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Tuesday, 31 October
Monday, 30 October
Man, I totally crapped out on the 13 Nights of Halloween. I had cool themes planned and everything, but there's just been too much to do for me to write. Bit off more than I could chew.
Update on my to-do list:
Tonight:
Cook spicy rat guts
Finish witch hats
Make chocolate graveyard if there's time
Tie off baggies
Carve last five pumpkins
Tomorrow:
Take potluck stuff in, don't forget portable stereo
Spookluck at work
Scare kiddies at night
Sort of more managable, except tonight is nuts, and I can't leave early as I'm the only schlub here. I may have to recruit some Spousal Unit assistance.
Wanna peek at the graveyard I set up at work? Sure you do:
Sunday, 29 October
Saturday, 28 October
Friday, 27 October
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Little statues underground
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Okay, it's stupid that the url is Fearnet.com, and not Fear.net. And the flash intro is VERY LOUD. But I'm still looking forward to this new online horror movie channel.
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An excellent post. I have no solutions.
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I wish everyone would look at this page before showing me an "orb" photo.
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Halloween surfers beware.
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Oooh...buncha radio shows!
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I wish this were funnier.
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Neat little map thingie that shows various aspects of your neighborhood.
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Ah, so that's the problem. Wonder what else I've missed.
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For example, plug in the length of a batwing bone, and the calculator will give you the rest of the measurements. Very helpful. I'll be using this, as I suck at proportions.
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Sound for haunts
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Thursday, 26 October
On the sixth night of Halloween
My true ghoul gave to me
Eight monsters lurking
Seven zombies shambling
Six werewolves howling
Five pints of blood!
Four Slithering Snakes
Three black cats
Two skeletons
And a vampire bat in a cave
Okay, you just get the song tonight. I'm tired.
Wednesday, 25 October
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Once again, Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories rocks the hizzouse with an amazing pumpkin. EXTERMINATE!
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Fun!
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They make silly sounds.
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Grumpkins
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Interrupted by the occasional ad, but really kinda fun.
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NAPKIN.ORG IS BAAAAACK! One of my favorite old-skool websites, which has been MIA for years. Booyah!
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Mini mp3 player
Tonight:
Carve three judge tombstones, get first coat of paint on all four.
Thursday:
Finish painting judge tombstones.
Carve as many pumpkins as possible (I have eight to do).
Friday:
Build Deadalina.
Finish pumpkin carving.
Export Nosferatu to DVD.
Saturday:
Catch Screamland with Wendie.
Finish any last-minute decorating at home.
Stuff baggies.
Sunday:
Decorate work conference room for party.
Light yard.
Shop for Spookluck (don't forget crock pots!)
Make witch hat cookies.
Monday:
Buy dry ice.
Cook colcannon, spicy rat guts.
Tuesday:
Spookluck at work.
Frighten kiddies at night.
And here's what kills me: I HAVEN'T LEFT EVERYTHING TO THE LAST MINUTE! Seriously, I've been working steadily on stuff for quite some time. My plans are just bigger than my available time and energy.
I...I...think I'd better leave early for a few days.
On the seventh night of Halloween
My true ghoul gave to me
Seven zombies shambling
Six werewolves howling
Five pints of blood!
Four Slithering Snakes
Three black cats
Two skeletons
And a vampire bat in a cave
Nightmare Nosh
I hate Halloween recipe books that list seasonal stuff like pumpkin soup, and call it Halloweeny. No sirree! It's gotta be scary and spooky and possibly disgusting! Even if it's a regular dish, at least call it something hideous. Baked beans are bat kidneys! Mashed potatoes are whipped cockroach brains (you would not believe how many of those buggers I had to catch...)!
If you want to get completely overwhelmed with Halloween recipes, the Halloween Food group is the place. Indgoviolet is obsessed, and it shows. I mean that in a good way.
If you like the gore, you won't find better than these horrifying cakes at They're Coming to Get You Barbara, and this fleshy feast from I Make Projects. For spiders and eyeballs, Britta (not the water filter) has your ticket.
A great way to go for the shudder is molded gelatin, and Quiggle has the jiggle. Be sure to turn off your speakers first.
For the cute stuff, BHG is a great resource. This Halloween, I'll be making Betty's witches hats for a party, and I'd love to try these cute spider cupcakes when I get a chance. Look for more at Cooksrecipes.com and The Recipe Link. And don't miss Yahoo's list of 30 Ways to Eat A Pumpkin.
Tuesday, 24 October
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A whole boatload of extreme silliness. Sup cat included.
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It is extremely, extremely tempting to spend some time each month trapping for clinics.
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That's a good Klingon sneeze for a panda.
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Those are amazing results, but man, add up the cost of your time spent! It's probably cheaper to get a professional paint job.
On the sixth night of Halloween
My true ghoul gave to me
Six werewolves howling
Five pints of blood!
Four Slithering Snakes
Three black cats
Two skeletons
And a vampire bat in a cave
Creepy Crafts
Don't get me wrong--I think store-bought stuff is a hoot, and I have quite a bit of it. But as time goes on, I find myself wanting to build or craft my own Halloween decor more.
It started for serious last year, when I went all Martha on the goodie bags:
I have plenty of those left over, so they're coming out again this year. It continued with building my own tombstones, though that's more prop building than crafting. Because I can't sew (no, really, I can't), I've never really considered myself a crafter. But then came the hot glue gun. I made this Monster Wreath, and now I'm hooked. Yay, glue!
Now I want to try tons of stuff. I may even do more Christmas crafting this year. One criteria I have for trying something is that there must be a picture of what it's supposed to look like. Or a diagram, or something. I'm too inexperienced to fly blind. So here are some cute things on my list:
Want more? Check out Dark Side's list, HauntProject.com, the fantastic 365 Hallowee blog, and, naturally, don't miss Martha.
Monday, 23 October
What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
On the fifth night of Halloween
My true ghoul gave to me
Five pints of blood!
Four Slithering Snakes
Three black cats
Two skeletons
And a vampire bat in a cave
Our Fascination with The Supernatural
Remember that poster Fox Mulder kept in The X-Files? I have that behind my desk. It's true that I want to believe there are ghosts and other creatures beyond our ken. I thrill to spooky stories of all sorts, but I've done enough research to realize most ghosties are coincidence, hypnogogia, hysteria, suggestion, electrical anomaly, or a manifestation of any number of other perfectly explainable phenomena.
Still, I keep looking.
Recently the search has led me to Deborah Blum's Ghost Hunters, the story of the founding of the British and American branches of the Society for Psychical Research, dedicated to the scientific investigation of those things considered "supernatural". While founded by scientists, I suspect open membership has caused the SPR to be overrun by dowsers and fortune-tellers, but I shouldn't judge since I'm not sure. Perhaps I should join long enough to get a journal or two. In any case, the book is fascinating, and a great one for skeptics like myself, as the early SPR researchers took nothing at face value, and found only a very few cases worth deep investigation.
But enought about me. Let's talk about ghosts.
The big link going around this season is Knight Shift's Ten Best Ghost Photographs Ever Taken, and it's a good list.
Want to get seriously creeped out? Turn off the lights and listen to some EVP. Electronic Voice Phenomena is said to catch the voices of the dead on tape. Shadowlands and Ghostpix both have good directories of this technological spookhunting method.
For the do-it-yourselfers, try ghost photography. I know I used to have a link on this, but now I can't find it to save my life, so here are link-free instructions: - Build a small, light-tight box that will hold large-format film.
- Make the room as dark as possible.
- Place a film sheet in the box, in its packaging. Be careful. You don't want to affect the film--leave that for the dead.
- Place the box on a table, and have yourself a little seance in the dark with a few of your closest friends.
- Get the film developed.
Finally, if you just want a good yarn, Ask Metafilter provides two posts with dozens of folks describing their brushes with the supernatural.
Hope you're not at home alone tonight.
Sunday, 22 October
On the fourth night of Halloween
My true ghoul gave to me
Four Slithering Snakes
Three black cats
Two skeletons
And a vampire bat in a cave
Haunt directories
Need a break from stirring that cauldron? Find haunts and events in your area.
I don't live anywhere near Thunder Bay, but I've always liked Haunted Yards for their creepy graphics. It's the kind of site I'd like my haunted calendar to grow into.
For nationwide haunting, the site on everyone's lips this year is GooGhoul. They have a pretty good listing of major attractions. Haunted Attraction Magazine also maintains a nationwide list of the big ones.
Smaller yard haunts and home displays are a little harder to find. Horrorfind has a good national directory of all things spooky, and their event listings often include smaller haunts. Hauntworld also lists attractions big and small.
In Los Angeles, Hollywood Gothique has a very good listing of haunter's hangouts. Haunted Illinois has you covered for Chicago and surrounds--seriously--this is a great list. In Seattle, Haunted Night's Directory of Doom has your ticket. The trick with looking for smaller stuff is to put "yard haunt" followed by your city into a search engine, and browse, browse, browse. And probably turn the sound down on your speakers, as Halloween sites are notorious for obnoxious sounds. Of course, don't forget to check events calendars in your local newspapers.
Here in Portland, Roots of All Evil has a great list that I check regularly. And of course, there's my calendar, which is as complete as I can manage, and includes a map of yard haunts and displays.
Saturday, 21 October
On the third night of Halloween
My true ghoul gave to me
Three black cats
Two skeletons
And a vampire bat in a cave
The Haunted Mansion
This entry is going to fill me with Disneylust. It's about one of my favorite places in the whole widliest world: Disney's Haunted Mansion. Yes, I'm one of those people who believed that one of the singing tombstones was Walt himself. Well, darnit, it looks like him.
Gracey Mansion is said to contain 999 ghosts, each with a name and a story. The attraction opened in late 1969 after much anxious waiting and fanfare. The front of the Mansion, styled in high New Orleans fashion, is only a facade. Guest are taken down an elevator, then shuttled underground to an adjoining warehouse that is just outside the park. Effects include projection, Pepper's Ghost setup that has sets above and below the viewing area, and a plethora of other imagineering feats. Like the rest of the park, the Mansion is also filled with hidden Mickeys.
The Haunted Mansion has also inspired a number of fan sites. Two of the best: Grimghosts.com, and the incredible Doombuggies.com.
Naturally, Disneyland has fun stuff in store for Halloween. The Mansion itself has been redecorated Tim Burton style. Hmm. You know what a good time to go to Disneyland is? About now.
Friday, 20 October
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See, I'm so white and nerdy I don't know what song this parodies, but I laughed my ass off. The Osmond touch was perfect.
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Man, I haven't thought about this show in decades. Had such a crush on Brophy.
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Neat projects for geeks.
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Me again! Meeee!
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Okay, I'm starting to get pretty happy with the coverage for the haunted calendar. Yeppers.
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On the second night of Halloween
My true ghoul gave to me
Two skeletons
And a vampire bat in a cave
Spooktacular Props
You, too, can build impressive effects to creep out the kiddies when they come knockin'. Just a little elbow grease and a few dollars will get you going. Here are three classics.
A Pepper's Ghost is a theatrical trick using light and reflection to make objects seem transparent. John Pepper's 19th-century modification of a more complex technique by John Dircks has become a staple of theater and haunted houses. The effect is created by buliding two scenes separated by a specially angled plate of glass, then lit to make one scene or the other visible.
A Flying Crank Ghost (also called FCG) is a wonderful effect that gives you an animated figure moving body and arms in a separate, smooth motion. The delightful folks at Phantasmechanics have put together a kit so you can get everything to build your own in one place. That kit link also includes complete instructions for the more adventurous. Here's another set of simpler instructions, and here's a bit on how not to build an FCG.
Finally, in the cheap, fun, and satisfying category: tombstones. Gotta have 'em! Mine are carved out of 2" pink insulating foam ($13 for a huge sheet at Home Depot) with a hot wire knife (ventilate, ventilate, ventilate!). The lettering is a three step process: print out on computer, lay on stone and trace with pencil to make an impression in foam, then carve out with an xacto knife. The stones are then sanded and painted with couple coats of gray primer, the letters are filled in a bit with something darker, and details are added with dry-brushing. Great tutorials and extras:
Can't get enough projects? Check out my lifeline: the Monster List.
Thursday, 19 October
You know that site I mentioned earlier, Forbidden Crypts of Haunted Music? Well, the site is "on hold" because Dave has exceeded his bandwidth providing this super service. If you'd like to help, PayPal him a few dollars to davesWorld56 - at - msn.com.
Man, but I had a great evening. We went out to Steve and Neen's place to see the decorations. They came out front as I was taking a picture or two, and we ended up talking to this lovely couple for a while. They even invited us in to see how the house is decked out on the inside!
Afterwards, we wandered out to the Davis Graveyard, which opens officially tomorrow, though the stones are set up. And now I feel dumb, because I didn't ask her name, but the Mistress of the Graveyard spotted us, and came out to chat. There's an open house on Sunday, and I will definitely be in attendance.
So I met really cool people tonight. I'm all happy 'n' stuff.
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A place for my collection of horror books!
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About those sesssy, sesssy costumes. Need a login? frykitty/thyla
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Oooh. I may have to get some Legos.
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This is not about SUVs.
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Local big yard display
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Small-scale model of effect
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Landslide caught on film. Nature is creeeepy.
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Almost forgot to double-post this from GIMB:
Oh, this was the best soup, and it became a satisfying sludge the next day. Now I'm going to try to remember how I did it. A lot of my recipes start this way.
Ingredients: - 2 T olive oil
- 4 yellow onions, sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 5 carrots, sliced
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 5 small potatoes, peeled and diced
- 2 cans diced tomatoes
- 2 can whole corn
- 1 can tomato paste
- 1 c jasmine rice
- 4 c vegetable broth
- 4 T butter
Spices: - Key (a tbsp or more): Basil, Oregano
- Note (tsp) Coriander, Red pepper flakes, tarragon, thyme
- Lots of salt and some pepper
Method: - In a large soup pot, sautee the hell outta them onions. Cook them until there's brown stuff on the pan.
- Add spices, stir a bit, then deglaze pan with a cup of veg broth.
- Add garlic, let it cook a bit.
- Add everything except the butter, then add water to cover.
- Simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes, or until veggies are tender.
- Add the butter. Once incorporated, test seasoning. Add basil and salt if the broth is at all bitter--it should be tomoto-ey and sweet.
- Add dumplings. Oh, I didn't mention the dumplings? They go like this (recipe from Joy of Cooking):
- Mix together 2 cups flour, a tablespoon of baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon of salt.
- In a small saucepan, bring a cup of milk and 3 tablespoons of butter just to a simmer.
- Mix the wet into the dry with a fork until it all comes together. Don't overmix unless you're like me, and you love
- chewy dumplings.
- Roll dough into about 18 little balls and place on top of soup. Cover and cook 10 minutes.
Over the next 13 nights (or days, or when we get around to it), Pam and I will be posting the 13 Nights of Halloween. Join us if you feel so inclined!
On the first night of Halloween
My true ghoul gave to me
A vampire bat in a cave
Let's get into the mood with some spooky music!
Want to scare some trick-or-treaters (known amongst the haunter crowd as "TOTs")? The kings of haunted house music are undoubtedly Midnight Syndicate. The Syndicate gathers the best spooky sounds and develops them into creepy soundscape that will frighten and delight. I love this stuff, and listen to it all year.
Nox Arcana and Chad Savage also create some lovely, dark atmosphere.
A couple sources I haven't listened to: Music to Die For has several soundtrack CDs, and the HP Lovecraft Historical Society offers An Even Scarier Solstice, their followup to a Very Scary Solstice.
If you'd just like to get your creep on, Neverendingwonder and 13th Track both serve up Halloween radio. If you subscribe to a service that includes streaming radio, you probably have a good station available to you. I'm listening to Yahoo Music's version right now, and it's delish. I don't have to listen to Monster Mash.
One of the most exciting things I've found this year is Forbidden Crypts of Haunted Music. They've reached their bandwidth limit at the moment, but be sure to check back later for full downloads of classic Halloween albums that aren't available anywhere else.
Finally, just looking for ideas? Metafilter asks: what is your must-have Halloween music?
Tuneful haunting!
Wednesday, 18 October
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That's meeee!
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I'll want to do this when I upgrade.
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Strangely entertaining. I want some of what he's taking.
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If you believe or not, this is a very nice set of creepy photos.
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Scary animations. Think I marked this last year, but it's still cool.
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Nifty and way easy.
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This is why I'm afraid to click on most of Anil's videos.
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*mixes to just ocean and gulls* *falls asleep*
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I really must try this. Half off with LIFEHACK code, or follow LIfehacker link:http://www.lifehacker.com/software/stress-reduction/relax-with-pzizz-172959.php
I said I was going to make a monster wreath, and here it is:
I used pompons instead of ping-pong balls, but I'm okay with that. It makes me giggle.
Jenn also grabbed the link, and her creepy wreath turned out just amazing.
Also, a little progress on the yard:
Much to do yet, though it looks pretty darned spooky already.
Tuesday, 17 October
Monday, 16 October
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Ah, this is what everyone is crowing about. Looks very cool.
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Okay, now I have to make a monster wreath. Whee!
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And after I watched this, Youtube recommended makeup tutorials. I've seen this posted with the caveat "I don't think makeup is evil". Know what? I do.
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Wonder if that's how Leedskalnin built the Coral Castle?
Sunday, 15 October
I've updated the Calendar with some nifty home haunts, and I've added an icon for yard displays, as there is a substantive difference between someone who makes their front yard into a cemetery, and someone who builds a complete haunt for people to walk through.
I've also created a Haunted Tour Map using Frappr. This includes the home haunts and yard displays only, so you can jump in the car and go see spooky stuff. I'd love to include more area yard displays, so if you have a neighbor who goes all-out, send me the info.
Saturday, 14 October
Tuesday, 10 October
Home stones
Originally uploaded by frykitty.
These are the stones for the home cemetery. Now I have some federal judges to work on for the office party.
Sunday, 08 October
Saturday, 07 October
Friday, 06 October
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Wrote for dates
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31 Days, 31 Movies
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Stephen Wiltshire is a human camera. He’s an autistic man who accurately draws entire cities from memory after a single 45-minute helicopter ride — right down to the correct number of windows in each building.
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Easy fog chiller
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Very cool tool to generate color schemes from photos.
I hate these things, but as I read Karel's entry, I found myself thinking of what my own stupid meme name would be as I went along. So hell, why not? For purposes of humor, I shall use the shortened version of my middle name, which I went by for several years.
1. YOUR SPY NAME: (middle name and current street name)
Lou 52. Yeah, that's pretty good.
2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather/grandmother on your dad's side, your favorite candy)
Fina Violet (for the superb Violet Crunch).
3. YOUR RAP NAME (first initial of first name, first three or four letters of your last name)
C Win. Like that one too.
4. YOUR GAMER TAG: (a favorite color, a favorite animal)
Pink Kitty.
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Lou Vancouver. See? The "Lou" works wonders.
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (first 3 letters of your last name, last 3 letters of mother's maiden name, first 3 letters of your pet's Name)
Win Mey KC. Doesn't really work, as my pet's name only has two letters.
7. JEDI NAME: (middle name spelled backwards, your mom's maiden name spelled backwards)
Uol Reyem. Well, better than my Star Wars name.
8. PORN STAR NAME: (first pet's name, the street you grew up on)
Zap Liebe. Like Karel, I grew up a lot of places. I liked the little house on Liebe street a lot. Besides, it translates to "Zap Love".
9. SUPERHERO NAME: ("The", your favorite color, the automobile your dad drives)
The Orange Urn. Christ, that's stupid. Why the hell would they use your dad's car for a superhero name? Since I don't like the setup, I used my dad's current vehicle.
10. YOUR ACTION HERO NAME: (first name of the main character in the last film you watched, last food you ate)
Ryosuke Pizza. Yeah...right.
Okay, that was an undertaking ill-met. This is Ryosuke Pizza, signing off.
Thursday, 05 October
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I'm not really a fan, but this interface is pretty cool.
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I'm not the only person who hates their coolpix 3100. Note to self: no more buying expensive things without checking reviews.
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Wednesday, 04 October
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Even more spooky contacts. Pretty spendy though.
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This is making me want to go to Disneyland.
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What a maroon. Please get another web designer.
Tuesday, 03 October
A few pics from our adventures on my birthday.
Statue of Liberty replica on McLoughlin, behind an orange apartment building.
St. Patrick's Cemetery, Canby.
Here are the rest. All photos taken by The Spousal Unit.
Monday, 02 October
Ah, delightful. That sudden onset of misery that signals a cold. Hey, co-workers! I've been contagious all day! You're welcome!
*cries*
In other news, I had a FUCKING GREAT BIRTHDAY. I got tremendously cool stuff from the Spousal Unit--the kind of gifts that you really want, but weren't expecting. The guy has got me down pat. And apparently the "big thing" is still to come. *waits*
We spent the morning letterboxing, picking up seven stamps from a cool Halloween series up by Pittock mansion. Then we went on one of our adventures--picking a road and driving. McLoughlin was the road. There we found a Statue of Liberty and a very cool cemetery. We kept calling JD's name, but apparently he couldn't hear us from the road. Next time we should probably get his address.
At dusk we drove to Washougal to see Mike's Haunted Cabin. Though we saw the props out, I think we were a little early. We'll drop by later in the season.
Finally home, we snuggled and watched a pretty good scary movie. Now I'm curious to see the American version.
There are pictures from our adventures, and I will try to upload them later. I find if I wait for pictures to do the entry, it doesn't get done.
What a good day. I consider it an auspicious start to the year. I'm just going to ignore this damned cold.
Sunday, 01 October
Today I am the Answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything. I assume this means I know everything now, and the rest of my life with be a blissful sweep through joyous, sunlit days, untroubled by conflict or challenge.
I've been awake about 20 minutes, and it's going well so far.
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