Deflated

Can't he come out to play?

Fawning all over the amazingly haunted images of the Douglas Avenue Funeral Parlor this morning.

The haunt. The house. Absolute beauty.


Image Source

Before the Hammer Fell

Kinda makes me feel bad I took that hammer to them.

Kinda. ;)

Halloween 2012

I didn't have much hope for Halloween once Sandy made it clear she was coming in for a landing in our neck of the woods. We had two days of rain, crazy scary winds and then... nothing. The sun came out Halloween morning. Crisp, cool and perfect. A lot of what I'd planned was whittled down to the few tombstones and props I'd finished (or half finished) at home and a lot of improvising since I couldn't get out to storage and pick up some old reliable and favorite ghastlies. With only a hammer, some rebar, a crapload of candles, a goat skull and a couple latex disarticulations, I think it came out pretty well...

You can see the full set HERE

Toothy Grin

Still working on organizing and editing the plethora of photographic records from Halloween night in amongst the clean up I still have to do. This guy and his buddies are carpooling with me to work until we can get him set up in storage. :)

Today's the day!

Happy Halloween!!

 

 

image by Betsy Lewin

Abandon your props now...

The fate of Halloween 2012 hangs in the balance. As with most haunters up and down the eastern seaboard this weekend, I've been watching the weather as closely as is humanely possible (as much as I can without getting horribly depressed) taking in every bit of info on the impending Frankenstorm Sandy. It is what it is. I've laid down the paint brushes and the duct tape on last minute projects, because if I can count on anything, it's that I'll get a clear Halloween day if I'm not prepared come Wednesday. It's a risky move. Let's hope it works.

Room with a View

The leaves are finally changing. October's halfway thru. There are happy jacks in the windows and trash bag ghosts in the trees- a diversion for the new neighbors of course.

They have no idea what's coming.

Carved

This is what you get for buying your pumpkins in September and letting them sit outside till you're ready to carve; the squirrels get hungry and decide to carve them instead.

Call me crazy. I kind of like it. Think they'll do me the favor of carving the rest? :)

I Hereby Declare this Week...

 

For the love of lycan and all things wolfie, this week Daddy's Little Corpse returns from the working world to worship the werewolf! Are you ready for it?

doors

" I turn around and there's this door, this big old door and lights comin' out blindin' me, real gold and I'm thinkin': 'This can't be, this can't be.' So I close my eyes and I count one, I count two, I count three I count four-five and I open my eyes... and it wasn't there. Haaa..."

-Early Grace, Kalifornia

Twisted Treasuries Special Edition- The 2012 Spirit Wishlist

I don't usually bother to seek out Spirit Halloween stores when they open in my area. Sometimes it is simply just too depressing to face "the wants and can't haves" out on display. Last Friday, however, I had one catch me off guard at a local mall. I was deep in the throes of mall shock and decided to seek temporary solace amongst the latex death and plastic gore that awaited beyond that glass storefront. As is the custom when I do, on rare occasion, find myself in Spirit, I walked away with supersized dreams of one day being able to back a box truck up to their loading dock and stuffing it with whatever my horror crazed heart so desired.

Some girls fantasize about and kill time devising their perfect wedding registries. I make prop wish lists. Who the hell wants blenders, crystal vases and fancy coffee makers when you could have a lifesized Nosferatu or Frankenstein Monster? A viscerally exsanguinated victim with a buzz saw clawing through its torso or even a simple classic, like the Bates Motel sign to hang on your kitchen wall. Not that that's exactly the type of thing at the top of my list... who has the room?! but those kinds of things are my day-to-day, and not so much Cuisinarts* and salad shooters.

Hmmm... maybe I should get married. I'll have a November wedding just so we can register at Spirit and Halloween Express. Haha. Can you imagine that gift table?! Fabulous. As it is, this sort of list is why Mom says "Santa" gets about 90% of his Christmas shopping done for me in October.

Really, I'm quite a simple girl when it comes to my Halloween wishes. I don't need all the bells and whistle props...

 NoES Krueger Arm Stake- A simple "DIY or Buy" prop if I ever saw one, but wishlists are for broke/lazy Halloween people and sometimes I wanna be lazy. I don't know if I'd use it outside... maybe in a houseplant. ;)

 Jacked up Jill- Total cutie. And I love the graphics on the box.

 The Werewolf Spitter Animated Prop- Zombies are fine, but werewolves are divine. While I've always been a werewolf type of corpsey wench, I'm not much for spitting props OR animatronics. I prefer my haunts eerily still and silent, with just the right bit of ambient music in the background, but I saw this guy in action at the store and ended up crushing pretty hard on him. It's not like you have to fill up the spitter. I could see sitting at the dinner table with him (after my fake November wedding annulment comes through) and having a nice dinner. Just the two of us... we could make it if we tried. :)

 Rising Reaper- Since I'd most likely turn off the sound and "rising" portion of this, and just leave it up and static, I could probably attempt to make my own reaper, but he still looks damn cool...

 The Lullaby Prop- Just caught this on Sunday's episode of Making Monsters, and, unlike the roadkill dog and the PeeWee baby (seriously? ew. Not my kind of prop...) I, much like the buyers, loved Distortions "Lullaby". This is my kind of "touching" moment. I can see her set up in the rocking chair my Mom had in The Brother's room when he was little. Perfection!

 Meat Hook with Hanging Head- They really need to put a little bit more effort into naming these... The name does no justice for this guys naturally icky good looks. Saw him in the store and came super close to bringing him home. I love the intensity, but question the stability of the hook through a scrap of latex nostril...

 Hanging Lady Ghost- Another winner of a name. There's not much to this gal, she'd need a bit of a makeover wardrobe-wise and I've seen her cheaper than Spirit (isn't everyone cheaper than them?), but I love her eyes...

 Mr. Stubbs- Now see?! A name! Was it really that hard to come up with? But again that precarious hook through a scrap of tongue. Hope it's reinforced...

 Talking Tree Decoration- This one would go with the tree spirit that already resides on my bedroom wall. Spirit can keep the included batteries though as I won't be needing this ones obnoxious banter...

 Wiggler Devil- Spirit has tons of creepy babies out this year, which oddly enough are probably my favorite collection they have. It's hard to pick a favorite. Do I go with the Wolf Baby? The Zombie baby Skeleton that looks remarkably like my beloved Sam from Trick 'r Treat? The evil stabby, bunny baby? Or perhaps I should adopt one of the wigglers. Actually, I was playing with them in the store and I'm not ashamed to tell you I was giggling my ass off doing it. The clown was cute, but I love love LOVE the devil!

Awwwww...who'sdawittlecuteybeelzebub? You are! Yes, YOU!

As it stands my Spirit Halloween wish list cart stands at $1400 ($300 of that's just for shipping). I guess I do have expensive tastes. I wonder if  the 20% off coupon would help? :)



*my magenta mini-Cuisinart, Ethel is the exception to this rule

In progress:

"Back to the trees, and lie among the roots.

BACK to the trees, and lie among the roots!"

-Wake Wood

Weekends to Die For

Every October, if I'm not watching SyFy for their "31 Days of Halloween" devouring anything horror that isn't Jeepers Creepers (1 and 2, back-to-back, over and over and OVER again), I usually have the Travel Channel on, watching whatever haunted attraction countdowns, weird travel destination shows or ghost stories may be on. Tonight will officially mark the return of "Weekends to Die For", Travel Channel's own countdown to Halloween.

Last year Making Monsters and The Dead Files made their debut, adding some girth to the rather moldy, but always enjoyed, line up of Halloween "specials". I'm shamelessly, and, in the case of The Dead Files rather morbidly (I think it's Amy's oddness), addicted to both. Lucky for me they'll both be back. Since Dead Files just wrapped a season however, they'll be checking in with a few special episodes, and I expect, countless reruns. Also, new episodes of Ghost Adventures persist continue in their new season which officially started September 14th (my loathe/love relationship with that show endures like the plague... I wish it'd kill me already!) , along with another new ghost-stalking show called Paranormal Paparazzi-- which I am already inclined to hate thanks to that horrid title.

Paranormal Paparazzi premiere: Tonight @ 7pm
Ghost Adventures (new episode): Fridays @ 9pm
Making Monsters season premiere: Sunday, Sept. 30th @ 8&9pm

FYI, their commercial is really cute, but sadly I couldn't seem to hunt it down online... if you happen onto Travel Channel keep an eye out for it!



Artwork by Jason Reicher

Six More

Picked up some more pumpkins at Wal-Mart (of all places) yesterday-- really the only thing of note in the Halloween sense on the shelves. At $4 a pop for some remarkably big and fresh-from-the-farm-filthy pumpkins it was too good to pass up.

Every year I  dream of a yard full of dastardly wide orange grins glowing all the way up to the front door. Maybe with $4 pumpkins this'll be that year. Here's hoping they'll last till the carving hour in a few weeks.