Both "Century of the Self" and "Power of Nightmares" did play in NYC movie theaters, if that helps keep them in consideration for Best of Decade.

If by "That Danny Strong" you mean the actor that played Jonathan on "Buffy" and Paris' boyfriend on "Gilmore Girls" then yes, same Danny Strong.

Damn.

I also like the black and white segment about the kids stealing the car from "Aria."

"Box" by Takashi Miike
A possible 18th for this list would be "Box" by Takashi Miike from the anthology film "3 Extremes."

Unexpected
"The Witches" by Nic Roeg - scared me a lot more than I anticipated, and I was an adult when I saw it.

I mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: something about the rabbits really upset me the first time I saw this movie.

Cartoonist Peter Bagge once said the Catholic Church messed him up more than LSD ever did.

Yeah, the scene of Leland/BOB killing Maddie on "Twin Peaks" still freaks me out and scares me.

Oy. Meant to write "gets to be one of the novel's heroes."

The relationship between Hardie and Pete Barnes reminded me of the typical slasher film dichotomy between the "bad girl" and the "good girl." The Bad Girl is course and likes sex, at least with her boyfriend to whom she is not married, and dies before the end of the film. The Good Girl sems to have no interest in…

@ Farmer John -

"Stodgy" was how I described it
It seemed too concerned with middle class good taste and literary references, as if Straub was most concerned with writing a respectable horror novel, rather than a scary one.

"the triumph of narrative over style in literary criticism"

Second Time Around
I first read "Ghost Story" when I was a teenager going through a horror phase. I remember thinking at the time that, while it wasn't as scary as Stephen King's work, Straub's novel was "better," "more serious" and "more literary."

Oy. Sorry - that should be AM's house, not VM.

I don't think the Manitou did decide to involve Peter in this mess - Peter, initially by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, then by choice, involved himself. His first interactions with the Manitou were unplanned: spying with the telescope and breaking into VM's house with Jim Hardie, then being at Lewis'…

Yes. Just as I like my comedy, you know, funny, I expect my horror to be scary. Nothing in "Ghost Story" scared me. Perhaps it's because I had read it before, but I don't think so.

Answering Blank Slate's multiple choice one at a time:

Good write up on "Bloom County." This line in particular nails what always irked me about the strip: