Monster Magazine Ads

Man, I remember seeing advertisements like these in the Johnson Smith Co. catalog that would come to our house as a kid.  Not sure what triggered our house being on that mailing list, but who cares?  It brightened many a day of my youth.  I think it was also the time I realized that price usually was an indicator of quality.  Like Real X-Ray glasses to see a person's actual skeleton (as a boy, I was hoping to modify that setting and wear them to school).  But then you see $2.99 and realize you're being had.  But in a fun way...as the curiosity factor alone was worth the price.  And the waiting was actually part of the charm, as most of this stuff said "Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery," and damn if that stuff didn't ALWAYS take six weeks.  It was literally long enough for you to forget you even ordered it.  Which would then add a surprise element to the entire experience.  

Click here to see more.

Thanks, Mike!  These were great.

Blogger Changes

This appeared on my blog control panel, so it looks like some changes are coming in March.  Seems like the last one is saying that all comments by people using Google+ are going to disappear, so I just wanted to let people know.  I'm old and barely understand the other changes mentioned...

Instagram: PumpkinrotHalloween

Figured I'd re-mention that I semi-recently started posting to my old empty Instagram account.  Some folks have asked me if I had one and I wanted to post a link:

"ScareCrones"

Someone left that word on one of my tumblr photos of the Twig Witches.
Thought that was pretty nifty....  and a very cool term.  They look like scarecrow witches...  as when people at work were asking me "You doin' Halloween again?  Whatchu doin' this year?"  And I would reply "Yes, I'm DOIN' Halloween again.  I'm doing a period piece...going back in time to 1921....eh...scarecrow witches...just picture that."

Collage

What's Your Halloween Holy Grail?

It seems the olden days of Halloweening had a lot more to offer by way of unique decorations and interesting finds.  Stores these days seem to offer less and have more stuff that's shiny and powdered with glitter.

So I was thinking about what would be my Holy Grail by way of walking into a store and seeing a Halloween decoration/item that would make me gasp and pray it was affordable.

For me, I think it would be some unique ceramic jack o'lantern with an incredible face and a unique finish...  or some kind of creepy wall mask, like the one Peter Vincent had hanging in his apartment...  or something like this vintage metal Devil ash tray (but in wall art form).

What's your Halloween Holy Grail?

Random Blog Note

For anyone looking at older entries and realizing that the photos won't open in the usual lightbox manner, I am aware of the problem (and annoyed by it [as there is no apparent fix other than reloading all the images individually into each old blog post]).

So if you find yourself in old blog posts, you have to right click on each photo in the post and select Open in New Tab....

Very lame. 

Haunting Yards

After spending a couple hours working on Halloween stuff in the basement last night, I went for a walk around the neighborhood.  Wanted to see how the area was shaping up by way of decorations.  Saw only a few homes with decorations so far.  And I recall that happens in my area.  They're latecomers and cut it really close.  Most houses are dark until the weekend of our High Holiday.

But then I saw something going on up the road on a darkened lawn and porch.  Some flickering lights, some orange and red lights, and a small strobe light making a few small tombstones flash with lightning around the base of the tree where no one was buried.  There were tiny foot-high ghosts staked into the ground, and some foam bones, and some hands reaching up from the cut grass.  I then noticed that the homeowners were out adjusting the decorations.  An older couple moving around in the dark.  The husband was fixing a hanging lantern that had a spooky face speaking spooky sounds.  All neatly arranged store-bought stuff.  And all of it really perfect.

The couple had this look of slight embarrassment as I walked by.  And I know that exact feeling.  There's something about setting up for Halloween when one of your peers walks by.  A weird, very brief feeling of yeah-I-know-it's-weird-but-it's-what-I-do feeling.  Like a miniscule apology almost.  Maybe it's just me.  Well, me and those folks.  I said "Looks GREAT!" and the wife quietly thanked me and nervously laughed as I passed.

I'm thinking I walked in on a prop test of sorts, as the house was completely dark when I walked by on the return home.  Here's hoping they feel it was a success, and that the premature compliment by some guy going past was a good omen of a successful Halloween night of Haunting to come.

October is flying by...

This isn't a photo of their Haunt...but that's how it felt...

Image source.

Halloween Sightings

Saw one end cap at Home Goods with a few Halloween items, but not too much out there other than Michael's (though it's still too hot for Halloween shopping).

Looks like the Halloween event that is Roger's Gardens takes place on September 2nd.

Halloweenforum.com always has a bunch of folks posting photos of their Halloween store sightings...
Click here to check them out.

Little Vacation

Gonna take a week or so off from blogging.

I shall return.

Spotty Blogging Followed By A Special Announcement

Won't be blogging much over the next three days.  But definitely swing by on Tuesday for a fun blog post.

Monday

Going to take the rest of the weekend off from blogging so I can pull long days building stuff in the basement, but make sure to stop by on Monday.  I have something fun I'm going to post.

Have a GREAT weekend. 

B4C: Update

So after two weeks of acting like those monkey things from 2001: A Space Odyssey when they saw the monolith (me = monkey things: my computer = monolith), I figured I'd turn it on last night to see what happened...and it worked (the only odd thing was the time/date was now showing 2011).
So I should have a new comic next Friday.  Unless the monolith was just faking me out.

B&W

Blogging And Stuff

I'll be back to full blogging strength shortly.  Still playing catch-up after the passing of the High Holiday.  I'm looking forward to featuring all the 2013 Haunts I can find.  And I'll have my 2013 gallery up soon.

It's Coming

Took the rest of the week off to work on last minute touches.  Weather forecast is still calling for rain on November 1st, with a slight chance of rain on Halloween night.  Hoping that stays away.  And hoping that putrid storm moving up through the country doesn't ruin too many Halloweens. 

I'll be posting here and there before the big day, and I'll be posting on Halloween morning to wish everyone well (and maybe post some teaser shots).

Open Letter To Artists, Photographers, Musicians, Creators

After receiving a comment from a photographer who accused me of "stealing" her works simply by posting them in one of my blog entries while providing a direct link to those images, I wanted to address the issue. It's not the first time I've had to remove a blog post for that reason. I'm having a difficult time finding the harm in featuring someone's creations if a link is provided. Isn't it like recommending an art gallery or a museum? Or directing someone towards a favorite restaurant? Or letting someone know about a great album? I just don't see the harm.

I get a lot of traffic on my blog. Depending on the time of year, anywhere between 1,000 to 3,000 hits a day. I figured that would be appealing to someone who has a web presence, since the whole point of having a blog or a website is exposure. I'm guessing that it's a matter of ego - that it's an issue with asking for permission. And I have a hard time wrapping my brain around that.

That said, I get a lot of emails from artists thanking me for featuring their work. And that's really cool. And I love when people feature my works on their sites with a link back to mine. I really appreciate the effort and the traffic. So I just don't get it. I don't see the harm. But I'm certainly not close-minded about it. I'm open to getting someone's insight on the matter.

Film Inspiration

Was watching POLTERGEIST [again] and was struck by how much movies like that, when I initially saw them, gave me an instant fascination with props and special effects. I owe a lot to them. I can remember writing a letter to Industrial Light and Magic asking them for advice on how to get into that field.

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK was pretty important - those corpses behind that tomb wall - the ones that screamed silent screams. I've read about moments in film makers' lives where they had an epiphany and sat up and said "That's what I want to do." Well, it wasn't really like that for me. It was more like a desire to be close to stuff like that, very close - in more movies or magazines or sketches or my own tinkerings with crude little monsters which later became crude big monsters.

Well, I never made it into movies. Never even tried. Never even took an art class other than the filler courses that were required with my non-art degree back in school.


Here are some images from movies that definitely had an impact on me and my haunt:

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Couldn't find any pics of those tasty corpses, but the ghosts at the end of the film were gorgeous and definitely left their mark.


I'll never forget the moment I saw THIS beauty in POLTERGEIST.


These are among the finest corpses to date in any film. The way their heads bobbed independently of their bodies.

The scarecrow from the beginning of the film PUMPKINHEAD.

And of course, the greatest on-screen scarecrow I've ever seen.

I'm thankful for growing up in the 80s with movies like RAIDERS, POLTERGEIST, JAWS, STAR WARS, THE FOG, and THE THING. Where physical props, models, and miniatures were still used to make film magic. I wonder if I would have been so inspired had I grown up with CGI. I can't even imagine what POLTERGEIST would have been like had it been loaded up with computer-generated effects and geared for a younger target audience (though I hear there's a remake in the works, so I guess we'll see exactly that).

Yep, thank God for the 80s. And thank God for Halloween - loaded up with special effects and monsters. The physical kind.

Brewing

My blog posts will be spotty, but guaranteed, over the next few days. I've taken days off to work on some projects - The Hollowmen, the Scarecrow for the competition, corpses for the shop (starting work on a Roots groundbreaker too), and some other fun stuff.


After learning that I was taking some time off from work, coworkers laughed/asked "Getting ready for Halloween already?"