What Got Us Through The Week: “David Cop-a-feel” Edition

Oof, what a week. Everything is insane. The architect of the Gulf War gropes women, the architect of Gulf War: The Sequel has a 51 percent approval rating among Democrats, the new budget that slashes healthcare so wealthy heirs can be wealthier was just passed, and if that's not bad enough, the Dodgers are in the World Series.

Here’s what got us through it all!

Horror for Homebodies

If you’re like me, you have no plans to go out to party this Halloween. It’s cool; there’s no shame in wanting to avoid amateur drunks in sexy costumes at overcrowded bars. Personally, I see it as an opportunity to properly celebrate Halloween -- at home, watching a scary movie with the lights off, or reading a horror novel with a creepy soundtrack of my choosing.

Here are a few suggestions for those looking for a spooky night at home:

Old Horror Movie: Legend of Hell House (1973). A crack team of psychics and paranormal scientists are hired by a millionaire to investigate the Belasco House, a.k.a. “the Mount Everest of Haunted Houses.” The ensuing investigation makes for a scary-but-fun tale that’s both a mystery and a horror, and it doesn’t depend on jump-scares and overwhelming amounts of gore to spook its audience.

New Horror Movie: The Void (2016). An updated version of the ‘80s gory monster movie that owes a lot to Clive Barker’s Hellraiser aesthetic and John Carpenter movies like The Fog and The Thing. Once this movie starts, it goes from zero to 60, and the intensity never lets up.

Horror book: Clive Barker’s Books Of Blood. Before he became the mastermind behind the Hellraiser series, Barker was a short story writer whose prose was so masterful and disturbing that it even scared Stephen King (or so he says). Here’s a taste:

The dead have highways. They run, unerring lines of ghost-trains, of dream-carriages, across the wasteland behind our lives, bearing an endless traffic of departed souls. Their thrum and throb can be heard in the broken places of the world, through cracks made by acts of cruelty, violence and depravity.

Music: The Hunt, Revengers in the Darkness. For those that wish John Carpenter’s soundtracks had a beat you could dance to. —Kevin L. Jones

The Love Witch: The Perfect Antidote to Halloween and Harvey Weinstein

Walking my cat for the first time (yes, that's a thing), visiting a bamboo forest near Occidental, and catching the Theatre de la Ville from France performing the hard-hitting Albert Camus drama The State of Siege at Zellerbach Hall all helped me get through this week one way or another. But with Halloween almost upon us, and in the midst of the present barrage of sexual harassment news, the prize for the thing that most got me through the week has to go to The Love Witch. Indie filmmaker Anna Biller's brilliant and twisted cinematic ode to the serial killer movie genre tells the story of a gorgeous sorceress who causes men to fall in love with her so hard that they die. The plot sounds hackneyed, but this 2016 movie is anything but. With her visceral feminist approach, Biller serves up a visually-stunning, intellectually-provocative gut-spiller that is as pleasurable as it is unnerving to watch. Stream it this week via Netflix, if you dare. —Chloe Veltman

Seeing My Favorite Podcast Live

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On Wednesday, I sat in a packed room to watch two people go through a Google Doc and four slide-decks for two hours.

These people -- journalists Lindsey Weber and Bobby Finger -- host Who Weekly?, a podcast which devotes hours to the absurd trappings of D-list celebrities. Because who cares about, say, "sexy felon" Jeremy Meeks' tryst with the heiress to the Topshop throne? Or Who? Weekly patron saint Rita Ora wearing a “striking embellished ensemble?"

Lindsay and Bobby are so snarky and delightful that every episode makes me giggle on my BART commutes; for 45 minutes, I am enraptured in the lives of these Whos. And for one evening this week, that joy was translated onstage. The $25 I paid for entry was well worth it. —Joshua Bote

Do Read the Comments

The New York Times’ online comment section is -- how do I put this -- an “active” space. And by “active,” I mean volatile, divisive, maddening, or all of the above. An Oct. 25 article by Jonathan Martin and Jeremy W. Peters titled “As G.O.P. Bends Toward Trump, Critics Either Give In or Give Up” currently has 543 comments on it, but none are as weird and wonderful and oddly personal as ChristineMcM’s accidental missive.

She starts strong, totally on point, but things go quickly awry when a friend calls and whatever audio-to-text software Christine’s using dutifully records her entire side of the conversation. Word’s still out on whether Norman was headed for the Cape or a cave.

Bassey Etim, community editor for the Times, replied: “Hope your knee feels better!” —Sarah Hotchkiss

Steph Curry's Shoulder Shimmy After His Tie-Breaking Three-Pointer Against the Raptors

The Oct. 25 Warriors game against the Toronto Raptors was an emotional roller coaster: The Dubs maintained a substantial lead throughout the first two quarters, with the Raptors gaining on them in the third. In the fourth quarter, the Raptors finally overtook the Warriors; Kevin Durant's shots weren't going in and Golden State looked visibly panicked with only a few minutes left in the game. Then, after two clutch layups from Steph Curry and a three-pointer from Durant, the Warriors tied the game with only a minute to spare. Durant dribbled into the paint, pump-faked, and passed to Curry, who broke the tie by popping a quick three. As fans breathed out sighs of relief that the Warriors narrowly escaped defeat, Curry stuck out his tongue and sassily shimmied across the court, bringing comic relief into the tense moment. My heart is still racing, but maybe you had to be there? —Nastia Voynovskaya

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman

Trying to channel this spirit this week -- "incredibly huge, with incredible desires for love and vengeance." I think I finally found my Halloween costume. —Kelly Whalen