Vampires Keeping Me Up At Night

There have been a few additions to the Halloween decorations and bric a brac here at the Haunted Mansion, Rumsey Island edition. While searching my parent's basement boxes for my old VHS collection I came across a few things I kept. My parents no longer decorate for Halloween, which breaks my heart. But now these things are with me now, so.... At Barnes and Noble the other day, T had disappeared for 10 minutes. When we got home I found out why. She had found, at the counter, this really cool Halloween advent calendar she surprised me with. It comes with this lil plush ghost for the days. Just look at 'im; he looks stoned on jack-o'-lantern stuffing or something. Or he's horrified he's stuck on this site because he didn't make it on Dinosaur Dracula... Next is Gerald from Target. I first saw this preppy pumpkin-head scarecrow a few days after Halloween a couple years ago, and when I returned next to pick him up, he was gone. Liquidated unt

Curse of Crom, The Legend of Halloween is a new favorite film. I watched this film last season, and I honestly fell in love with it right away. I ordered the bluray right after watching it on tubi or some other streamer, of which there were many showing Crom. Low-budget Indy flicks have never been my cuppa but this one had me at Halloween. The opening is Halloween 4-style perfection. It's incredibly earnest, for some reason I've used this word often when talking about this flick. What I mean is that low-budget or not the characters are in this film and they own it. I really like every single character. Steve, or Lil Rock, as I refer to him (Halem Medina) is the spitting image of a younger Dwayne Johnson. I do not accept that this guy is not the bastard son of the Rock. I shouldn't gossip, it doesn't become me. The scene where Steve finally sees the spirit is great. The next time we see him he is dressed in a costume of dead animals (or the likeness thereof, to protect

Blood Omen Legacy of Kain came out for the Sony PlayStation in 1996. I bought it day 1 and was hooked. The game was a bit challenging, but the story, revolving around the vampire named Kain and his betrayal was right up my dark, foggy alley. The story gets quite convoluted over the nearly half dozen games on the PlayStation, and sequels on the PS2, Xbox and Gamecube, but what a story it was. I've always hoped we'd get a film or novels based on these characters and the world of Nosgoth. The lore is there, just waiting to be explored by a Brad Lineweaver or a Kevin J Anderson. The first game is my least favorite out of the Kain storyline games with regards to gameplay, compared to the more traditional action/adventure 3D games sequels. The top-down sorta-RPG is more of an exploration game of discovery rather than action. In fact, the action in the game is borderline dreadful compared to later incarnations. But the music, the story, the art, and the voice acting is al

It's fair to say, if a bit macabre, that I am collecting "retro" (that hurts to admit that the games/systems I grew up with are classified as retro) games due to the death of a once quite close friend. Dan's widow offered me a game that he and I had spent months playing together, Castlevania Symphony of the Night for PS1. This game means the world to me, as Dan and I spent 1997 finding every single piece of food and items we could, and upright and upside down, we searched Castle Dracula. This game is quite expensive today, especially a black spine first printing. I lost my copy decades ago, while Dan kept his original game. I had to have it, and his widow happily extended the copy to me. I am quite grateful for her generosity. When he passed I was not collecting games. I had a few of my old, original games, and an Xbox 360, from back in the day but that was it. Nothing that could be considered a collection. She would change this, however. His widow generously gifted m

I just received some items from the Etsy creator, 12 Months of October , who makes absolutely adorable Halloween ephemera. I have a feeling I will be ordering more from her shop. It's Halloween nostalgia at its best. These pieces just make me feel like I'm a kid again in 1986 and it feels so good. I can practically smell the PAAS vampire makeup running on my face and feel the uncomfortable pinch of vampire teeth plastic in my gums... This Etsy store has given me so much inspiration - from simple mugs and bumper stickers! - for a short story I've added to my Halloween short stories collection. 12 Months of October has become my muse.

This month, Halloweentober, has been fantastic, fun, wonderful and just lovely. Without doubt Halloween, and October in general, have become my favorite time/holiday. I'm a lifelong Halloween fan but as I get older my love for this ancient holiday just continues to grow. I spent nearly every evening reading Halloween-centric books or watching movies or TV shows about All Hollow's Eve. On more than one occasion I carved pumpkins into traditional jack-o'-lanterns to ward off evil spirits. I spent time fashioning a rustic witches broom from a fallen branch from the back yard tree. I spent some time writing my Halloween short stories notes. Eventually I'll have to stop writing notes and begin the stories themselves. Ideally, October would have been the perfect time, so it will probably be another 10 or 11 months before I start. I read Cameron Chaney's Autumncrow . It is such a fantastic ode to Halloween, and I was wishing it was longer. Autumncrow is the living embodime