It Begins...

This is it, Specters; 31 days 'til the Big Dance. Pumpkins will be carved, Styrofoam tombstones will be staked into yards, apples will be candied, and October shall commence. It is this time of year that I relish above all else. The air is crisp, the nights long and dark. This is the time of year where somehow the candy tastes sweeter. There is a feeling of magic in the air, and I wouldn't give it up for anything. Happy Haunting, everyone. This is going to be a great Halloween.

Oh, and don't forget, Specters, tomorrow the 13 Days of Halloween begins. It will start with the Dark Month and end with it. Tell your friends, and wait for the madness to begin...

Kinetic Art Coffin

A Steampunk sculpture that I found on YouTube. This is awesome.

Dead Man's Bones

"Dead Man's Bones" and The Skeleton Dance. How can you not love this?

Sinister Pointe's Spirit Lounge

This looks so cool:

"As the years go by, Sinister Pointe has striven to push the boundaries of what to expect from haunted attractions and to not limit it to just Halloween. We have since opened our year round attraction in Brea, California and we are not only open periodically throughout the year for hungry haunt enthusiast, but we also host a slew of events here like our popular 4D horror movie nights, haunted scavenger hunts, and more. and if that wasn't enough, we also make the location available for private parties, corporate events and even weddings. With the success of our year round haunted house, Sinister Pointe is ready to take our 16+ years of creating live terror to a whole new level. We are currently moving forward on our next exciting project... Sinister Pointe's Spirit Lounge! A truly unique horror themed bar in Orange County California just blocks away from our own year round haunted attraction as well as minutes aways from both Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm.

"The Spirit Lounge will embrace the look and feel from Disneyland's Haunted Mansion and the World famous Magic Castle. Featuring state of the art special visual FX, gags and an amazing collection of ever changing classic and current horror movie replicas and original collectibles. Looking to stop in for a drink and catch the Laker game? Not gonna happen here! The only thing you will catch on all of our televisions are the black and white classics, from the great television shows the Twilight Zone , Alfred Hitchcock & The Munsters, to horror movie classic like Psycho, Frankenstein and Bela Lugosi's Dracula.

"The Spirit Lounge will be like nothing you have ever experienced. We have partnered with the most talented team of hospitality professionals in the industry. Our operations managers have over 20 years of experience successfully building and growing themed bars and restaurants. Our hospitality staff is cast to provide a memorable and unique guest experience. And thanks to the support of our friends over at dread central, theme park adventures and so many more including some of the major production studios & horror tribute websites you can expect plenty of monthly events including red carpet premiere parties, and celebrity guest appearances. For more information regarding the Spirit Lounge, please visit us on Facebook.com/SpiritLoungeBrea for tons of up to date information, concept renderings, support facts and more regarding this remarkable and exciting venue!"

www.spiritloungebrea.com

And click here to visit the haunted attraction's website:

The Pumpkin Snack Quest Continues

I seem to be going out of my way to try pumpkin snacks. I guess I have to hurry before the disappear from the shelves. Today I tried Little Debbie's Pumpkin Delights:

What first struck me was that it didn't look like pumpkin like on the box; more like a deformed smiley face:

When I opened the little plastic bag, it gave off a nice cinnamony smell. As the taste, it was actually pretty good. Had a nice, smooth pumpkin/nutmeg flavor. You should certainly grab a box if you can; it will be three bucks well spent.

Rob Zombie's Great American Nightmare

Step Right Up, Ladies & Gentle-ghouls, the King of Shock-Rock, Rob Zombie, is opening his very own scream park! Based out of the Pomona Fairplex in Los Angeles, CA, The Great American Nightmare will be open from October 10^th through November 2^nd. Taking its name from song of the same name (click here if you haven’t heard it, it’s freaking awesome), the park will feature three haunted house, each based on one of Zombie’s movies: Haunt of 1,000 Corpses, the Haunted World of El Superbeasto in 3D, and Lords of Salem: Total Black-out. In addition to the three haunts, every night there are multiple live music performances from a variety of artists including Powerman 5000, Twiztid, Blood on the Dance Floor, Emilie Autumn, Winds of Plague, 45 Grave, and of couse, Rob Zombie himself, along with many others. There’s also a beer garden and midway. Needless to say, as a huge RZ fan, I am really wishing I lived in LA right now. Check out the main site below:

www.greatamericannightmare.com

Winter's Night

A few months ago, while I stumbling around YouTube looking for videos of Universal Studio's Halloween Horror Nights, I came across a haunt featured at HHN a couple years back - Winter's Knight: The Haunting of Hawthorne Cemetery.
 Watching the video, I was struck not only by the incredible set design and prop work, but also by the theme of a gothic cemetery in the snow; I've never seen a haunt do that before. The reason I bring this all up is that under the "Suggested Videos" link was the official soundscape created by Universal for the haunt. I personally think this is an amazing, albeit short, soundscape, and would be perfect for any number of haunt scenarios, from cemetery to cornfield to haunted woods. I suggest you put in some headphones, close your eyes, and see where your mind takes you.

13

The Number of Bad Luck. Why is that? Perhaps it was the Last Supper, where Judas, the 13th Apostle, betrayed Christ, thus cursing the number. Maybe it was the Knights Templar, who were massacred Friday, October 13, 1307 (a stranger date could note be hoped for). Or perhaps still it was a repressed pagan goddess/lunar cult, with 13 full moons representing the 13 menstrual cycles in year, who were deemed demonic and evil by the early Catholic Church. Regardless of how it started, 13 has quite the reputation. 13 is the infamous Death Card in the Tarot Deck. Apollo 13, one of NASA's attempts to send men to the moon, turned into a near fatal disaster. This number has also been the inspiration for countless items of horror culture, ranging from music (Wednesday 13, Black Sabbath's 13 album), to television and film (Thirteen Ghosts, Friday the 13th, Warehouse 13). If we can be certain of one thing, it is this: 13's reputation is not going away any time soon.

My First

...helping of pumpkin ice cream for 2013, that is. Edy's Slow-Churned, to be exact. It was good. Very smooth and creamy, but with a nice, pumpkin flavor to it, with just a dash of cinnamon  Like of bowl of really cold pumpkin pie. It would go good with whipped cream.

Life is good.

Spirit Halloween 2013

Just yesterday, I took a trip to the local Spirit Halloween store to admire their wares. I am happy to report that they have really outdone themselves this year (as they should, considering this is their 30th anniversary). They had all the killer clowns, zombies babies, gruesome masks, and animatronics that you could hope for. I'd like to give a shout-out to the assistant manager there, who was kind enough to let me take pictures to show you all. And lucky for this young fiend, it seems their hiring, so keep your fingers crossed for me, Specters. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures I took:

The clown's eyes were spinning...

Of course, the ever-popular Zombie Babies...

 And now for all you Minecraft fans...

 I so want this cup.