#Alison Holt

[thepastisalreadywritten]

By KATHY McCORMACK and ROBERT F. BUKATY

November 21, 2023

HINSDALE, N.H. (AP) — Geoffrey Holt was unassuming as the caretaker of a mobile home park in Hinsdale, New Hampshire, where he lived a simple, but curious life.

Residents would see Holt around town in threadbare clothes — riding his lawn mower, headed to the convenience store, parked along the main road reading a newspaper or watching cars pass.

He did odd jobs for others but rarely left town. Despite having taught driver’s ed to high schoolers, Holt had given up driving a car.

He opted for a bicycle instead and finally the mower.

His mobile home in the park was mostly empty of furniture — no TV and no computer, either. The legs of the bed went through the floor.

“He seemed to have what he wanted, but he didn’t want much,” said Edwin “Smokey” Smith, Holt’s best friend and former employer.

But Holt died earlier this year with a secret: He was a multimillionaire.

And what’s more, he gave it all away to this community of 4,200 people.

His will had brief instructions: $3.8 million to the town of Hinsdale to benefit the community in the areas of education, health, recreation and culture.

“I don’t think anyone had any idea that he was that successful,” said Steve Diorio, chairperson of the town selectboard who’d occasionally wave at Holt from his car.

“I know he didn’t have a whole lot of family, but nonetheless, to leave it to the town where he lived in ... It’s a tremendous gift.”

The money could go far in this Connecticut River town sandwiched between Vermont and Massachusetts with abundant hiking and fishing opportunities and small businesses.

It’s named for Ebenezer Hinsdale, an officer in the French and Indian Wars who built a fort and a grist mill.

In addition to Hinsdale’s house, built in 1759, the town has the nation’s oldest continually operating post office, dating back to 1816.

There’s been no formal gathering to discuss ideas for the money since local officials were notified in September.

Some residents have proposed upgrading the town hall clock, restoring buildings, maybe buying a new ballot counting machine in honor of Holt, who always made sure he voted.

Another possibility is setting up an online drivers’ education course.

Organizations would be be able to apply for grants via a trust through the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, drawing from the interest, roughly about $150,000 annually.

"Hinsdale will utilize the money left very frugally as Mr. Holt did,” said Kathryn Lynch, town administrator.

Holt’s best friend Smith, a former state legislator who became the executor of Holt’s estate, had learned about his fortune in recent years.

He knew Holt, who died in June at age 82, had varied interests, like collecting hundreds of model cars and train sets that filled his rooms, covered the couch and extended into a shed.

He also collected books about history, with Henry Ford and World War II among his favorite topics.

Holt had an extensive record collection too, including Handel and Mozart.

Smith also knew that Holt, who earlier in life had worked as a production manager at a grain mill that closed in nearby Brattleboro, Vermont, invested his money.

Holt would find a quiet place to sit near a brook and study financial publications.

Holt confided to Smith that his investments were doing better than he had ever expected and wasn’t sure what to to do with the money. Smith suggested that he remember the town.

“I was sort of dumbfounded when I found out that all of it went to the town,” he said.

One of Holt’s first investments into a mutual fund was in communications, Smith said. That was before cellphones.

Holt’s sister, 81-year-old Alison Holt of Laguna Woods, California, said she knew her brother invested and remembered that not wasting money and investing were important to their father.

“Geoffrey had a learning disability. He had dyslexia,” she said.

“He was very smart in certain ways. When it came to writing or spelling, he was a lost cause. And my father was a professor.

So, I think that Geoff felt like he was disappointing my dad. But maybe socking away all that money was a way to compete.”

She and her brother grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts. Their father, Lee Holt, taught English and world literature at American International College.

Their mother, Margaret Holt, had a Shakespearean scholar for a dad.

She was an artist who “absorbed the values of the Quaker Society of Friends,” according to her obituary.

Both parents were peace activists who eventually moved to Amherst and took part in a weekly town vigil that addressed local to global peace and justice issues.

Their children were well-educated. Geoffrey went to boarding schools and attended the former Marlboro College in Vermont, where students had self-designed degree plans.

He graduated in 1963 and served in the U.S. Navy before earning a master’s degree from the college where his father taught in 1968.

In addition to driver’s ed, he briefly taught social studies at Thayer High School in Winchester, New Hampshire, before getting his job at the mill.

Alison remembers their father reading Russian novels to them at bedtime.

Geoffrey could remember all those long names of multiple characters.

He seemed to borrow a page from his own upbringing, which was strict and frugal, according to his sister, a retired librarian.

His parents had a vegetable garden, kept the thermostat low, and accepted donated clothes for their children from a friend.

She said Geoffrey didn’t need a lot to be happy, didn’t want to draw attention to himself, and might have been afraid of moving.

He once declined a promotion at the mill that would have required him to relocate.

“He always told me that his main goal in life was to make sure that nobody noticed anything,” she said, adding that he’d say “or you might get into trouble.”

They didn’t talk much about money, though he would ask her often if she needed anything.

“I just feel so sad that he didn’t indulge himself just a little bit,” she said.

But he never seemed to complain. He also always wasn’t on his own, either.

As a young man, he was briefly married and divorced.

Years later, he grew close to a woman at the mobile home park and moved in with her. She died in 2017.

Neither Alison nor Geoffrey had any children.

Holt suffered a stroke a couple of years ago and worked with therapist Jim Ferry, who described him as thoughtful, intellectual and genteel, but not comfortable with following the academic route that family members took.

Holt had developed mobility issues following his stroke and missed riding his mower.

“I think for Geoff, lawn mowing was relaxation, it was a way for him to kind of connect with the outdoors,” Ferry said.

“I think he saw it as service to people that he cared about, which were the people in the trailer park that I think he really liked because they were not fancy people.”

Residents are hoping Hinsdale will get noticed a bit more because of the gift.

“It’s actually a forgotten corner in New Hampshire,” said Ann Diorio, who’s married to Steve Diorio and is on the local planning board. “So maybe this will put it on the map a little bit.”

[salonduthe]

Alison Holt, Seascape.

[sil3ntm0thart]

[multiworlds666]

[dk-thrive]

There is no such thing as a happy place. Because when you are happy, everywhere is a happy place. And when you are sad, everywhere is a sad place.

— Alison Espach, The Wedding People: A Novel (Henry Holt and Co., July 30, 2024)

[ikft]

Thoughts on Season 1 of Suits:Japan

I finished the first season of the Japanese adaptation of Suits (conveniently titled スーツ which is just a transliteration) I was actually really surprised by how faithful it tried to be, to the point where whole chunks of dialogue are taken from the original and even certain stylistic elements of the sets are copied.

But Japanese society is both more conservative and much more patriarchal than American society, not to mention Japan is a completely different country with different laws and different institutional structures. It would be impossible for them to translate the American series without any changes. Most of the storylines wouldn't make sense set in Japan exactly like they are in the original. It was interesting to see what they changed and what they kept.

(I'll be referring to the characters by their original names to keep it from being confusing but, yes, all the characters actually have Japanese names)

They made a lot of little changes to make Mike more palatable to a Japanese audience. He no longer smokes pot so all the drug-related storylines were either adjusted to make Mike unaware of the drug element, or changed to alcohol instead. Jenny is not Trevor's girlfriend in this version, she's his little sister. When Trevor betrays Mike to Jessica, it's not because he caught Mike sleeping with his girlfriend but because Mike has broken his little sister's heart by liking someone else. Since Mike never sees her as more than a little sister, the love triangle between Mike-Jenny-Rachel is maintained but does not complicate Mike's "nice guy" image. Instead of Mike flipping between his affection and attraction to both girls, Jenny essentially casts herself as Mike's pseudo-housewife--cooking him dinner when he comes home and checking in on Grammy--and Mike just accepts this without reciprocating any romantic feelings. Mike seems oblivious to the context of allowing his "childhood friend" to essentially play his wife and it's only after he corrects several people who refer to Jenny as his girlfriend that he decides to clarify his non-feelings with Jenny.

Across the board, a lot of the romantic and sexual content of the show is removed. Scottie is swapped out completely for a minor male character they used in another plotline. And then fake!Scottie is himself swapped out for Robert Zane, who is styled as a much more traditional villain with much stronger loyalty to Hardman whereas in the American version he was definitely more neutral. The character who shows up originally as the Japanese version of Vivian Tanaka at times fills in for Scottie, Alison Holt, and Zoey in scenes. Her relationship with Harvey is a bit flirtatious but not at all sexual.

In fact, Harvey has basically no personal life at all. We get one classic Harvey Specter man-slut scene where he's in a tuxedo taking a beautiful woman to the Phantom of the Opera only to ditch her for work. But immediately we find out that it actually wasn't a date at all, he asked her out to set her up in order to help a client.

Donna is basically just Harvey's secretary. They don't have much notable banter, there is no can opener (they do have this weird thing with gum but it's not a pre-trial ritual or anything) Although she does what she does against Cameron, it's not portrayed as anything other than normal loyalty.

The closest thing Harvey has to sexual tension is with Jessica ... but not the way he does in the original. They made Harvey ten years older, so the mentor-mentee relationship between him and Jessica is gone. The actors are about the same age!

They cut basically all the associates' storylines 😭 I mean those were some of the best/funniest interludes in the original. No rookie dinner, no Bainbridge briefs, there is a Harvard quiz but Mike loses (not sure why they changed that) This means Mike and Rachel do not actually interact that often, despite Rachel still being the primary love interest. And just like they toned Mike down, they toned Rachel way waaaaaaayyy down. She's a classic good girl, a bit robotic and drone like in her seriousness.

But they kept many of the cases! Even cases that seemed like they could not work outside of a NYC setting like Harvey defending Ray post-traffic accident. They make a lot of cosmetic changes--McKernon Motors is changed to a luxury watchmaker--but nothing so severe that you do not recognize the original immediately.

On the other hand, there are some changes that would make fanfic readers nod their heads in approval: Mike buys the suits from Rene (and charges them to Harvey's account), Harvey pays for Mike to get a new apartment, when Harvey asks Mike how he took tests for female customers in his cheating side hustle Mike tells Harvey that sometimes he dresses up like a girl. And ... Harvey might have sent Mike to Harvard Law in the end? It's a little vague ... In the last episode Harvey hands Mike a ticket to Boston and a check for some absurdly large sum of money and tells him he has two years, go have some fun. Mike responds "I'll only need one year" (although Harvard Law is a three year program so fuck both of you)

Conclusion, is this worth tracking down and watching? Mmmm... depends, if you're a fan of J-dramas and love Suits you will probably be amused by how familiar characters and stories pop up. But to be honest, one of the things that made the show so compelling to me was the moral ambiguity of the main characters. It's a show about corporate lawyers, people typically portrayed as villains or henchmen are in fact our heroes and people who want to follow the law tend to be villains unless they get with the program and start enabling the Harvey Specter's Fantastic Crime Wave (Sean Cahill, we're looking at you)

[palmviewfm]

Thinking of joining! Mw females?

oh  my  goodness, yaaaay !  i'm  so  excited  to  see  your  app  if  you  do  decide  to  apply  !  so  far  our  current  mwf  for  fcs  are:  samantha  logan,  maia  mitchell,  cierra  ramirez,  adria  arjona,  madison  bailey,  rachel  zegler,  sabrina  carpenter,  meg  donnelly,  halle  bailey,  ryan  destiny,  lizeth  selene,  danielle  rose  russell,  kaylee  kaneshiro,  daisy  edgar  jones,  dakota  johnson,  michaela  jae  rodriguez,  emily  browning,  ayo  edebiri,  carla  gugino,  zion  moreno,  anna  lamb,  blu  hunt,  auli'i  cravalho,  hunter  schafer,  zendaya  coleman,  alycia  debnam-carey,  nicola  coughlan,  phoebe  dyvenor,  lyrica okano, lulu antarisksa, olivia holt, virginia gardner, simone  ashley,  vanessa  morgan,  chelsea clark, sara waisglass, antonia gentry, minnie mills, milly alcock, bailee madison, malia pyles , maia reficco, isabella gomez, zaria simone, olivia rodrigo, chandler kinney, whitney peak, vitoria strada, hande ercel, savannah lee smith, natalie alyn lind, renee rapp, sofia  carson,  adeline  rudolph,  tati  gabrielle,  danielle  campbell,  camila  mendes,  brianne howey, indiana evans, liz gillies, victoria justice, ashleigh  murray,  midori francis, angela  sarafyan,  and  dewanda  wise. and  for  counterparts  we'd  love  to  see:  emily  fields,  spencer  hastings,  alison  dilaurentis,  mona  vanderwaal,  aria  montgomery,  peyton  sawyer,  rachel  gatina,  quinn  james,  elena  gilbert,  katherine  pierce,  caroline  forbes,  bonnie  bennett,  cheryl  blossom,  sabrina  spellman,  libby  chessler,  stephanie  tanner,  marcia  brady,  betty  cooper,  veronica  lodge,  meredith  grey,  issa  dee,  jessica  day,  christina  yang,  fleabag,  buffy  summers,  faith  lehane,  jessica  pearson,  elle  woods,  analise  keating,  olive  penderghast,  monica  geller,  frances  baby  houseman,  betty  rizzo,  sandy  olson,  tracey  turnblad,  joey potter, jen lindley, donna  sheridan,  sophie  sheridan,  claire  standish,  allison  reynolds,  cher  horowitz,  olivia  pope,  bella  swan,  rosalie  hale,  alice  cullen,  esme  cullen,  willow  rosenberg,  grace le domas, georgia miller, blair  waldorf,  serena  van  der  woodsen,  and  georgina  sparks  !

[manyfandomocs]

Pretty Little Liars OC Masterlist

Name: Artemis Fitz

Fic: Two Can Keep A Secret

Love Interest: Hanna Marin & Caleb Rivers

FC: Sofia Black-D'Elia

Name: Beatrix Fitzgerald

Fic: Stalemate

Love Interest: TBD

FC: Phoebe Tonkin

Name: Emmett DiLaurentis

Fic: Edge of Great

Love Interest: Aria Montgomery

FC: Austin Butler

Name: Gianna Todd

Fic: Taking This One To The Grave

Love Interest: Alison DiLaurentis

FC: Angourie Rice

Name: Lilith Fowler

Fic: Jealousy, Jealousy

Love Interest: Emily Fields

FC: Leighton Meester

Name: Lucian Fitz

Fic: Two Can Keep A Secret

Love Interest: Mona Vanderwaal

FC: Logan Lerman

Name: Nalani Barker

Fic: A Cautionary Tale

Love Interest: Mona Vanderwaal or Spencer Hastings

FC: Auli'i Cravalho

Name: Sabrina Kline

Fic: Everything To Win

Love Interest: Wesley Fitzgerald or Aria Montgomery

FC: Olivia Holt

Name: Samuel Carlson

Fic: Feed The Machine

Love Interest: Hanna Marin

FC: Cody Christian

Name: Tessa Marin

Fic: Nothing Left To Lose

Love Interest: Mike Montgomery

FC: Taylor Momsen

[stringhq]

Mwf? This looks amazing!!!!

thank you so much! i'd love to see alexa demie, america ferrera, anne hathaway, anya taylor joy, ayo edebiri, brittany snow, carey mulligan, chase sui wonders, coco jones, courteney cox, elizabeth lail, fka twigs, halle bailey, havana rose liu, jane de leon, jenna ortega, jessie buckley, maggie q, margot robbie, melissa barrera, mia goth, rachel sennott, sophie turner, sydney sweeney, tati gabrielle, taylor russell, victoria pedretti, willa fitzgerald, and zendaya. there are a bunch of ideas under the cut too from when i was in a spooky mood!

abbey lee, addison rae, aimee carrero, alexandra jensen, alison oliver, allison williams, alona tal, alyssa sutherland, amanda seyfried, america ferrera, andi matichak, angela bassett, antoinette robinson, anya taylor-joy, ayo edebiri, bahar pars, bethlehem million, billie lourd, brittany snow, caitlin stasey, carey mulligan, celeste o'connor, chase sui wonders, chloe bailey, cleopatra coleman, courteney cox, devyn nekoda, dominique fishback, elizabeth moss, ella balinska, emily tennant, fivel stewart, florence pugh, georgina campbell, gideon adlon, gillian anderson, gina gershon, grace byers, havana rose liu, hayden panettiere, hong chau, jane adams, janet mcteer, jasmin savoy brown, jenna coleman, jessie buckley, judy greer, julie bowen, kaia gerber, kaitlyn denver, kathryn newton, katie winter, keke palmer, kiernan shipka, kirby howell-bapitiste, kristen stewart, lady gaga, liana liberato, lily sullivan, lola zackow, lucy boynton, lucy hale, maggie q, maika monroe, maria bakalova, marin ireland, marley shelton, meghan martin, melissa barrera, mia goth, michelle yeoh, mikey madison, miranda otto, myha'la, nell verlaque, neve campbell, nichole sakura, odeya rush, olivia holt, paris jackson, portia doubleday, rachel sennott, renata vaca, rosamund pike, ruby cruz, samara weaving, sandra oh, sarah snook, shabana azeez, shannyn sossamon, shawnee smith, silvina sabater, sonia ammar, sophie thatcher, sophie wilde, sosie bacon, taissa farmigo, taylor russell, tina fey, virginia gardner, x mayo, or yvonne orjii!

[tinseltown-rp]

Mw females?

Zoe Kravitz, Cobie Smulders, Holland Roden, Shailene Woodley, Zooey Deschanel, Nikki Reed, Alona Tal, Noomi Rapace, Imogen Poots, Jessica Szohr, Penelope Mitchell, Anne Hathaway, Jurnee Smollett, Annabell Wallis, Lily Collins, Olivia Munn, Karen Fukahara, Angela Bassett, Danielle Panabaker, Gemma Chan, Reese Whitherspoon, Jennifer Lawrence, Lily Rabe, Alexis Knapp, Taissa Farmiga, Alexandra Breckenridge, Rihanna, Doja Cat, Marisa Tomei, Maya Hawke, Lady Gaga, Elizabeth Lail, Brie Larson, Ashley Greene, Evangeline Lily, Claire Holt, Alice Eve, Saoirse Ronan, Emeraude Toubia, Gal Gadot, Kristen Stewart, Millie Bobby Brown, Karen Gillan, Kate Mara, Elizabeth Banks, Blake Lively, Melissa Benoist, Kristen Bell, Jessica Chastain, Candice Patton, Sarah Paulson, Scarlett Johansson, Olivia Holt, Sarah Hyland, Mila Kunis, Natalie Dromer, Natalia Dyer, Zendaya, Sophie Turner, Emma Watson, Hailee Steinfeld, Kat Dennings, Adelaide Kane, Ana De Armas, Gwen Stefani, Vanessa Morgan, Kesha, Lana Del Rey, Crystal Reed, Lupita Nyong'o, Alison Brie, Christina Ricci, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Emma Stone, Avril Lavigne, Lili Reinhart, Hayley Atwell, Teresa Palmer, Gwyneth Paltrow, Camilia Mendes, Audrey Plaza, Evan Rachel Wood, Britt Robertson, Lily James, Victoria Pedretti, Florence Pugh, Leslie Grossman, Nina Dobrev, Winona Ryder

Members! Feel free to add yours below!

[ginger-grimm]

🐸 + Connie, the best Cunningham?

CONNIE CONNIE CONNIE, thank you @daughter-of-melpomene

Something they collect: Records, she loves music so much and has an entire trunk of all kinds of old records stored under her bed. They are sacred to her!

Their sun, moon, and rising star sign: Pisces, Virgo, and Virgo

The first thing they bought with their own money: Food, specifically a "lifetime" supply of cereal to share with Curtis

One positive personality trait of theirs: She's a die-hard supporter of her loved ones, like ride or die all the way.

Their favorite 80s song: Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes (also her Vecna song)

If they're a good or bad cook: She's decent enough. As he mother never let her eat much of anything, certainly not any hearty meals, she's had to teach herself pretty much anything she knows what to do in the kitchen.

Their favorite horror movie: Nightmare on Elm Street

Who would play them in a biopic about their life: Halston Sage or Olivia Holt

Who would play their older/younger version: Kiernan Shipka for the younger and Alison Lohman for the older version

An event from their High School reunion (if they haven't had one, time travel and make one up!): Caspar convinces Steve to do a breakdance routine on the gym floor and has Connie film the whole thing - and I mean everything, from Steve accidentally kicking Nancy in the shin, to wiping Jonathan to the floor, to popping out his shoulder at the very end.

[2000sfm]

hypothetically… do you have a most wanted existing reboot and/or character to be taken up 👀

oh  i  actually  love  this  question  !!!  some  roles  we  would  love  to  be  taken  up  in  each  reboot  are  under  the  cut  as  the  list  is  so  long.  

the  vampire  diaries  :  jenna  sommers,  jeremy  gilbert,  all  of  the  mikaelsons,  vicki  donovan,  tyler  lockwood,  lexi  branson

the  oc  :  marissa  cooper,  seth  cohen,  sandy  cohen,  kirsten  cohen,  anna  stern,  julie  cooper,  taylor  townsend,  kaitlin  cooper.

one  tree  hill  :  lucas  scott,  brooke  davis,  keith  scott,  deb  scott,  dan  scott,  peyton  sawyer,  jake  jagielski,  mouth  mcfadden,  rachel  gatina,  karen  roe,  chris  keller,  skills  taylor

gossip  girl  :  jenny  humphrey,  lily  van  der  woodsen,  rufus  humphrey,  eric  van  der  woodsen,  vanessa  abrams,  ivy  dickens,  carter  baizen

sons  of  anarchy  :  opie  winston,  donna  winston,  tara  knowles,  juice  ortiz,  chibs  telford,  trig  trager,  happy,  half-sack  epps,  wendy  case,  bobby  munson

gilmore  girls  :  rory  gilmore,  jess  mariano,  luke  danes,  tristan  dugray,  logan  huntzberger,  sookie  st.  james,  lane  kim,  paris  geller,  dean  forester

true  blood  :  lafayette  reynolds,  eric  northman,  jessica  hamby,  bill  compton,  tara  thorton,  jason  stackhouse,  alcide  herveaux,  sam  merlotte

the  office  :  dwight  schrute,  michael  scott,  jim  halpert,  erin  hannon,  andy  bernard,  oscar  martinez,  karen  filippelli

buffy  the  vampire  slayer  :  angel,  spike,  willow  rosenberg,  faith,  xander  harris,  drusilla,  dawn  summers,  cordelia  chase,  riley  flynn,  tara  maclay

pretty  little  liars  :  emily  fields,  maya  st.  germain,  spencer  hastings,  hanna  marin,  kate  randall,  alison  dilaurentis,  jason  dilaurentis,  mike  montgomery

high  school  musical  :  ryan  evans,  kelsi  nielson,  gabriella  montez,  coach  bolton,  ms.  darbus,  martha  cox

freaky  friday  :  stacey  hinkhouse,  peg,  ryan,  maddie

jennifers  body  :  chip  dove,  colin  gray,  nikolai  wolf,  toni  lesnicky

twilight  :  rosalie  hale,  jessica  stanley,  edward  cullen,  bella  swan,  esme  cullen,  carlisle  cullen,  jacob  black,  jane,  aro,  caius,  angela  webber,  mike  newton,  eric  yorkie,  leah  clearwater,  emily  young,  sam  uley,  james,  laurent,  victoria,  bree  tanner

resident  evil  :  albert  wesker,  jill  valentine,  leon  s.  kennedy,  chris  redfield,  barry  burton,  ada  wong,  billy  coen,  rebecca  chambers,  ashley  graham,  carlos  oliveira

the  devil  wears  prada  :  andrea  sachs,  nigel,  emily  charlton,  christian  thompson,  james  holt,  nate

almost  famous  :  russell  hammond,  william  miller,  dennis  hope,  polexia  aphrodisia,  anita  miller

scream  :  gale  weathers,  dewey  riley,  tatum  riley,  billy  loomis,  stu  macher,  randy  meeks,  casey  becker,  cotton  weary

[drzito]

Las 242 peliculas que he visto en 2023 (parte 1)

Tarzan y su compañera (Cedric Gibbons, 1934).

2. El fantasma y la Sra Muir (Joseph L Mankiewicz, 1947)

3. Odio entre hermanos (Joseph L Mankiewicz, 1949)

4. Testigo accidental (Richard Fleischer, 1952)

5. El rastro de la pantera (William A Wellman, 1954)

6. El tigre dormido (Joseph Losey, 1954)

7. El quinteto de la muerte (Alexander McKendrick, 1955)

8. 40 pistolas (Samuel Fuller, 1957)

9. La maldición de Frankenstein (Terence Fisher, 1957)

10. Ocho horas de terror (Seijun Suzuki, 1957)

11. The Trollenberg terror (Quentin Lawrence, 1958)

12. La Venganza (Juan Antonio Bardem, 1958)

13. Un golpe de gracia (Jack Arnold, 1959)

14. A todo riesgo (Claude Sautet, 1960)

15. La evasion (Jacques Becker, 1960)

16. El sabor del miedo (Seth Holt, 1961)

17. Detective bureau 2 3. Go to hell bastards! (Seijun Suzuki, 1963)

18. The white tiger tattoo (Seijun Suzuki, 1965)

19. A traves del huracan (Monte Hellman, 1966)

20. El Tiroteo (Monte Hellman, 1966)

21. La soltera retozona (Silvio Narizzano, 1966)

22. Dimension 5 (Franklin Adreon, 1966)

23. Los Productores (Mel Brooks, 1967)

24. Un hombre (Martin Ritt, 1967)

25. Sebastian (David Greene, 1968)

26. El Bastardo (Duccio Tessari, 1968)

27. El lagarto negro (Kinji Fukasaku, 1968)

28. La louve solitaire (Edouard Logereau, 1968)

29. Aquel dia frio en el parque (Robert Altman, 1969)

30. Corazones en fuga (Michael Powell, 1969)

31. La bestia ciega (Yasuzo Masumura, 1969).

32. El bosque del lobo (Pedro Olea, 1970)

33. El grito del fantasma (Gordon Hessler, 1970)

34. Drácula y las mellizas (John Hough, 1971).

35. ¡Que viene Valdez! (Edwin Sherin, 1971)

36. Sangre en la tumba de la momia (Seth Holt, 1971)

37. El Otro (Robert Mulligan, 1972)

38. Hermanas (Brian de Palma, 1972)

39. Imagenes (Robert Altman, 1972)

40. Morgiana (Juraj Herz, 1972)

41. El ataque de los muertos sin ojos (Amando de Ossorio, 1973)

42. El programa final (Robert Fuest, 1973)

43. Flor de santidad (Adolfo Marsillach, 1973)

44. Lemora, un cuento sobrenatural (Richard Blackburn, 1973)

45. Messiah of Evil (Willard Huyck y Gloria Katz, 1973)

46. Una vela para el diablo (Eugenio Martin, 1973).

47. Daguerrotipos (Agnes Varda, 1975)

48. La noche de las gaviotas (Armando de Ossorio, 1975)

49. Picnic en Hanging Rock (Peter Weir, 1975)

50. El otro Sr Klein (Joseph Losey, 1976)

51. Terror al anochecer (Charles B Pierce, 1976)

52. El desafio del bufalo blanco (J Lee Thompson, 1977)

53. Largo fin de semana (Colin Eggleston, 1978)

54. El grito (Jerzy Skolimowski, 1978)

55. Los ojos del bosque (John Hough, 1980)

56. Alison’s birthday (Ian Coughlan, 1981)

57. Muertos y enterrados (Gary Sherman, 1981)

58. Wilczyca (Marek Piestrak, 1983)

59. En compañia de lobos (Neil Jordan, 1984).

60. Sangre Facil (Joel Coen, 1984)

61. Sole survivor: Unico superviviente (Thom Eberhardt, 1984)

62. Tasio (Montxo Armendariz, 1984)

63. El tren del infierno (Andréi Konchalovski, 1985)

64. El corazon del angel (Alan Parker, 1987)

65. Jovenes Ocultos (Joel Schumacher, 1987)

66. La chaqueta metalica (Stanley Kubrick, 1987)

67. El fluir de las lagrimas (Won Kar Wai, 1988)

68. Ensalada de gemelas (Jim Abrahams, 1988)

69. Kadaicha, la piedra de la muerte (James Bogle, 1988)

70. Pacto de Sangre (Stan Winston, 1988)

71. Avalon (Barry Levinson, 1990).

72. Misery (Rob Reiner, 1990)

73. La Teranyina (Antoni Verdaguer, 1990)

74. La Tutora (William Friedkin, 1990)

75. Morir Todavia (Kenneth Branagh, 1990)

76. La jungla de cristal 2 (Renny Harlin, 1990)

77. Solo en casa (Chris Columbus, 1990)

78. Alien 3 (David Fincher, 1992)

79. Mi novia es un zombi (Michele Soavi, 1994)

80. Nadja (Michael Almereyda, 1994)

81. Esto (no) es un secuestro (Ted Demme, 1994)

82. Dos Policias Rebeldes (Michael Bay, 1995)

83. El demonio vestido de azul (Carl Franklin, 1995)

84. Heat (Michael Mann, 1995)

85. Jovenes y brujas (Andrew Fleming, 1996)

86. Agarrame esos fantasmas (Peter Jackson, 1996)

87. Herbert's Hippopotamus: Marcuse and Revolution in Paradise (Paul Alexander Juutilainen, 1996).

88. La Roca (Michael Bay, 1996)

89. Tierra (Julio Medem, 1996)

90. 99.9. La frecuencia del terror (Agusti Villaronga, 1997)

91. Fallen (Gregory Hoblit, 1998)

92. Un plan sencillo (Sam Raimi, 1998)

93. El halcon ingles (Steven Soderbergh, 1999).

94. Ilusiones de un mentiroso (Peter Kassovitz. 1999)

95. Flores de otro mundo (Iciar Bollain, 1999)

96. Ravenous (Antonia Bird, 1999)

97. Wisconsin Death Trip (James Marsh, 1999)

98. Dagon: La secta del mar (Stuart Gordon, 2001)

99. Escalofrio (Bill Paxton, 2001)

100. Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary (Guy Maddin, 2002)

101. 2 hermanas (Jee-Woon Kim, 2003)

102. Dos policias rebeldes II (Michael Bay, 2003)

103. Los Angeles Play Itself (Thom Andersen, 2003)

104. El reportero: La leyenda de Ron Burgundy (Adam McKay, 2004)

105. El Septimo Dia (Carlos Saura, 2004)

106. La vida que te espera (Manuel Gutierrez Aragon, 2004)

107. Los Edukadores (Hans Weingartner, 2004)

108. Misteriosa obsesion (Joseph Ruben, 2004)

109. Yo, Robot (Alex Proyas, 2004)

110. Hostel (Eli Roth, 2005)

111. Wolf Creek (Greg McLean, 2005)

112. Bajo cero (Frank Marshall, 2006)

113. El Inadaptado (Jens Lien, 2006)

114. Sheitan (Kim Chapiron, 2006)

115. The last winter (Larry Fessenden, 2006)

116. 30 dias de oscuridad (David Slade, 2007)

117. Borderland. Al otro lado de la frontera (Zev Berman, 2007)

118. Diarios de la calle (Richard LaGravenese, 2007)

119. Frontera(s) (Xavier Gens, 2007)

120. Hostel 2 (Eli Roth, 2007)

121. Water Lilies (Celine Sciamma, 2007)

[sil3ntm0thart]

[booksinmythorax]

Some fiction books with sad endings to consider reading, and why

Raise your hand if you've ever been personally victimized by a book where the dog dies at the end. Raise your other hand if you literally flinch when you hear the words "Bridge to Terabithia".

So much of what we read for school in America, at least when I was growing up, was so sad, wasn't it? It was worse when the sadness wasn't earned, when the book was 100 pages of playing with puppies and then 20 pages of sobbing (looking at you, Where the Red Fern Grows).

Why all the bummers? There's a little bit of snobbishness at play there - speaking as someone who got an English degree in undergrad, there are a lot of people who don't believe a book has literary value if it has a happy ending. But there's something more, too: emotional education.

Globally, we're dealing with a lot of sadness in real life right now and have been for many years. There is a very real global mental health crisis happening, especially among young people. Sometimes it is good to use media as a fluffy escape from a grim reality, and as a species we do love a happy ending. I firmly believe in hope and love the hopepunk genre - but I also believe that everything doesn't work out the way we want it to all the time.

Sadness in fiction can function as practice or companionship for experiencing sadness in real life. If you're in the right mindset, it's important to read sad books.

It's not a spoiler to say that the endings of the following books are sad. These books deal with sad material or characters who struggle throughout. Also, a sad ending doesn't necessarily mean the hero doesn't win, that there is no hope for the characters or their world, or that everything is meaningless. It just means acknowledging that suffering is real, sacrifices are sometimes necessary, and at some point, we all have to grieve.

I've listed some titles you might want to peruse below the cut. The "sadness" in them varies book to book, from the personal to the global. I'm linking to The Storygraph for each title, in case you'd like to check the content warnings there. Please comment or send me an ask if you'd like to suggest a title to add to this list! I'd be especially grateful for titles written by Black authors, indigenous authors, and authors of color; titles by Jewish and Muslim authors; and/or titles that were not originally published in English.

-The His Dark Materials trilogy, ending with The Amber Spyglass, by Phillip Pullman (middle grade fantasy about a world where everyone's soul is external, expressed by an animal called a daemon, and a young girl who uncovers a scientific mystery with multiversal consequences)

-A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (young adult fabulism about a boy whose mother has a terminal illness and who suddenly begins receiving visits from a large treelike monster late at night)

-The Elegance of the Hedgehog, written in French by Muriel Barbery and translated into English by Alison Anderson (adult contemporary fiction about a friendship between a middle-aged concierge and a teenage girl with depression, both of whom are secretly brilliant but pretend not to be)

-The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang (adult fantasy about a young woman who gains unimaginable power, paralleling the brutal occupation of China by Japan during World War II)

-The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (young adult historical fiction, narrated by a personified Death, about a girl who begins to steal books in Nazi Germany)

-Dear Martin by Nic Stone (young adult contemporary fiction about a Black American boy named Justyce who begins to write letters to Martin Luther King Jr. after he experiences police violence)

-House Arrest by K.A. Holt (middle grade contemporary fiction in verse about a boy who is put on house arrest for stealing money for his baby brother's medical bills)

-Anger Is a Gift by Mark Oshiro (young adult contemporary fiction about a Black American boy who gets panic attacks after his father is murdered by police, whose life is changed irreversibly again after police violence at his school)

-We Are Okay by Nina Lacour (young adult contemporary fiction about a young lesbian who finds herself reflecting on her grief alone in her dorm over winter break)

-The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (young adult contemporary fiction about a girl who witnesses the violent death of a friend at the hands of police, whose murder then starts a wave of national protests and personal turmoil)

-Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (young adult historical fiction about two young women, one a spy, the other a pilot, during WWII)

-And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (adult historical fiction about a poor family in Afghanistan who experiences far-reaching consequences after a father decides to sell his three-year-old daughter to a wealthy, childless couple)

-A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (adult historical fiction about two Afghani women who marry the same man decades apart after each experiences a family tragedy, as well as what comes after)

-Beloved by Toni Morrison (adult historical fiction about a formerly enslaved woman haunted by the living ghost of her daughter, who died violently as a baby)

-The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides (adult contemporary fiction about a family of sheltered girls who begin to commit suicide one by one)

[dk-thrive]

“And why is she always trying to reduce people, squeeze them into these knowable, tiny boxes where there is room for only one or two personality traits? ... But then she thinks: Nobody is ever like anything all of the time.

― Alison Espach, The Wedding People: A Novel (Henry Holt and Co., July 30, 2024)