Month: October 2020

Trick or Treat Tuesday!

Let’s have some spooky fun. Will you get a treat or a trick? Click the doors to find out.

Monday Macabre: October 12, 2020

tangled weeds
unanswered screams
shallow grave

Poe Sundays: Lenore

Lenore
by Edgar Allan Poe
(published 1845)**

Ah, broken is the golden bowl! — the spirit flown forever!
Let the bell toll! — a saintly soul floats on the Stygian river: —
And, Guy De Vere, hast thou no tear? — weep now or never more!
See! on yon drear and rigid bier low lies thy love, Lenore!
Come, let the burial rite be read — the funeral song be sung! —
An anthem for the queenliest dead that ever died so young —
A dirge for her the doubly dead in that she died so young.
 
“Wretches! ye loved her for her wealth and ye hated her for her pride;
And, when she fell in feeble health, ye blessed her — that she died: —
How shall the ritual, then, be read? — the requiem how be sung
By you — by yours, the evil eye — by yours the slanderous tongue
That did to death the innocence that died and died so young?”
 
Peccavimus; yet rave not thus! but let a Sabbath song
Go up to God so solemnly the dead may feel no wrong!
The sweet Lenore “hath gone before,” with Hope that flew beside,
Leaving thee wild for the dear child that should have been thy bride —
For her, the fair and debonair, that now so lowly lies,
The life upon her yellow hair, but not within her eyes —
The life still there upon her hair — the death upon her eyes.
 
“Avaunt! — avaunt! from fiends below the indignant ghost is riven —
From Hell unto a high estate far up within the Heaven —
From grief and groan to a golden throne beside the King of Heaven! —

Let no bell toll, then! — lest her soul, amid its hallowed mirth,
Should catch the note as it doth float up from the damnéd Earth!
And I — to-night my heart is light! — no dirge will I upraise,
But waft the angel on her flight with a Paean of old days!”

**Note: Poe’s first attempt to memoralize his true love came in 1831 with the poem “A Paean”. Poe revised the poem and published Lenore in 1843, and again in 1845. This revised and more widely used version ends with the line, King of Heaven! A Paean is now considered its own poem entirely.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenore_(poem)

Friday Fright Nightcaps: Poison Apple Halloween Cocktail

October is National Apple Month! There are over 7,500 varities of apples in the world, only 100 of them commercially grown in the USA. My favorite is Granny Smith, cuz I love me some tart, which is also great for baking, but, it’s Friday, and today is all about finding the ultimate apple cocktail to celebrate the orchard during Halloween time! The Seaside Baker has the perfect Poison Apple Halloween Cocktail. It’s crisp, tart and totally green!

PoisonAppleHalloweenCocktail ©TheSeasideBaker

Ingredients

  • 1.5 ounces Vodka
  • 3/4 ounce Sour Apple Schnapp Liqueur
  • 3/4 ounce Sour Apple Mixer
  • Ice for shaking

For mixing instructions and garnish tips, please visit here:
https://theseasidebaker.com/poison-apple-halloween-cocktail/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest&utm_campaign=tailwind_tribes&utm_content=tribes

I made my own version of the Poison Apple. Mine lacked in fancy dry ice but boy did I put a pucker on my face!

Poison Apple Halloween Cocktail by HalloweenKristy

Throwback Thursday: Chopping Mall

These movies are so painstakingly 80s, they serve as a tubular tribute to both spandex and bloodsplatter.

The Chopping Mall (1986)

The fear of machines taking over and destroying mankind was all the rage in 80s, and Chopping Mall delivered feathered hair and killer lasers in spades. One-time protégé of B-movie king Roger Corman, Director Jim Wynorski kicked off a long career of B-horror movies and exploitation films, with this story about of group of mall employees partying after hours, only to find themselves the target of the mall’s new nighttime security system. I’m sure the movie had some meaningful message about not having sex in furniture stores and trusting machines to do a man’s job, but who cares, we came to see robots vs. humans!

These formidable Dalek-looking knock-offs rack up a kill count that could make the Terminator proud. They start by impaling a couple of techs and electrocuting a night-time janitor, played by character actor and Corman alum, Dick Miller, before moving on to our horny co-eds, played by a cast of hot 80s hopefuls, including Kelli Maroney, Tony O’Dell, and the legendary Barbara Crampton, in one of her earliest roles. Our spunky protags fight back with Molotov cocktails, flares and propane tanks, but ya know, bad bots and their neon lasers gotta steal the show.

Honestly, most of the special effects are as cheesy as the gratuitous boob shots, but one death does stands out as unbelievably gory, even by today’s blood-thirsty audience standards. It wasn’t as well done as say, Scanners, but it probably was the highlight of Suzee Slater’s career.
All and all, Chopping Mall isn’t the best killer robot movie in the world, but I think true horror fans will appreciate it, besides, once Hollywood figured out how to make heads explode, even bad 80s B-flicks got a little more interesting.

Do pumpkins dream?

Here’s an original poem written by me, in celebration of Random Acts of Poetry Day.

Do pumpkins dream?
Do they dream of going home with someone nice?
Do they dream of smelling like pumpkin spice?
Do they dream of haunted houses and familiar black cats?
Do they dream of witches or zombies or vampire bats?
Do they dream of sitting on a porch, all lit up for Halloween night?
Do they dream of scaring children who walk up the path for a fright?
Do they dream of being eaten by chickens who flew the coop?
Do they dream of being chopped up and made into pumpkin soup?
Do they dream that treat-or-treaters will poke them in the eye?
Do they dream of sitting on the Thanksgiving table as someone else’s pie?
Do they dream of stealing a magical flying broom and taking it for a spin?
Do they dream of having the world’s biggest jack-o’-lantern grin?
What do pumpkins dream?

Halloween Kristy

Wicked Art Wednesdays – Jeff Granito

We’re kicking off Wicked Art Wednesdays this Halloween 2020 season with one of my favorites, Artist and Designer, Jeff Granito!

After graduating with a BFA in Graphic Design from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Jeff Granito was tapped by Disney to work on new art and merchandising, which you may have seen adorn the shelves of Disneyland’s Main Street shops if you’ve visited the park sometime in the past 20 years.

catsblackmagic ©jeffgranito

Now working as a freelance artist, this uber talented Tiki enthusiast has had the opportunity to produce amazing works of art and graphics for big time movie studios, including Walt Disney, Warner Bros., Fox, Nickelodeon, and dozens of other name brand companies. There’s so much more to say but I’m just gonna let his magnificent art doing the talking.

Artist: Jeff Granito
Company/Studio: Jeff Granito Designs
Where to Purchase Goods: https://www.jeffgranitodesigns.com/shop

https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/jeffgranitodesigns

Aloha Spirts Night ©JeffGranito

Website:  https://www.jeffgranitodesigns.com/
Social Media: Instagram @jeffgranitodesigns

Haunted Float Face Mask by Jeff Granito

Trick or Treat Tuesday

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNER: AVA HARRISON

Ava Harrison correctly submitted 8.5 of 10 answers in Comments section of this Halloween trivia quiz below and won herself a Sam Trick or Treat button pin created by artist Diana Levin of Ghoulish Bunny Studios.

HALLOWEEN TRIVIA/ANSWERS IN RED

  1. What is the name the Celtic festival that inspired the origins of Halloween?  Samhain
  2. What are at least two other ways to address Halloween? Hallowmas or All Hallows Eve, All Saints Eve, Allhallowe’en, Hallowe’en
  3. The term Halloween was coined from a poem written by which famous Scottish Poet? Robert Burns
  4. The roots of carving jack-ol’-lanterns grew from what tragic fable? Stingy Jack
  5. What famous magician died on Halloween? Harry Houdini
  6. What infamous radio broadcast aired at 8pm on Halloween night in 1938? War of the Worlds
  7. What U.S. state was admitted into the Union on October 31st? Nevada
  8. What is the real name of those strange little candies with orange and black wrappers?  Mary Jane Peanut Butter Kisses or Melster Peanut Butter Kisses
  9. What’s the name of song that appeared in two Halloween franchise movies? Mr. Sandman by the Chordettes – Halloween II/H2O
  10. According to old superstition, if a young woman looked into a mirror by candlelight at midnight on Halloween, what would happen? She’d see the face of her future husband/lover

For further details and rules of contest, please go here:
https://halloween-haiku.com/contest-rules-eligibility-and-some-disclaimer-stuff/

Tune in next Tuesday to see if you’ll receive a trick or a treat.

Monday Macabre: October 5, 2020

tufts of fur
scurrying for bits of flesh
hungry rats

Poe Sundays: The Masque of the Red Death

Poe Sundays are all about honoring the works of Edgar Allan Poe. The Masque of the Red Death is perhaps one of my favorite stories. The visually striking story was written in such detail, it’s as if we are transported to the 14th Century Europe.

The magnificent concept artwork below was created by Sarah Kate Forstner. If you click the pic to link to Art Station, you’ll see even more stunning art that she created to accompany this beautiful masterpiece.

Masque of the Red Death by Sarah Kate Forstner

“THE “Red Death” had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avator and its seal — the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease, were the incidents of half an hour.

But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the prince’s own eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within. The abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think. The prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were within. Without was the “Red Death.””

The above is only an excerpt from The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe. To find out what happened next to Prince Prospero and his lavish masquerade, please visit PoeStories.com

All works by Edgar Allan Poe are widely considered to be public domain.