There it is, sitting there like a visible conscience. It’s a box. It contains a lot of packing and another box. It’s all on the nice armchair that only gets used by cats—who, I might add, are not pleased with its presence—and the occasional intrepid visitor who doesn’t mind getting up covered in cat hair. Inside the innermost box lies—or so I am told—a 100 percent region-free Blu-ray player. I’m assured it will play any region DVD and any letter code Blu-ray disc. State of the art technology at my fingertips and all that. It’s of the “so simple it operates itself” variety—no tricky settings, just pop those babies in and go. What it is not, however, is “so simple it sets itself up.” Therein lies the reason it’s resting on the chair.

Yeah, I know, it’s really a good while till Halloween, but I want to get an early start on at least one aspect of it this year. I’m sure most of you reading this know that I’m involved with the Thursday Horror Picture Show. In point of fact, the programming of it and just about everything else about it is in the hands—and warped minds—of Justin Souther and myself. It’s very much like the Asheville Film Society, but on Thursdays and with horror movies. It’s also in the hands of the people who come to the movies. Now, nothing says horror pictures like Halloween, so I’d like this Halloween season to be something special.