Happy Halloween!

Thanks for dropping by.  Have a Happy Halloween and a Blessed Samhain!

~ Heathen

Poe inspired

I finally finished it!  My Poe inspired Halloween plaque is complete.  It really shouldn't have taken so long, but I had some orders for non-Halloween items that I had to finish first.  I'll post pics of them after this weekend.

So without further ado, I present to you my latest and last (for the season) Halloween plaque...

Front (it says Nevermore! at the top)

Back

Please note, the artwork does not actually come with a frame.  This, and all my other pieces as well, was done on a 5x7 canvas art board with acrylic paints, scrapbook paper, and other various elements.  You can't really see the detail here but I'm not sure how to make it so you can click and enlarge the image.  If anyone knows, please share so I can do this in the future.

So there you have it, I hope you enjoy!  Happy Halloween to all!

~ Heathen

Halloween Costumes

To dress up or not to dress up; that is the question I struggle with every year.  As you all know by now, I LOVE Halloween.  But since I'm too old to go Trick or Treating, and I don't usually have a party or costume event to go to, I'm never sure how to answer this question.  Do I dress up to hand out candy?  Full costume or just a witchy hat or vampire teeth?  Maybe just a cool Halloween t-shirt?  I honestly have no idea!  Though I'm quickly running out of time so most likely dressing up in full costume is out this year.

However, if I did have time to come up with a full costume I would have a full-on Masquerade Ball costume.  I just love everything about this theme, it's all so wonderfully over the top and decadent!

~ Heathen

The Dance from Legend

You'll need to turn off my music player at the bottom of the page before playing the video. Enjoy...



~ Heathen

It's here, it's here!

Today I got my Surprise Prize from Linda over at Olde Baggs n Stuft Shirts and I'm so excited!  She is just so talented, you must drop by her blog if you haven't already.  Thank you, thank you, thank you Oma!  Here is what she sent me as a parting gift for entering one of her wonderful giveaways...

Clockwise from top left: paper wall hanging, Halloween clothespins and witch ornament came tucked inside a good old trick or treat candy bag, Thrifty Witch wall plaque wrapped in candy corn tissue paper, and the Halloween miscellany was also tucked in the trick or treat bag.  The tiny skellie, cute tags, and Halloween confetti are a perfect addition to my candle!  Some of the pics don't do justice to the wonderful items; sorry, I promise I'll figure the camera out eventually.

I can't wait to find places to display the rest of these goodies!  So I'm off to do just that.  Happy haunting!

~ Heathen

Samhain / Halloween

Samhain, also know as Halloween, All Hallows Eve, and the Witch's New Year is the last of the harvest festivals and a time of dark mysteries. It's a time for new beginnings, reflection, and honoring the dead.

In the tarot, the Death card represents change; an end to something which has served its purpose. While not all changes seem good in the moment, change is necessary in all things. This season is the beginning of the end of the Wheel of the Year. After Halloween we change our clocks back, bringing more of the dark to our days, and prepare for Winter. As anyone who lives in colder climates knows, Winter is the dead season when the landscape is bleak. All the plants and animals, even the Sun, go into hiding and wait to be renewed come Spring. This is the quiet time.

On Halloween we carve and light Jack o' Lanterns as both protection for ourselves and guidance for the dead. We dress in costume in order to blend in with or ward off the roaming spirits. And we hand out food to children dressed as all manner of things! So this Halloween, enjoy all the revelry and goings on with the abandon of a child, but also take the time to consider the other side of this day. Remember lost loved ones and prepare for the changes ahead as the wheel continues to turn.

~ Heathen

Random Thoughts 10-19-10

What do you get when you drop a pumpkin?

Squash!

~ Heathen

Halloween Playlist

If you have your sound turned on, you're listening to a small sample of the current Halloween playlist on my iPod. With Halloween getting closer by the minute, I thought I'd share the complete list with you.

Man With the Hex - Atomic Fireballs
Even in Death - Evanescence
Crossing the River Styx - I Am Ghost
I Put a Spell On You - Marilyn Manson
The Widow - The Mars Volta
Monsters - Matchbox Romance
Killing Moon - Nouvelle Vague
Carnival of Lost Souls (complete album) - Nox Arcana
Haunted - Poe
Rev 22:20 - Puscifer
Black Magic Woman - Santana
Moon Over Bourbon Street - Sting
Hell - Squirrel Nut Zippers
Bloodletting (the Vampire Song) - Concrete Blond
Spooky - Classics IV
Bad Moon Rising - CCR
Theme from Sleepy Hollow Soundtrack - Danny Elfman
Theme from Tales from the Crypt - Danny Elfman
Witchy Woman - Eagles
Love Potion No. 9 - Herman's Hermits
This is Halloween - Marilyn Manson
Bela Lugosi's Dead - Nouvelle Vague
The Time Warp (movie version) - Rocky Horror Picture Show
I Put a Spell on You - Screamin Jay Hawkins
The Dance or Dress Waltz - from Legend Soundtrack
In the Midnight Hour - Wilson Pickett
Bad Things - Jace Everett
Creepshow - Kerli
Before I'm Dead - Kidney Thieves
Double Trouble - from Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban
Mystic's Dream - Loreena McKennitt
If I Was Your Vampire - Marilyn Manson
Welcome To the Black Parade - My Chemical Romance
Diary of a Madman - Ozzy
Weak and Powerless (tilling my grave mix) - A Perfect Circle
Mourning Air - Portishead
The Undertaker (Renholder mix) - Puscifer
Superstition - Stevie Wonder
Possum Kingdom - The Toadies
Happy Phantom - Tori Amos
Into the Mystic - Van Morrison
Moondance - Van Morrison
I'm Your Boogie Man - White Zombie
Witchcraft - Wolfmother
Welcome to My Nightmare - Alice Cooper
The Wizard - Black Sabbath
Cry Little Sister - Carfax Abbey (or the original from The Lost Boys Soundtrack)
Carmina Burana - Carl Orff
People Are Strange - The Doors
Home By the Sea - Genesis
Bells, Book and Candles - Graeme Revell (from The Craft Soundtrack)

Well that's it for this year, a bit eclectic I know but that's the way I like my music.  It changes a bit every season as I add a few songs and remove some that just don't work for me anymore.

What are you listening to in preparation for Halloween?

~ Heathen

The Charmed Life

It's October, the time of year to watch scary and Halloween type movies every chance you get right?  I know this, it is in fact my usual tradition.  However, instead of watching said movies I find myself obsessively re-watching the Charmed series!  I freely admit to loving this show, but why now during this spookiest of months?  I have every intention of popping in an appropriate October movie every night and yet...I can't stop watching this show!  "Just one more episode and then I'll watch a movie" I keep saying.  But do you think I ever get around to that movie?  Of course not, I'm obsessed.  And it's not like I haven't already seen the whole series, so again I ask you...why now?  I know it's magic and witches and the like, but still.  So I'm off to watch yet another episode of Charmed.  We've just finished season 4 and are about to start season 5, and I just can't get enough!

~ Heathen

The Fourteenth Day of Halloween

As promised I'm posting a few more pics of my Halloween decorations.  These are part of my Kitchen display...

It'd hard to see here, but there are a bunch of plastic spiders in this bottle.

my Fall flowers in a small cauldron

the Jacks are little tealight holders!

There's also a white light-up Jack o' Lantern on top of my microwave that glows red instead of the normal orange!  I'll try to get a pic of him to share, he's deliciously creepy!

Just a few more rooms to go...hopefully I won't run out of time!

~ Heathen

More Halloween Crafts

Here's another Halloween project I finished over the weekend.  My camera is not good for this sort of thing (or maybe it's me...) so we tried scanning instead. The picture quality is better, but because of the 3-D elements on the front of the piece it came out crooked. Ah well, we will keep trying.

Anywhoo, here are the pics of the front and the back of the piece.

Front

Back

Creepy crawlers! I'm working on a Poe inspired piece right now and I'll share once it's finished. Please feel free to leave creative suggestions!

~ Heathen

Random Thoughts

Madness takes its toll, please have exact change.

Happy Monday all!

~ Heathen

Superstition

October is the perfect time to relate myths and superstitions.  Here are some of the ghoul superstitions I found:

• If a candle flame suddenly turns blue, there's a ghost nearby.
• In North America, a black cat crossing your path is bad luck; a white one is good luck.  In Britain and Ireland, it's exactly the opposite.
• Ring a bell on Halloween to scare evil spirits away.
• If you see a spider on Halloween, it could be the spirit of a dead loved one who is watching you.
• To prevent ghosts from coming in the house on Halloween, bury animal bones or a picture of an animal near the doorway.
• Knocking on wood keeps evil away.
• Before sunset on Halloween, walking around your home three times, backwards, counterclockwise, wards off evil spirits.
• A person born on Halloween can see and talk to spirits.

I can't vouch for the truth of any of these, but I thought they were a fun thing to share!

~ Heathen

Werewolf Theme

This past week we watched some werewolf movies in honor of Halloween:

Skinwalkers
Cursed
American Werewolf in London

Here are a few others that I like but haven't gotten around to watching yet this season:

The Wolf Man (1941)
The Underworld Trilogy
Dog Soldiers
The Ginger Snaps Trilogy

What are some of your favorite werewolf movies?

~ Heathen

Midnight Dance

A little creepy Halloween spirit for you...



~ Heathen

Halloween Crafts

I've been busy the past couple weeks creating some Halloween artwork for friends and family.  I apologize in advance for the quality of the pictures, our camera is crappy.

for Mom

for a co-worker

for a co-worker's daughter

for my daughter

I plan on doing more throughout the month, but I wanted to share what I have accomplished already!  I absolutely LOVE making these.  I've seen some pretty amazing stuff out there from the rest of you and I hope you like my humble beginnings!  The goal is to make different ones for each season/holiday and offer them for sale online.  I haven't decided yet if I want to use Etsy, E-Bay, or just start a second blog dedicated to crafts.  Something to think about.

More Halloween goodness tomorrow!
~ Heathen

The Fifth Day of Halloween

Continuing on with the decorating tour.  After viewing the entry, you are led into the living room where you are greeted by even more Kindergoth plushies as well as some creepy and spooky sights!

First up is Bones sitting in the recliner...

and next is Voodoo guarding the couch.

Found this creepy dude at Spirit one year.

My macabre bookshelf!

There is also a shelf in front of the TV dedicated to the Hellraiser movies with two versions of Pinhead and several cenobites.  But they're a bit graphic so I didn't know if I should post them or not.  I will if anyone wants to see them.

That's the end of the tour for today.  As you can tell, I have a wide variety of tastes in my Halloween decorations.  That's why I like to have little vignettes.  As things get added or changed I'll update the pics.  For now, you'll have to come back for more decorations!  Thanks for dropping by!

~ Heathen

Spooky Movie List #1

So I thought I'd let you in on which spooky movies I watched this past weekend.

• The Lost Boys - not really spooky, but it's vampires and I love the movie
• Spellbinder - Kelly Preston as a witch
• Book of Blood - Clive Barker's story turned into a movie (medium gore factor here)

Unfortunately this is all I got around to watching this weekend.  However, I will be trying to watch at least one spooky/scary/Halloween movie every night throughout the month of October.  I think I'll do a weekly list of what we've watched.

In the meantime I have a question/challenge for you my pretties...list your favorite Halloween movies.  Not just scary, but movies that actually have something to do with Halloween.  This is not as easy as it sounds considering the sheer quantity of scary movies out there.  Here's my list...

• Halloween I and II (original of course)
• Trick 'r Treat
• Nightmare Before Christmas
• The Crow (first one only, anyone who lives near Detroit knows about Devil's Night)
• Scream (in the first one it is Halloween season)
• Hocus Pocus
• Halloween Town (any in this Disney series)

I know I'm forgetting some, but that's why I asked for your lists! ;-)

- Heathen

The Third Day of Halloween

I have started my Halloween decorating and have decided to share with you one creepy corner at a time.  Now I know the most logical place to start would be my front door, but I can't seem to get my wreath the way I want it yet.  So instead, we'll start with the entryway...who's that peeking around the corner you ask?  You'll just have to scroll on down to find out...

The first thing you see when you walk in.

close-up of the hanging jack

close-up of my Halloween broom

it's Zero, the very first Kindergoth I ever bought

here's a better look at him

As you can tell, he's quite old and has been through a lot.  But he still makes his annual appearance!  This year we gave him a pet demon mouse (one of the cat's toys) and charged him with guarding the cauldron.

More decorations to come throughout the month so stay tuned!

~ Heathen

A Friend is in Need

I'll be putting up a Halloween post later today, but right now one of our fellow bloggers needs all the positive energy and blessings we can send her way.  Danni over at the Whimsical Cottage is having a recurring health issue.  Please drop in and leave her some encouragement here.

Thank you all!

All Dressed Up For October

Welcome to the Halloween version of my little blog.  It will continue to change, little by little, right up until the big day!

I see a lot of you have dressed up your blogs for October, and they look great!  Just a quick post today (busy, busy) but I couldn't let the day go by without saying Happy October to all of you.  Enjoy the first day of the best month of the whole year!