Happy December! I can’t believe it’s the last month of 2023. It’s been long ridiculous year. The theme this month is Merry and Fright. It’s a traditional Christmas vibe with a little dash of spooky sprinkled in. I’ll have lots of cool haiku, gift-giving guides, scary holiday movies lists and free gifts to give away so stay tuned. Season’s Screaming!
winter wonderland
creatures stirring for creepmas
all merry and fright
Happy December! The theme this month is Merry and Fright. One of the many things I love about December is the chance for a second Halloween! Work was a little crazy last month and November got away from me. I knew it was going to be an off month and so I used the time to reset because I love posting about haunted holidays. Who doesn’t love a good dark and scary Creepmas?!
Merry and Fright is for the people who love both Halloween and Christmas. These two holidays are close cousins, completely opposite, yet so similar in nature, they can be celebrated in the same way. Merry and Fright is traditional Christmas, but a little dark, little creepy, little kitschy, and little scary.
Yes, Christmas, like Halloween, tends to be overcommercialized but if we continue to spread love, kindness, understanding, and goodwill, along with education of the traditions and history of the holiday, we’re gonna be okay.
Which reminds me…here, Christmas is not Jesus’ birthday, but it IS the chosen date to represent ALL religious and pagan holidays and traditions. It’s a hodge podge and that means it’s okay to say Merry Christmas, it’s okay to say Happy Holidays, and celebrate all traditions, including putting up the pagan Christmas tree, lighting the Hanukkah menorah, lighting the Kwanzaa Kinara, waiting around for Sinterklaus, ringing a bell for Krampus, and throwing a birthday party for little Jesús. I don’t have time for hate, end of story….nor racism, prejudice, bigotry, nationalism, extremism, or sexism, so please don’t bring it.
The world is full of bad guys, war and strife enough as it is, so I’m trying to create a safe space for everyone who loves Christmas and Halloween. My holiday gift to you will be fun, frivolity, holiday haiku, holiday horror, holiday spirits, games, contests, free prizes, and gift-giving guides for those looking for the dark and spooky items for those special loved ones. So keep tuning in all month long.
Merry Creepmas and Happy Hellidays to all!
Remember to support Small Business Saturday and shop independent or local shops. Below are only a few unique and reputable spooky shops independently owned and operated all-year long which I support and highly recommend for all your Creepmas shopping this year holiday season.
Local Los Angeles:
Dark Delicacies: https://www.darkdel.com
Celebrating 29 years, Dark Del provides a home for truly independent booksellers, movie memorabilia collectors, horror fanatics, and other spooky stuff in the greater Los Angeles region. The store is located in Burbank and often holds in-person signings and events. Del is also an awesome author and editor of works, such as Dark Delicacies horror anthology series and the suspense-western, The Survival of Margaret Thomas. If you live in L.A. area, stop by this weekend!
Mystic Museum: https://www.themysticmuseum.com/
Part oddities, part occult, part horror shop, part mystics museum, Mystic Museum is one-of-a-kind place for horror and occult fans. Taking up an astonishing three storefronts, the corner store is Camp Horror, an 80s horror themed shop that carries horror movie apparel, memorabilia and more.
Next door, the oddities shop, find rare, vintage and occult items for your arts and craft. You’ll barely notice that you crossed over to Mystic Museum, a place for goth decor, apparel, books, jewelry and more. Inside that shop is a door, where, for a donation, you can enter the parlor room that houses original artwork and vintage items celebrating curated themes throughout the year.
And, then, there’s the exhibit down the street…trust me, Mystic Museum is a kooky, dreamy, satisfying day trip.
Halloweentown Store: https://www.halloweentownstore.com/
I adore Halloween Town Store. Open all year long, this costume shop is a few doors down from the original main store, which carries everything from Halloween props and spooky clothing to original art prints and spooky, vintage, pop horror collectibles. Check everyone off your list in one visit.
Online:
Gingerbread Bag by Backstitch Bruja
Creepmas wrapping paper or Krampus Folklore Mug as seen below by Spooky Cat Press
Halloween Pumpkins Black Xmas Stocking by Working Class Punx: https://www.workingclasspunx.com
Poe Tea Set by Me and AnnabelLee Shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/MeandAnnabelLeeShop
Tiny Bryon von Battie or Tiny Ghostie keychain plushies by Elle’s Ghosties
International:
Haunted House Incense Cone Holder – October 31st https://october31st.co.uk/creepmas-haunted-house-incense-cone-holder/
If you live in Europe, or outside the USA and looking for an amazing Halloween shop, then, try October 31st store, owned and operated all year along by Spooky Wil.
October 31st is da domb! In addition to carrying some great stuff from artists and creators all over the world, Wil also produces original crafted art and merchandise and ships internationally.
October 31st also often carries out-of-print, discontinued, or rare Halloween or spooky collectibles that can’t be found in the US, sometimes at regular retail price. Yes, shipping costs are little high, but scalpers and secondary markets on Ebay or Amazon, are gonna charge mark up prices and charge for shipping too. You can reach out and interact with Wil beforehand, he’s super sweet, and he packs items with great care. Shop from Wil. Keep a good guy in business!
Hope your holidays are full of merry and fright! Happy Creepmas!
Happy November! Halloweentime was a busy, loud, and spooky whirlwind of sight and sound. We waited all year for October, and then, it was gone…the ‘Ber months are always a blur. That’s why I choose to regroup in November. Thanksgiving is two days of madness I don’t mess around with. Nope, I slow down, stay home, eat pie, drink spiced cider, and do some reading.
The theme this month is Fall Reading. All haiku in November will connect to tell the story of a visit to a haunted library, where a little ghost likes to read over people’s shoulders.
Title: Talk to Me
Director: Danny and Michael Philippou
Starring: Sophia Wilde, Marcus Johnson, Alexandra Johnson, Joe Bird and Miranda Otto
Distributed by: A24
Running Time: 1hr 35min
When a group of Australian friends become addicted to conjuring spirits using the embalmed hand of a satanic medium, they quickly learn the dangers of opening doors to the spirit world.
The movie starts out with a grieving Mia (Sophia Wilde), hot off her mom’s funeral, begging her BFF Jade (Alexandra Johnson) to go to a party, so they can experience some fun and excitement. She’s particularly close with Jade and Jade’s younger brother Riley (Joe Bird), even Jade’s mom, played by Miranda Otto (of LOTR and Sabrina fame) who is hip to the kids and their little white lies, but this struggling single mom is also a busy nurse who gets called back to hospital leaving the trio alone to go sneak off to the party.
It’s unclear at this point if Mia has had time to process her mom’s death but she’s obviously a muddled mess of emotions and prime target for what’s about to happen.
Each teen takes their turn, first, they’re strapped to a chair and tied down tight by the biggest member of their group (if that ain’t a red flag I dunno what is), next, they light a candle, grab hold of the embalmed hand and say one of two commands, “talk to me” or “I let you in”. What follows is 90 seconds of madness.
What should be a terrifying event (see every other horror movie ever made about conjuring the dead), these kids instead get a huge thrill out of being possessed. In some ways, the movie likens it to getting high. Spirits take control of the teens’ bodies and say the wildest shit. Some spirits are good, some spirits are bad, some spirits are horny and make out with the dog, and some spirits are recently deceased family members who have committed suicide for unknown reasons.
Mia instantly becomes obsessed with touching the hand, desperate to communicate with her dead mother again. Despite objections from Jade, and the other more hardened members of their friendship circle, Mia’s quest blinds her to the dangers so much that she drags young Riley with her to friend Hayley’s house for another go. This time, giving permission, that she doesn’t actually have, allowing Riley to partake in the fun, but playtime is over.
Mia’s weakened emotional state and the group’s bending of the rules, attract the attention of a demonic spirit and this one’s not letting go of Riley.
In Talk to Me, there is a clear separation between the living and the spirit world, but it matters not because these kids don’t pay attention to rules or respect the dead. This is horror movie version of fuck around and find out.
Mia’s life begins to quickly unravel, until she basically becomes a conduit for evil demons looking for a soul. Mia hallucinates and even allows spirits to possess Jade’s boyfriend, in what becomes just one of a very long line of frustrating scenes as we watch Mia’s choices go from bad to worse until the unthinkable happens.
My initial thoughts were Talk to Me wasn’t as scary as it could have been, but I began to appreciate the film after a second viewing and its contributions towards horror.
First, there’s the amazing and very realistic portrayl of Gen Z. As I stated before, these kids reveled in being possessed, rather than get scared. I dont know if it’s social media, bad parenting, or shitty education system, all of which seem to be a worldwide problem, but this generation is missing some serious critical thinking skills. The desire for instant thrills, gratification, and lack of self preservation to the point they’re messing with the dead is bonkers. Like any good A24 movie, I’m sure there was subtext and hints all over the movie that clued audiences into what was happening, but the performances are so spectacular that we can’t do anything but zero in on what’s happening to Mia, and then Riley.
Riley, oh my gosh, if there’s a victim of the year award in film, hands down it belongs to this character. Your heart will break, your skin will crawl, you’ll feel pain just by looking ar him. It’s horrific, and it’s one of the many reasons I’m highly recommending everyone spend $ to rent on Amazon Prime on Halloween night.
Scariest scenes: Any scene involving the possessed Riley in the hospital and his torture scene.
Part IV and the conclusion of a Haunted Halloween series.
hand on my shoulder
buried bones in the garden
ghosts walk among us
Title: The Boogeyman
Director: Rob Savage
Starring: Chris Messina, Sophie Thatcher, Vivien Lyra Blair
Distributed by: 20th Century Studios
Running Time: 1hr 38m
Based off the 1973 short story by Stephen King, I found this one on Hulu the other night. I hadn’t read the story before, so I thought maybe it would be a paranormal movie, but it kinda turned into a creature feature. For anyone new to the lore, a Boogeyman is predominantly North American mythos of a hellish creature that hides in closets, under the bed, or other dark creepy places and eats children who misbehave, or in this case, are just unlucky.
A recently widowed psychologist Will Harper (always solid Chris Messina) and his two daughters, teen Sadie (Yellowjackets star ingenue Sophie Thatcher) and young Sawyer (very talented Vivien Lyra Blair) are still reeling after the unexpected death of the mother, when the youngest girl suddenly finds stalked by the Boogeyman. It’s a little unclear how the creature came to find young Sawyer, maybe the family’s collective grief invited the Boogeyman into the home.
Or it could have been this sad welp below, who lost his family in the movie’s opening scene.
Lester Billings (played by my new favorite character actor David Dastmalchian) shows up in doc’s office, totally unannounced, without an appointment, and talking about the creature that comes for your kids when you’re not paying attention. Dark stuff and the doc Harper agees, there’s something off about this dude. For some creepy reason, while Harper is in the next room calling 911, Lester decides to check out the families’ closets and quickly finds out the Boogeyman eats adults too. Btw, the Boogeyman is also an extreme multi-tasker because it manages to haunt two families at the same time.
Now about that Boogeyman, filmmakers kept all the traditional tropes to make their monster feel familiar to audiences, hiding in the dark, afraid of light, mimicing voices, fast traveling like ghosts or a spirit, but, then, they also smartly added some new characteristics to unnerve and surprise filmgoers, moving away from a paranormal entity to a more corporeal physical creature.
It was ugly, had tentacle-like appendages walked on ceilings, moved in all directions, making it near impossible to outrun.
Monsters are not all powerful though. In fact, they have a lot of limitations, and Sadie and Sawyer turn out to be two smart cookies, who manage to defeat the Boogeyman, for now at least. People should probably still check under the bed and in the closet.
I found this PG-13 horror thriller to be a short enjoyable romp. The film relies on the creeponess of the dark, jump scares and the anxieties of a grieving family to scare audiences. Much like Lake Mungo, a film I reviewed earlier this month, grief is a powerful negative emotion that really opens you up to supernatural. Since there’s no gore, sex, and only mild use of drugs and bad language, The Boogeyman is probably good for families looking to introduce older kids into horror.
Scariest scenes: When young Sawyer rolls her lamp ball under the bed to reveal the Boogeyman for the first time and another jump scare moment when the Boogeyman suddenly appears and grabs Sadie.
Part III of a Haunted Halloween series.
terrible deeds
written in a hidden book
ghastly secrets
Title: Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum
Director: Jung Bum-shik
Starring: Wi Ha-joon, Park Sung-hoon, Ji-Hyun Park
Distributed by: Showbox
Running Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
I found this South Korean ghost flick while strolling through Tubi the the other day. Korean horror cinema is known for its bleak and tragic outcomes and this one was right on point.
Inspired by a real CNN travel story that named Gonjiam one of seven freakiest places on Earth, Director Jung Bum-shik crafts a story of a web series film crew live streaming their visit to the abandoned South Korean asylum, in hopes to make big money, only to find it plagued with demonic forces.
The movie starts with a motley group answering an ad posted by Youtube owner Ha-joon for “Horror Times” to shoot a live-streamed event held at the long abandoned and haunted Gonjiam, the site where dozens of curious trespassers and self-proclaimed ghost hunters have disappeared from. Room 402 in particular is so haunted, no one can even open the door. The controversial mental hospital had closed after the death of its pioneer director, who mysteriously killed herself. Rumor was, the asylum was actually a place designed to torture and kill political prisoners.
Now, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from decades of watching paranormal films, is that ghosts don’t like liars and fakers, but what they hate most of all is being disrespected and underappreciated. Basically, all ghosts act like teenage girls.
Despite the natural setting of an abandoned hospital, the film crew’s captain, played by Wi Ha-joon from Squid Game fame, decides to trick audiences by setting up fake shots of “haunted activity”. Ugh! Ha-joon sets up camp a half mile down the road to control the broadcasts, all while directing his crew to film and go where he wants.
Well, dude, the spirits see your creepy doll and motion detector lights, and raise you wheelchairs that move on their own, ghastly ping pong balls, and changing wall messages from “let’s live” to “let’s die”.
As the exploring crew go deeper and deeper into the hospital, their experiences with the former residents increase enough to spook them out and they all try to flee. It doesnt take long for them to find out though, once you’re admitted to Gonjiam, there’s no escape.
Gonjiam is a mix of standard horror fare and hand-held camera footage, which provides the most scares. The formulaic film relies heavily on the dark atmosphere and jump scares, but honestly, there’s not enough of them to make this film stand out. That said, it’s not the worst way to spend the evening.
Scariest scene:
Crew member Charlotte finds herself locked in Room 402 with a ghost of a naked man.
Part II of A Haunted Halloween series.
fall to the bottom curve of insanity the haunted staircase
Halloween Horror Haiku 
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