Dickens Sundays – Ghost of Christmas Future

Every holiday season, I share the timeless words of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, intriguing, mysterious, and downright the scariest ghost of all of literature, we don’t even need the Ghost to reveal the fates of Scrooge and his loved ones, readers can guess from the second he shows up in the story,

PJ Lynch’s Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

THE Phantom slowly, gravely, silently approached. When it came
near him, Scrooge bent down upon his knee; for in the very air
through which this Spirit moved it seemed to scatter gloom and
mystery.
It was shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its
head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible save one
outstretched hand. But for this it would have been difficult to detach
its figure from the night, and separate it from the darkness by which it
was surrounded.
He felt that it was tall and stately when it came beside him, and
that its mysterious presence filled him with a solemn dread. He knew
no more, for the Spirit neither spoke nor moved.
“I am in the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come?”
said Scrooge.
The Spirit answered not, but pointed onward with its hand.
“You are about to show me shadows of the things that have not
happened, but will happen in the time before us,” Scrooge pursued.
“Is that so, Spirit?”
The upper portion of the garment was contracted for an instant in
its folds, as if the Spirit had inclined its head. That was the only
answer he received.

This concludes Dickens Sundays in December. Until next Christmas! Be safe out there!

Dickens Sundays – Ghost of Christmas Present

Every holiday season, I share the wise words of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

When the Ghost of Christmas Present appeared before Scrooge, the spirit showed Scrooge the repercussions of his actions and how much he hurt those closest to him, including his faithful employee Bob Cratchit and family, his good-natured but very ill son, Tiny Tim.

Scrooge and Ghost of Christmas Present by legendary artist Greg Hildebrandt

“Come in!” exclaimed the Ghost. “Come in! and know me better, man!”

Scrooge entered timidly, and hung his head before this Spirit. He was not the dogged Scrooge he had been; and, though the Spirit’s eyes were clear and kind, he did not like to meet them.

“I am the Ghost of Christmas Present,” said the Spirit. “Look upon me!”

Scrooge reverently did so. It was clothed in one simple green robe, or mantle, bordered with white fur. This garment hung so loosely on the figure, that its capacious breast was bare, as if disdaining to be warded or concealed by any artifice. Its feet, observable beneath the ample folds of the garment, were also bare; and on its head it wore no other covering than a holly wreath, set here and there with shining icicles. Its dark brown curls were long and free; free as its genial face, its sparkling eye, its open hand, its cheery voice, its unconstrained demeanour, and its joyful air. Girded round its middle was an antique scabbard; but no sword was in it, and the ancient sheath was eaten up with rust.

Best Halloween and Horror Gifts 2025 (last minute gifts included!)

Happy Caturday!  It’s the last day of Fall and the last shopping weekend before Christmas. There’s no guarantee you’d get any of these gifts by Christmas day without paying exorbitant shipping costs, so I included some spooktacular digital gifts to give to your favorite Halloween and horror fan this Christmas.

Scrub Daddy: Limited Edition Halloween Sponges, $5

Halloween season may be over but you can still find these adorable limited edition Scrub Daddy Halloween sponges online or in stores. They make great stocking stuffers!

Severin Films Horror Enamel Pins, $12

Last week, I mentioned these Severin Films enamel pins of famous horror directors and actors. I just needed to reiterate you could buy a beautiful enamel pin of horror legends Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. These are so incredible! If only they had Vincent Price, we could’ve had the horror trifecta in our stockings this holiday!

Ototo Designs: Vino, Corkscrew and Bottle Opener, $22.95

Your favorite Halloween fan will light up like a Christmas tree if you gift them this darling Ototo Vino bat corkscrew and bottle opener.

Nordic Ware: Haunted Skull Cakelet Pan, $38.50

Every Halloween I post pictures of pizza skulls and every year people wonder how to get their hands on the coolest pan they ever saw. The “skull pan” is Nordic Ware Haunted Skull Cakelet pan and they have tons of other cool pans for all the other holidays too!

Lego Halloween Wreath, $32.99

Legos are the gifts that keep on giving. Building Legos are calming and therapeutic. They’re collectible and you can rebuild them over and over and never get bored. The kid in us won’t allow it. Any spooky set makes a great gift, but this Halloween Wreath is fangtastic! You could get different results each time, it covers two holidays, and with 500 pieces, it shouldn’t take much time at all to complete.

Fangoria Classic Logo Tee, $25

The classic Fangoria.com T-shirt is good ole fashion horror supporting casual wear. Fangoria is one the first true magazines to celebrate horror movies, so we should give back by keeping them alive for generations of future horror fans.

Fangoria+ Subscription (Print+, digital, billed annually), $79.95

Or you could buy a year subscription and get this fancy free t-shirt instead.

Subscribe now and get a free t-shirt while supplies last

HORROR MOVIES

Horror fans love horror movies. Full stop! Sure, we love little trinkets and memorabilia, but what we love most is the very thing that captured our attention and hearts in the first place, HORROR MOVIES! So, when in doubt, buy scary movies, either DVD or Blu-Ray or a streaming service for a couple of months, (doesn’t even have to be a whole year, but that would nice!)

They can even be those cheapass bad two to five dollar bin finds. In fact, that might work out better! Trust me, we horror movie fans are a special bunch. We’ll even watch the small, indie, made in your backyard horror. We may not love it, but we’ll watch it and talk about it cuz we love talking about the spooky films we saw. So, yep, even bad horror movies make great gifts!

Blumhouse of Horrors, 10 Movie Collection, $35

It’s about time that Blumhouse started releasing box sets of their movies. I’d be happier to see Happy Death Day in its own box set, but at least it’s included here. Get Out, The Purge, and Split are also three of best “new” horror Blumhouse has ever produced anyway, so it’s in good company.

LAST MINUTE DIGITAL GIFTS

No time to shop. No time to wait. Gotta have it now, here you go:

Gifting instant access to thousands of scary movies is always a great idea! The two horror movie channels are very similar, except Shudder is little older, more established, maybe has a better selection. Debatable. However, a Screambox yearly subscription is cheaper, even if it has more ads because of it. Really comes down to your patience and wallet.

Bloody Disgusting’s own Screambox Yearly Subscription, $59.99

Shudder Yearly Subscription, $79.99

Foxblood Clothing E-gift Card, starting at $25

Give a e-gift card from Foxblood Clothing in Los Angeles to your fave Halloween and horror fan and let them shop all the after Christmas sales and get exactly what they they really want!

A Gothic Universe Digital Gift Card, price varies

Give the gift of ‘go shop for your own gothic ware’ from A Gothic Universe a fa-boo-lous retailer for goth merch. It’s a win-win!

Calm Subscription, $79

Help your anxious fan relax with the Calm.com app and hundreds of hours soundscapes, sleep stories, meditations and more. Calm may be normal but a well-rested goth has more time to go do cool spooky shit.

Concert Tix for 2026, price varies

Give the gift of live music. SoCalGoth.com has a great chart of all the goth bands out on tour next year in SoCal, but I’m sure you can use it to look up if these bands will play in your area or maybe plan a little trip. SoCal is lovely all times of the year.

Happy Holidays everyone! Wishing you all safe and happy New Year, may 2026 be kinder to us all. Be safe out there!

Dickens Sundays – Ghost of Christmas Past

Every holiday season, I share the wise words of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Dickens’ was a champion of the poor and unfortunate, particularly children. Having grown up destitute himself and enduring the abuse and ills of the labor houses, Dickens knew firsthand of the timeless topics he wrote about.

The Ghost of Christmas Past was the first of Jacob Marley’s three mercurial warnings to the cruel, greedy miser Ebenezer Scrooge to change to his lifestyle or endure a hellish afterlife like his old partner.

She turned back time to show Ebenezer his past, how happy he once was, how in love he once was, but the young Scrooge allowed ambition and greed to rule his life and lost everyone he loved so dearly.

“These are the shadows of the things that have been, that they are what they are, do not blame me!”

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!

Last Minute Gift Ideas 2024

Happy Creepmas! Looking for last minute virtual gift ideas? No stress! You can pull up your phone and have an amazing gift in less than 5 mins. Check it out!

Give the gift of knowledge! I mean, there is no better gift than that. The online classes are easy, interesting, and fun. Your giftee can take classes at their own pace and pick whatever topic they want to study, there are over 200 to choose from! It’s fantastic for new budding writers.

Gift a bimonthly horror box filled with officially licensed and exclusive cool collectibles, apparel, and other horror goodies. It’s the gift that keeps on giving

A gift for two people! Support independent artists, creators, influencers, musicians, and podcasters by gifting a fan with a Patreon subscription.

You need to set up a free Patreon account in order to gift someone but they have made gifting is easy, click here for more info.

Artists like Diana Levin of Ghoulish Bunny use Patreon to connect with fans.

Gifting wellness is a beautiful gift and shows how much you care. Everyone deserves to be happy and feeling good about their mental health, but sometimes it’s challenging and people don’t know where to start. A Calm subscription is unimposing way to ease into caring for oneself.

Plenty of spooky games are available for horror fans on PC, Playstation, XBox, or Nintendo Switch.

Buying a year long online gaming subscription service is an amazing gift. Gaming subscriptions are costly and more and more game companies are adding online play to their games.

Image by Playstation

There are hours of online entertainment to enjoy, but it helps to know what system your giftee is on. Just ask, “hey, what gaming system are you on?” Below are the big ones:

You can purchase digital subscriptions online, or even give physical gift cards that can be found at any grocery store, retailer store or pharmacy store.

Dying Light I & II

Free to watch Prime movies, TV, online books, music, and free shipping for a year! Best gift ever! Now, Amazon has made it a little difficult to gift an actual membership. You have to purchase a gift card instead and then the person uses it to buy themselves the membership. Taken from website: “Amazon no longer offers the ability to directly gift an Amazon Prime membership, but you can use an Amazon gift card to purchase a Prime membership.”

The good ole standby gift. It may seem impersonal but it’s not. People love getting giftcards. If you know their favorite stores or online shops, it helps, but a Visa giftcard that works anywhere, still the cherry on the top of an ice cream sundae.

Happy Holidays!

Wicked Wonderland Haiku – part IV

The theme is month is Wicked Wonderland.The reindeer rescued Santa from the evil clutches of Krampus, but there’s no time to waste! Christmas Eve is upon us!

white clouds, starry night
swapping Krampus fear for joy
Santa’s busy sleigh

Dickens Sunday: A Christmas Carol Quotes – Part IV

It’s Dicken’s Sunday and this holiday season, we’re paying tribute to A Christmas Carol, originally published in parts starting in 1843. Every Sunday in December, I’ll share a spooky or memorable quote from this Christmas classic novella.

Book Gift Ideas 2024

Happy Creepmas! Christmas is a mere 5 days away. It’s crunch time to get a spooktacular gift for your favorite Halloween and Horror lover. Books are the answer!

Normally, I would recommend a hard or soft cover physical book since I love the feel of real book in my hand, but these days, it’s all about the convenience.

Totally worth it for those voracious readers. You get a credit back each month which is really nice. But, there are lower priced tiers, and if the subscription is canceled, readers keep anything downloaded or bought with a credit.

If you’re into magical noir, then this your jam! Get lost in this engaging, funny urban fantasy world featuring endearing characters that you want to root for.

If you love a dark creepy Christmas, then this series is for you. The first novel, Snowed, won 2016 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel.

This spooky psychological thriller will leave you guessing up until the very end.

The King of Horror returns to form with a new anthology of short horror fiction.

They’re calling it feminist witcherature, and honestly, I think we need more! I’m just enjoying three stories of three different women experiencing the same b.s. in a span of 100 years. It gives you the feels.

I love this story. I was swept away by this dark enchanting thriller set in the 1950s. Another classic with themes of enpowerment and independence. This cover was best too. Such mood.

Wicked Wonderland Haiku – part III

The theme is month is Wicked Wonderland. The reindeer have no intention of letting the big man go without a fight! Can they rescue Santa in time for Christmas?

reindeer attack!
battle for the workshop
a Santa rescue