Farrago

The cast of Dead Birds: (front row) Nicki Aycox and Patrick Fugit; (back row, from left) Isaiah Washington, Henry Thomas, Michael Shannon and Mark Boone Junior.

ITEM! Cherie Priest knows her stuff. A couple of weeks ago, she recommended Dead Birds, an indie horror film set during the Civil War. So, I watched it on Pay-Per-View. Twice. Then I ordered the DVD. It's great, creepy stuff. I won't review it, because you can just read Cherie's well-written critique. However, I may include Dead Birds in a larger essay I'm mulling over on Western horror, along with films like High Plains Drifter, Ravenous and perhaps even Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man. (Is that last one horror? Sure, why not?)

ITEM! I succumbed to the hype and bought Elizabeth Kostova's debut novel, The Historian, which is being touted as the next Da Vinci Code -- except only good. I also ordered Neil Jordan's Shade: A Novel, but my sister swiped it as soon as I opened the box. Both books will have to wait, though, as I finally tackle George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. I'd picked up A Clash of Kings some time ago at a train station, I think, but couldn't make heads or tails of the characters. Then I realized it was the second volume. Now I'm ready to read the series in the proper order.

ITEM! The Rochester, Minn., Post-Bulletin has a decent rundown of zombie movies, from White Zombie (1932) to Shaun of the Dead (2004).

ITEM! I wish I lived in Switzerland. The Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival -- a week-long event dedicated to horror, sci-fi and action movies -- sounds, well, fantastic. This year's guests include Terry Gilliam and Kiyoshi Kurosawa.

ITEM! I just like writing "ITEM!" It makes me feel like a 1940s gossip columnist.