Just as every year, all of October on Pick Me! is dedicated to Halloween. If you like the holiday, feel free to enjoy. Otherwise, I’ll see you in November for my regularly scheduled musings.
To kick off the month, I’ll direct you to my Pinterest board for the holiday:
There are lots of ideas there for you to peruse, some of which will be covered here in more detail later in the month.
Happy Haunting!
When I saw this picture on Pinterest, I thought it was such a clever idea. It’s a pumpkin puking guacamole. It has the makings of a Halloween potluck winner: gross, yummy and Halloweeny.
I thought it was a unique idea until I found SO many of them. (Continue Reading…)
I have to interrupt this Halloween coverage, because Swatch sent me an email announcing the Deep Shine Collection.
DEEP SHINE COLLECTION: GLITTER, GLOSS & EYE-POPPING COLORS
A colorful set of five glittery, high-gloss watches. With the holiday season and the New Year just around the corner, there are plenty of reasons to celebrate.
The five models in the Deep Shine Collection make the perfect wrist candy, with trendy colors and high-gloss surfaces littered with glitter that sparkles and shines.
I had seen them on Second Watch and they looked much better:
My first instinct was to buy them all for their glittery goodness, but upon closer inspection, they’re just normal watches with glittery bands. The bands always break on me within a couple of months, so I think I’ll pass on these ones.
Shucks, I was so excited about them when I first saw them…
Of all the printable downloads available from Matthew Mead’s Halloween Templates, I like this treat box the best.
To make it easier to print, I created one with two:
If you print that one up on an 8 1/2″ X 11″ cardstock, sized to fit, you will get two treat boxes per sheet.
Each box will fit a fun size candy bar and one other small candy. They’re just perfect for an extra touch. I think I’m going to personalize mine with our name. So excited!
I love to see how much of a costume can be made or broken by makeup.
All of these makeup jobs are AMAZING, but I wonder how long they would last.
Remember, when you go to a Halloween party, the makeup needs to last all night, through Red Solo cups and lots of yummy food.
Past the hugs from friends and the unintentional touches from your own hands and fingers.
You even have to worry about your costume rubbing it off.
I ALWAYS do a test run with my costume AND makeup to make sure that they will last the whole party.
Remember, with all of these photos, you just need to click them to go to the original websites where they came from.
Happy Haunting!
This is only a taste of the beautiful watercolor Randy K. Milholland posted the other day. It’s called, “The Last Trick-or-Treaters.”
You can see the whole thing, and the story that goes along with it, here: comics: rhymes with witch.
Here is a clip from Nightmare Theater in Seattle.
In Utah, we also had Nightmare Theater on Channel 4 KTVX. I’ve talked about it before here:
There was also a Nightmare Theater in the early 80s in Fort Wayne. Here is an audio clip from The Shroud, the host of that show:
I know I didn’t imagine it, because other people remember it, even though there is nothing on YouTube documenting it. I found this website, E-Gor’s Chamber of TV Horror Hosts. One fan, Steve Anderson, talked about Utah’s Nightmare Theater:
I grew up in American Fork, Utah and I remember clearly watching “Nightmare Theater” each Friday night. The host (voice only) was Fireman Frank. He got the name from an early morning cartoon program he hosted for the same television station (KCPX, Salt Lake City). Each morning he came out and introduced cartoons and had a firehouse set. Many of the fans of Nightmare Theater didn’t even know it was the voice of Fireman Frank. During the mid-sixties KCPX had a program called “The 10:15 Double Nightmare.” Later, about 1966 it switched to the “10:20 Double Nightmare.” I will try to find out his real name and let you know. Great to see someone besides myself remembers this program.
I didn’t watch Nightmare Theater that early. I believe I watched it with Dr. Volapuk in the mid-70s. David Hall had a little information about Ron Ross, the man who played the host:
As Dr. Volapuk, he wore a ghoul mask and a cape over a Dracula-like tux. The background was mostly dungeon-like, and the whole scene was lit with eerie lighting. Then to add to the cheesy effects, the contrast adjustments on the cameras were set too high, so there were lots of weird shadows and odd lights. Most of what he did for Nightmare Theater consisted of voice intros following commercials, and announcements of next week’s shows.
I remember desperately trying to stay awake to watch the entire show, but falling asleep during commercial breaks almost every week. Even though I’m prone to nightmares, I never got one from the movies (or host intros) on Nightmare Theater. In fact, the host intros always made the movie seem so much cooler than it was. I tried to stay awake just for the host because that was a lot more fun than the actual movie.
I suspect that in the future, we will be able to have hosts who heckle scary movies, kind of like Mystery Science Theater 3000. You will just start the movie, they specify, and play them in conjunction with it. I suspect Attack of the Crab Monsters would be a much better movie with a Nightmare Theater Host, heckling it.
I think they showed that movie a hundred times on Nightmare Theater. Now, I can watch it on YouTube any time of the day. I just wish Dr. Volapuk was there to introduce it to me.
Miss Jen Fabulous did a bunch of fingernail tutorials for Halloween nails. This one is called Halloween Spooky Eye Nail Art:
Here is the Evil Pumpkin Nails:
Vampire Nails:
Haunted House Nails:
If you have been wanting to dress up your nails for the holiday, then here are a ton of ideas for you!
Happy Haunting!
One of my favorite parts of decorating is pulling out all my Mad Scientist stuff. I have bubbling beakers and peaked gauges, but what I DON’T have are some good specimen jars. I came across this one and I REALLY want to make something similar.
I also like these pickled brains from Martha Stewart.
This particular one is creepy because the skeleton’s hand is covering the baby’s mouth.
These are candles, which I don’t particularly care for because I don’t want to burn anything and I want the specimen to MOVE when the jar is picked up. THAT’S what makes a specimen jar creepy.
Dave Lowe created these jars for the holiday.
As always, click the pictures to see their source.
I actually DID this project this year. One baby doll and two pickle jars. I spray painted the lids with Rust-Oleum Hammered Metal Finish Spray in Silver.
I filled the bottles with water colored with one drop of green food coloring and one drop of red food coloring. I also distressed the baby’s face by holding it over a lighter. Looks pretty creepy to me!
Happy Haunting!
I absolutely love this photograph from Vintage Seance on Flicker. It’s called The Seance.
I love the old photographs, the Tarot cards and the Ouija board. All of them look so perfect illuminated by the candlelight. I want to know what the spirits said to them.
Then again, even candy corn looks spooky by candlelight.
I love this Halloween costume idea from The Spotted Fox. It’s the Morton Salt Girl.
Here is a version of this costume from CaitlinD:
I love how L. Ottaviano included the huge salt container with white yarn pouring out of it. It’s a great touch.
Our costume theme this year is “Let’s Go To The Movies,” so this costume won’t work for me this year. But next year, I just might do it!
When I saw this Eyeballs Halloween Manicure Tutorial, it looked so fun that I thought I’d try it.
Of course, so did Pintester. When she tried it however, it didn’t quite turn out like the video. As she said, she should have stopped while she was ahead. In her own words:
And then I went off-book. Because I’m a rebel. And occasionally Goth. That’s right, people. I found a bottle of glow-in-the-dark nail polish and decided that this whole get-up needed a top-coat of spooky green glow.
I was wrong.
Also, I feel I should tell you that it didn’t really glow that much, which would have made it less of a fail, I think.
Here’s what happened, comparing what it SHOULD look like with what it actually looked like:
If you’re planning on doing a spooky Halloween manicure for your costume this year, make sure you do it the night before so you have plenty of time to redo it if you run into problems.
This great video just came out at the end of the month, just in time for this year’s Halloween. It’s filled with trippy visuals and laced with hints of the Beatles, the lead singer even looks like a young George Harrison.
Little songs like this make me excited about music all over again. Happy Haunting!
As pointed out by commenter, Diane, Dhani Harrison is George Harrison’s son. I feel like an idiot for not looking that up myself. LOL!
On a happier note, I feel so joyful that the legacy is living on with Dhani! It’s almost as if George lives on through him and I feel a little less sorrowful at his loss so many years ago.
I’ve been having fun watching these “real” videos of ghosts.
Any video with a cat is suspect, since cats act insane and haunted at the drop of a hat, but this one was particularly good in “boo, gotcha!” kind of way.
Of course, most ghosts don’t look like an AT-ST from Star Wars.
Here is a spirit lurking over a patients bed.
The absolute BEST one, however, when a “real” ghost interrupts a fake ghost filming.
It certainly brings into question this “ghost,” doesn’t it?
Retronaut posted some cards with costumes for Fancy Dress balls from 1887. Some of them were very interesting.
Here is a costume called The Hornet.
This one is called Magpie. I sure hope they aren’t suggesting wearing actual magpies (stuffed or live) on her head and shoulders.
Here is a good old fashioned Witch costume.
It looks very much like a witch costume you could buy today at Amazon:
Finally, here are some children’s costumes.
It funny how different costumes can be, but at the same time, they are VERY similar. The only difference now is that the normal clothes of people living in 1887 are now costumes of today. I suspect that will be the case in one hundred years. Our every day clothes of today will be the costumes of tomorrow. In fact, I have seen that within my own lifetime.
This year, Disneyland hired Jack Black, Will Ferrell and Jason Segel to pose as the Hitchhiking Ghosts for an advertisement. I think they look awesome!
Here is the original from Television Tropes & Idioms:
Jack Black is a little short and Jason Segel is WAY too tall. They should have hired Danny Devito instead. Other than that, they look great!
Photo via: Update: Celebrities as Disney Characters! – Cheezburger – BETA
Here is a behind the scenes look at the photography session:
Oh, how I love the Haunted Mansion!
Just in time for Halloween, I found this awesome science fiction short film that reminds me of a wonderful cross between AI, Blade Runner and Max Headroom. See it here:
I love the concept of being able to upload your memories into a computer and reload them into a “New You.”
It was an idea that made me love “Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom” by Cory Doctorow. It would probably mean the end of the world as we know it, as so tragically illustrated in Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse Series, but that doesn’t stop me from wishing that I could somehow live forever.
Oh, and all the people in that little video would be GREAT Halloween costumes!
Via: True Skin Sci-Fi Short Nails That Blade Runner Vibe | Underwire | Wired.com
J.K. Rowling said that she would never have been able to write Harry Potter if she hadn’t suffered through such extreme poverty. She was so poor, she was on “benefits,” which is the UK version of welfare. Now that she is vastly wealthy, she has remained in the UK because she feels a sense of loyalty to them for helping her.
She said,
I pay a lot of tax. One of the reasons I stay and pay, why I’m not based in Monaco, is I feel I owe them, I truly do.
To see the complete video: The Daily Show: J.K. Rowling
| The Daily Show with Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| J.K. Rowling | ||||
| ||||
J.K. Rowling just came out with a new book for adults. The ebook price is pretty high at $15 right now, so I thought I’d wait until it fell under ten bucks. After seeing this, I immediately bought her book, just because she’s so damn awesome!
The next time I see a politician balking at the cost of welfare, I’m going to remember J.K. Rowling and how she was an investment that truly paid off.
Via: Sand & Glass
Many thanks to Marisol Stewart on Pintrest for pointing out this funny picture.
It reads:
20 seconds of laughter… 20 years of therapy.
The look of terror on the little girl’s face is priceless. Isn’t that what Halloween is all about. Twenty seconds of terror in our own homes…
I LOVE these costumes for a cat for Halloween.
I think my favorite is the CATerpillar. :)
Clint and his wife visited Disneyworld last year and they dressed up as Grim Grinning Ghosts.
I have never done anything so awesome as this. I haven’t even BEEN to Disneyworld, much less went there in full costume. These pictures make me so happy!
Check out this Storm Trooper Helmet made out of milk jugs:
My dad used to make things like this for me when I was a kid. Since I was a girl, he thought I should like things like playhouses and doll houses, so that’s what he made. Back in 1979, however, I would have LOVED it if he had made me a stormtrooper helmet instead. Of course, I loved that Barbie house more than almost any other toy, so I really shouldn’t complain.
I don’t know who RDP Inventor is, but he is a child genius! Check out his homemade Halloween decorations and props!
Here is how to make gravestones for your yard:
He made this Electric Chair:
He also has an arm that pops out of the ground made from the leftover parts of an ink jet printer:
Here are some butcher knives, axes and weapons made out of wood, aluminum tape and spray painted blood.
He even made a prop chainsaw! The front handle was from a broken weedwhacker that he got out of the trash. The back handle was made out of a milk carton jug.
I love the thought that he put into all of these Halloween props. They are simply awesome!
This video is SO FUNNY! Jimmy Kimmel challenged parents to tell their children that they had eaten all their Halloween candy and film their responses. He just expected the children to be angry, but there was an awful lot of sincere crying.
The first couple look totally fake, but after that, there are some really sad kids.
We were Jehovah’s Witness when I was a kid, so I have no idea what it was like to be a kid and have a whole bag of candy from Halloween, much less lose it in one evening. I laughed so hard at that video that tears came out of my eyes!
Check out the video of this haunted house last year:
The most interesting is at the end where they show all the cameras watching the kids walking through the haunted house. The lamest is when they show a mad Justin Beiber in a padded room.
When I was a teenager, I went to a lot of trouble to make the house scary when people came to trick or treat. I made a dummy with a pumpkin head who had been stabbed that scared so many kids that they were reluctant to ring the door bell, but I never went to the lengths that these people are willing to go.
I’m considering this costume this year because our theme is “Let’s Go To The Movies.”
Plus, it’s scary and I’d really like to be scary for once.
If you have no idea what this is, it’s the bad Nazi guy who melted after looking into the Ark in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Via: Reddit: My friend accidentally looked inside the Ark. Will he recover?
I did do that costume for Halloween. Here are the pictures:
I melted red, pink and peach crayons over the top of a skull mask and the effect was perfect.
It was so good, I won for Scariest Costume this year.
Tune in next Halloween for a tutorial on how to make this costume for yourself:
If you own two iPads that are able to do FaceTime, then you can create this cool costume that lets you see right through your body. This YouTube video explains it:
Here is another video showing the same effect with a more gory costume:
There are limitations to this costume, because you need to have access to a good WiFi signal to make it work. Otherwise, you’re illusion will turn into FaceTime screen constantly throughout the night.
Via: iPad FaceTime Halloween Costume Lets You See Right Through Your Body – Mac Rumors
Last year the Ohio University STARS launched a campaign called, “We’re A Culture, Not A Costume.” Here are the posters they created.
I love Halloween, so when I think of many of the costumes that I’ve worn, I wonder if I had been a racist with any of them. Where is the line drawn? There are those who have wondered why a white guy with a photo of a cowboy wasn’t included. Why is the cowboy costume not offensive?
I think the difference is when you dress up as a person of another nationality or culture it can be perceived as ridicule. Even if you never meant it that way, it can feel like the costume has boiled an entire culture down to a stereotype. So a geisha costume reminds an Asian girl of every time a guy expected her to be subservient just because of her appearance.
When is it alright to dress up as another nationality? Is it ever?
Personally, I think the line is not with intent. There are few people out there who set out to offend or harm anyone. None of us intend to hurt people’s feelings, so saying that you didn’t mean to offend someone with your costume is not enough.
I think you are safer with a costume depicting a specific person, such as Sayuris, the heroine of Memoirs of a Geisha, rather than just a normal geisha girl. Of course, it would take conversation and explanation to get this idea across and those are hard pressed in a noisy Halloween party. In the end, you may still offend someone.
In fact, MANY of our costumes from the past could be offensive to people. The year Stacey came as an old lady with a walker and offered linty candy and used tissues to people could be called ageist. Dressing up as a hippie, a tourist or a goth could be offensive. The costume staples of princess, cheerleader and kitty cat could be considered sexist. It seems that there are very few costumes that could NOT be construed as an insult.
So, how do you dress up without hurting someone’s feelings? Here are a few tips:
When in doubt, throw it out: If you are worried that someone might look at your costume and think that you’re a racist, then DON’T wear it. That inkling of intuition is there for a reason. Find another costume.
Choose fiction over reality: If you dress up as Mr. Spock, Harry Potter or Shrek, no one can accuse you of offending them, even if they are a highly logical geek, fantasy nerd or Scottish bore.
Choose historical figures over anonymous people: Dressing up as Martin Luther King Jr. is VERY different than dressing up as a random black man.
If you have to do elaborate makeup to change your appearance, you might be toeing the line: Covering your entire face with makeup to make your skin a different color, altering the shape of your eyes and even wearing a wig might be enough to offend someone. The more you need to change your appearance, the more likely your costume may be perceived as offensive.
Halloween is supposed to be FUN and thinking about whether your costume will offend someone can take some of the fun out of the preparations, but making a costume that hurts the feelings of a friend can suck the fun out of any evening. Take the time to be sensitive about your costume choice and you’ll ensure an evening of fun for EVERYONE.
Of course, sometimes Halloween just needs to be for fun:
Last year, when I wanted to be a mummy, I had a bit of a problem. The mummy costume that had been handed down to me by Stacey was too tight. I had a choice. I could find (or make) a new costume or lose ten pounds. So, I looked for a mummy costume that would fit me a bit better than the old one. All I could find in the stores was the costume on the right.
It wasn’t really what I was looking for. I didn’t want to be a sexy mummy. I wanted to be a scary mummy. The theme for our party last year was Scary Monsters, Super Creeps. In the end, it was easier for me to lose the weight (only lost seven pounds, but it was just barely enough) to fit into the old costume than to find a new one that wasn’t overtly sexualized.
If you are sick of the Slutty Costume Phenomenon, then here is an alternative.
These folks have a ton of suggestions for costumes of women that are inspirational, powerful and not particularly slutty. Of course, lots of the costumes are just famous women from the Victorian Era, which is kind of disturbing to me because they forgot all the women like Madeline Albright and Margaret Thatcher because they just wore normal women’s business suits.
Of course, every damn one of these costumes would turn into an evening of, “Who are you?” questions, followed by the boring explanation. Lisa Meitner might have been the woman to discover nuclear fission, but NO ONE has heard of her, so your costume just turns into a boring lecture on patriarchy in the sciences. The best costumes don’t need to be explained, so choose wisely.
Ironically, I won the prize for Sexiest Costume last year, even though I tried so hard to be scary. And the most ironic thing of all is that it felt REALLY GOOD to win that prize.
I laughed throughout this whole video of a Halloween prank! They created a child-sized mannequin in costume and set it at doors and rang the bell. It would just stand there, creepy and still. The people answering the door drop in the candy and are suddenly disconcerted when the child doesn’t turn to leave.
I especially love the woman at the 3:30 mark who furtively touches the mannequin after several groups come and go. “What the hell?!”
The guy at the 5:25 mark is hilarious. He gives the mannequin more candy and tells a friend on the phone, “He wants more candy.” He drops in more candy and then laughs, “Is that good? The Halloweener won’t leave, dude!”
It’s a long video, but it’s funny all the way through!
Here is a link to a great tutorial that shows you how to make fanged pumpkins. They look awesome!
When I was at the grocery store, I saw some Pumpkin Teeth that you could buy, but they weren’t as cheap as those vampire fangs. You can get twelve vampire fangs for a dollar, whereas the Pumpkin Teeth are nine bucks for a set.
Save money AND create a scary Halloween decoration! Score!
I love this comic from Wasted Talent. Going to haunted houses used to be one of my favorite things during Halloween, but Jammy has created a haunted house that is far too scary, even for a jaded adult like me.
Her adult-themed scares were pretty thorough, but even she missed a few that could have been there. Of course, if she had mentioned them, the comic would have taken a dark turn instead of a funny one, so I think she made the right choice.
The next time you scoff at the delightful fun of a haunted house, remember these horrors of adulthood that could come for you at any time.
The party was a BLAST!
Moncur Halloween Party 2012 Winners:
You can see the rest of the photos after the break: (Continue Reading…)
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