Halloween Month is Coming!

My favorite month is coming, and that means I'm going to be trying (once again) to complete my 31 Days of Halloween goals.  So, hold onto your hats; there are some spooky, creepy posts coming your way, full of haunts, and ghosts, and ghouls...and trivia and videos...well, you get the idea ;)

So, consider this your final warning...Halloween is coming, and this blog will be bursting at the seams with all manner of sweet and spooky things!

31 Days of Halloween #9

I love some good music.  As you've seen in two of my Halloween posts so far this year, I am always on the lookout for good Halloween music.  Of course, I have my classics: "Werewolves of London," "Thriller," "Monster Mash," and anything by Alice Cooper (especially, in these cases "Under the Bed," "Feed My Frankenstein," and "Lullaby").

I don't generally look for lists, however, because they generally just include a songs I've already heard a million times before.

Day 9: Halloween Music

 

So, when I found this list from Gruemonkey on Facebook, I got really excited.  What's better than a handful of Halloween songs?  Try 60!  I've only heard a few of these, so I'm thrilled to have found a whole collection of titles that I'll have to check out :)

Click on the link above to access the page.  Also, below, I'm including a few of my favorites that haven't made it onto the list (but just a few!)

For this first one, you'll have to wait about a minute and a half for the song to kick in, but I wanted to include the video with original animation.  Besides, most of the versions I was seeing on YouTube were remixes.

And this second one in particular always gives me the chills.  I'm not sure if it's actually meant to be creepy, but I have always thought so.  I first heard it played as background music for the game Alice is Dead.

Well, that's all for today!  Do you have a favorite Halloween song that didn't make it on to the list?  Please let me know in the comments!

31 Days of Halloween #7

When I was a kid, my friends used to love telling me scary stories because my overactive imagination would keep me up all night thinking about them.  We had your classics like Bloody Mary (say her name three times in the dark and she will cut your face), but there were also a few other chillers, such as the monstrous tree people (they tap on your window at night and when you go to look, they snatch you from your room and presumably eat you), and perhaps the scariest to me, the red eyes of Dawn (a young girl is brutally beaten and locked in a closet by bullies, she eventually dies of starvation, and her ghost haunts bedrooms.  In the dark, if you look up and see her red eyes glowing in the darkness, you know she is coming to kill you).

We didn't really have a name for these tales.  Scary stories?  Sure.  Urban legends?  Maybe.  But, now, it seems that everyone just calls them Creepypasta.

These are the stories that bring us haunting figures such as Slenderman, Jeff the Killer, and the Rake.  And of course, in my favorite creepypasta, we get tales of haunted videogames, such as Pokemon Cursed Black.

Day 7: Creepypasta

 

Now, I don't know about you, but the above story really gave me chills!  If you're looking for something a little less scary, but want to get the creepypasta experience, try this video below.  It's more of a parody of the classic Pokemon creepypasta, and is one of my personal favorites :)

If you're looking for something a bit scarier, I recommend just checking out YouTube or Google.  I'll be honest, I tried to do some searching myself, but as I said before, I have a super-active imagination and I'm getting myself all freaked out looking at pictures of Jeff the Killer.  So, with that in mind, this is where my searching ends.  I hope you find some good stuff, and feel free to share what you find the comments.  I might add it into another blog post!

31 Days of Halloween #5

If you're like me, then every year, no matter how old you get or what you're doing, you make sure to watch the Peanuts holiday special on TV.  And It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! is an absolute classic!  But, what about those other Halloween specials?  Sure, there's always the one based on the current children's franchise, such as Toy Story, but I'm talking about those off-beat oddies and oldies that no one has heard of.

Day 5: Forgotten Halloween Specials

The titles included in this series by Familiar Faces are strange, quirky, offbeat, and just plain weird.  After watching this, I feel like I have to track down some of these specials myself!

Part 1:

Part 2:

The Return of 31 Days of Halloween

Hello, everyone!  Have you sensed it yet?  October is on its way!  And when October is coming, that of course means Halloween.  And so, in preparation for one of my favorite holidays, I'm going to be presenting 31 different posts for each of the days leading up to the 31st.  Now, a quick disclaimer: I tried to do this the past two years, and it didn't really work out.  We're trying again, though, and hopefully this year's collection of videos, articles, pictures, and songs will be a lot of fun for all of us!

In preparation for October 1st, I'm posting something a little bit early.  I'm not sure if many of you remember, but a few years ago, I posted this little video of one of my favorite "monster" songs.  So, in honor of the moment, I'm including another version of that same song.  I highly recommend you check this one out, though, since it not only includes a live performance by the songwriter, Rob Cantor, but it also has a choir and interpretive dance.  Who would have thought a song about a cannibal celebrity could be so...well, you know.

Also, I'm going to be trying to write up a few posts NOW so that by the time October comes around, I won't be able to say "Oh, well I was just too busy with grad school stuff to post."  This week is pretty chill, so I'll be able to put together a few good posts.  I've actually been collecting stuff since last October, so I hope you'll find something you like :)

One last note: if there is anything you want to see here (can be as broad as [name of actor] or specific as "love songs about werewolves", etc.  Just for the record, I don't have any love songs about werewolves, so if you have any, please let me know).

I'm looking forward to a spooky and fun Halloween month.  Make sure to stop by daily for new stuff!

31 Days of Halloween #7

I love shows like The Twilight Zone and The Night Gallery.  They're so delightfully creepy.  Sometimes, I turn off the TV feeling genuinely unsettled, but most of the time, it's just a fun scare, nothing more.  (This is, of course, disregarding that episode of Night Gallery with the freaky possessed doll and the one with the painting that changes as things happen in the house.  Those were so scary!)

From the "Doll of the Dead" episode

Day 7: Dark Midnight

Dark Midnight is a series by Jason Steele (of Film Cow infamy).  This is sort of his attempt at the world of late-night thriller specials.  It's not scary, and definitely bizarre, but I find that I really enjoy watching them.  I hope you do, too!  If nothing else, he certainly captures that strange, unsettling feeling of these sorts of shows.  The first link will take you to "Bet of a Lifetime", but I'm also including the links for the two other Dark Midnight episodes below:

• The Device
• Doll of the Dead

31 Days of Halloween #6

Did you read the Goosebumps books as a kid?  I'm sure that even if you didn't, you've at least heard of them.  I know I read them.  And I always was afraid that it would be too scary.  I wouldn't call them scary, per se, and honestly, I didn't read more than a handful of them, but they were usually pretty creepy, even if I couldn't always get into the story.  That's why I moved from regular Goosebumps books to R.L. Stine's choose your own adventure books.  I forget what they were called specifically--something like Choose your Own Nightmare or Reader Beware: You Choose the Scare"--but each featured a situation similar to what children had come to expect from Goosebumps books: monsters, mystery, unsettling transformations, creepy strangers, and of course, "responsible" adults who never believed you.  There was also a Goosebumps TV show, but I never got into that.

Mr. JonTron himself, ladies and gentlemen!

 Day 6: Goosebumps

The brother is a huge fan of the YouTuber JonTron.  And while I wouldn't say that I go out of my way to watch his stuff, Jon's bizarre sense of humor and obvious plethora of video game knowledge has been really starting to grow on me.  So, when I was looking for some content for this series of posts, I felt I had to look no further than JonTron.  Now, while Jon has posted many things that could be featured in a Halloween blog post, for this particular one, I'm going to stick with his Goosebumps Reviews.

Even though I never saw the Goosebumps TV show, I don't think that lessened my enjoyment of watching the JonTron critique of it.  Honestly, I think one of the best part of JonTron's reviews is watching him describe games you've never played, and shows you've never watched because he goes into so much detail...about how bad each one really was.  And by the time he's done, you're almost relieved you never experienced that game or show.  It just sounds too awful.  But, he's not all negative.  Some reviews are really positive.  And Jon's always super-funny!

If you enjoyed part 1 of this review, you can find Part Two here.  And for another bonus, you can watch the Top 13 Goosebumps Books by FamiliarFaces here as well.

31 Days of Halloween #5

Okay, so I've been pretty bad about updating these...School has been keeping me busy, along with some other things in my personal life that have come up.  The funny thing is, I know this blog is a much bigger deal to me than it is to all of you, and yet here I am fretting that everyone is going to be disappointed if I don't post 31 posts in the month of October, haha.  Still, I'm going to try and double up my posts until I get caught up on them.  I am going to do my utmost to get you 31 posts about spooks, costumes, and candy.  Just give me some time! ;)

Do you believe in ghosts?  To be honest, I don't.  But, once, when I was on a ghost tour around the city, I had a strange experience that I can't entirely explain.  We were down in a series of tunnels deep underground. It was said that sailors used to use this place at one time.  The tunnels we were in were supposed to be the most haunted.  The tour guide gave us a quick warning, before turning off the lights, plunging us into complete darkness.  It was so dark I could not see my hand in front of my face.  As soon as the lights went out, I felt an arm reach around my waist, with a hand resting on my hip.  And it remained there for a tense 30 seconds or so before the lights came on.  And it disappeared as the lights came on, so by the time I could see again, there was nothing to look for.  There was a wall to my right, and a female classmate to my left.  Behind me was a small table backed into a corner.  There was nothing under it, and a few books on top.  I wasn't backed up enough to hit the table, but even so, I feel as though a table in my back wouldn't feel the same as an arm around my waist.

Like I said, I don't believe in ghosts, but I'm not sure what happened down there.  Perhaps I had an encounter with some lusty sailor in the damp tunnels under the city.  Or, perhaps my mind was just playing tricks on me.  You can decide for yourselves, but as for me, I enjoy the ambiguity of not knowing.

A ghost with its stupid ghost face

Day 5: The Ghost House

FilmCow used to be one of my favorite YouTubers (along with VSauce, Rhett & Link, and Epic Rap Battles of History).  You might know of him from videos like Charlie the Unicorn, Marshmallow People, or Llamas with Hats.  However, his sense of humor is pretty bizarre and sometimes genuinely boarders on "messed up," making his videos something of the kind you discover when you find yourself on the "weird part of YouTube."

This video documents a day by day experience of one man (whose head looks like the top of a sesame seed hamburger bun, if you ask me!) in the Ghost House....

There are three other Ghost House videos The Reckoning, Reloaded, and The Return of Jafar) but honestly, they're not that great.  I've included them here, in case you were interested, but I think this one, like probably most of FilmCow's videos, was a one-trick pony.

31 Days of Halloween #4

Ack!  I'm so sorry I missed October 4th!!  I was at work all day, and when I got home to start posting things, was horrified to find that my Internet had been knocked out and I couldn't get on Blogger!  Noooo!  So, that being said, I'm going to (hopefully) post Days 4 and 5 today (October 5th) and I'll try to be more on top of things for the rest of the month...

My birthday is this month.  I don't like a lot of attention on my birthday, so I generally don't tell people about it.  I'm bringing this up, though, because I wanted to show off an early birthday present I got, that also fits into my 31 Days of Halloween theme.

Oh, Frankie!  It's wonderful :O

 Day 4: Universal Monsters Purse

Again, this is one for the ladies, but guys, you might still find it kinda cool.  Or maybe, you'd like to get it for that special lady in your life...because what kind of girl doesn't want a stylish black purse with Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, and Dracula on it?  (My guess is probably MOST girls, but we're just going to pretend I didn't say that).

I've been a fan of the classic movie monsters since I was in high school and I had to do a project about the musical The Phantom of the Opera.  My search for Phantom movies led me to the original 1925 film.  From there, I started researching, found a documentary on Lon's son Creighton (Lon Chaney Jr.), and from there had my first experience with the unholy trio of classic movie monsters: The Wolf Man (the others of course being Dracula and Frankenstein).  By this point, I've seen most, if not all of the classic Universal films from their respective franchises.

Of course, I'll be posting more about these wonderful movies.  But, for now, I really just want to show off my new bag.  And encourage you to either purchase this for, or show it to any lady you know who has an interest in these bad boys.  The bag is really nice, big and has plenty of room for my stuff, with little pockets inside.  I'm very pleased with it.  :)

31 Days of Halloween #2

If your childhoods were/are anything like mine was, trick-or-treating was a really fun time.  You dress up in colorful costumes and get free candy.  It doesn't get much better than that!  I'm sure, also, that you got the usual candy fare: Snickers, M&Ms, Reese Peanut Butter Cups, Dum Dums, Almond Joys, etc.  But, I'd bet that you weren't getting Musk Sticks and Salsaghetti in your treat bags.  And I'll bet that when you were growing up, most of you hadn't even heard of them! (And you might not even have heard of them until now!)

My personal favorite; Botan Rice Candy :)

Day 2: The Strangest Candy on Earth

When I was a kid, my aunt when on a business trip to China.  I remember her returning with all sorts of treats, covered in strange letters that I couldn't read.  I remember a bag of cookies--that tasted like animal crackers--with a picture of Hello Kitty on the label.  To 10-year old me, who loved Hello Kitty, it was the coolest thing ever!

In this video, YouTube tag-team Rhett & Link talk about different strange and wonderful (and maybe not-so-wonderful) candies and snacks from around the world.  I've tried a few strange treats myself, including Botan Rice candy and Satsumaimo sweet-potato-and-caramel rice candy.  I also love mochi, and while I have tried both strawberry and taro, my favorite has to be the sweet taste of red bean.

Of course, today's video covers more than just Japanese candies.  But, my experience really does not.  So, apart from one or two candy bars from Ireland (Crunchie, Flake--those may or may not be the actual names...) most of the non-American candy I've sampled has been from Japan.

Rhett & Link are a personal favorite of mine when it comes to YouTube channels.  And their Good Mythical Morning Show is worth subscribing to.  If you like what you see here, good, because I'm sure they will be popping up again somewhere on this blog :)  I actually have plans to bring in another one of their videos for my 31 Days of Halloween Challenge, as well.

31 Days of Halloween #1

Ever since I started this blog, I thought it would be fun to do a 31 days of Halloween tribute all through October, with posts about everything from ghost stories to vampires to costume ideas to candy.  And I'm going to finally attempt that this year.  I hope I don't utterly botch this, and I hope you enjoy it!  If you're looking for more of a specific topic (movies, costumes, stories, etc.), please let me know in the comments, and I'll try to provide more of what you're asking for :)

Just sit back & enjoy the show!

Day 1: 10 Frightening Pre-code Horror Movies You Need to Watch

I love classic horror movies.  There's something so fun about sitting down with a big bowl of popcorn to enjoy a film that is really not so much scary, as atmospheric and creepy.  Classics like Frankenstein and Dracula readily jump to mind.  And, as you might notice, they're both included on this list.  However, there are a few other...gems on here as well.

These films precede the rating system.  And as such, they can get pretty...creepy, messed up, you get the idea.  I've seen three of them, and have not been emotionally scarred, so I'm sure you'll be fine (although, Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Invisible Man are some of the mainstream ones, so who knows?)  Watch a few, let me know what you think.  These might be a fun alternative for Halloween movie parties; instead of conjuring up scares with Nightmare on Elm Street or The Exorcist, perhaps you can regale your guests with The Mask of Fu Manchu and Doctor X!

NaNoWriMo

Happy Halloween, everyone!  I just wanted to remind you all that tomorrow is November 1st....and that means NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).  For those of you who are not familiar with NaNoWriMo, it's a personal challenge of many writers to try and complete a 50,000 word novel in one month.  I tried last year and utterly failed.  This year, I'm hoping to at least get halfway there.

 

I would love to be writer buddies with you guys!  If anyone is interested, please sign up to join NaNoWriMo with me!  We don't have to share any of our writing, but it would be nice to talk about how far we're getting in our respective pieces, or taking a chance to give each other pep talks or lament our frustrations with the project.  If you do have an interest, you can sign up or learn a bit more about NaNoWriMo here.  Also, I've included a widget on my blog's sidebar to keep up with my NaNoWriMo progress.  It's just underneath the widget for my 2012 reading goal.

 

So, as I said before, Happy Halloween, try not to eat too much candy, and let me know if you'd be interested in joining NaNoWriMo with me :)

October Means Halloween!!

So, call me a dork, but I just love Halloween :)  I just love seeing the trees change colors as the nights grow longer, and children dress up in cute costumes to go trick-or-treating door to door for candy treats.  I haven't been home for Halloween since I went to college, so I haven't had the chance to enjoy that aspect of the holiday, but I've still been having fun enjoying spooky stories, scary videos, and other Halloween themed treats.

Every year, I think I'm going to post a whole ton of awesome Halloween stuff, but every year that falls through and I only end up posting a small smattering of things.  This time, I'm not going to try and be too ambitious, but I did want to pass along some fun seasonal treats for all of you.

I think I'll start off with a video.  I thought this was the funniest thing when it first came out, and I'm sure most of you have already heard of it, but for those of you who haven't, I'll provide a bit of background.  So, a few months back, a song came out on the Internet called "Actual Cannibal Shia LeBeouf".  And as far as I know, there was really no reason behind it; the actor is not actually a cannibal.  But, it sounds cool, and it's actually a very funny song (if you understand that it's still very dark).  I've included the song below (this video is my favorite version so far--I love the cartoon characters, and I think it's funny that Shia is drawn to look like Hannibal Lecter).  Also, if you want to learn a bit more about the song, you can read all about it on Cheezburger.com's Know Your Meme, here.

Enjoy!

Halloween 4 (2011)

So, I really should be working on my five page essay about Sir Thomas Wyatt that's due tomorrow, but instead, I'm going to post Halloween #4 for y'all :)

I found this game online, and thought it was just so cute that I had to share.  It's a point-and-click find-the-differences game, which might not be for everyone, but there's a cute little story to go with it, and if nothing else, that should be worth it :)

The game is in two parts: Lilith and Emma.  It's basically the same story, but told from different points of view.  Lilith is a little vampire girl out on Halloween, where she meets a human girl named Emma.  Cute little story, not much I can say without telling everything, since it's fairly short...but, it's a fun Halloween friendship story.  Enjoy :)

Lilith - Meet Emma in time for Halloween

N.B. I've only posted Lilith's story here.  Once you complete it, there's an option at the end to play the other game.  Just click on that, and it should take you right to Emma's story :)

Halloween 3 (2011)

Yes, yes, I am well aware that this is my third post this morning!  Don't worry; it will be the last!  For today's Halloween post, I wanted to give a list of the classic Universal Horror films.  I love these films very much, but since there are so many of them, it can be hard to keep track of them all.  So, I'll be listing them below :)  I'm only focusing on the werewolf (Laurence Talbot), Frankenstein, and Dracula sagas, so please don't be offended if I fail to mention, say, The Mummy's Hand, and that happens to be your favorite monster movie ever.  Also, I know there are other werewolf movies produced by Universal studios, but they are both stand-alone films, and I'm only focusing on the Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney, Jr.) films, so I won't be mentioning the other ones.  Maybe I'll do a post about those later?

I'll group each series in chronological order.  Anything that is marked with an asterisk (*) spans into at least one of the other sagas.  If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments!

Frankenstein

-Frankenstein (1931)

-Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

-Son of Frankenstein (1939)

-Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)

-Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)*

-House of Frankenstein (1944)*

-House of Dracula (1945)*

-Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)*

Dracula

-Dracula (1931)
      -"Spanish" Dracula (1931)

-Dracula's Daughter (1936)

-Son of Dracula (1943)

-House of Frankenstein (1944)*

-House of Dracula (1945)*

-Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)*

The Wolf Man

-The Wolf Man (1941)

-Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)*

-House of Frankenstein (1944)*

-House of Dracula (1945)*

-Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)*

Personally, I'm a huge fan of the Wolf Man movies :)  These are some of my favorite films ever!  But, I hope you totally enjoy all of these movies!  The only thing I'd like to comment on is Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein, because while it comes out AFTER House of Dracula, the plot seems to come from earlier in the Wolf Man saga, like possibly between House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula.

One final note: "Spanish" Dracula is basically the same film as the 1931 Dracula, filmed on the same sets by the same studio.  However, there is a completely different cast, and--you guessed it--all the dialogue is in Spanish!  As much as I love the classic, English version, the Spanish production is a must-see, and considered by some to be the better of the two!

Halloween 2 (2011)

Happy October 3rd, everyone!  Halloween is now exactly four weeks away!  For today's post, I thought I'd combine a bit of creepy with something useful.  And today's theme is centered around my favorite cannibalistic psychiatrist: Dr. Hannibal Lecter :)

Besides this stunning picture at the top of the page (lol), I'm also going to include a quick clip from The Silence of the Lambs (1991), and a fun makeup tutorial for painting Lecter's infamous "bite-mask" on your face.  I also had a parody that I wanted to post as well, but it was taken down by YouTube, and I've yet to find it again.  Perhaps, if I do, there could be another Halloween Lecter post, but I'm really not sure.

Happy October!

Hello, everyone!  And happy October :)

As I'm sure y'all already know, Halloween is fast approaching!  So, for something fun, I'm going to post Halloween-related things on my blog during the course of the month; I hope you guys enjoy!  I'm not sure how often I'm going to be able to update, but I'll try my best.  These items can include (but are not limited to) videos, movie and book recommendations, pictures, stories, folklore, etc.  Just some cool stuff and all in good fun (even the scary bits!)

I'd like to kick off the month with a little video that I always think about at Halloween now.  The Rocky Horror Picture Show was introduced to me by a now estranged friend, and has become somewhat of a staple for me around Halloween.  The original video I was shown had two songs on it, but sadly, it's been taken down by YouTube because of copyright.  So, I've included both songs on here, but separately.  If this is your first time listening to anything from Rocky Horror, then this might be a good time to check it out; it's a very fun movie :)

Halloween Door Decorating Contest

My floor has a door decorating contest going on in the dorm, and I decided to enter. Since I'm a total history buff, I decided to base the designs off of the historical Sweeney Todd's shop. I have signs for his shop and Mrs. Lovett's shop (although I still have to glue everything on) and I'm going to be making windows, and perhaps a barber pole (if I have time). Right now, I'm working on the signs. We used the Cricut to make the letters in card stock, and the signs themselves are construction paper. I'll be posting pictures very soon. :)

And since we have the BIG CORNER room, we have lots more wall space next to us that we can use to further our design (that's where the windows and pole will be going.

I really hope we win....the prize is a gift card to Target!