The 13 Days of Halloween!

Hello again, Specters! I have a special announcement for you all!

As you are no doubt aware, this is 2013, the 13th year of a new millennium, a ounce in a lifetime opportunity! As such, I cannot, let the Dark Season pass without marking it some special way. Also, my other motivating factor was the sad fact that, due to forces beyond my control, I will be unable to take part in my family's annual haunt. So, I need something else to do with my October. Thus, I have devised the 13 Days of Halloween, a series of 13 unique posts to be published throughout the month of October. This is going to be a very exciting little event! I plan on having everything from reviews of Halloween films to exclusive interviews and everything in-between. I ask you all to spread the word, tell your friends, and say your prayers; nothing will ever be the same!

It's Almost Here...

I can almost smell the spicy scent of dead leaves, feel an occasional cool autumn breeze, and I know that it's not far off. Halloween. I can almost feel it approaching, feel it in my bones. However, since we're not quiet there yet, allow me to provide a few videos to satiate your hunger. Enjoy!

On Being A Goth

I don’t think it’s any secret at this point that I consider myself a Goth. I dress in all black; I wear black eyeliner and black lipstick, black nail polish. I live in an apartment decorated with pictures of skulls and horror movie characters like Freddy Krueger, Frankenstein, and Michael Myers. My musical taste consists of Goth Rock, Heavy Metal, Dark Ambient and Horror Punk. I watch almost nothing but horror films. I have a fascination with morbid Victorian arcana. I devour books on serial killers, ghosts, voodoo, and the occult. And of course, I’m obsessed with Halloween. Looking back on my life, I can see that almost inevitable that I evolve into a Goth. Some of the biggest landmarks of my youth are all tinged with darkness: first watching Frankenstein at age six, and The Phantom of the Opera at 11 (Frankenstein got me hooked on horror, and PotO inspired my first haunt). Discovering bands like Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson as a freshman in High School. Reading books on people like Jack the Ripper, Bela Lugosi, Joseph “The Elephant Man” Merrick, and Anton Szandor LaVey. First becoming interested in the paranormal around 16. In short, ladies and gentlemen, I am a weirdo, and damn proud of it. I won’t lie; it hasn’t all been peaches and cream.  I have had to put up with a lot of naysayers, people who told me that there was something fundamentally wrong with me for being this way. I have been called everything from a devil-worshipper to a Nazi (personally, I can just laugh at the devil-worship accusations, but the Nazi thing is completely insulting). So why do I do this? Why do I stick with it and run the risk of being laughed at or worse? Well, there are a couple of reasons. First, I have to admit I like sticking out in crowd. I like the attention; I like not just blending into the homogenous hoards. Secondly, I get to truly live like its Halloween every day. If the way we present ourselves is a mask, then I’m just putting on mask the fits me. But the third and most important reason, I think, is self-expression. In life you have to fashion an identity for yourself, decide who and what you are as an individual. I never felt comfortable being a “normal” person. I much preferred the idea of being a Mad Scientist, an Opera Ghost, a creature of the night. So I remake myself, via clothes and makeup, into a persona that feels just right. I am, in the words of one writer, aligning myself with the fraternity of the monstrous. If there is one thing that I want you to take away from this post, Specters, it is this: be who you are, and don’t let anyone hold you back. As a human being you most evolve into what you were meant to be. It may not be an easy or painless transition, but it will be worth it. In the words of George R. R. Martin,

“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you."

The Machine

Just thought I'd share this amazing discover: an incredible Steampunk-influenced home haunt, operated by just three men, in a garage in England. No editing tricks needed. Just jaw-dropping.

A Behind-the-Scenes View:

The Redness and Horror of Blood

"Of all that is written, I love only what a person has written with his own blood."

- Friedrich Nietzsche

 

The incredible works of artist Nick Kushner - all painted in his own blood. Amazing stuff.

 

TheThirdAngelSounded.com (contains explicit material)