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The Best Christmas Movie You’ve Never Heard Of

/ Alex Doriot / 2 Comments

tumblr_lvk7rfN2UM1qzb1qio1_500A Christmas Story. Miracle on 34th Street. A Charlie Brown Christmas. It’s A Wonderful Life. 

All undeniable classics.

Let’s face it though – there’s some really strange, really bad Christmas “classics” that get trotted out every year.

Have you watched Frosty The Snowman lately? It’s just…weird. The Santa Clause is fantastic, but unfortunately The Santa Clause 2 and 3 exist. Vince Vaughn allegedly made a couple of movies called Fred Claus and Four Christmases, but I haven’t seen them and I’d like to continue pretending they’re not real thank you very much.

It makes me sad every year when crappy Christmas movies make the cut and underrated gems become further lost to time.

So I made it a point to spend one day writing about the Best Christmas Movie You’ve Never Seen – Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas. Continue reading →

Create Like R.L. Stine

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

goosebumpsWho didn’t love Goosebumps as a kid?

If grew up in the 90s, there were 3 things that were always in your bookbag: an emergency supply of Gushers, one of those different color eraser pen things, and the latest ‘Bumps book. (Did people call them ‘Bumps? They totally should have.)

One man was responsible for revolutionary children’s horror anthology. Say his name with me:

R.L. Stine.

R.L. Stine churned out 62 Goosebumps books between 1992 and 1997 – an average of over 10 books per year! That’s not including the 50 Give Yourself Goosebumps create-your-own-adventure style books, plus 74 episodes of the television series based on the books, plus the Fear Street series he published at the same time aimed at teenagers.

Before Harry Potter began weighing down children’s backpacks, R.L. Stine was the undisputed king of kid’s literature.

But this blog is not about R.L. Stine the Goosebumps author.

Last week I read an interview on The A.V. Club with Stine. The interview focused on another aspect of his career.

What I learned in the interview completely redefined my childhood. Before a page of Goosebumps was ever written R.L. Stine worked on another landmark project: Continue reading →