The True Story of Horror House!!!!

Halloween Countdown # 9

Last night it snowed! Not what you want or expect at Halloween. Instead of frost on the pumpkin we got this:


We spent the morning shoveling and snowblowing. Spacey came out to act as a cheerleader.

The other cats hunkered down and refused to accept this freaky weather or to put a paw outside the door.  Tomorrow, I end this series for Halloween Countdown with a TRUE HORROR story. Until then...here is another Zombie cartoon in honor of tonight's episode of  " The Walking Dead". This one's  a Chix" toon.

Halloween Countdown # 8

Every year I buy a bag of candy to give out for Halloween. Truthfully...I am buying this candy for myself, which I refuse to admit, because no one ever comes to our house to Trick or Treat. Not just our house specifically...it doesn't seem like anyone goes to the neighbors, either. We live on a long meandering road that has woods all around and might be too scary for kids to walk down  to go house to house. Instead, kids around here do their Trick or Treating in town or in other supervised ways like at the mall. There's also a Halloween parade in town for little kids who go to all the businesses (and to the library). By the time Halloween rolls around and if by chance any kids DO show up... they'll be out of luck because there are only 2 Kit Kats left and the odds are against there being any available on Monday... unless I buy another bag.

 

Halloween Countdown # 7

Halloween isn't just a time to celebrate the scary and frightening. Why not kick back and enjoy a little supernatural romantic treat like the following:

"I Married A Witch" is a charming classic love story starring the very adorable Veronica Lake as the cutest witch ever and the dashing Frederic March. Here's the trailer:

Another romantic film about witches features Kim Novak as a sexy witch.  "Bell, Book and Candle" aslo features James Stewart, Jack Lemmon,  Ernie Kovacs and a slinky Siamese called Pyewacket:

Speaking of cats, let's move on from witchy romances to one about a cat woman. This is the trailer for the incomparable "Cat People", the stylishly noir movie from the 1940s that stars Simone Simon as a cursed girl in love.

So there you have it, some great alternatives to all those slasher movies out there. Grab some of those chocolate treats you've been saving to hand out, turn out the lights and snuggle up to your favorite leading man or lady. You may start a new Halloween tradition!

Halloween Countdown # 6

The Cats love Halloween. Well, every day is Halloween for our cats who are fond of terrorizing anything smaller than they are. If you made a horror movie from a mouse or squirrel's point of view the monster would definitely be a cat. Just today, I kept hearing a scuffling noise. I went to see what was up...and I saw the 3 cats sitting around the wood stove (not in use, yet) staring intently.

I wrangled them all into the library and shut the door. Then I gingerly (great word! And a good spice to use on many occasions!) opened the door and waited. A little face poked out. A flying squirrel!

 I've never seen a live one, sad to say. They get in the attics (we have 2) and the cats get to them first and then all I find are tails and other bits with which I have to use the shovel of doom to toss them out. I am determined to save this one...so I left the stove open, the entry way door and the front door all open so it has a direct shot at freedom. Let us all keep our fingers crossed.

Halloween Countdown # 5

We've been celebrating Halloween at the library already. Last night the Cartoon Club came dressed in costumes and we did cartoon sketches of each member of the group posing.

Then everyone got the mini-comics I mentioned in an earlier post and finally... some great candy which they were pretty excited about.

Today, the Halloween celebration continues with the Farmington Fim Society showing of the cult classic "Carnival of Souls". In case you haven't seen it this was a movie made in 1962 for almost no money. Here's what Wikipedia has to say:
Carnival of Souls is a 1962 independent horror film starring Candace Hilligoss. Produced and directed by Herk Harvey for an estimated $33,000, the film did not gain widespread attention when originally released, as a B film; today, however, it is a cult classic. Set to an organ score by Gene Moore, Carnival of Souls relies more on atmosphere than on special effects to create a mood of unease and foreboding. The film has a large cult following and is occasionally screened at film and Halloween festivals. It has been cited as an important influence on the films of both David Lynch and George A. Romero.^[1]
And here's the trailer.



And what could top off a great evening of watching a cult classic? Tuning in at 10:00 for American Horror Story!

Halloween Countdown # 4

As a kid growing up in NY we had the best TV of anywhere (is that proper english?). We had great movies on the Early Show, the Late Show, Million Dollar Movie and Chiller Theater and all of them showed a variety of horror and monster movies. We also had Zacherley (John Zacherle with an added Y) who was the best horror host of all time, not to mention funny (that laugh!) and brilliant at improvisation before, after and during the horror movies he hosted. He was one of the first people I had a crush on. I mean, who wouldn't? We ALL were mad about him. In looking for footage from those shows there wasn't a lot available, but here are some miracle of embedding clips from Youtube. It will maybe give you some insight into the mystique of  Zacherley.

And one of the most fun clips is a combination of Zacherley and 60's dance crazy teens:

HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN #3

Today's Halloween cartoon:

Giant pumpkins are a thing around here. A friend of ours who is a local farmer won two first prizes in one day at two different fairs for his giant pumpkins:Hiram Watson Giant Pumpkins. He was very generous with the champion seeds which he brought to the Goodwin Library Gardeners' Roundtable seed swap:

Once you have your giant or regular size pumpkin and are trying to decide how to carve it... you might want to turn to the master, Extreme Pumpkin Carver Tom Nardone. Here he shows you how to get started:

So grab your power tools and lighter fluid and make your pumpkin a true Halloween statement!

HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN #2

Here is another cartoon favorite:

And our embedded treat of the day: The Trailer for "The Walking Dead" season 2! This is a terrific show which manages to be tense and scary and has that great "Love Actually" lead Andrew Lincoln. Tune in tonight at 9:00:

Now, if you want to read a great and different sort of "zombie' series, try the addictive "Forest of Hands and Teeth" trilogy. Here's the book trailer:

HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN!

I've said before how much I LOVE Halloween. We have a lot to celebrate with scary movies, Halloween cartoons and I'll be doing a Halloween Cartoon Club on Monday at the library. This week I was invited by a cartoon group called the Trees and Hills Cartoonist Group to be part of their ultra-cool idea of giving out original Halloween mini-comic books instead of candy for Trick-or-Treat. Here's a link where you can buy these really fun comics for very cheap: Trees and Hills Halloween Comics . My "Perfect Pumpkin" story will be included in this package!
I will be posting a Halloween cartoon a day until Halloween along with links and surprises, ending with a true horror story graphic mini-novel on Halloween which is Monday, October 31! So stay tuned!
Here is one of my favorite older halloween cartoons:

And now, once again through the miracle of embedding, the trailer for Case 39 which I watched on Netflix and booooo to you critics for panning this movie. It is actually quite creepy due to likable Renee Zellwegger as a child advocacy social worker and the adorable little girl (Jodelle Ferland) who is Case 39, the file dropped on her desk that puts an added stress on her caseload...and her life!

The Perfect Pumpkin

The semi-tragic tale of a perfect pumpkin for your Halloween enjoyment!

 

STUNG!

A few weeks back I was out in the garden
admiring the eggplants.

I reached in to pick one.

When something STUNG me!!!!

 I didn't know what it was! It was hidden by the leaves!

Not only had I been STUNG(!) But it was my DRAWING HAND!!!

I thought it might have the stinger left in so I went to the Doctor to get it checked out. With drawing hands...you can't be toooo careful.