I CANNOT SAY I WAS DREADING the event; let me say I was just not looking forward to it. One of the reasons was due to the time, it was during the week. I do not like doing anything but my daily routine after work. The idea of having to fight traffic during rush hour to go all the way downtown was enough reason for me not to go. However, I said I would go, and I did not want to disappoint them. The other main reason I did not want to go was because it was going to be a sit-down dinner event. During the week I eat very little for dinner and more importantly, I eat it very early because I prefer to go to sleep on an empty stomach; it is one of the things I have done to lose weight. If the event called for drinks and appetizers, I could have walked around with a glass of water, and no one would have been the wiser. Except now, I would be sitting with the other guests at large round dinner tables and being served a full-size meal. And that brings up another reason why I wasn’t too thrilled to attend; I would be sitting with people I did not know. There is nothing more awkward than sitting next to people who do not know the basics of carrying on a conversation. When it happens to me, I wind up sounding like a news reporter as I ask them question after question to fill the silence.      A SUIT AND TIE WAS NOT required gratefully, so I dressed in a button-down shirt, sweater and slacks. The traffic was heavy as I expected, but it never came to a dead stop on the expressway. Because I was arriving a little after 5 pm, I was able to find a parking spot in a parking lot close to the restaurant. My friend was waiting for me in the restaurant’s waiting area when I arrived, and we immediately went into the banquet room. I won’t bore you with the details of the pre-dinner chatter and introductions; but I will tell you I was grateful when we were told to take a seat at the tables. Finding a seat, I would up sitting next to an unfamiliar guest. Once our table was full, introductions were made by each of us. The guest next to me had flown in from out of town and we hit it off immediately. We talked about my yoga and fitness classes, her trek from growing up in the Midwest to the career that took her out east. The entire time during the meal, we kept up a steady chatter that was fun and informative. After expecting to have a dull and boring time, I wound up having a good time. The same thing happened to me when I went to see this mystery, horror thriller.      IT HAS BEEN 25 YEARS OF peaceful calm for the town of Woodsboro, since it was terrorized by a serial killer known as Ghostface. However, someone in the town wants to bring back the killer. With Neve Campbell (Wild Things, Skyscraper) as Sidney Prescott, Courtney Cox (3000 Miles to Graceland, Bedtime Stories) as Gale Weathers, David Arquette (Never Been Kissed, Mob Town) as Dewey Riley, Melissa Barrera (In the Heights, Vida-TV) as Sam Carpenter and Jack Quaid (The Hunger Games franchise, Logan Lucky) as Richie Kirsch; this latest installment in the franchise surprised me. I vaguely remembered the original movie and was concerned I needed to see it before this one, but that was not the case. The writers did a good job of mixing old with the new and doing it in an amusing way at times. There were several bloody scenes which as you know is not my thing, but the director did not dwell on them for long. I cannot say I believed the story entirely; however, with the steady pacing and the sense of nostalgia, I stayed engaged for the most part. Keep in mind, I was expecting the worst but wound up enjoying it.

2 ½ stars