In Carcosa

There's only 173 days 'till Halloween, which means I need to get working on my costume and the rest of the decorations. Unfortunately, for the past couple of years I had spent so much time on the horror conventions and display aspects of the holiday that my costumes had been somewhat lacking. Well, that's about to change.

Taking my cue from my recent resurgence in interest of all things Lovecraftian, I've already come up with a pretty good idea.


As I put everything together I'll be adding the different costume elements, sources, and steps up on this blog. Hopefully by the time it's done I'll have a nice tutorial for anyone else interested in this costume idea.

....stay tuned

RIP Dan O'Bannon

Dan O'Bannon died today at the age of 63. O'Bannon was responsible for writing such cinematic gems as Aliens, Dark Star, the highly underrated Lifeforce, and of course my favorite - Return of the Living Dead. Going through periods of time being homeless and completely unknown for his work, O'Bannon continued to write new and interesting movies up until his last days. Apparently he was in the middle of writing an Alien prequel when he died of a heart attack.




For those ROTLD fans who haven't listened to the DVD commentary, I highly recommend it. You really get a feeling that the guy loved what he did and took every opportunity to make each movie special in its own way.

It's sad, really. With a movie industry clogged to the gills with crap and re-hashings of old favorites, it's a shame to lose a good original writer/director who wasn't afraid to take risks and try new things.

The perfect place for Christmas gifts

I'll have to come clean here, I'm not that big of a Christmas fan. Some people wait all year for this holiday but to be honest I'm more of a Halloween kind of guy than anything else. Still, tradition is tradition and who doesn't like to have a few drinks with friends when it's chilly outside. Gifts are always important too, which is why I thought I'd give a quick list of some great shopping sites for your more horror-oriented friends and family.

The House of Mysterious Secrets- HOMS can always be considered a reliable source of amazing goodies. Going through the catalog of horror merchandise, you can tell that someone with a keen eye for taste has only chosen the best of the best.


November Fire- If you're anything like me, you have enough t-shirts to dress half of South America. Fortunately, there's always this gem of a site. November Fire sells high quality shirts with great designs. You're hard pressed to think of any obscure horror or science-fiction movie and not find a printing of it here. They've also got a great selection of accessories to choose from. I highly recommend the bandanas.


Junco Partner- Here's a great site with homemade cred to lend to its name. Junco Partner is another perfect example of someone taking an old standard (horror t-shirts) and added their own creative tastes to make it different. All the shirts are of high quality material and won't disintegrate in a year like others. The designs are all custom made and stand out from all the other shirts you see.

Pumpkins, Conventions, Monsters, and more

The Spooky Empire horror convention came and went in the blink of an eye. As it goes with each year, the event was a ton of fun but also ran both Michelle and myself completely ragged. Here's a few photos for those who couldn't make it.

Bustin' makes me feel good

I bought the Ghostbusters video game for Xbox 360 a few weeks ago and haven't been able to put it down since. There was a lot of scuttlebutt about the game for years but I'm here to say that all of the naysayers are wrong. Sure there are a few flaws here and there but what game (besides Bioshock) is perfect?

I think the game designers made the best of what they had available and brought the entire experience of ghost-busting to life. Everything from the proton packs, Ecto 1, and the trapping procedure was put together really well. Being able to dive a little deeper into the equipment gave a little more insight into the mythos that Harold Ramis and Dan Ackroyd breathed to life all those years ago.

So yeah, buy it and love it. You won't be disappointed.

Halloween approaches!

The most glorious time of the year is almost upon us. Fortunately, this year I'm not going to wait until the last minute to get my costume together. Yesterday we went out to a few thrift stores and I was able to find the perfect suit jacket to match the rest of the outfit. Here's a few links of Halloween related sites to help you perfect your spooky evening.

Spirit Halloween Stores- They seem to spring up like mushrooms right around the middle of September but love them or hate them, Spirit Stores have a lot of "quick fix" items that help tie the room together.

Fright Catalog- Fright Catalog has long been a reliable source of Halloween related fun. They've got great prices and usually ship fairly quickly. Be warned however, if you wait too long you'll probably miss out on some great deals.

The Horror Dome- Honestly, these guys are committed (or should be). Where else can you find a fake severed horse head?

If these links aren't your cup of tea, you can always go DIY like myself and use your imagination. After all, imagination is what the season is all about!