Something Squatchy

In November of 1978, the family became aware of noises coming from outside the children’s window. Three children shared the room, and the 6 month old’s crib was nearest the window. The sounds were mimicking the baby’s cooing. The sounds would come at night and last for about 30 minutes at a time. The older children (ages 3 and 4) would see a dark brown furry head in the window and would run to the parents crying “a boogie man was outside.” The parents thought the children were imagining things as they would not hear or see anything. This went on for many months, and the children would end up sleeping with the parents when they heard or saw things at the window.

In the summer of 1979, the mother went out to feed the dogs their dinner scraps. When she went outside, stepped off the porch and came face to face with a large, hair covered, bipedal man. Frightened for her life, she ran inside to her husband. He grabbed a gun, and shooting blindly through the wooden wall he fired at where the creature was standing. (To this day, the bullet hole is still in the wall.) The entire house immediately was permeated with a smell that is described as “strong septic,” and “dead animal” smell. Although no blood was found, the father thought he had hit the creature and it ran into the woods.

The next night, a smaller creature returned to the house after midnight. The mother heard grunting outside her window. The creature was clearly agitated as it picked up welding tanks (90 lbs.) that were stored on the property and threw them at the house. The family watched from the window. The police were called and found only the scattered tanks when they arrived.

The family was so frightened they called relatives for several nights to come guard the house. Some walked the perimeter, one was on the roof. All had guns. One night, the uncle on the roof noticed movement behind the father, and shouted, “Behind you!” At the same time, the father backed up to what he thought was a tree, only to have it move. Both ran in different directions, the father toward the house and the creature towards the woods but not before slamming into the hood of the car. It left three large dents on the jeep. Again, the police were called and found nothing. The family is of Cherokee heritage, they called a Blackfoot chief’s wife over to do a ritual to protect them. Things calmed down after that but from time to time over several years other things were noted...

To read more: http://www.bfro.net/GDB/show_report.asp?id=32435

Skyfall Spot

As a lifelong Bond fan, I'm excited for Daniel Craig to finally get his proper 007 movie with all the proper elements in place.

Halloween Party

How I would love to go to a Halloween party like this - and that's just the kid's table!

From the Skip To My Lou blog - see more party pics here:

http://www.skiptomylou.org/2010/10/26/halloween-party-decorations/

Time Forgotten

A short note from Destini Beard with regard to her upcoming collaborative album with Midnight Syndicate. Can't wait for this one to finally be released - I absolutely adored THE DARK MASQUERADE!

The tracks and files have been sent for the new album "A Time Forgotten" and will be released in a few weeks! Twelve tracks with the awesome music of Midnight Syndicate along with a really cool dance mix by Pat Berdyz and a track composed and written by me it's going to be awesome I can't wait for you all to hear it! And thank you to my dad Ed Beard Jr for an amazing album cover! The cd will be available on my website can't wait for you guys to hear it! Thank you all so much for your support with my music!

The cd will be available on my website www.destinibeard.com

Bathroom Break

Remember the bathroom scene from that really crappy (pun intended) Stephen King adaptation DREAMCATCHER? Yeah, that's how I feel right now. Urggghhhh...

To cheer myself up, I read this spot-on review of the film over here:

mygeekblasphemy.com

Double Digits

99 days 'till Halloween, Halloween, Halloween! 99 days 'till Halloween...SILVER SHAMROCK!

I always know every summer, when the Lazy Susan's bloom, that the clock really starts ticking on the Halloween prop building. I think most home haunters would agree that the pressure slowly starts to build each year once you hit the double digit mark on the countdown to the big day. This is where you really start to get serious and buckle down on those props you've been slowly tinkering with and get them finished!

To the average person this idea seems ludicrous. It's only July 24th! You're thinking about Halloween already? they chortle with wide eyes rolling. To which I say: It's July 24th! Only 99 days left! Time's running out!

Got Brains?

A fun little pic I dug up from the crypt - this is me on Halloween night two years ago...

Knight Rises

My immediate reaction upon seeing THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (and this is in no way intended to be a complete, thorough review): Bleak, violent, intense, over-long - I liked it - didn't love it. At least not in the way I did THE DARK KNIGHT a few years back. To be fair, THE DARK KNIGHT was just about as perfect of a superhero film as you could get, so it was a tall order for director Christopher Nolan to top it. Still, I was hoping for a film just as good, and this one didn't quite match up, and I had way more fun at THE AVENGERS (which pains this DC fan to say).

There were so many 'little things' that kept bothering me. Like: why did Selina Kyle wear the mask again? Everyone knew who she was, so there was no point, really, in disguising her identity. And why did Dr. Crane (aka The Scarecrow) NOT wear his mask? I would have loved to see him go looney tunes pulling on his mask as he passed down judgement on Gotham's finest. Not to mention the role of Dep. Comm. Foley (played by Mathew Modine), who seemed unnecessary and bogged down the plot. Plus the resolution of Bane's character seemed anti-climactic. For essentially BEING the movie, his coda seemed like a major let-down for this bat-fan.

When it was all said and done, this is what I kept thinking about the dark knight as we approached the explosive finale:

"Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb!"

Sure, my opinion will probably soften, particularly when I see it in Imax. I'm a lifelong, die-hard Batman fan - so I really want to love this entry in Nolan's trilogy - but it may take repeated viewings for me to truly 'get it.'

P.S. The trailer for next year's MAN OF STEEL put a genuine lump in my throat. Loved it!

Vintage Goodness

Old Fashioned Red Candy Apple Recipe (circa 1929)

Two cups granulated sugar, one-half cup light corn syrup, one-quarter cup water, red coloring, one-half teaspoon cinnamon flavoring, twelve red apples, twelve wooden skewers.

Cook the granulated sugar, corn syrup, and water in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Continue cooking without stirring until the syrup is brittle when tested in cold water. During the cooking, any sugar crystals thrown on the sides of the pan should be carefully washed down with a wet cloth. Remove the syrup from the heat and set at once over hot water. Add coloring and flavoring and mix well.

Insert the skewers, which can be purchased from the butcher, in the blossom end of the apples. Hold each apple by the skewer and plunge into the hot syrup. Draw it out quickly and twirl it until the syrup is spread smoothly over the apple.

Place apples with the skewer end down in a wire cake rack, which has been placed over a large bowl, so that the apple does not touch anything while hardening. These apples should be made the day they will be used.

http://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/candy-apple-recipe.html

Wicked Grin

Had a day off from work yesterday and had a creative impulse. This is the result - an impromptu finger-painting to hang above my workshop table. Made with acrylic paint on a quarter-inch sheet of plywood, this was done in about an hour. The shape of the pumpkin shows up better in person - it's a very deep orange/black that disappears as the workshop grows dark (and the eyes and mouth are painted with glo-paint so they light up at night).

The face was borrowed from here:

http://ericfreitas.deviantart.com/art/Jack-o-lantern-2-184798515

Hallowed Ground

Old Graveyard
Originally uploaded by MalachyC

Located in Algona, Iowa, there is a graveyard just north of the town. In this graveyard, there is a smaller one that is fenced off towards the rear. Back in the 1800s when Gypsy wagon trains would pass through the town, they would come across this graveyard. If there was a gypsy who was dying from illness, they would bury this person alive right at the spot because they were unable to stop. There was also no hallowed ground to bury the gypsy in since they were on the move. To this day, the people of the town firmly believe that the graveyard is haunted, and if someone dares to venture beyond the small fenced in graveyard in the back, they will be cursed forever from the spirits of the gypsies.

Random Geekery

Okay - some random thoughts from a certified HALLOWEEN movie franchise geek. I love these movies (well, John Carpenter's original through HALLOWEEN 4 - with a soft spot for part 6), and often have completely random thoughts about the greatness of the early entries and how the later ones could have been improved upon. Here's one example of a random thought I had the other day:

This is actually a long running observation that I've had for many years now, related to the opening scene of the original 1981 version of HALLOWEEN II. You'll recall that film started with the oldie tune "Mr. Sandman" by The Chordettes (a song referenced again in HALLOWEEN H20.) Similarly, every time I hear the 1964 tune "A Summer Song" by Chad & Jeremy I always think now that's a song that should be used in a HALLOWEEN movie! Read the lyrics with Laurie Strode and Michael Myers in mind, giving the beautiful lyrics a slightly sinister undertone, and decide for yourself...

They say that all good things must end some day
Autumn leaves must fall
But don't you know that it hurts me so
To say goodbye to you
Wish you didn't have to go
No no no no

And when the rain
Beats against my window pane
I'll think of summer days again
And dream of you

They say that all good things must end some day
Autumn leaves must fall
But don't you know that it hurts me so
To say goodbye to you
Wish you didn't have to go
No no no no

And when the rain
Beats against my window pane
I'll think of summer days again
And dream of you
And dream of you


Rob Zombie made a habit of recycling oldie standards in his craptacular HALLOWEEN movies, alas, this one wasn't one of them - but I would have loved to hear this in HALLOWEEN H20 as it seems to fit the vibe of that film perfectly (but as we know, that film had its own recycled soundtrack).

To listen, click below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D2XD341xHo

Frankenstein vs. Bride

SD Comic Con 2012: Rob Zombie on ‘The Lords of Salem’ and Manson

“I’m really excited about Lords of Salem. I was looking at it today, because we’re just finishing the sound design and the sound mix and all that stuff. It’s a really different movie. Because the last couple of movies I’ve made have been these very handheld, rough, and physically violent sort of films. This isn’t like that at all. It’s a very slow-paced, psychological, specifically composed sort of movie. It’s almost the exact opposite of what I’ve done before. So I’m really excited to get it out to see what people think. It’s not what they expect it to be.

“It starts in 1697 in Salem, Massachusetts. The basic idea is that back then, when the witch trials were going on, obviously there were innocent people being killed as witches. But there was a group of people who were not so innocent, but were murdered and put to death. They, before they died, put a curse on Salem, which is now coming true in modern times. Most of the movie takes place in modern-day Salem. I’m trying not to spoil things…

“That’s the problem with things like this – you always have to explain it. But I’m trying to keep something secret so when people see it they don’t go, ‘Oh yeah, I knew all that.’ Because when there are no surprises it kind of ruins it.”

As for his tour with Marilyn Manson, Zombie said, “It’s probably not unlike when I did the tour with Alice Cooper. What I like about these tours is that it’s a co-headlining tour, so both acts do the full show and their full set. Nobody has to sacrifice anything. Alice and I are good friends and it was one of the most fun tours I ever did. But of course there’s gonna be this fun rivalry, because nobody wants somebody else to upstage them. So that’s fun, and I assume it will be more of the same with that.”

If Alice Cooper’s collaboration with Zombie was a case of “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man,” how would Zombie describe his tour with Manson?

“’Frankenstein versus the Bride of Frakenstein’?” he laughed. “Because Marilyn is a girl’s name…”

“No,” he added, “I can’t wait to do it. It seems like one of those tours that’s so obvious, like we would have done it before. But we haven’t… I’m kind of glad we haven’t, because there are still exciting things to do. It’s gonna be good, because we’re going to do it here and in Europe, and it will go for a while.”

“So I hope we get along,” he laughed again, “because there are a lot of shows!”

– Joseph McCabe, FearNet

http://www.fearnet.com/

They Live

"Outside the limit of our sight, feeding off us, perched on top of us, from birth to death, are our owners! Our owners! They have us. They control us! They are our masters! Wake up! They're all about you! All around you!"

--Preacher, THEY LIVE (1988)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096256/

Expendables 2

This looks like so much fun.

Silver Shamrock

111 days 'till Halloween, Halloween, Halloween...

Superior 71

Drove past this beauty on the way home from South Dakota. We had actually taken a wrong turn and cruised by completely by accident. Just outside of Superior, IA, it was hours until showtime - and we had another three hours (on top of the six we just drove) ahead of us - so we couldn't hang around for a double-bill. Still, took the time to wander around a bit and check out the lay of the land.

A beautiful little drive-in - I'd love to go back some day! For those in the area, I encourage you to support this gem and spend generously at their concession stand!

http://www.superior71drivein.com/

Stay Tuned

Survived a week long log cabin vacation deep in the woods of South Dakota. Thought I'd take this time to announce that major changes can be expected at both the Hallowzing site and Drive-In of the Dead - hopefully before the year is out. You may have noticed that both sites have basically been inactive for the past few months, and there has been some politics involved in that that I'm hoping to sort out so that both sites can be regularly updated. Thanks for your patience!

Stay tuned...