VAMPA: Vampire & Paranormal Museum

With a light snow falling, we headed to Doylestown, PA on Sunday to visit the VAMPA Museum.  Packed with beautiful handmade artifacts and dark artwork (most devoted to the art of vampire killing), we walked through each room with a sense of awe.  I had some fears it would feel a little cheesy or heavy-handed, but it was surprisingly tasteful.  The pieces are gorgeous.  You can instantly tell that the curation of this strange collection was to create a place of beauty and dark wonder.  

In their own words:

VAMPA strives to create an environment where psychological drama and spiritual conflict are given free reign for imagination. A place that stimulates learning and understanding on how the magical mystery of the supernatural, folklore, myth, and faith has influenced the world in sculpture, painting, furniture and objects of art throughout the ages.

We will be returning for sure.

Some photos below, but click HERE for a short video.

Hexeglaawe: Frick's Lock

Our latest expedition to explore Pennsylvania's forgotten places took us to the ghost town of Frick's Lock.  Located in Chester County, PA, it dates back to the 18th century when it was a thriving village thanks to the commercial traffic of the Schuylkill Canal.  By the 1880's, the railway systems dominated the networks of canals and the importance of Frick's Lock diminished.  The canals were ultimately abandoned and drained in the 1920's, and isolated farms remained.

In 1969, the Philadelphia Electric Company began building the Limerick Nuclear Power Station directly across the river from Frick's Lock.  The station went live in 1986 and conflicting accounts suggest that residents were either bought out and relocated or given a 48-hour notice forced evacuation.  The town was left completely abandoned...or so we were told.

Our urban exploration of the village revealed strange noises and a strong feeling of being observed.  As we made our way back to the car, we spotted a small clearing near one of the larger houses.  Standing in a field was a scarecrow.  Before getting a chance to investigate any closer, a large rock was thrown in our direction.  Our expedition was cut short, but not before we snapped a few photos.

The Invisible Man

My recommendations for horror movies are few and far between these years (for obvious reasons [most stink]).  The Invisible Man was one of those rare exceptions where you didn't get to the end and wonder what went wrong with the world.  Rare also was the fact that it was well-reviewed at the time of its release (something that didn't happen with one of my favorite modern horror films CANDYMAN [it didn't stink]).  

We watched this one at night a week ago and I still find myself thinking about it.  I'm posting the trailer below, but, like a lot of trailers, it reveals too much.  So I suppose I'm asking you to trust me (if you're bored and can't find anything to watch).

Click below...

Who Goes There?

It could have imitated a million life-forms on a million planets. It could change into any one of them at any time. Now, it wants life-forms on Earth.

- Excerpt from Blair's Journal

Image by Jason Taylor.

Now Playing: Tloque Nahuaque

Click below...

The Mysteries

A book by Bill Watterson and John Kascht.

Really grateful to Revenant Manor for recommending this one to me.  I was completely unaware it existed.  As a fan of Watterson for decades, I can't explain the joy knowing he was making art again.  Anyone who was a fan of his comic Calvin & Hobbes probably knows what I'm talking about.  Waking up and reading that daily strip was pretty much magic every day.  He created this small world that was as real as anything else on this planet.  And his artwork and humor were second to none.

I highly recommend this "fable for grown-ups."

In addition to recommending this book, Revenant Manor also sent the below link.  It's pure gold for people obsessed with the reclusiveness of Watterson, as it's an interview with both artists about their creative process.  

Click here to watch.

Huge thanks, RM!

Buried Alive

A day or two ago the body was exhumed, prior to its removal to another burial place, when the discovery was made that the girl had been buried alive. Her shroud was torn into shreds, her knees were drawn up to her chin, one of her arms was twisted under her head, and her features bore evidence of dreadful torture.

-New York Times article, 1886

Image by Jack Ottaway.

NECA Ben Cooper Costume Figures

Introducing the Ben Cooper Costume Kids Collection, a figure series based on the popular kids’ costumes from one of the largest Halloween costume manufacturers from the 1950s through the ‘80s. Standing approximately 6 inches tall, these fully poseable figures wonderfully capture the vintage horror spirit and are ready to make some spooky mischief on your collector’s shelf. Series 1 includes Creature, Devil, Frankenstein, Mummy, and Skeleton—classic Ben Cooper costumes worn by an inclusive group of kids.

Wearing a mask styled after an original Ben Cooper design and soft goods clothing replicating the vinyl look of the classic costume, each playful figure comes complete with a trick-or-treat bag or pumpkin bucket accessory. Every figure is sold separately and packaged in a numbered, retro-style window box that pays homage to the original costume packaging.

Click here for more photos and more info.

Now Playing: Unsolved Mysteries [Ghost Music]

Part of the ungodly horror of the paranormal episodes of UNSOLVED MYSTERIES was the musical score for each of those terrifying stories.  It helped legitimize what I was seeing back then and make it even more real.  It created many a sleepless night for sure.

Click below for some of the spookier bits...

And click here for a bunch of cues from the series, including that awesome main theme.

The Candy Skull

You walked up the hill and paid the graveyard attendant a peso and he flung back a steel door and you went down a spiral stone stair into the earth, into the catacombs.  You entered a long dim hall with one hundred twenty-five mummies facing each other, standing against the walls, their mouths open, their beards intact.  Looking as if they had leaped up at your entrance, screaming silently.

You walked along the line of standing dead.  You looked into the bony, tight-skinned faces.

Until you came to the body of Douglas McClure.

- Ray Bradbury

Beastcraft

Lots of great designs here.

Click to see more.

Memorial Cards

Handing out candy and memorial cards on Halloween felt like a weird social experiment.  I had heard so much about those religious tracts being secretly slipped into trick-or-treaters bags and now here I was doing something similar.  And dressed as Michael Myers no less.  

I would scoop up some [world class] candy and pluck a card from the inner bowl and try to do all of this inconspicuously.  Kids are smart.  They knew something out of the ordinary was happening.  And the ones without masks absolutely looked confused and on alert.  One kid even asked "WHAT'S THAT?!"  Thankfully Michael Myers is a quiet man.  

Since Halloween, I have occasionally found myself wondering where those cards are. We easily had over a hundred kids come for candy, but I never count, and I had ordered 150 cards, and they all went.  Initially I was giving out one per child, but then started to spread them out as my supply dwindled.  I really hope as those bags and plastic pails got poured out at home or sifted through in the days that followed, that those kids, and their parents, got a kick out of seeing our weird funeral cards for our dear uncle Morris.  

Mr. Moundshroud

Now Playing: Away From Reality

By L-ONE-X.

Click below...

Neat photo by sarah_the_spook.

Long-Leggedy Beasties

Image by hydeparkhangs.

Herman's Hollow Halloween 2023

Always wonderful stuff here.

Click for more images.

Dinner And An Alien Autopsy

We had the pleasure of seeing John Carpenter's THE THING on the big screen last week.  Hard to imagine that this film didn't do well when it was first released in 1982.  Fortunately, all these years later it can still manage to fill a theater.  

They took a poll before the film started to see how many people were seeing it for the first time and there was a pretty decent number of folks with their hands raised.  Imagine seeing the scene below for the very first time.  I envied those people...

Click to watch:

Shadows On Center Street

Click below for a neat video...