Top Five Horror Movie Themes

Josh’s Top Five Horror Movie Themes

By: Josh Welsh

As a horror movie film buff, I’ve seen movies where the music is quite haunting and have made an impression on me. In this post, I will be giving my personal top five favourite horror movie theme songs (from least favourite to most favourite).

#5:

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Composed by Charles Bernstein, it’s damn creepy. The movie that quotes “One, two, Freddy’s coming for you!”, this film also introduced a young Johnny Depp as Nancy’s boyfriend. You can listen to it here.

#4:

Friday the 13^th (1980)

Jason’s theme. The killer in the hockey mask. One of my favourites, known for the  “chhhchhh haaa haaaaha”.

#3:

Saw (2004-2010)

The theme for the Saw franchise is a mix of rock and pop? Either way, it’s a pretty solid theme that plays as John Kramer says in an effective last line, “Game over.”

#2:

The Shining (1980)

Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind composed the theme for The Shining and is it ever haunting. The theme contains samples of the Gregorian chant “Dies Irae”, which you can compare to here.

Before unveiling my #1, honorable mentions go to:

                                                                    The Exorcist (1973) and  Psycho (1960).

And my top pick is…

#1:

 Halloween (1978-2018)

John Carpenter’s Halloween has been going strong since its debut in 1978. It also recently spawned a sequel where Jamie Lee Curtis reprised her role from 40 years ago as Laurie Strode. In my opinion, the theme for this one is most memorable and catchy. Have a listen.

Do you agree with my list? Did I miss any of your favourite horror themes? What other ones should be included on here? Let me know!

First snow of the season

Coming from a city that barely touched 11°C in winters was a big change for me. Seeing snowfall for the first time was so exciting. I had seen snow back in India but experiencing snow falling from the sky was eye-popping for a person like me. However, from what I remember, snow in India was very different than snow in Canada.  When I searched about it, I came to know that there are actually various types of snow.

What I noticed was that snow in India was more ice and less water. It was not soft at all. When I used to watch Hollywood movies that had snow in them, I always used to get fascinated by the idea of living somewhere where it snowed. But whenever I used to go anywhere that had snow in India, I never used to enjoy it. I used to see little kids make snowballs and have snowball fights with their siblings or loved ones in the movies. 

When I tried to make a snowball in India, it did not end so well. From what I remember, I was not able to make a perfect round snowball like they did in the movies, but oh well, what did I know then? So I threw the hard as rock so-called-snowball at my big brother and let’s just say it did not end very well for me or my brother. My brother hurt himself and I got into trouble.  

Tried making a snow angel again at the age of 7.

I'd also see people make perfect snow angels in the movies but when I tried it as a kid, I failed miserably. The spot looked more like a giant foot’s footprint than a snow angel. And about making a snowman, it was almost impossible to make a snowman in that kind of a snow. Strange, Isn’t it? 

  

That is me trying to make a snow angel at the age of 6.

When I saw  snow here, I thought it’d be the same. But I couldn’t be more wrong, the snow here is so soft. I was finally able to make a perfect snowman and was able to have a snowball fight with my cousins. I also realized that snow angels are actually possible.  

If you guys ever visit India, I’d recommend you to go to Rohtang Pass and experience a different kind of snow. Rohtang is a very fun tourist place in India and there are various kinds of snow activities that you can do. 

 

If you wanna know more about my experience of the snow in India, I did post my childhood pictures when I joined Facebook, you could check them out on my Facebook page.

How to Stop Procrastinating

Procrastination can be a hard thing to shake. Especially as students, a lot of us find ourselves putting off that especially daunting task. I have stuggled with procrastination for years. Even now I find myself sometimes falling back into this horrible habit of putting tasks off. 

When I was younger I hated school work so much that anything seemed better than doing my assignments or studying for a test that I would find myself hours before a deadline freaking out, repeatedly asking myself how I got to this point? Where I had all these weeks to finish this task but yet I find myself having nothing done. This went on all the way from elementry to high school, till college I finally admitted to myself I needed to stop and conquer my problem.

It took a while, but I finally am on a road where I don't need to stress because I have most things figured out. I took control of my problem and so can you!

To stop the puttering here are nine helpful tips:

1. Stop thinking. Start doing.Having a game plan can help you achieve what you want to achieve. Spending too much time on a plan can have the oposite affect. Don't become obsessed with creating the "perfect plan" a plan where there is no pain or mistakes, a plan where you will never be rejected. This plan is impossible to create and will just keep you from completing your task. The faster you get started, the easier the task will become and be achieved.
2. Block out distractions. Identify those little things that become distracting to you before tackling a task. Then remove them from your line of sight. For example, if you have a habit of checking your email periodically, then disable your email alert. If social media is your kyptonite, temporality disable your accounts to escape tempotation of checking your accounts.
3. Make a to-do list with all the items that you are avoiding with deadlines, exclude the ones that you know you'll do. For more tips Unstuck has some helpful ideas.
   
4. Create partial deadlines for portions of the project to be finished. This will make the project less overwhelming and more manageable. Try making the end deadline a few days before. That way you can make any changes without the added pressure of finishing the project the night before.
5. Finish the hard stuff.
   When you have multiple deadlines looming, finish the largest task first. Finishing the largest item on your list will make you feel extra productive and give you that boost to tackle the rest of the items on your list.
6. Ask a friend for help.Having a friend to help you with your tasks can make the whole process much more fun. Each of you should have your own set of tasks/goals that way you can hold each other accountable for completing them.
7. Be with people who inspire you to take action.The success of others will inspire you to take action in your own life to achieve your goals, and inspire success in others. You don't have to physically have to hang-out with these people, you can read their blogs and correspond with them regularly through email/social media.
8. Make your goals known to friends and family. That way when you see them, they will ask you about process on your projects.
9. Just do it. There's other way to stop procrastination then facing it. Without taking action the task is never going to be completed, nothing is ever going to happen. Whatever task you are procrastinating on, if you want it done, you just need to do it. Nobody has ever procrastinated their way to success before. Just take action.

 How do you stop procrastinating? Share your tips and tricks below. 

*All images are taken off of Google images*

Depression Cake and the Best Anxiety Trick

When you suffer with anxiety and depression (and mental illness in general), it seems many people have the same advice: “Just get over it! Stop thinking about it and it’ll go away!”

This Mad TV skit starring Bob Newhart is funny, but it really does feel that way when someone you’ve trusted with telling your personal challenges to brushes you off. I’m not here to preach about mental health stigma today, though. No, today, I am going to give you my best technique for dealing with anxiety when it’s running especially high.

Now, this may seem like I’m telling you the same thing Bob Newhart told that lady, but stay with me; The best way to deal with anxiety is to distract yourself. Do anything you like to get your mind off of it. To anyone who doesn’t deal with anxiety and depression, this should seem obvious, but to us, it’s the hardest thing in the world. It’s like telling someone not to look behind them- that’s the only thing they want to do now!


 So, the only way to go about distracting yourself is to do something that takes more mental power than thinking about your anxiety, but not so much effort that it causes you more stress. This is where I can help. I have mastered the art of distraction by collecting various activities that I keep around just in case.


The title of this post, and the pictures too, should give a hint to one such activity- baking! I have so many little baking projects collected now that require minimal effort, but enough thinking that I forget about what I was freaking out about before. Today I chose to make a pumpkin spiced depression cake. The name is fitting, no?

The recipe will be at the bottom of this post if you’d like to make your own. The depression cake is one of my favourite distractions because it’s so easy. No eggs, no butter, no milk; you can even mix and bake it in the same pan.

Now, I promised you some more distractions, didn’t I? Try:

• Writing prompts

• Doing something from this list

• Buying something from this store for just a dollar

• DIY-ing something easy

• Reading some self-help articles

There, now you have at least a few months worth of distractions for yourself. You may even find a new hobby out of it! This trick won't cure your anxiety, by any means, but it will help to lessen it when it is a particularly bad day. Tell me in the comments below: How do you deal with anxiety and depression? If you have any other distracting activities, share them with me!

Of course, as promised, here is the recipe for my easy (vegan) pumpkin spice depression cake:

A Hammock by the Water

Although I love Toronto, and it was the reason I decided to attend school here… Lake Ontario is nothing to run up the stairs and yell back down about (nothing special), nor is it somewhere I

would enjoy swimming in or find any bit relaxing. I love going somewhere where the water is  

absolutely beautiful and the atmosphere is calming. Because my ideal scenario is of that, throw in a hammock and it hands down becomes my favourite place. For me, a hammock is the easiest way to relax, whether it is a hammock by the lake, or a resort somewhere down south that has provided them… I will plop myself in that hammock and I DO NOT MOVE out of it until I absolutely have too.

 

My favourite thing about laying in a hammock

is that I can enjoy it during a hot day, while I sloth out and soak in the sun. I once fell asleep on a hammock for three hours one day while on vacation in St. Lucia… next thing I knew my face got so burnt it peeled off two days later (sorry if that made you throw up). This of course was my fault for not putting sunscreen on, but it is the perfect example of how easy it is for me to fall asleep while laying in a hammock.

I also love laying in a hammock on a cool fall day while it’s a bit windy and I have wrapped myself up like burrito with the fuzziest blanket I could find, slowly sipping on a cup of hot tea, while reading my favourite book… a recipe of perfection.

Either way, both scenarios allow me to enjoy nature. While I soak up a bit of sun, I allow myself to hear the birds chirping, all while the gusts of wind help the hammock to rock blissfully while I relax.

There is something about a hammock that allows me to forget about all my problems and just rest until I fall asleep… That for me, is one of life’s sweetest pleasures and of course, my favourite place to be.

What do you find relaxes you the most? Is it getting your hair done, getting coffee with friends, or simply laying on the couch while binge watching your favourite TV series (all which I love by the way).