I realize that I’m making my readers pay for the fact that this is my first autumn back in NY for many years (and I’m therefore somewhat obsessed with the seasonal change).
These photos make me want to jump through my computer screen and land inside them.
See more in this post.
Now, here’s something I don’t find myself saying every day:
This chair is too muscular for me.
I guess he’s not ULTRA buff. He hasn’t been drinking protein shakes and telling people to “spot him,” but he clearly works out more than I usually like my furniture to do so.
Found here.
Occasionally during the Halloween season, I come across paper mache (*ahem*…pa-PIER mache…excuse me) pumpkins. But I haven’t seen any that compare to those on Stolloween.
These are very well made and brimming with character.
Since the creator is kind enough to include tutorials on the website, I’m tempted to add the project to my already outrageous list of Halloween crafts to undertake.
Go have a look (and send me pictures if you decide to make one!).
As you may know if you’ve been following since last year’s Halloween Music Megapost, I love The Blob (and the theme song by The Five Blobs).
It seems that a real life blob has been turning up, particularly in the depths the the Adriatic Sea. As water temperatures have risen in recent years, more of these gelatinous blobs are showing showing up:
Harmless conglomerations of organic sea matter? Not exactly. They harbor bacteria (including E. Coli) that can be dangerous for swimmers.
You can watch it in action on video here.
This post is my ode to Dollar Tree. Specialty stores jack up the prices on Halloween novelties so you pay an exorbitant amount of money for simple plastic and paper.
But you don’t have to spend a lot. I got this assortment for under $20 (not to mention some other party supplies not pictured). Sorry about the bad lighting.
I actually forgot a couple of things, so I’ll have to go back. But you won’t hear me complaining.
Brian Smith makes fantastic surreal oil paintings, delightfully dark. The first two are from a Painting-a-Day series (done on 5X7″ panels, selling for $100 each).
And here are a few other recent works:
I love all the melting, pulling and swirling sensations in these paintings, as if the subjects and their surroundings are a single (often tortured) entity.
These show openings of the 80’s and early 90’s had great intro sequences. Packed with antiques, dust, spooky things (or simply an ominous sense) and a general Halloween vibe…see them again and bring back some fond memories.
I used to love the Tales From the Crypt house so much that I fantasized about living in one just like it, sans cobwebs.
I wish they spent more time on the antique shots!
And All Hallows Steve reminded me of this one:
I always thought the eerie music and narration worked beautifully over peaceful nature scenes to convey a “dark side” lurking beneath.
I only remember this one vaguely. Perhaps I should re-watch an episode or two.
Modern franchised theme restaurants can’t hold a proverbial candle to what may have been the first restaurant of its type.
A hot spot called Hell’s Café lured 19th-century Parisians to the city’s Montmartre neighborhood—like the Marais—on the Right Bank of the Seine. With plaster lost souls writhing on its walls and a bug-eyed devil’s head for a front door, le Café de l’Enfer may have been one of the world’s first theme restaurants. According to one 1899 visitor, the café’s doorman—in a Satan suit—welcomed diners with the greeting, “Enter and be damned!” Hell’s waiters also dressed as devils. An order for three black coffees spiked with cognac was shrieked back to the kitchen as: “Three seething bumpers of molten sins, with a dash of brimstone intensifier!”
How in the world can I be impressed with an old baseball bat on the wall at TGIFriday’s when Hell’s Cafe had writhing lost souls on the walls?
I’ve come across a lot of Mike Dougherty’s work lately, especially with all the Trick ‘r Treat buzz and I recommend checking out this short film. Adorable.
This series of sculptures caught my eye recently (it’s almost fitting for a Halloween post!).
The unusual spiritual visions of an Irishman were created in stone by craftsmen in Mahabalipuram, India, and now populate a sculpture park in County Wicklow, Ireland.
On 22 acres of grounds, the park includes a series of dancing Ganesh figures, Shiva and other Hindu deities. It also includes more bizarre sculptures of a skeletal Buddha-like figure, an enormous disembodied finger, and a sculpture called “The Split Man” which shows a figure ripping itself in two, representing “the mental state of the dysfunctional human”.
SheWalksSoftly 