Thursday Time Travels – I Married a Witch

Title: I Married a Witch
Director: René Clair
Screenwriter(s): Robert Pirosh, Marc Connelly
Starring: Veronica Lake, Fredric March
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Year: 1942 Run Time: 77 minutes

It’s an election year… remember to go vote and check out one of my favorite fantasy comedies this month, I Married a Witch starring Veronica Lake and Fredric March.

Just before being burned at the stake, 17th century witch Jennifer casts a curse on the family of her accuser, Jonathan Wooley, dooming all the men in the lineage to be unlucky in love and marry the wrong woman.

250 years later, Jennifer and her warlock father Daniel are accidentally freed from their eternal prison, but in incorporeal form. When Daniel starts a fire in order to casts a spell to give Jennifer a human body, they come upon the latest Wooley descendant, Wallace Wooley, who just so happens to be running for governor and engaged to the spoiled daughter of his biggest campaign supporter and financier, J.B. Masterson.

Hijinks ensue after Jennifer accidentally drinks a love potion she intended for Wallace. Jennifer and Daniel, now also in human form, crash the wedding. Estelle to call the whole thing off when she catches her groom to be in an embrace, leading JB to denounce Wooley to the papers. After eloping, Jennifer casts a spell rigging the election, so the while city votes for Wallace, including his opponent! This finally convinces Wolley that he’s indeed married to a witch.

Veronica Lake and Fredric March have great chemistry here and the entire cast is perfect. This movie is a lot of fun and great for Halloween viewing.

Veronica Lake was somewhat of a troubled star. She was a heavy drinker and had a bad reputation for being difficult on set. Many of her directors and co-stars didn’t like her, including March, who said some pretty nasty things about her. Her career supposedly stalled out in late forties. Many critics and fans have since then revisited her life’s story and realized her alcoholism was result of untreated schizophrenia and some horrible tragedies that befell upon her. We may never know how much Hollywood directly contributed to her downfall.

Watch this witchy comedy on Max this October.

Monthly Haiku Corner – October

Happy October! This month, I’ll post a special Halloween haiku every week for Monday Macabre. I hope everyone has a great Halloween season.

all hallows witches
dancing in the moonlight
all spirits welcome

Spooky Sundays – Week 1

Spooky Sundays are all about reading, relaxing, and recharging our brooms. Sorry posting so late, lost internet connection. Here’s a visual recap of the past week.

Thursday Time Travels – Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

Title: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Director: Charles T. Barton (animated sections by Walter Lantz)
Screenwriter(s): Robert Lees, Frederic I. Rinaldo, John Grant
Starring: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, Glenn Strange, Lenore Aubert
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Year: 1948 Run Time: 1 hr 23minutes

Abbott and Costello play bumbling freight porters Wilbur Grey and Chick Young, who are supposed deliver the remains of Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster to a new House of Horrors. Dracula escapes with the monster, where they meet a mad scientist who plans to swap out brains of the monster with Wilbur, with the help of Dr. Sandra Mornay, under Dracula’s trance of course. Larry Talbot aka the Wolfman arrives from London to thwart the plan, but then the full moon rises and all the fun begins.

By 1948, war was over, America wanted to laugh again, and the slapstick antics of these two charmers were the answer. The Universal monsters craze was dying down but film stars Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr. were down for one last ride.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a perfect blend of monster movie and the zany hijnks typical of Abbott and Costello, who were at the height of their fame. Reprising their famous roles, Bela Lugosi stars as Dracula, Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolfman lend a certain credence to the scary thrills, along with newcomer Glenn Strange, stepping in as the Monster for Boris Karloff.

You can catch this madcap horror comedy on Amazon Prime this month.

Happy October 2024!

Happy October! I can’t believe we’re celebrating our 6th Halloween season! This year, work has been crazy busy and finding the time to keep up with blogging is a huge challenge, but I’m not quitting yet!

Although, I’m going to scale back a bit, I will still be celebrating all 31 days of Halloween. Our theme this month is Halloween Vintage Classic, bringing together two of my favorite things in the whole world, vintage style Halloween decorations and old black and white spooky movies.

Be sure to check back every day this October for cool, fun, and inspirational Halloween, horror, and haiku.

HALLOWEEN SCHEDULE 2024

Monday Macabre

Every Monday, I’ll be posting a brand new Halloween Haiku, honoring the theme of Halloween Vintage Classic.

Trick or Treat Tuesdays

Play spooky games and win spooky prizes! Every Tuesday, head over to Instagram for some fun and a chance to win some cool Halloween stickers and pins.

Wicked Art Wednesdays

Every Wednesday, I’ll showcase original Halloween art that most represents our theme of “Halloween Vintage Classic” from the world’s most talented artists.

Thursday Time Travels

Every Thursday, let’s travel back in time and revisit some great black and white haunted classic movies.

Friday Fright Nightcaps

It’s the return of Friday Fright Nightcaps and we’re gonna put the boos in booze!

Sinister Saturdays

Saturday nights are alright for fighting. It’s election year in the USA and what better way to get ready for November than by voting for your favorite scary movies!

Spooky Sundays

Spooky Sundays are for reading, relaxing, and recharging our brooms.

6th Annual Halloween Haiku Challenge
#Halloweenhaikuchallenge

Due to time constraints, I’ll be running a shorter challenge this year, starting in the last week in October, with me choosing a winner on Halloween night. More details to come, but for now, sharpen those pencils or pull up a blank page; I can’t wait to see those Halloween haiku!

Don’t forget to follow Halloweenhorrorhaiku on social media: Instagram, Threads, and Pinterest.

Have a Happy Halloween season, everyone!

Monthly Haiku Corner – July

Happy July! I’m struggling a lot lately. Work is hella demanding. Life’s not going the way I want. I’m disappointing those closest in my life and I have no time to adequately deal with it, to the point that I fear I’m in real danger of never being able to reconcile those relationships. All I can do is manage what’s right in front of me. I keep saying things like, ‘if only I had more time’… but any little bit of time I get though, I do something else.

It’s not time I need. It’s courage to handle the trauma I keep hidden away from the world. Trauma that disguises itself as something else, like Halloween collecting, video gaming, Disneyland trips, TV binges (thank you The Bear, Season 3, for highlighting how broken I am), escapes to the movie theater, craft beer drinking with friends, reading instead of writing, and playing around my little Halloween web blog.

I need to deal with this trauma and that means less time to do the things I love. It’s time. So, as Halloween season approaches, not much else will change here. I will continue to post new haiku once a month, share a movie list, and show up sporadically on social media. I’m not sure yet if I’ll hold a 31 day celebration for Halloween in the same manner that I have in the past few years. If I do, it’s going to look very different. For now, Halloween pre-seaon has arrived with retail stores stocking the shelves with the latest and greatest Halloween trends. I will unpack my old stuff and display it like it was new.

The theme this month is Halloween time.

Halloween dreams
time stands still in your own thoughts
while life slips away

Monthly Haiku Corner – June

Happy Summerween! June is beach-going weather. June is creature feature time! Actually, I despise hot temps, so you won’t catch me down by the ocean past 10am. I prefer air conditioned movie theaters and I know what lurks in the chemically-altered plastic-filled nuclear waters. So, I dedicate this month to all the monsters, the werewolves, vampires, zombies, Jaws, Piranha, the kaiju, like Godzilla, Ghidorah, King Kong, all the eldritch horror of Lovecraft and the monsterous creations from the King of B-roll, Roger Corman, who passed away last month at the tender age of 98. May he long rest in peace. Halloween is creeping into retail stores and this season is gonna be big! I can feel it.

something sinister
lurks beneath the water
Summerween

Monthly Haiku Corner – May

The recent flood of Halloween images swarming my social media has filled my little dark heart with happiness. So, for May, let’s continue celebrating the halfway point to Halloween. This month’s theme is Dreaming of Halloween.

lost in a dream,
paper jack-o-lanterns
and witches’ cackles.

Happy 6th Anniversary to Halloween Horror Haiku!

This month marks the 6th anniversary of Halloween Horror Haiku. While, I’ve stepped back this year to focus on work and my health, I do still post new haiku once a month and on special occasions.

I want to thank everyone for stopping by to check out my blog. Originally, I was going to do a traditional haiku challenge and run a contest for a few weeks, but time constraints keep me from posting as often as I’d like this month. So, instead, I’m holding a flash haiku challenge for 24 hours, starting at 12pm PST on April 30th until 12pm PST on May 1st.

Since April 30th also marks the official halfway point to Halloween and Walpurgisnacht or Witch’s Night, our themes for the contest will be Halfway to Halloween or Witch’s Night. Your original haiku must feature one of the two themes to qualify. Traditional haiku rules apply. Good luck!

SUBMISSIONS:

Only 3 haiku permitted per contestant. You may post here in the comments section or on Instagram or Threads. Don’t forget to use #halloweenhaikuchallenge in your social media posts AND tag me! @halloweenhorrorhaiku

Please see Contest Rules and Eligibility Page for more details.

PRIZES:

1st Place Winner wins a Halloween prize pack, retail valued at $50 (see contents below). 2nd and 3rd place winners will win a Halloween Disney Pin from 2022 season and their choice from the Halloween Grab Bag. I’m emptying the grab bag, so this is a great chance to nab a Disney Halloween pin collectible for free!

1st Place Winner Halloween Prize Pack: Wilton Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkin Halloween Non-stick Cake Pan (1); choice of a collectible Haunted Mansion Bride pin, Mickey Halloween Pin, or Mickey and Minnie Halloween pin set from 2023 season (1); Disney Halloween magnet from 2022 season (1) and some Spooksieboo springtime spooky stickers.

2nd & 3rd Place Winners: 1 Collectible Disney Halloween Pin and a grab bag item, plus some Spooksieboo springtime spooky stickers.

Thanks again for all your love and support! Only a few more months until the unofficial 2024 Halloween season is upon us! It’s gonna be big. I can feel it!

Monthly Haiku Corner – Halfway til Halloween

Today, April 8th is auspicious! There’s a solar eclipse happening. If you miss it, the next one comes around August 23, 2044. Actually, all of April is special because it marks the halfway point til Halloween and the 6th anniversary of Halloween Horror Haiku. I’ll post more on anniversary celebrations later. For now, finish making your fancy glasses and step outside to watch the universe wink at you, puny human.