Click below (and make sure to watch the video at the bottom of the link)...
Monday, September 9, 2024
Saturday, September 7, 2024
Teaser: Wolf Man
The official teaser for Universal's WOLF MAN. I'm excited. Same director as THE INVISIBLE MAN (which I loved). So I'm really hopeful. Though I'm worried about the lack of fur in the trailer. I like my wolfmen with fur.
That sounds terrible.
Click below...
Friday, September 6, 2024
The Order Of The Halloween Tree
A photo series tribute to Ray Bradbury's classic tale.
Chapter 5: Hackles Nibley
“Mr. Moundshroud, is that you!” cried Tom.
“Mr. Moundshroud, is that you!” cried Tom.
For towering forty feet above them in the sky, an immense scythe in his hands, was this cowled figure, its face in midnight fogs.
The blade swung down: hisssssss!
“Mr. Moundshroud, let us be!”
“Mr. Moundshroud, let us be!”
“Shut up.” Someone knocked Toms elbow. Mr. Moundshroud lay on the earth beside him. “That’s not me. That’s—”
“Samhain!” cried the voice in the fog. “God of the Dead! I harvest thus, and so!”
Sssss-whoooshhhh!
“All those who died this year are here! And for their sins, this night, are turned to beasts!”
Sssssswooommmmmmm!
Sssss-whoooshhhh!
“All those who died this year are here! And for their sins, this night, are turned to beasts!”
Sssssswooommmmmmm!
“Please,” whimpered Ralph-the-Mummy.
“Sssssssttttt! The scythe zippered Hackles Nibley’s spine, ripping his costume in a long tear, knocking his own small scythe free of his hands.
“Beasts!”
And the harvest wheat, flailed up, spun round on the wind, shrieking its souls, all those who had died in the past twelve months, rained to earth.
Thursday, September 5, 2024
Wednesday, September 4, 2024
Memories Of Halloweens Past
The next entry for this nostalgic blog series comes from my gal Jenna. I've had the pleasure of seeing this neat item up close, so it was really wonderful hearing about its backstory.
Jenna writes "Over the years people have often asked me, 'Why do you like Halloween so much?' or 'Why do you like such scary things?' I don't really have an answer for them. Truthfully, I have always found myself drawn to darker interests. Poe and R.L. Stine in grade school. The Twilight Zone and heavy metal in middle school. But when thinking about my favorite memory of Halloweens past (thanks to Mr. Macabre), my thoughts kept coming back to a very non-scary subject: My Grandmother, from now on referred to as Grandie (a nickname of her own creation). She is decidedly not spooky, or scary, and does not relate to my love of horror movies and dark art, but she was formative for my love of Halloween.
Grandie and my Grandfather lived out in the country, not far from the previously mentioned Hex Hollow. In fact, my first haunted hayride as a kid was the local fire hall hayride that took you though Hex Hollow the week or so before Halloween.
She was Martha before Martha - making loads of homemade candy, Golden Grahams smores bars, and soft pumpkin cookies with caramel frosting in the days leading up to the High Holiday. The house was filled with decorations - a sound activated laughing witch (long gone), tons of paper Hallmark party goods, and a unique ceramic pumpkin that she would save for me to put together (once I was old enough to be trusted not to break it).
This particular decoration encompasses all the imagery I love and associate with Halloween - ghosts, a spooky tree, a cemetery, and a jack-o-lantern. Each year, I would arrange the ghosts around the tree, always in the same places, like a ritual. The tombstone and the jack-o-lantern were my absolute favorites, and would go in the very front, so that I could take them out and hold them whenever I wanted. It wasn't truly Halloween until this pumpkin was on display.
Grandie is still with us and turned 98 this year. Knowing my love of Halloween, she handed down her recipes and decorations over the years as she downsized and moved into a retirement community. I think the ceramic pumpkin was the first decoration she gave me when she moved - she knew how much I loved it. Now I am the one decorating and hosting for Halloween, and though she doesn't always understand the darker decor, she loves seeing how we spend our holiday, and will forever be an important part of my Halloween."
For anyone interested in submitting, you can email me at pumpkinrot @ gmail . com (remove the spaces, of course!)
Tuesday, September 3, 2024
Now Playing: Haunted
This entire album by Caleb R.K. Williams is primo. Would be perfect as a soundscape for a Home Haunt too, something with blue light and dark shadows, and lots of tombstones. Seems to only be available on Bandcamp.
Click below...
Final Girl Blog
Looking forward to seeing what the Halloween season brings for this blog from the golden age of blogging.
Click below for the always-funny Final Girl blog.
Monday, September 2, 2024
Now Playing: Psycho House Horror Ambience
Click below for a really nice soundscape tribute to the classic film...
Sunday, September 1, 2024
The Skeleton Key Returns
It's September 1st, and for the past 13 years that meant the return of the seasonal Halloween blog The Skeleton Key. Checking in on this wonderful blog has always been a fantastic part of the Halloween season... even more so in these past few years as Halloween blogs are becoming more and more scarce.
Click below for K.O.'s The Skeleton Key blog...
Strega Liqueur
The sky is purple, the flare of a match behind a cupped hand is gold; the liquor is green, bright green, made from a thousand herbs, made from altars. Those who know enough to drink Chartreuse at Mardi Gras are lucky, because the distilled essence of the town burns in their bellies. Chartreuse glows in the dark, and if you drink enough of it, your eyes will turn bright green.
- Poppy Z. Brite, Lost Souls
Since the days back in the 90s when I was reading the horror novels of Poppy Z. Brite, I always made sure I had a bottle of Chartreuse liqueur around. Over the years, I loosened up that tradition and allowed my one bottle to wither away, unaware that demand for this odd green spirit had soared while the Carthusian monks who produce it refused to increase production. Word spread online about this shortage, and it became impossible to find.
A week ago, Jenna surprised me with a yellow liqueur called Strega, with a neat Witch design on the bottle. According to the manufacturer: The life of Strega Liqueur began in 1860 evoking the old legend that places the city of Benevento as the former seat of witches’ rites. It is stated, in fact, that witches, from all over the world, gathered at night around a magical walnut, and that they had created a magic potion that united forever couples that drank it. Turns out this thoughtful and impromptu gift has a very familiar flavor. Despite being yellow, the combination of herbs and spices has made this liqueur taste extremely similar to the mysterious Chartreuse mentioned in those old horror novels.
So until the demand diminishes or the Carthusian monks produce more, we'll keep a bottle of the Witch around. Not sure if Poppy Z. Brite would approve of the substitution, but these are desperate times.
Friday, August 30, 2024
Now Playing: Derelict Spaceship Mix // Dark Space Ambient
A great mix from Cryo Chamber's label.
Click below for a soundscape (and a mesmerizing video)...
The Order Of The Halloween Tree
A photo series tribute to Ray Bradbury's classic tale.
Chapter 4: The Devil Boy
"But, let me introduce myself! Moundshroud is the name. Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud. Does that have a ring, boys? Does it sound for you?”
It sounds, the boys thought, oh, oh, it sounds … !
It sounds, the boys thought, oh, oh, it sounds … !
Moundshroud.
“A fine name,” said Mr. Moundshroud, giving it a full sepulchral night-church sound. “And a fine night. And all the deep dark wild long history of Halloween waiting to swallow us whole!”
“Swallow us?”
“Yes!” cried Moundshroud. “Lads, look at yourselves. Why are you, boy, wearing that Skull face? And you, boy, carrying a scythe, and you, lad, made up like a Witch? And you, you, you!” He thrust his bony finger at each mask. “You don’t know, do you? You just put on those faces and old mothball clothes and jump out, but you don’t really know, do you?”
“Well,” said Tom, a mouse behind his skull-white muslin. “Er—no.”
“Yeah,” said the Devil boy. “Come to think of it, Why am I wearing this?” He fingered his cloak and sharp rubber horns and lovely pitchfork.
%20(1)%20(1).jpg)
Wednesday, August 28, 2024
Now Playing: Seance
This song came on during a nice drive last weekend and we couldn't get enough. Turns out it's from a composer named Mort Garson. He released an album called The Unexplained back in 1975 under the name Ataraxia. It's a perfect addition to our Halloween playlists. With track names like Tarot, Sorcerer, and Astral Projection, it's like a strange horror soundtrack from the 70's that you'd find playing on some late-night radio station.
Click below...
A Pope And Some Pizza
Growing up in a suburban area packed with row homes, apartments, and strip malls meant a windfall of candy every Halloween night. Heavy pillowcases FILLED with the stuff.
At the end of our night of begging for candy, we'd drop off our trick-or-treat bags and walk a couple of blocks to a strip mall with a pizza shop at the end of the long row of stores. Each Halloween they gave out free slices of pizza. That's a pretty cool thing to do (though they were about half the size of a standard pizza slice [I don't blame them as there was a perpetual line of local kids stretching out the door and winding around the building]). One year, as we got down there, my brother's Pope costume got the attention of some older kid dressed as a police officer. Gun pulled; he started yelling "IT'S THE POPE! LET HIM THROUGH!!! LET HIM THROUGH!!!!" My brother in his cardboard Mitre got an escort and a lot of attention. Me, in my would-never-do-that-today costume, received no escort at all. Thankfully, I still got pizza.
Now this is the neat part. As part of this ritual of dropping off our candy bags at home and getting free pizza, we would then head off to a neighborhood near that strip mall for what I can only describe as a Halloween variety show. To this day I have no idea who organized the event (or who built the massive wooden stage in the center of a terrace). But we all knew it was going to be there... when trick-or-treating was over. When Halloween was ending.
I recall lots of lip-synching routines, mostly from teens dressed as their favorite heavy metal bands or singers like Mick Jagger or Tina Turner. I can recall a magician at one point and maybe a comedian. We stood in the audience in that cold October 31st air clapping and cheering and laughing. After it ended, the pack of friends with whom I trick-or-treated would head back to our homes on near-empty streets. Walking past darkened porches and jack-o-'lanterns with dying flames, as each of us parted ways (to be reunited with our candy loot and to head off to bed). Going to a Catholic School meant that the day after was a day without school... making the Halloweens of my youth even MORE glorious.
I haven't thought of that Halloween concert in a long time. I wonder who organized it... and who took it all down after.
Here's a previously-posted photo of us on that incredible night of faux police escorts and wonderful Halloween pizza (just ignore my costume).
Tuesday, August 27, 2024
Monday, August 26, 2024
Saturday, August 24, 2024
Friday, August 23, 2024
The Order Of The Halloween Tree
A photo series tribute to Ray Bradbury's classic tale.
Chapter 3: Henry-Hank Smith
Fires burned all over Europe. At every crossroad and by every haystack dark forms jumped in cats across flames. Cauldrons bubbled. Old hags cursed. Dogs frolicked red-hot coals.
“Witches, witches, everywhere,” said Tom, amazed. “I never knew they were so many!”
“Mobs and multitudes, Tom. Europe was flooded to the dikes. Witches underfoot, under bed, in the cellars and high attics.”
“Boy oh boy,” said Henry-Hank, proud in his Witch costume. “Real witches!
%20(1).PNG)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
