Wicked Wonderland Haiku – part II

The theme is month is Wicked Wonderland. Wicked elves have helped a dark force kidnap Santa? But who and why? What is their plan?

holiday boxes
sinister plans of ruin
snow melts

Gift Ideas for Halloween and Horror Fans 2024

Happy Creepmas! We’re coming up on the first weekend of December and if you’ve got a Halloween and horror fan on your holiday shopping list, I’ve got some great gift ideas! Now, truth is, Halloween and horror fans are pretty easy to buy for, anything Halloween or Horror related, even the smallest of items, makes us really, really, really happy. But, if you need more ideas and inspiration, then, check out these items:

Shudder Streaming Movie Subscription ($4.99 monthly) – Shudder online or streaming devices

Shudder is horror fan’s best friend. It’s a comfort zone. There are horror movies, thrillers, foreign films, TV shows, documentaries, old classics, new favorites, and curated collections. No yearly commitment, cancel anytime. it’s worth every penny!

A Christmas Carol Characters – Pop! Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (Glow) ($12) – Funko

Honestly, I had to boycott Pop! Funko before I went bankrupt, but these Christmas Carol funkos…

Fitz Alice Cooper’s a Haunted Party Night 350 Scary Cards Family Horror Movie Box Game ($24.99) – Macy’s

Last year I finally had the pleasure of seeing Alice Cooper in concert and holy smokes, it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. Mr. Cooper is master showman and horror maestro, it’s only fitting that he’d make his own horror party game.

1000 Piece Halloween Puzzle ($24.99) Woodbests

Christmas break is long and my patience is short, I consider puzzles to be relaxing, self-care tools that should be covered by flexible spending plans. Ya know, if we all band together and try to make it happen, it might.

UNITED” 3 x 5 ft. Large Halloween Flag by Rhode Montijo BACK IN STOCK ($25) – Rhode Montijo

Back in stock! Hurry! Why are you still here? Click the link and buy! This is a Halloween fan must-have item! And Rhode Montjo is the most amazing artist and an awesome person!

Late for the Sky: Boooo-Opoly Monopoly Board Game ($31.99) – Target

As a Halloween fan and mini knock-off Monopoly game collector (I think I own 15 different game sets) I’ve been eyeing this one and I better get allllll the candy when I land on Free Candy or there’s gonna be board flipping!

On Set With John Carpenter: The Photographs of Kim Gottlieb-Walker ($39.99) – Barnes and Noble

If you’re a fan of the Halloween movie franchise or legendary horror John Carpenter and his movies, you’re gonna want this sprawling 176 page photo book for your coffee table. Packed with behind the scenes photos, anecdotes, commentary and stories from the horror maestro, crew members, and celebrities.

Dracula Book Phone Case
($35) – Once Upon a Book Club

Never be afraid to drop your phone again with these cool book phone cases from Once Upon a Book Club. They have other novels and a really kickass subscription box service too. Old phone, new phone, don’t worry, the list to match the correct size phone case is pretty extensive!

Phantom of the Opera Scarf
($49) – Storiarts

I have loved watching Storiarts grow. They make gloves, scarves, t-shirts, totes, and blankets of all types of classic novels. These scarves are like the classiest way of declaring your love for horror classics I can think of.

Smile 2 Limited Edition Steelbook Pre-release set for January 21, 2025 ($44) – Target

One of creepiest films of 2024 should be in your film library, if only for Naomi Scott’s memorable frenetic performance.It will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

Universal Monsters 7″ Scale Action Figure Collectibles ($40-$75) – NECA

I’m blown away by attention to detail of these limited edition collectibles featuring the Universal monsters. NECA makes other spooky characters too, but I’m just a sucker for anything featuring the old monster movies and those little interchangeable heads! C’mon! Who doesn’t want Larry Talbot on their shelf!

Halloween Orange Umbrella ($64.95) Hilary’s Vanity

Make umbrellas and parasols great again! Look, it’s even orange! ahahahaha alright, alright, unlike incoming convict-in-chief, these Halloween umbrellas are dainty and elegant. They really can punch up a plain black goth dress and they protect from the sun, so you won’t turn to ashes. They ARE great!

3D Halloween Castle Wood Puzzle Large 250-300 pieces with Wooden Box ($34-$100) – Woodbests

Woodbests puzzles are colorful laser etched onto natural wood and beautiful. It’s like you’re putting together a piece of art!

**After reading some reviews, I thought it best to put up a warning to Read Carefully when purchasing Woodbests Puzzles as there’s different size puzzles and prices, gotta buy a box separately, and the kit separately, otherwise it will all come in a plain bag and will be seriously disappointing. Then again, if you’re looking to save money and have another display plan for the puzzle, you might love the fact that you can just buy the pieces and that’s it. The products are really cool, just pay attention. It’s a bit like buying flowers online.**

So, there you go, happy haunting and good luck crossing off your list. I’ll have another gift guide next week! Stay tuned!

Shop Small Business Saturday 2024

Hello! Today is Shop Small Business Saturday. This new annual tradition of supporting the mom and pop local businesses in your own town follows Black Friday every year. Today, I’m celebrating the last day of November with one of my favorite small businesses.

Backstitch Bruja

It’s been a joy to watch Yvette’s business grow from a small online shop into a real brick and mortar store in San Dimas, CA. This busy entrepreneur still makes time to travel around to Halloween and horror conventions and spooky events around the SoCal area. Follow her on Instagram for details on appearances.

This is just a small taste of what’s offered up this Creepmas season. It seems that everything pictured is still in stock, but merch moves quickly at Backstitch Bruja.

But don’t fret if something sells out. If you can be patient, get yourself a Backstitch Bruja giftcard. They usually restock.

Haunting Holidays and Merry Creepmas to all!

My Favorite Vampire Movies

The theme this month is November’s Undead Embrace. Most vampire movies feel like autumn, or winter, with the exception of The Lost Boys, which had cool summer vibes.

My list of faves is made up of all older movies. Honestly, Abigail was the last good vampire flick I’ve recently seen. Some on my list are endearing, all the Draculas, because Bram Stoker’s Dracula is one of my favorite novels. Dapper and mysterious, the hyponotizing Bela Lugosi is still the best, but Frank Lagella was sauve and sophisticated enough to make forget all about those bad disco effects. Gary Oldman was tall, dark, and handsome, but honestly, young Christopher Lee still might be my favorite, sinister and sexy. He turned me onto Hammer Horror, and no one does olde English victorian goth better than Hammer.

The original Swedish Let the Right One In, from 2008, the gruesome horror coming of age tale, had the best story of all the vampire movies I’ve ever seen (it was also based on a novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist).

And the militia controlled religious zealotry of the American apocalypse featured in Stakeland is something I very much forsee happening to our great nation, minus the vampires, well, maybe…

The other films, oh hell, I just like sleek, fun action horror monster movies.

So, here’s the list. Perfect for a Black Friday movie marathon, or you can go fight off real life vampires at the stores if that’s your thing. Bwahahaha😄

Dracula, 1931
Let the Right One In, 2008
The Lost Boys, 1987
Stakeland, 2010
Horror of Dracula, 1958
Dracula, 1979
Bram Stoker’s Dracula, 1992
Near Dark, 1987
Blade, 1998
Underworld, 2003

Honorable Mentions:
Salem’s Lot
Fright Night
Afflicted
The Hunger
Only Lovers Left Alive
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Interview with a Vampire
From Dusk til Dawn

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday or a very happy Thursday.

Spooky Sundays – Week 4

Spooky Sundays are all about reading, relaxing, and recharging our brooms. Work is definitely getting in the way of celebrating my favorite holiday, but I managed to get all my posts up. Looking forward to this last week in October. Gonna carve my pumpkin, enjoy some more spooky classic movies and hopefully read some awesome entries for the Halloween Haiku Challenge. Four days left til Halloween! Here’s a visual recap of this past week.

Sinister Saturdays – Best Era for Horror Films

Horror films have captivated audiences since before Universal’s wild heyday of Horror during the 1930s. Each era has had great scary films and some so good, they spawned sequels and created franchises. Jaws, a 1975 horror adventure from a new young director Steven Spielberg gave birth to the summer blockbuster! In fact, thanks to horror, some amazing technical achievements have been discoverd, like new camera and lighting tricks and, make-up, and special fx. Horror films are truly the backbone of Hollywood.

I personally have been a horror film fan for over 40 years and I pride myself on having seen a majority of scary films and always look forward to those I’ve havent found yet. But there’s just one thing I haven’t been able to figure out, and that’s which era had the best horror. Was it Universal’s monster era or the SciFi greatness of the 50s, or how about the great slasher films of the 80s? It’s so hard to choose! Help me out!

Spooky Sundays – Week 2 & 3

Spooky Sundays are all about reading, relaxing, and recharging our brooms. I just realized I forgot to put up last week, so I’ll include last week too. Here’s a visual recap of this past week.

Week 2

Sinister Saturdays – Scariest classic Universal monster

Lately, I’ve been rewatching a lot old classic horror movies and the Universal monster movies are still my faves. Fans of the 1930s viewed the supernatural fantasy as an escape from the daily misery, living through the depression. The films may seem tame or not as scary or sophisticated as the films of today, but for some movie goers, the stories were based on popular cultural myths and legends, while others had never heard of these creatures at all. Swamp creatures and the reanimated dead were the super scary, particularly to those who were extremely religious.

I tried to figure out which monster I thought was scariest but I’m on the fence. Help me determine which monster is the scariest.

Thursday Time Travels – Little Shop of Horrors

Title: Little Shop of Horrors
Director: Roger Corman
Screenwriter(s): Charles B. Griffith
Starring: Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles, Dick Miller, and Jack Nicholson
Distributed by: The Filmgroup
Year: 1960 Run Time: 1 hr 10 minutes

Bumbling florist assistant Seymour and his pretty colleague Audrey work in rundown floral shop on skid row, run by the cranky Mr. Gravis Musgnick. After getting fired for messing up order for crazy local dentist, Seymour claims to be growing a unique surprise plant for the owner. A flower-eating customer Burson Fouch tells Mushnick a special plant can help his businesses grow, so Mushnick gives Seymour one week to drum up business.

Named Audrey Jr., affectionately named after his co-worker, Audrey Jr. is a scrawny little bud cultivated from unknown seeds that were given to Seymour by a Japanese florist. Seymour has trouble feeding Audrey Jr., that is until he pricks his finger and he realizes the plant feeds on blood. So, he begins a feeding the plant a steady diet of his own blood.

With business blooming, Audrey Jr. grows bigger each day and even learns to talk, demanding more and more blood, leading poor Seymour to realize he’s got a big problem on his hands. One day during a walk, he accidentally knocks out a drunk, who then falls on the tracks and gets killed by a train. Guilt-ridden Seymour feeds the man’s body parts to Audrey Jr., who grows ten times bigger.

Of course, with a man-eating talking plant, the body count rises and eventually, the film’s narrator Sgt. Joe Fink and local homicide come calling.

One of Roger Corman’s earliest films was never meant to be a comedy. Corman originally wanted to write a detective story. Screenwriter Charles B. Griffith wanted to write a horror-comedy. At some point, during development, Corman learned that the sets they used for Bucket of Blood were about to be torn down. Never one to miss an opportunity to save money, Corman and Griffith hammered out their script, which was heavily influenced by the original science fiction short story ‘The Reluctant Orchid’ by Arthur C. Clarke and set out to film the movie in three days.

Corman never thought Little Shop of Horrors would make any money beyond its first theatrical run, much less become a cult hit, so he mistakenly let the movie fall into public domain by failing to secure the copyrights.

It can now be found on several streaming services, including Amazon Prime.

Sinister Saturdays – Best classic 70s horror movie smackdown

Recently, I posted my choices as the scariest horror scenes in movies. What you all may know was just how hard making that list was. There were a slew of great horror films to come out of the 70s generation and choosing which had the scariest scene was kinda agonizing. I kept questioning which movies I thought were the best, which had the best story and characters, which seemed most popular with movie goers, and which was my personal favorite.