THE WORLD'S TOP 100 HORROR MOVIES??!!

Once upon a time there was a horror fan who was watching the American Film Institute's Top 100 Movies show and wondered where all the horror movies were (only Frankenstein and Psycho made the cut). So he decided to host a Web poll to get everybody's opinion as to what should be in a list of the Top 100 Horror movies. It should be reinforced that this is not my list, nor the fellow who tallied up all the votes (and neglected to leave a link to his own page, more's the pity - I'd like to credit him for all his hard work). This is the Voice of the Peepul.

And... oh, look. Here's another voice. From a couple of years after that gray box. This is an older, tired-er voice, saying, forget it. It ain't here. I deleted it. I got tired of getting mail from people asking how the hell could I choose these movies, when their favorites went unnoticed. And that was just the nice ones.

I don't do lists. Lists are stupid. That list, in particular, was drivel, obtained via a limited Web poll and containing few movies older than the 1980s. I had a running commentary through most of it, deriding many of the choices.

And yet, somehow, I am the idiot, I must have chosen these movies, even if I am the only one capable of reading opening paragraphs. Or reading intervening paragraphs. Or, apparently, reading.

I don't particularly mind being excoriated for my opinions on movies - I've gotten a lot of hate mail from people who inexplicably love Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park or Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - but calling me names for something I had nothing to do with, that I merely called attention to? That pisses me off.

So I'm tired of it. It's gone.

It's tempting to put in a bitter send-off like now piss off or something equally John Constantinian, but hell ... I like most of you guys. Just know this is something I should have done long ago, no matter how many late night radio shows it got me on.