Happy December 2025

Happy December!

We’re back! Typically, I lay low for November. It’s a haunted month for me, filled with memories and deep sadness. This year the melancholy was compounded by the state of our faltering nation. Our theme last month was Lost Souls, cuz right now, the US.A is full of them. I’m still hopeful though and looking forward to a busy, festive December.

Around here we celebrate the haunted holidays. I see your bad santa and raise you 3 evil elves and a killer Krampus! I’m feeling fiesty after my month off, and in the true spirit of the hellidays, I’m sharing the scares! It’s gonna be A Christmas to Dismember!

Don’t worry, we still like our normal Christmas traditions. I’ll be posting brand new gift guides for Halloween and Horror lovers. I also put together a little list for kaiju lovers. Long live Godzilla!

There’s also gonna be a creepmas photo challenge, with a focus on creepy, weird, and ridiculously old holiday ornaments, Dickens Sundays, cuz a whole lotta nazi scrooges need a  visit from the three ghosts of Christmas, and lastly, the Holiday Haiku Challenge returns at the end of the month, with a chance to win some spooky prizes. See, we know how to bring the Merry and Fright! So check back often this December.

Be well. Stay safe out there, and season screamings!

Spooky Shows to Binge over Thanksgiving Weekend

Happy Thanksgivingweek!

Whether you’re joining the shopping boycott on Black Friday to send a message to oligarchs or just need to recharge and rest, Thanksgiving weekend is the perfect time for binging spooky TV shows. Here are ten of my favorites.

Castle Rock (Hulu)

The fictional town in Maine that serves as the terrifying locale for most of the stories in the Stephen King universe gets its own supernatural show produced by JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot. True to any Stephen King novel, it’s a dark, mysterious, creepy mind-bender, filled with compelling characters. Sadly, it only got two seasons. A real shame cuz I had so many questions…

The Strain (Hulu)

Back when the CDC were the good guys, the show about a doctor investigating a viral outbreak with ties to an ancient strain of the vampirism was created by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan based on their vampire trilogy. Hollywood superstar showrunner Carlton Cuse of Lost fame wrangled this thrilling action horror for four seasons on FX.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Netflix)

Witches, warlock, humans, hobgoblins, old deities, and Satan, this ain’t your grandmama’s Sabrina. Forget the 90s WB sitcom, this is a much darker, scarier, and sexier show for Archie Comics breakout star.

Ash vs Evil Dead (Starz)

Evil Dead trilogy fans rejoiced when Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell brought their chainsaw-wielding hero and the Deadites to television for Starz in this action horror-comedy that squeaked out 3 seasons. It’s been 30 years since Ash left the Army of the Dead behind, working at Value Mart with his young friends Pablo and Kelly, drinking his lonely existence into oblivion and ignoring his responsibilities to protect the world until the evil dead come calling for the one that got away.

Stranger Things (Netflix)

Coming-of-age show about a group of friends investigating the disappearance of their friend and the supernatural acts happening in their small town of Hawkins, Indiana is Netflix’s most popular show. Season 5 premieres on November 26, so binging the first four seasons now is perfect timing.

The Haunting of Hill House (Netflix)

Mike Flanagan’s chilling first entry in the Haunting series for NetFlix was loosely based on Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel of the same name. Part ghost story, part family drama, horror maestro Stephen King hailed Flanagan’s vision of Jackson’s story as brilliant. I guess that’s why King keeps agreeing to let the guy direct movies of his own novels.

Brand New Cherry Flavor (Netflix)

A mind binding thriller set in the 90s about young female filmmaker in Hollywood, whose career gets derailed after mixing it up with a catty bohemian witch. This limited series wasn’t supposed to go beyond 8 episodes, but fans can still dream.

Marianne (Netflix)

This smartly written and wonderfully acted French horror show created by Samuel Bodin about a writer haunted by an ancient evil witch only got one season, but that’s probably for the best, cuz it’s the scariest show on the list. It’s better to watch in French with English subtitles. Your eyes will be glued to the screen anyways.

Kingdom (Netflix)

Not quite Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead, this Korean gem is filled with colorful characters, political intrigue, and hordes of zombies. Based on a webtoon series The Kingdom of the Gods created by Kim Eun-hee and Yang Kyung-il, this Josean period action thriller was never officially canceled, so fans are still hoping for Season 3, despite the many years that have passed.

The Walking Dead (AMC)

I once read in a Hollywood rag, that studio execs believed no one wanted to watch a zombie TV show and it would be far too expensive to produce. 15 years and 8 spin off shows later, Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead franchise is still churning in some form, while knock off shows have come and gone. I believe it’s all due to the genius of Greg Nicotero and his special effects and make-up team. It’s the first, and the best zombie TV show ever produced, period. And, it totally proved the world loves zombies enough to watch them every week!

Monthly Haiku Corner – November

Happy November! It’s been a minute since this country has had any hope, but last night showed the world that Americans see through the lies of greedy evil conmen. A battle was won but maggots have declared war on our own country. This fight is far from over. We must stand tall like trees and trust in our deep roots.

November’s full moon is a Beaver moon, the biggest brightest supermoon of the year, and I have hope that it will light the way for lost souls well into next year.

forest trees stand tall
lost souls searching through the fog
misty fall morning

Be safe out there.

Prize Pool 2025

The Halloween Haiku Challenge has ended, but I’m sharing the scares this year, so check back in December for a new holiday haiku challenge!

The prize pool (see below) started with leftover or unclaimed gifts. I also have a lot more Halloween stickers but you can only get so many in one picture.😄

Before every contest, please see Contest Rules and Eligibility page for specific details. It is player responsibility to know the rules before playing any games here.

Winners of the Halloween Haiku Challenge 2025

Happy November! Anyone else forget to set their clocks back? LOL Here are the winners of the Halloween Haiku Challenge 2025!

We had three talented writers submit some great spooky original haiku in this year’s Halloween Haiku Challenge. It was another tough one to judge! Congratulations to all the winners!

1st Place:

2nd Place:

3rd Place:

I will directly contact winners to get mailing details to get prizes out. Please do not post personal information here or on social media.

I thank all participants for their contributions on making this a successful haiku challenge.

This concludes the Halloween season 2025. I thank everyone who stopped by this past October and shared in our love for Halloween, horror, haiku, and all things spooky!

May November be kind to you all. Be safe out there!

Happy Dia de Los Muertos Haiku – 2025

resist evil
draw strength from ancestors
honor the dead

Happy Dia de Los Muertos! 🏵🐈‍⬛️🏵

Friday Fright Nightcaps – The Bride’s Nighcap

Happy Friday! Tonight’s Friday Fright Nightcap is The Bride’s Nightcap, a Midori and pear vodka cocktail in celebration of Frankenstein Friday.

Ingredients:

2 oz. Midori
2 oz. pear vodka
.5 oz. Malibu (or white rum)
.5 oz. Key West lime juice (or lime juice)
4 oz. lemonade

I got a little exotic using Malibu and  Key West lime juice. Honestly, regular white rum and lime juice will work too. It’s a little sweet if you don’t add the lime juice and Isuppose regular vodka is fine too. F*** it, use what you got. Midori is the star of the show no matter how you dice it.

This is my last post in October. Such a bittersweet moment. I thank everyone who stopped by all 31 days this Halloween season!

Please don’t drink and drive. Be safe out there!

Happy Halloween!

Loving these haiku entries!

Be safe out there!

Halloween 2025

7th Annual Halloween Haiku Challenge 2025

Share your most original or haunted Halloween Haiku on October 31st for a chance to win a Haunted prize pack.

You must be a WordPress follower to particpate and a US resident. Post your haiku in comments section below. All comments must be approved first so it may not show up right away. I’ll do my best to approve as soon as I see them.

Only 1 haiku are permitted per contestant, US residents only. If I see more than 1 haiku from the same participant or a foreign entry, while I thank you for joining our challenge, these entries won’t qualify for a prize.

Grand Prize – 1st Place Winner will receive Haunted prize pack, which includes Drew Rausch vintage cat postcard print, Disney’s Haunted Mansion collectible pin, and their choice of either The Conjuring I & II Blu-rays, Annabelle Blu-ray film set, or It 2-Film Collection on Blu-ray. This prize pack is worth well over $50.

Second & Third Place Prize: Winners will have a chance to pick a small prize from the prize pool (typically pins, patches, and Halloween stickers).

The contest starts and ends midnight to midnight Pacific time on October 31th through November 1st, 2025. Winners will be announced on November 2, 2025, here and social media.

Please see Contest Rules and Eligibility page more details.

Have a Happy Halloween season, everyone! Be safe out there!🎃

Timeless Thursday –  Fave Horror Soundtracks

It’s Timeless Thursday and we’re jamming out with the greatest horror soundtracks of all time.

It should be no surprise that the three most recognizable horror themes  are “Halloween Theme – Main Title” by John Carpenter followed by Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells” from The Exorcist, and the “Jaws” score by John Williams.

But, did you know the best selling horror soundtrack of all time is Dracula 2000? According to Loudwire Dracula 2000 soundtrack earns an estimated $1.7 million in royalties from 445 million plays on Spotify, thanks to the headbanging power songs from System of a Down, Saliva, Disturbed, Static-X, Powerman 5000, Taproot and the biggest driver of them all ‘One Step Closer’ by Linkin Park.

The second best selling horror soundtrack is Tim Burton’s Nigtmare Before Christmas with music by Danny Elfman. The best song off that album, is “This is Halloween” by Danny Elfman.



Rumor has it that Kiefer Sutherland originally turned down his role in 1987’s vampire hit The Lost Boys, but changed his mind upon hearing INXS and Jimmy Barnes would be doing music for the soundtrack. There’s so many cool songs on this soundtrack, it’s easily one of my all time faves. Who can forget Tim Cappello’s I Still Believe which he got to perform on the boardwalk for a scene in the movie.

Another of my favorite spooky songs comes from the 1992 Candyman soundtrack. It’s carnival fervor dream turned nightmare and the epitome of the sound of innocence being stolen by evil forces.

Lots of folks love Italian disco rock band Goblin’s score for Dario Argento’s supernatural thriller Suspira, and it is an amazing soundtrack for certain, but my favorite score from them actually comes from George A. Romero’s zombie masterpiece Dawn of the Dead from 1978.

No theater goer will forget the opening scene of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, which featured one of the most memorable scores in movie history with a segment from  “Dies Irae” from “Symphonie fantastique” by Hector Berlioz, performed by composers Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind. Omnious and haunting, the music immediately sets the tone of one of the greatest horror films ever produced.

I hope you have a chance to check out one of these great horror films. Happy Halloween!🎃

Songs copyright by respective owners.  No copyright infringement intended. This is fan appreciation and critique. Reposting video under the “fair use” privilege of U.S. Copyright law. These videos still could be removed at anytime. Please email me at Halloweenkristy@gmail.com to report broken links.