Part IV and the conclusion of the March Mischief series.
black death carriage
ale with the dullahan
pub crawl continues
Haiku of the Week
Category: Urban Legends
Haiku of the Week
Our theme this month is creatures of the deep. I spent the weekend watching sea creature movies and lamenting over the fact, that despite now having the technology, we still do not have an awesome modern-day Kraken movie. What up Mr. Speilberg, are you busy?
“Kraken attacks ship” by Samuel Allan, created for PBS Digital – Monstrum, Episode 5
Artist: Samuel Allan
Instagram: @samuel_allan_illustrator
To view more fantastical art by Samuel Allan, please visit:
samuelallan.artstation.com
To purchase merchandise:
https://samuelallan.onlineweb.shop/
Cryptid Monster Marathon – Monstrous, The Retreat, and Dawn of the Beast Movie Reviews
After missing my own self-imposed deadlines in January and February, where I was to present a movie review for the month, I am determined not to miss March! Thus, I decided to triple down and do three movie reviews in celebration of our legendary creatures theme.
The truth is, earlier this March, I watched Dawn of the Beast, but it was only when I started writing the review did I realize the movie was actually the third cryptid monster film, following Monstrous and The Retreat, all directed by Bruce Wemple. Naturally, I had to watch the other two films.
Armed with a great love for campy horror films and his trusty cast of relative unknowns, New York director Bruce Wemple creates fresh horror that makes the socially conscious Gen Z crowd proud. All boxes checked. Wemple knows all the horror tropes, and these films felt like proper indie horror movies. There was decent acting, strong female characters, and lots of action. The camerawork makes good use of those shadows, close-up shots, and practical effects to perpetuate the scares and despite the low budget, the production quality was pretty good. I was even forgiving of the few man-in-a-monster-suit shots, which were super cheesy, but hey look, considering the third film was entirely developed during the pandemic, all of us should be impressed by that. I’ll be honest, I never gave much thought to Adirondack mountains before watching these films, and whatever location Wemple chose to shoot on location is some damn beautiful country. If I wasn’t so scared of the real Wendigo, I’d run out and buy a Winnebago.
There’s a lot of good psychological horror here too, especially in the second film, The Retreat. The biggest flaw of this cryptid trilogy was the films suffered from having too much story. I guess having too much story is better than having no story, right? It’s just these long drawn out or overly heavy exposition scenes take away our monster time, and when you make a feature film starring these two legendary creatures, you have got to have more monster!!
I should also mention upfront, each of these movies is stand-alone. You’ll understand each of them on their own just fine, but movie marathons are so much more fun.
Continue reading “Cryptid Monster Marathon – Monstrous, The Retreat, and Dawn of the Beast Movie Reviews”June Gloom Picture Challenge
“Some said the thunder called the lurking fear out of its habitation, while others said the thunder was its voice.” – H.P. Lovecraft
In this volatile world filled with ominous creatures and unknown dangers, the fine line between madness and reason evaporates with the arrival of the lurking fear.
Curious humans stumble upon Mother Nature’s guardians, as they watch over the gates of the abyss, only to become prey to Summer’s haunting season.
Head on over to Instagram and post your favorite pics/photos representing June Gloom. Both art pics and photos are allowed this time around. Don’t forget to credit the artists when you can.
Join in any day and don’t forget to tag your pics using #junegloompicchallenge
Season’s Greetings from Halloween Haiku
Happy holidays! After the busy Halloween season, it was good to take a little break in November and gear up for December festivities. I’ve mentioned before that I think Christmas and Halloween are close cousins. They go hand-in-hand and mix well like peanut butter and jelly. Point in case, Tim Burton’s classic Nightmare Before Christmas. There’s plenty to do and see during the holidays that appeal to Halloweenophiles, so there’s no need to reject December or feel blue. Get creative! Haunted holidays is an awesome theme for decorations. Make Halloween themed Christmas cookies. Make a scary gingerbread house. Watch a scary Christmas movie, and who doesn’t love shopping for cool Halloween items to fill your gothic or black stocking up with? Lastly, there’s the iconic Krampus. The antithesis of jolly Santa Clause. He’s scarier than any Universal monster and twice as old.
This month, is basically a chance for second Halloween. So, check back often. Halloween Haiku is going to have plenty of new haiku, fun stuff and cool ideas that our pumpkin-loving hearts will enjoy.
Have yourself a scary little Christmas and beware of Krampus!
The Ten Creepiest Urban Legends
Urban legends are stories that are meant to scare us and typically serve as a warning or have some type of moral lesson attached. Every state has their own urban legends, some states even share legends, changing the details to fit their locale or whichever narrative is needed, but the core plot stay the same. The ones I have chosen for this list are the creepiest found in the USA, and some of them are based on real-life true stories! Can you figure out which ones?
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- Turn on the Light
After partying most of the night, a co-ed decides to spend the night with a boy she met at the party. She returns to dorm room to retrieve her keys, careful not to wake her roommate. In the dark room she can hear the sleeping roommate’s heavy breathing and assumes she’s got a cold. When she returns the next day, she finds her roommate’s dead body and the note written in blood on the wall, “Aren’t you glad you didn’t turn on the light?”
This story is sometimes told with the co-ed being more studious and returning to retrieve a book for an all-night study session, but the end-result is always the same. This legend has been around 50 years or more and most likely was started by a parent worried about their college-bound kid.
Moral of the Story: Screw your roommate’s feelings, always turn on the damn light.
- Licked Hand
One night, a woman who lives alone with her nice little dog, hears on the radio that an escaped lunatic is on the loose in her town. She locks up the house tight and goes to bed with her faithful canine companion, who stays close by her bedside all night. When the woman wakes the next morning, she finds her pooch slaughtered and note written in blood on the bathroom mirror, “Humans can lick too.”
Some variations of this legend feature an old woman and sometimes, a young girl. Sometimes she wakes in the middle of the night, hearing a dripping sound, and sometimes, the pet is alive and well at the end. Like the ‘Turn on the Light’ legend, the killer rubs the survivor’s nose in the fact that they barely escaped death.
Moral of the Story: You’re never going to be in control of your own death and maybe you should get a cat.
Halloween Horror Haiku 