Happy International Artist Day! Today we celebrate the dark fantasy art of Diana Levin of Ghoulish Bunny Studios!
Diana Levin’s art could be described as both whimsical and menacing. Her imaginative and unique style embrace death and horror, all while capturing the natural beauty of an enchanted forest or a fantastical world.
Diana and her author husband Shawn Givens travel around to different conventions and trade shows all over the USA. They’re two of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. Stop by and say hello!
Enter the 5th Annual Halloween Haiku Challenge for a chance to win a witchy prize pack containing a canvas bag and an enamel pin featuring the art of Diana Levin!
What a treat! Today, I’m sharing photos from my recent trip to Disneyland Resort for their annual Oogie Boogie Bash, held at Disney’s California Adventure.
First, a quick dip into Disneyland for a look at Main Street decorations. Always the best!
Time to head to Disney’s California Adventure for the Oogie Bash. I was so excited to go that I forgot to take a pic of outside the main gate! Eh, there’s a big pic on the Disneyland.com home page.😄
One of the first things you notice is The Tower of Carthay Circle Lounge surrounded by bats!
There are lots of bats around and some beautiful looking trees.
Right across from Carthay Circle Lounge is a statue of my favorite Disney’s Headless Horseman.
Besides Mickey, Minnie, and all the usual Disney pals, you can see the best villains and most beloved characters at Oogie Boogie Bash.
We need more Prince John from one of my personal faves, Robin Hood!
Coco’s Ernesto is crowd favorite.
Scenes from Mickey’s Frightfully Halloween parade.
Mores random pics. Honestly, I was having so much fun that I kept forgetting to take pics.
This was the little trick or treat bag each attendee receives. Obviously Mars, Inc., is a big sponser, but graham crackers, Rice Krispies treats, carrots, and grapes were also given out. By the end of the night, the bag was overflowing with candy, enough to fill my Halloween Grogu Bowl!
First person to comment wins a chance at the grab bag, which now contains a limited edition Disney pin from this year’s Oogie Boogie Bash.
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.
Happy Friday! Time for another Friday Fright Nightcap! Tonight, we celebrate Universal monster The Wolfman with my kooky version of a tiramisu martini.
Ingredients: .5 oz. crema de caco or chocolate liqueur .5 oz Bailey’s Irish Cream .5 oz. ameretto 1 oz. shot of espresso or coffee 1 oz. Kahlua 1.5 oz. vodka
Pour ingredients into shaker and shake well. Pour into chocolate coated glass. Best when served chilled.
You can stream Universal’s The Wolfman 1941, on Prime Video, with a Prime subscription.
Hammer’s unique story mash up between Burke and Hare cases, legendary serial killer Jack the Ripper, and Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a mesmorizing gender-bender thriller.
Set in infamous Whitechapel at the height of Jack the Ripper’s murderous spree, Dr. Henry Jekyll (Ralph Bates) hell-bent on his quest for immortality, crosses moral barriers with his experiments.
At first, the young doctor pays a local mortician to acquire body parts of newly-deceased women who end up in the morgue, but when supplies run low, the doctor enlists the grisly services of two lowly gentleman, Burke and Hare, who indiscriminately kill unsuspecting victims and bring their dead bodies to Dr. Jekyll.
But Dr. Jekyll’s serum has unintended consequences, when it transforms his own body into the body of a beautiful woman, who he eventually names Mrs. Hyde (Martine Beswick). He tells his noisy neighbors, including his admirer Susan (Susan Brodrick), that the alluring woman now living with him is his recently widowed sister.
Between The Ripper and Burke and Hare, the city of Whitechapel is gripped by fear. Someone eventually finds out about deadly duo’s murderous deeds and they succomb to the town’s pitchfork. This leaves Dr. Jekyll at a disadvantage, just as he was making progress with his serum.
Sister Hyde quickly realizes her demise is tied to Dr. Jekyll’s research, so she begins stalking the dark alleys of Whitechapel herself for young female victims to murder in the name of science.
Back in 1971, the idea of a man transforming into a woman was really taboo stuff. For some moviegoers, that in of itself was the horror. Despite the obvious misogynistic horror trope of making every other woman who appears on a screen a victim, this film really pioneered LGBTQ and woman empowerment themes.
Martine Beswick really stands out here with her cutthroat and sensual performance as Sister Hyde. She’s one spooky bitch, and probably deserves a little more attention in the pantheon of horror villains. If you’re new to Hammer Horror, definitely give this wickedly smart thriller a watch.
Here’s a look at all the cool spooky prizes you could win this season.
It’s free to participate in contests, but you must follow the Contest Rules and be a follower of this page and/or @Halloweenhorrorhaiku on Instagram to qualify.
It’s Wicked Art Wedenesday! Inspired by pop culture and entertainment media, today’s artist is Tom Shropshire, an American -born contemporary impressionist who brings dramatic sweeping landscapes to life.
Halloween Horror Haiku 
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