And for others it means a time for terror. I, sadly, am in that camp.
I actually love all those things about fall (although being now in Florida, the color palette is changed less dramatically and the only time I might reach for an over sized sweater will be if the restaurant is extra heavy-handed with the AC). But what I fear is the onslaught- pun intended- of bloody, unnerving scary movies that I am forced to watch throughout the month, as part of a deal I struck with Joe years ago. Since I never voluntarily chose to see the horror movies that would come out throughout the year, Joe saved up all the scary movies he wished to see and during the month of October I had to be a sport and sit through them.
Our system has been working, although I'm not sure how much of a good sport I am. I tend to still grit my teeth and hide my eyes whenever I know a scary part is happening. So to lessen the pain, we've tried to add some variation to our month, such as adding micro brews to our viewing sessions (as a nod to Oktoberfest) and since we are in temperate climes, going to the drive-in.
On one such evening, my sister, Joe and I all packed up Joe's car and set out to the Funlan Drive-In out near Tampa.
I have been fortunate to experience a couple of drive-ins and adore their vintage ads and classic movie previews, so I was expecting something similar. As we drove up we noticed the area around the drive-in. There were shopping centers right across the street, and the bright neon lights took away from the excitement a dark road to a drive-in elicits. Right off the bat, that should've been our first hint that it was going to be an unusual night.
As we drove up we immediately saw our first hurdle- no cards, just cash. We had to turn around and find the nearest ATM, which happened to be in not-the-best area. When we got back we drove through a paved parking lot, rather than matted down grass or soft soil. We pulled out our chairs and set ourselves up for our movie, only to notice the car directly next to us had their loud motor still running and drowning out the already barely audible film. We became hopeful that an employee was coming to tell the patron to turn off his car, but instead did nothing, and wasn't until 45 minutes into the movie that they finally killed the motor. At last some peace...for about 10 minutes.
Nearby we heard the rumble and screech of what sounded like race cars zooming next door. When that had finally subsided, we turned our attention to the screen. The lights from the concession stands continued to shine directly at our screen, making the movie as tense as a wet noodle since we couldn't see anything. We had just gotten used to it when all of a sudden the screen split, right across Ethan Hawke's bearded face.
At this point, I kept thinking, what else could possibly go wrong? As if by divine providence, or perhaps the ghost of Alfred Hitchcock lending his wry and morose humor to our evening, a large bird suddenly appeared and loudly clunked down in front of the screen, causing a helpless laugh to burst out of each of us.
As we drove home, we kept recounting all the oddities that occurred that night and though it wasn't my favorite drive-in experience, it still somehow managed to satisfy that requirement for my movie month of October- as if like a character in a horror movie being chased by a madman, I had to keep wondering, "what else could possibly go wrong?"
