Haunted Laurianne Woods

Lots of great work here.

Click for more images.

October

I have been younger in October
than in all the months of spring
walnut and may leaves the color
of shoulders at the end of summer
a month that has been to the mountain
and become light there
the long grass lies pointing uphill
even in death for a reason
that none of us knows

- W. S. Merwin

Now Playing: Hibernation

By Sabled Sun.

Click below...

Image source.

J. Wakefield Brewing: Sleepy Hollow

The seasonal offerings of autumnal beer are always tricky.  I've mentioned in the past that my hopes are always high at the start of each Autumn...  high hopes that there will be a pumpkin ale that soars above the rest.  Something that isn't too sweet but has a distinct pumpkin flavor.  A beer that feels like pumpkin season.  I feel like I'm still on that quest - everything is just too sweet for me.  Thankfully there are folks like Pumpkin Ale Reviews' Sam Heimer and Fatherkrespi documenting this stuff each season.  

We stopped into a beer distributer over the weekend and got some nice stuff for Memorial Day.  While we were looking around, we saw something called Sleepy Hollow from the J. Wakefield Brewing Company.  The design was fun and the description was intriguing:  sour ale with blueberry, lemon, orange, lactose, and vanilla.  The color of the ale was berry-like.  The taste was a little shocking.  I love sour ales, and this dark drink was extremely sour.  Full of sweet and tart notes.  Felt very Halloween-night-ish (if that can be a descriptor).  Definitely something you share with someone, as it can be like eating too many Smarties (I mean that in a good way).

I think I dug the uniqueness of this one.  It's not pumpkin ale.  It's not the usual flavors of Autumn.  It's sour and sweet and strange.  So much so that I think I would call this one Witch's Brew and not Sleepy Hollow.

Dinner And Jerry Dandrige

We had the wonderful opportunity to see Fright Night (1985, of course) on the big screen this weekend.  Seeing those actors and those effects so large was pure bliss.  The sound system in the theater was incredible, and I found myself noticing details I hadn't heard before. 

Fun to note that I saw Fright Night when it was first released in theaters, with my mother and brother.  We were instantly hooked.  Literally have watched it over a hundred times easy.  

SO grateful theaters still run old films.  Definitely will make a habit of dinner, cocktails, and an old movie from my past.  The movies that made me want to make monsters, work on special effects in Hollywood (kinda sorta happened), and movies that added magic to this guy's life.

Weekends

I've been mentioning Art in the Age on this blog for a while.  They make and sell the most peculiar and intriguing spirits.  We stopped in this weekend and the experience far surpassed anything that I was hoping for... the place is amazing.  

Shelves loaded with bitters of every kind.  Rows and rows of crafted liqueurs and spirits.  Beautiful labels with words like Damson Plum, Green Crab, Sierra Fig, and Bloody Butcher.

Their cocktails were small works of art, and the sampling flights revealed that these unique offerings were the real deal.  

I couldn't wait to try House of Tamworth's Crab Trapper.  I needed this peculiar thing to taste of the sea.  To be a summer whiskey.  Something you might take to a beach weekend.  A drink only sipped during the hottest days of the year.  

Crab Trapper turned out to be an intensely smooth whiskey that finishes with the subtle briny flavor of sweet crab.  It's the most delightful oddity.  

Definitely going to visit again soon.

He's Dead Because Mommy Killed Him

I even took his knives.

Image source.

Now Playing: The Lonely Robot In Control Room

By Astronaut Ape.

Click below...

Dusk

Rotting Hill Cemetery

Wonderful Home Haunt in Burbank.

Click here for more photos at WestCoaster.net

Weird Stoneware

That is not dead which can eternal lie,

And with strange aeons even death may die.

Breaking in our new Spooky dish set with pumpkin treats from Trader Joe's (we hoarded a bunch back in October).  Been looking for something dark and unique for a while, and this design feels very swampy and Lovecraftian.

Old Evil Kitty

Work by Mister Reusch.

Beyond Thunderdome

Posting the original song here as a tribute to Tina Turner.  I saw this film back when it came out.  Sitting in that theater in the 80's and seeing this insanely cool lady in her post-apocalyptic chainmail punk attire was quite the neat treat.  She was crazy cool in that film.  A presence for sure.

I grew up in a house where my parents played her records.  They would often praise her for breaking free from Ike. I didn't fully grasp what they meant, but I could tell they respected this woman very much.  In fact, when the movie came out, my mother took my brother and I because she wanted to see Tina Turner in a movie.  Beyond Thunderdome was an amazing film, so we all left pretty pleased.  1985 was a really great year.

Rest in peace, Ms. Turner.  

Click below...

Gothic Hills Cemetery

More images here.

Gallows Hill Spirits Company

Our silver rum aged in once used oak barrels to impart some wonderful bourbon and cider flavors.

Barrel Aged version of our Moonstone Rune Moonshine, tastes like bourbon but without the bite.

An Old Tom style gin brought into the new world with Orange, Tangerine, Lemon and Grapefruit flavors as well as a touch of elderflower.

Unique vodka made from cane sugar and molasses, triple filtered but still retains a touch of toffee to both the aroma and flavor.

Click here for their site.

Plant Monsters

From Tramai Ceramics.

Click here for the shop.

Public Service Announcement

The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. 

You will have created something.

- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

An Evil Old House, The Kind Some People Call Haunted

Hill House has stood for ninety years, and might stand for ninety more... Silence falls heavily against the wood and stone of Hill House; and whatever walks there, walks alone.

Image source.

Now Playing: We Don't Need Another Hero

By Ghost.

Click below...

One Of Those Photos

A great example of a perfect moment of Halloween being captured by a camera...  

Fog-filled, chilly night air.  

Dark figures in costume.  

Glowing skulls and climbing skeletons.

A holiday completely devoted to the Spooky.  After all these years it still mystifies me.  Probably the reason Halloween feels so new and exciting all the time.  It's baffling, really.  There are small artificial cemeteries on front lawns... giant spiders resting in giant spider webs - spiders with glowing red eyes.  There are bats and ghoulish things hanging from strings.  And sometimes... there are skeletons playing cards at a small table.  Or one walking a small skeleton dog.  Mystifying.

As we enter the hot months of the year, it's nice to think about these things.  About IT coming - HALLOWEEN.  About pumpkins growing and corn getting tall and crunchy.  And about millions of big green leaves that'll get tired, heavy... 

and colorful come Autumn.  

Image source.

Rag And Bone

Works by Jana Seven.

More pieces here.

They Are Taking Me Behind The Moon

There were at least 15 other humans with me. All of them screaming and panicking. This is what scared me. I didn't know what they were screaming about. I thought they knew something I didn't, so I got scared. Some were under the gel moving around I could see. Most were trying to escape. One man kept climbing half way out.

Image source.

Text source.

Artist Of Spooky Cartoons And Comics

Love this guy's style.

Click here for more of Drew Rausch's works.