Seasons Greetings........

........for Halloween



If I did this right, you will be hearing Basil Rathbone's interpretation of Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven .

I think Rathbone is one of the greatest English actors of the 20th century. His voice alone, like here, is powerful and expressive. He played intellectual characters, such as Sherlock Holmes, as well as swashbuckling swordsmen in a number of other roles.

In terms of GKC and Halloween, I find it striking now that I think deeply on it, Chesterton never really took on the gothic mood. He had no problem with righteous indignation and dealing with the negative aspects of human nature. The conclusion that I come to is that the mood of his writing is imbued with the Christian spirit. Eschatalogically, the story of the world has a happy ending. Scheske wrote an essay a few years ago about horror movies, and I think this idea works well in addition to his.

Halloween is fine, some horror movies are ok, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing are worth thier weight in gold in cool. In the end, however, Halloween gives way to All Saint's Day, the victory of salvation. Interesting idea to ponder.