I love spine-tingling scary books and movies, but no gore, serial killer or slasher movies. True to Leafy form, even when I was a kid I preferred scary movies with beautiful rooms in them--two of my favorites were "The Changeling" starring George C. Scott as a widower living alone in a creepy (but gorgeous) mansion, and "Audrey Rose" which featured the kind of NYC apartment I dreamed of when I was growing up in undistinguished suburbia. Think about it--nothing is scarier than thinking you might have to give up PRIME REAL ESTATE because of an unfortunate ghost/curse/reincarnation/demon possession. I loved the book Amityville Horror although it made it so that I was unable to go into Dutch capes, basements or attics for decades. And then to find out it wasn't true?! Heartbreak. I still remember the rooms from a movie I saw in the late 80's early 90's that was a murder mystery that somehow involved a pair of fancy German scissors, (?) also set in really beautiful rooms in a California mission style home--I want to remember the name so I can watch it again for the decor, but I can't! Anyone know what movie I mean?

It's been quite a while since I read it. I know that kid in the book killed another dog and hurt Ethan. I can't remember if he specifically hurt Bailey I wonder if they changed the ending of the movie. I remember crying at the end of the book. Edited to add: (I just googled and it said he tried to kill Bailey twice).

It's rarely that movie is as good as a book but sometimes good adaptations happen-and I tend to remember them all since happens not often For example "Girl With a Dragon Tatoo" i liked more as a movie..the non-American version. But I started with a movie, that probably influences things. "The Joy Luck Club" managed to be a great adaptation of the book-and I actually read the book several yeas before watching the movie Mini series of "Pride and Predjudice" are nice adaptation while the movie with Keira Knightly was something I kinda dismissed because to me that wasn't a good adaptation at all. Still, I prefer the book of course. The former Soviet Union movies based on "Sherlock Holmes" are considered the best in all the adaptations of Sherlck Holmes ever made, and won the prize as such-and I totally agree. Of course they filmed just several stories but did it very well. "Alias Grace" did a very fine job; but let me tell you the book is finer...reading it now. Now some books are probably too much of a challenge to ever be interpreted on the screen..I haven't seen one good "Wuthering Heights"..and I really tried. I haven't seen a "Lolita" that comes even close to the book itself. I don't think one can adapt Nabokov successfully. Too many things will go missing. His language is too good and too elusive for that. No Dostoevsky or Tolstoy either,,of course I didn't watch all of these..but whatever I started I just turned off. Very fast. As I was totally obsessed with "Les Miserables" since age 8 (to the point I tried to steal a little bun from a bakery-and succedeed-but that was my first and last attempt of stealing lol..more than I can handle..it was a tiny 3 kopeiks bun but nevertheless)-I tried to watch as many adaptations as possible. Some I enjoyed; but no they don't measure to the book. I couldn't appreciate long passages about monasteries, sewer, Parisian jargon, the battle of Waterloo etc when I was a little girl..but now I find these much more interesting. As it was when I read Fowles "The Magus"..at twenty I was so much into story..and the stories within the story I went through too quick..wars and all.. But now I understand these are actually the best ones there..or maybe they are to me now, since I became older. Generally I think the more complex and well written the book is the harder it will be to translate it I do look forward to adaptations that don't exist yet, or exist but I haven't seen them yet like Löwensköld trilogy by Selma Lagerlöf'..I think there can be a huge potential of making a great movie out of it.. Steven King is an example of an author whose books can be translated very well into visuals. PS remembered one more adatation that was good .."The Name of the Rose". They cut a lot out of it obviously..still, a good movie

“A Language Older Than Words” by Derrick Jensen. Felt like something written by a kindred soul, really incredible. And he’s alive and can be reached on Facebook! He has a lot of other good books, too. Especially “Thought To Exist in the Wild” and “Dreams”. I also had an astounding experience at a poetry reading when I was in college. Most times readings are pleasant, at best, or thought-provoking, but James Tate’s poetry reading was HILARIOUS. Not in a cheesy jokey way, but in a surreal, absurd, and shockingly silly way. The crazy imagery/scenarios would just build and build until the entire audience (it was a big audience) was roaring with laughter, including me. And I do not generally laugh easily, at least not deep belly laughs (I’m one of those quiet laughers). I don’t even know how he did it because when you just read his poetry on your own it’s pleasant and amusing but not laugh out loud funny! It was a really special experience perhaps once in a lifetime. I feel grateful to have been part of it!