Tarkan Deluxe: Home-made Horror for Halloween

Whether we love it or loathe it, its modern incarnation has become a celebration of our fascination with the scary and the bizarre and that time of the year when we give out a seasonal boo.

Therefore, in the best ghoulish fashion for Halloween, I've decided to host a short horror film at the blog, which my nephew and I filmed in 2005. It was a family affair with me, two nephews, their wives and one great-nephew in tow to shoot a story I devised about a cursed street where people mysteriously disappear. We set up accompanying websites to add gravitas to the plot, and the film was shot and edited with what is known as cinéma vérité techniques, to look like it was filmed with one hand-held camera, including jump cuts similar to those found in amateur home movies.

It caused quite a stir during its initial release, especially the story's "Cromwell's Curse". I've had a few horror writers email me about the so-called "curse" for more information believing it to be real and wanting to research it for their own books. When I informed them it was a background story I had written as a device plot for the filmed short, some in turn used it as a reference for their own works.

So, for the viewing pleasure of the blog's readers I present this small slice of home-made horror re-edited and re-packaged for Halloween 2008. No events depicted are true, and all the cast are portraying fictional sides to themselves. It's just a bit of fun, so I advise it's watched with that in mind and in the spirit of the spooky season.

And whether it's a trick or a treat, I'll leave for each individual decide.

Home-made Halloween Horror