I've seen "The Exorcist" about 2,000 times and it keeps getting funnier EVERY TIME I SEE IT

HOAW Chapter notes continue!

Chapter six

References:

- Henna-Barbeara is my incredibly brilliant reference to Hanna-Barbera. No, seriously, I think that might be the best name-pun I've ever come up with. Sad, really. *G*
- "That Sinking Feeling", just for the Frosty-Os cereal.
- Poltergeist - "This house... is clean!" As delivered by the medium.

Shout-out for finding a way to write Beth waking up in LP's bed! (Hubba-hubba! Hey, I'm rated G.... approximately. ^_~)

They do not show cartoons anywhere on network TV nowadays on Sunday mornings (they barely show any on Saturdays), but when I was a kid... which I will only say was approximately when this show was airing... they did. Usually it was all Scooby Doo and Smurfs and things, and I didn't usually watch them, but obviously SOMEONE did so why not Gos? *G* They also used to do music videos out of cartoon clips, especially at Halloween. I distinctly remember one for "Bad Moon Rising".

Drake's characterization in this scene - most specifically his "voice" - had a lot of help from Darkwingpsycho and LadyJess, both of whom understand him a lot better than I do. ;)

One thing about ghost stories I've never fully understood is the whole "seeing things that aren't there" part. Just because I don't understand it, though, doesn't mean I won't use it - as evidenced by Beth's ability to contact the house's previous owner on his unlisted number. The only problem with this scene is that it doesn't actually give her any new information, other than the fact that the hauntings escalate until Halloween and then die back down on November 2 or so. Which isn't necessary to the plot. Ah well.

The only problem with the Beth's "I'm sorry, Drake" face is that unfortunately, at no point in any of the fics I've written has Beth ever really said "I'm sorry, Drake, but..." Heh, oh well! Once again if I didn't point these things out probably no one would notice. ^_^;;

Chapter seven

References:

- I think the idea of camping out in the living room comes from Poltergeist as well, but it might not. I do know I saw it in a ghost movie.
- Although nothing in it is a direct reference, the ghost sequence in this is influenced in large part by The Blair Witch Project, mostly in terms of the characters' reactions to what is going on. Mainly Beth's reactions, in fact - the gasping, "What was that!?", and so on is based largely on Heather, the girl in that movie. (Of course in the movie it was "what the *bleep* was that?!") Oh yes - and the description of Beth's breath hanging in the air before drifting away is an image that appears (purely by fortune) in BWP, too.
- The Haunting is somewhat directly referenced in that Beth is holding Drake's hand so hard it "felt like she was breaking his fingers" - which is in my favourite scene of that movie.
- The appearance of Stella, and her movements, are based on the movements of the titular ghost in The Lady In White.
- Help!, the Beatles movie, for Drake's line "I take back every bad thing I said about you". I think it's Help! - it might've been Yellow Submarine.

Drake's thought about how he "might as well just marry" Beth - in a *negative* way - was kind of a deliberate nod to what a bad couple they would actually make. *G*

So, this is the chapter where things start getting, and staying, genuinely creepy. Actually this is probably the creepiest chapter in the story, at least in my opinion. I probably ripped about half of it off from other sources, without knowing it. Oh well. It's all collective memory anyway, right? ;P

Case in point: the sequence where LP hears what he thinks is Beth come into the room and stand behind him. That's the kind of thing that gets me each time.

In addition to a nod to The Blair Witch Project and the specific reference to The Haunting, as noted above, this whole sequence with the appearance of the ghost owes some inspiration to The Haunting in general, which is sublime in its use of tension and fear in the middle of the night. The presence of barely-heard voices also is drawn from that film, mainly a scene in which Nell hears the voice of a man chanting or reciting something - you can hear his voice, but can't make out a single word, which is very creepy. There's also a woman laughing or maybe crying, and a baby crying... Unsettling scene, just wonderful. *fangirls The Haunting for like the fiftieth time*

I have always wondered about how this reads to other people reading it for the first time. Anyone reading, or who has already read it: what's your impression of this scene? What do people make of the shape that goes running down the hallway? Does this inspire curiosity to know what's going on or is it just "ho hum, ghosts again"?

Who else thinks LP is milkin' the whole being-scared thing so that he can keep clinging to Beth? ;) Heh, in fact, I like that idea so much that I just went back and attributed it to Drake. Your call whether or not it's true...