What a mistake that would’ve been (and after “Up” Asner can now do no wrong). The Gathering kept my full attention until almost dawn and made such an impact that I made sure to grab the first opportunity to catch it on VHS a couple years later. Which is a good thing because for some inexplicable reason one of the best television films ever, and most certainly the best Christmas television film ever, hasn’t been available on home video for years, was never has finally been released on DVD, and only rarely broadcasts on cable anymore.

That’s the long way of saying, keep your eye out because this one’s special and hard to find…

Ed Asner plays Adam Thornton, a stubborn small town businessman who walked out on his wife Kate (the wonderful Maureen Stapleton, who won an Emmy for her performance here) out of boredom years ago and then worked overtime to alienate his three grown children after they stopped trying to live up to his impossible standards. Adam fractured his family, exploded them with pride and a need to control every aspect of his world. The emotional damage after decades of petty grudges and harsh words appears to be beyond repair until Adam is forced to realize something he hadn’t given much thought to before: his own mortality.

The story opens a few days before Christmas with Adam being told by his old friend and doctor that he’s a sick man who probably won’t live to see the snow melt. In an understated but still affecting Road to Damascus moment, Adam immediately understands that there is no longer time for the Thornton family to eventually work things out. 

Adam’s desire to mend the broken relationships of his life is sincere, which is why he refuses to disclose his illness to anyone. A pity party is the last thing he wants.  So Adam asks Kate where the children are so he can see him. Sensing something’s wrong, she puts the pieces together, agrees not to tell the children and arranges to bring together the four winds of the family for one last Christmas at home. 

Set to a lovely, understated score, what follows is essentially a single-location play that expertly avoids mawkish sentiment and presents real people who stay true to themselves while reconciling their differences. The politics of Vietnam do come into play, creating the film’s one false note. But that’s a minor blip in an unforgettably tender and quiet story that captures the essence of the holiday: faith, family and the ability to give and receive the gift of forgiveness.

In the end, much will remain unspoken between the Thorntons, but when you’re family it’s not about finishing the arguments, it’s about the miraculous healing power found in five simple words…

“I’m sorry, I was wrong.”

Read the full countdown here.

The word comes down to us from the Old Roman, horrere, which means literally “to stand on end” (as in hair) or “to shiver,” whether from fear or cold – Ovid refers to the “chill-bearing breath” of the North Wind (Metamorphosis, I.65).

Halloween is a unique holiday, marked for the celebration of the chill bearing, when demons and witches are allowed to come out to play and scare the bejezzus out of us – or at least, that’s how it used to be.

Over the last decade or so, Halloween has become less about creep and more about camp; Dracula and Frankenstein costumes replaced by Octomom and Obama masks (OK, those are more scary). What I want to do here is help those who would like go old school this year, and have a truly frightful All Hallows’ Eve.

(First suggestion – avoid bars. Like St. Patrick’s Day and New Year’s, Halloween brings out the amateur drinkers, a more loathsome species than any undead thing you may encounter. No, Halloween is best spent alone with someone special to snack on in the dark, with something scary to read, listen to, or watch.)

Film

For those in the movie mood (and who isn’t?), Halloween provides a dilemma – a horror-fest is definitely called for, but in no other genre is the crap/gold ration so heavily weighted towards the fecal. Rest easy – I have done the hard work for you, and watched hundreds of hours of horror, and can heartily recommend these selections:

The Ring, 2002 – Don’t let anyone tell you the Japanese original (Ringu) is better – Naomi Watts is perfect here in a classic ghost tale, an exquisite mixture of supernatural and technology – literally, ghost out of the machine. Gave me (me!) a nightmare.

Halloween, 1978 – Forget the atrocious recent Rob Zombie remakes and stick to the original low budget, John Carpenter-helmed masterpiece, about an escaped mental patient who comes back to torment his home town. Carpenter single-handedly invents the slasher genre; often imitated, never surpassed.

Salem’s Lot, 1979 – This adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, about a small New England town invaded by –  and then infested with – vampires, was directed by Tobe Hooper as a television mini-series. Constrained by network censors from going the blood and gore route, Hooper is forced to concentrate on atmosphere and character, with terrific, terrifying results. Among the best – and least appreciated – of modern horror films.

Rosemary’s Baby, 1968 – Featuring more than one Oscar-calibre performance, this claustrophobic tale of a diabolical plot has lost none of its paranoid power forty years later. (Note: For those who refuse to watch any of Polanski’s work out of principle, feel free to substitute The Exorcist for equally successful Satanic fun).

Let The Right One In, 2008 – Based on a 2004 Swedish novel of the same name, this award winning film of “romantic horror,” about a young boy who befriends an undead girl next door, has rightfully been described as one of the best vampire movies of all time. Touching, unnerving and gruesome, it is unlike anything you have ever seen.

Night of The Living Dead, 1968 – Best. Zombies. Ever. Period.

Music

So that should be more than enough to watch. But what to listen to, on Halloween?  Here a couple of spine-tingling tunes:

Katch 22 by Alien Sex Fiend – Mr. and Mrs Fiend usually serve up their unique blend of electronic horror-rock with a generous helping of winks and chuckles, but not this time; Katch 22 is a lumbering beast arisen form the sea, a booming prophesy of doom.

Cervix Couch by Christian Death – Cervix Couch comes in two versions; the original, from the album “Catastrophe Ballet,” is a sparse dirge evoking stone staircases and empty white beds. The second, an electronic remix titled the Spahn Ranch Mix, is completely different – but even more unsettling.

Double Dare by Bauhaus – This magisterial masterpiece lurches to life in fits and sputters, like some sulfurous submarine coming to life before plunging into the icy depths – with your soul. Peter Murphy rages against – well, everything, and for once, he seems dead serious. I dare you to listen.

Wolf Moon, by Type O Negative – The Brooklyn-based quartet delivers a beautiful, haunting paean to Werewolves, autumn, and the female reproductive cycle (yep) from their fantastically under-rated album “October Rust.”  Beware…the woods….at night.

(For those in a dancing mood, try Everyday Is Halloween by Ministry, and Now I’m Feeling Zombified by Alien Sex Fiend.)

Books

For those with the quaint passion for papyrus, since we have recently celebrated the bicentennial of Edgar Allan Poe’s birth, and this October marks the 160th anniversary of his death, selections from the master are more than fitting.

Poe’s famous tales, Masque of the Red Death, The Tell Tale Heart, etc. are all grand.  But I suggest Ligeia, his masterpiece and one of the more exquisitely wrought short stories in all the world – and strangely little known for all that.

For verse, you of course can’t go wrong with The Raven, but check out the lesser known but still beautiful Gothic chimes Ulalume, The Haunted Palace, and The Valley of Unrest – you will be well rewarded.

H.P. Lovecraft was Poe’s disciple – and not quite his equal – but  who nevertheless wrote some very effective horror/sci-fi fiction. For me, the much-vaunted Cthulhu mythos is far less effective than his shorter, stand alone tales. My favorites include the ekphrastic duo The Music of Erich Zann and Pickman’s Model, both of which can be devoured in a single sitting.

And of course, it doesn’t get any scarier than the Great Bard’s Macbeth. It is amazing how feverish and focused this allegedly cursed play reads – the cackle of the witches can still be heard long after the book is shut and the lights go out.

There you have it, kiddies, some chill-bearing fun to put the fright back into your All Hallows’ night. Now go forth, and reclaim Halloween for all the goblins and ghouls – remember, on this night, even the devil deserves his due.

Happy Halloween!