Halloween Week: Monday #2 - Competition and Trivia Challenge!

In the episode we’re celebrating this week, “Thirteen Years Later,” dark fantasy and reality collide as Frank Black and Emma Hollis struggle to stop a killer whose methods at first follow the script of the movie his victims are making and who then turns to mimicking horror classics that are airing on television in the run-up to Halloween.

In dubious honor of this madcap killing spree and in celebration of the Halloween season, Back to Frank Black has a brand new competition for you! What we would like you to do is search the deepest recesses of your psyche and consider your answer to the following question:

Which famous fictional killer from film or television would you most like to be and why?

All you need to do is send your response to us by e-mail at info@backtofrankblack.com. Make sure your e-mail is titled “Halloween Week Competition” and that you include your full name. Your entry must reach us by midnight on Halloween, October 31st. The Back to Frank Black team will judge the entries on creativity and originality and the winner will receive a DVD copy of Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue--the fantastic, blood-drenched horror documentary written and produced by Joe Maddrey and narrated by Lance Henriksen. This prize will be signed by both Maddrey and Henriksen!

Good luck to all! We look forward to being deeply disturbed by your entries.

As a companion piece to this competition and a means of prolonging our holiday entertainment, we’d also like to torment our faithful readers with thirteen fiendishly difficult trivia questions tied to “Thirteen Years Later.” No prizes will be awarded for this lot, just the guarantee of hair-raising fun as we invite you to examine this unforgettable installment of Millennium. Stay sharp during your annual viewing of “Thirteen Years Later” and search this week’s essays, interviews, and video tributes for clues. We’ll provide the answers to each of the thirteen questions right here on the blog this Sunday--Halloween! Good luck!

1. This Halloween episode acts as an outright celebration of slasher cinema, featuring no less than seven on-screen references to classic horror movies. List them.

2. Lance Henriksen stands as a legendary figure in the history of the horror genre. Which of the horror franchises cited in “Thirteen Years Later” can be tied to the prolific star’s resume?

3. A legend informs us that the events of “Thirteen Years Later” take place in the town of Trinity, South Carolina, linking this episode to what cult horror television series?

4. It’s clear that Frank Black doesn’t much care for horror films; he tells his partner that he prefers detective stories. What detective movie does Emma Hollis, the horror movie buff, cite as her personal favorite?

5. During a quiet moment, the clearly multi-faceted Emma Hollis balances her fangirlish fervor for slasher flicks by relaxing in a bubble bath with a classic work of literature. What book is Emma immersed in?

6. “Thirteen Years Later” features a guest performance by KISS and, notably, includes the band’s members both in and out of their famous stage make-up. Who are the four founding members of KISS and what cameo roles do they play in this episode?

7. KISS provide an energetic performance of the title track from their 1998 album Psycho Circus, a song that reached number one on Billboard’s chart of Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. What other KISS song--like “Psycho Circus,” recorded by the band’s original line-up--is referenced in the episode?

8. Faithful viewers would do well to heed this episode’s cautionary epigraph: “Never believe anything you see on Halloween.” The point is emphasized by the fact that the quote was fabricated for the story by writer Michael R. Perry. Who is the “Reverend” M. Goodman granted tribute with the quotation?

9. This episode allowed director Thomas J. Wright to pay visual homage to a number of classic horror movies and genre motifs. On which big screen horror flick, a veritable modern classic, did Wright join more than a half-dozen other Millennium alums?

10. In spite of Peter Watts’s obvious absence from this episode, what scary screen credit connects Millennium stars Lance Henriksen and Terry O’Quinn with guest star Jeff Yagher? (Need a hint? Add “Omerta” guest star Jon Polito to the mix, too!)

11. Killer Marc Bianco is responsible for slaughtering eight victims during the filming of Madman Maniac. Which characters uttered these unwitting last words on-screen before meeting their bloody end at the hands of the episode’s chameleonic killer? A) “That’d be me.” B) “Here’s to us.” C) “This is the movie Frank Black didn’t want you to see.” D) “I don’t need a bunch of hot-head actors thinking that we don’t have the rights to the story here.” E) “Lew?” F) “This movie’s not over!”

12. Frank Black’s behavior is admittedly somewhat… uncharacteristic in this madcap installment. What action connects the following seemingly disparate episodes of Millennium? “The Beginning and the End,” “Beware of the Dog,” “Roosters,” “TEOTWAWKI,” “Thirteen Years Later,” “Goodbye to All That.”

13. In “Thirteen Years Later,” a criminal investigation conducted by Frank Black crosses with the entertainment industry, but not for the first time. Can you name a Millennium episode in which... A) Frank Black visits an office decorated with movie posters B) Frank channel surfs in bed C) Frank peruses a serial killer’s videocassette collection D) Frank visits the set of a television series E) Frank glimpses a television pilot produced by Glen Morgan and James Wong?