of the undead variety.

Why oh why are we losing Hershell this early in the season?! He didn't bite the big one until much later in the comics! That was the biggest shock of the episode.

And finally... MICHONNE!!! The most bad ass black female character in TV history! Seriously, I yelped when she made her appearance on screen in all her katana-wielding glory. I am hoping for lots of screen time for her this season.

Would you really want to square off with this woman?!

We also get an idea of what Andrea has been up to all these months since being separated from Rick's group. She's been taking lessons from Michonne in the art of kicking walker ass and taking names. I'd hate to be the one to tell her that her f*ck buddy Shane is dead. To be a fly on the wall for THAT conversation!

31 Days of Halloween - Day 2: Catching up on Season 2 of The Walking Dead

Season Two poster

Last year during the first half of season 2 of The Walking Dead, I was pretty busy. I didn't watch as faithfully as I should have. Much of my knowledge of season 2 came from recaps and spoilers or disjointed viewings of episodes (as in, out of order.) I spent the bulk of my day starting early this morning watching all 13 episodes of the second season in order to prepare myself for the season 3 premiere. All I have to say is season 3 has a lot to live up to. Warning: spoilers below, so if you have yet to watch season 2, stop reading now!

There are a number of issues threatening the survivors in Season 2 starting with the disappearance of Carol Peletier's daughter Sophia. The search for her is one of the focal points of the first half of the season. The biggest danger to the group is that of Rick's best friend and second-in-command Shane. His desire for Lori and jealousy of Rick slowly but surely affects Shane's mind to the point where he becomes frightening to watch. The scene where he breaks open the barn of walkers to scare the group into standing up for themselves was brilliant. Shane displays just how truly unhinged he had become. Can you say cray-cray?!

The group cohesion starts to splinter as the season progresses. For the first time, they are forced to rely on outsiders and not just each other. The relationships and opinions with Hershel Greene and his family has both a positive and negative effect on the group. Glenn falls in love with Hershel's oldest daughter Maggie while Rick finds himself pandering to Hershel in an attempt to convince him to let the group stay on the Greene farm. Everyone has different opinions on each issue that threatens the group's survival (such as the Randall storyline) but nobody speaks up and just defers to Rick and Hershel. Dale was frequently the lone voice of reason, worrying that the group was "losing their humanity." Poor Dale died (horribly) believing the group was broken after the majority decision to execute prisoner Randall in order to keep him from reporting the location of the farm back to his own group.

The Randall drama is the first time where outsiders pose a potential threat to the group. It causes the survivors to reevaluate the world around them. Other survivors might share the same experience of being forced to live in this new, dangerous world, but that's about it. It touched on season three's tagline of "Fight the dead, fear the living." Randall's presence reminds the survivors that other groups might want to hurt them or take advantage. The revelation that the walkers aren't the only danger to their existence is the perfect lead-up to season 3.

Finally, the biggest bomb dropped during the season was the truth of the zombie virus: that everyone carries it. If you die by natural means, you'll reanimate into a walker. You don't have to be bitten or scratched by a zombie first. They briefly touched on this issue a few episodes before the big reveal during the season finale, but it was so unlikely that nobody thought twice of it. This adds a new element to the issues faced by the group, but I really don't believe it's as serious as everyone made it out to be. The group totally jumped down Rick's throat for not telling them sooner, but what would that have solved? It serves absolutely no purpose to know they are all infected except that they would have to put a bullet in the head of anyone who dies of a heart attack or something.

Now I REALLY can't wait for season three. Those external dangers are about to increase ten-fold with the introduction of the psychotic Governor. Should be awesome. 12 more days...

This Season of The Walking Dead: Are they gearing up for a Daryl/Carol pairing?

Ew, just ew. If this happens, I'm going to be pissed.

Good God I hope not. If you can remember season 2 of The Walking Dead, you may have noticed the growing closeness between Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier after her daughter Sophia went missing. Initially, I thought this mini-storyline was a good thing. Daryl shows a much softer side to his character. He's not as harsh and anti-social and he clearly is starting to care for the group. Carol manages to bring out the compassionate part of Daryl's personality, previously unseen in season 1. I will admit that she's been very good for him. However, I don't trust Carol.

At the end of the season 2 finale, Carol is seen encouraging Daryl to leave Rick and the group and to go off on their own. Carol further states that she "wants a man of honor." She clearly sees Daryl as a strong alpha male that can protect her, but not mistreat her the way her husband did. Daryl's loyalty to Rick is stronger than any platonic feelings he may have for Carol, but that didn't stop her from attempting to manipulate him into taking over leadership of the group or chucking the group aside entirely and setting off as a duo. The way she's latched onto Daryl is worrisome. Her behavior towards the end of last season made me question if she truly cares for Daryl or is just using him as a means to survive. She still blames Rick for her idiot daughter wandering off and getting bitten by a walker. Never mind the fact that her daughter was old enough to find her way back and didn't HAVE to run off into the woods away from the group when that walker came after her. Nope, it's ALLLLL Rick's fault. Since she's feeling resentful towards Rick, she no longer sees him fit to lead their group. There wasn't much choice for a replacement after Rick. Shane went batshit crazy and then is killed by Rick, Glenn is too weak (and also very loyal to Rick), Dale was too old and was fatally disemboweled by a walker, T-Dog is just... well, there but almost a waste of a character. That just leaves the good ole boy Daryl.

I think this new season will see the group splintering apart even more and further questioning Rick's  leadership. Especially after the big reveal at the end of the season 2 finale over the truth about the zombie apocalypse. Also, let's not forget Rick's breakdown and his declaration that the group is "no longer a democracy." We've seen Rick's struggle to lead and keep not just his own family alive but everyone else as well. The entire group is already doubting Rick can continue on with Maggie also trying to convince Glenn to leave Rick and everyone else and go off with her. Granted, I don't see Maggie being as conniving as Carol. I think it will be interesting to see how far Carol takes her machinations to convince Daryl to do her bidding. Assuming they continue their storylines in that direction. Word is, Daryl's brother, Merle will be making a reappearance, presumably working with the Governor. If that's the case, then we will see Daryl being pulled in two directions plenty this season: his love for his brother butting heads with his loyalty to Rick. I'm excited to see some more internal conflict with Daryl's character.

Season 3 of The Walking Dead premieres Sunday, October 14th at 9pm EST on AMC.