Update on Contest , Zombie Puppets, and Pretty Much Everything Else

Hi, we're home and I'd really LOVE to post some pictures from my trip - but once again my computer does not want to cooperate and download anything.....so hopefully I'll be able to use another computer to get that done so I can get to some blogging.


I'd also like to change the rules of the contest - due to, ahem, really low response - if you want to enter, then just leave a comment in that post. Or this one. Or whatever. Believe me, at this point, barring some major onslaught of entries - you've got a pretty good shot. So in that vein, if you really don't want it - don't enter, because chances are good you'll end up with it. Lol.


I have a lot to say about my trip and what was good (and what wasn't) and I think we got some good shots of the festivities and the parks.

I don't want to go back to work, but I am glad to be home. I missed my cats and my Autumn Wisconsin weather. We had a long hot summer and I was all, 'Enough already with the sunshine and the hot and the bright already!'.  I just wasn't far enough away from summer yet to appreciate it.

I am hoping that I can make this a yearly tradition and seek out some new Halloween Haunt every year to try - when I was a kid - and we lived far away from EVERYTHING - we always made excursions out to other places in the state to go on haunted hay rides, Haunted houses, you name it. I'll talk more about that when I blog about the haunted houses.

When I moved to Milwaukee, I thought I'd be in seventh heaven, finally living in a big city around Halloween time - but the truth of it is - we seem to have a dearth of good Halloween options in this town. Unless I'm just looking in the wrong places, the things I have tried are just well, okay. (With the KILLER exception of the Night of the Living Dead Zombie Puppet Show going on tomorrow night, of course!). I did find a great haunted asylum a few years ago on the South side but I haven't seen them since so I'm assuming they never reopened.

Last year i watched the Travel Channel's specials on the Best Haunts in America - great specials that made me want to visit all of these places around the country. I also found out that the Detroit area has the most haunted houses/attractions in October per capita (or something like that, anyway, there's A LOT) so that probably accounts for my disappointment upon moving to Milwaukee.

I wuz spoiled.

But - there is a great website on America's Best Haunts - and I'm happy to say that Wisconsin did make the top 20 this year - although this place is not in Milwaukee. It may, however, end up being my Halloween destination next year.

Wisconsin FearGrounds

And here is the promo for the NOLD:TPS at the Oriental tomorrow night. Can't wait!!!!



Also a very cool article can be found online here

Day Nineteen: We Made It

And I'm kind of surprised.....there was about ten minutes when I was sure we were going to miss our flight. As much as I planned for this, there's always things you can't anticipate - and a couple of those almost waylaid us too much.

But we made the flight -and of course, the advantage to running behind is that you don't have to wait to board or to take off.

And hey, if you don't mind the panic attack, high blood pressure, and headache that go along with it, I wholeheartedly recommend it as a way of travel.

We also made a last minute decision to rent a car, went to the wrong hotel, and of course we only had two hours of sleep last night. Which meant:

A) By the time we made it to the right hotel, it didn't make any sense to go Universal today; and

B) By about 330 pm I was completely and totally exhausted - a feeling which was accompanied by the  distinct sensation that I was leaving my body. It was simultaneously scary, giddy, and kind of interesting all at once. I napped for a couple hours and woke up feeling like I was oriented  back into the mortal coil again. Of course, that wore off, and I'm verging on crashing in front of this - so I'm going to sign off for now and sleep.

We did manage to eat lunch at a great Chinese place while we were waiting for our room to be ready, and had a nice late night dinner at Fish Bones a couple of hours ago.

Other than that, we've both just been napping and trying to prepare/map out our plan of attack for the week...I'll post as I can and hopefully there'll be more pictures. Unfortunately there were none today since I didn't want to add anything new to my camera until I was sure what was on there was going to come off.

Have a great Wednesday - even though I thought I was going to float away today, it beats the HELL out of work. So freakin' glad to get away.

-Mama F.

Day Eighteen: Contest!!!

Well, evidently I had to travel about 1200 miles away from my home to FINALLY  be able to get some time to post on my contest.

My computer in Milwaukee refused to download my photos, but my notebook is actually  behaving very well here in Orlando.

The prize is a print of a watercolor painting I recently did:

I apologize for the quality - I had to photograph the painting (and didn't do a great job) since I don't have a scanner.

I've never seen The Brain Eaters (1958) and apparently, it's not available on DVD at the moment. But I needed a black and white photo for an exercise in my painting class, and when I found this, I used a black and white version to create my own version.   I would never sell this, of course, since it's obviously just an art exercise using someone else's work - but I can give a print away.

I'm also considering using this technique to create some original work - but of course time is a huge factor - and while I'm still at my current job (please, Jebus, not for too much longer!!) then that may hamper my efforts.

The exercise was to paint this picture using only two colors. I cheated a little bit and put a touch of pink and yellow in it. But the rest of the painting was done using only two other colors.

To enter the contest, you can do one of two things:
1) Guess which colors I used and guess correctly - I'll take very generic color names. Pink and yellow do not count, since I already named them, obviously.  I'll also tell you that 'white' is not an answer - any white on the painting is just unpainted background. But you have to get both correct, which gets you an entry into the contest.

2) Post a link to my contest on your blog and post that link in the comments.

Do both and you'll get two entries in the contest.  I will then draw one winner from those entries.

I moderate the comments, so I won't be posting them until I pick the winner of the contest on October 31st. 

*As I mentioned in a later post, you can enter the contest just by leaving a comment.  However, either guessing the correct colors or posting a link will get you additional entries*

Good Luck!
-Mother Firefly

Day Seventeen: Delays

Well, as good as Mama's intentions were and as much as I tried to plan in advance, it turns out that working 50 hours a week, planning for a vacation, and trying not to lose my damn mind are not very conducive to blogging every day.  I've been sort of bummed about it - I did manage to blog every day last year and I had a blast. I was even in graduate school last year - so imagining that I'm even busier now then I was then is kind of sad.

But I can't get too down - because this year I get to do what I've wanted to for YEARS and that's go to Universal Studios Horror Nights in Orlando.

I'm going to attempt to blog from down there - they may be short posts but I'll try to do updates as I can - providing the Wi-fi works well and I can wrestle the lap top away from Papa Cash.

Wish me luck.

I was also going to start the contest tonight, but I'm having HUGE technical difficulties, so I'll attempt again tomorrow to download what I need to download.  Also I'm discovering in the last week that Mama REALLY needs a new computer.

See you tomorrow,
Mama F.

Day Fourteen: Ghost Adventures

I've talked about my love for the Ghost Hunter guys many times, especially on my other (neglected) blog, Old Spooky House.  But I'm not the only nutcase responsible for that blog, so I can at least do the American thing and blame other people for it. (Hee)

Who were also here in Milwaukee last night, and I wasn't there.....sigh....just too much going on recently.


I've also talked (or drooled) about my crush, Josh Gates, from Destination Truth, on that blog as well.

I've got a destination for you, Mister......It's called MAH BEDROOM

I think, however, I have neglected to mention these dudes very much - and maybe it's because I'm slightly embarrassed to admit my fondness for this show. Then I realized that it totally belongs in my huge stack of other guilty pleasures, like Road House, Showgirls, American Idol, and any VH-1 show that features slutty drunk women competing for some washed up recording star. (What happened to those shows, btw??)

These dudes, my friends, are my guilty ghost-hunting pleasure.

I heart ghost hunting shows (I even have my own K-2 meter - all the ghost nerds will know what I mean) and I can't say I would recommend the Ghost Adventure guys methods, or even that I believe all of their results.  (They find something every single time????)

But there is something that is so all-fired craaaaazy about how they go into a completely dark place, get locked in, and start calling the ghosts out.  And these dudes don't even stop there, they invite the nasty stuff, the demons, the what have you, to get up all in their faces, and at least one of them has to fight off a mini- possession at least every other show.
And I don't even think I believe in that stuff. 

I know - it's the National Inquirer version of paranormal research. And I'm sure that what they do makes the other guys who have a more systematic and well, reserved, method of research want to hold their heads and cry.


But there is something about watching these three get locked down, even though you can pretty much predict what will happen.  We have our  'Oh Chick, Chick-Chick-CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK' guy who provides the scared reactions(Fans of a certain comedy team will get that one), we have the guy who's kind of in the middle as far as reactions and provocations, and then we have Zach:

I can't decide if this guy is sexy or just insane.....or maybe both.

 Who likes to yell and intimidate the ghosts into giving him paranormal evidence.

Then someone has to fight off possession.

 I don't even BELIEVE in possession.  (I believe more in the influence of our own minds) but I can't say I secretly hope that one of these times, Zach's head will spin completely around and he'll spray green vomit all over his compadres. Which will then cause the poor man's Lou Costello to cry and pee his pants simultaneously.

As silly as this show may feel at times, it's still more entertaining than the slew of remakes and sequels in the horror genre - at least you get some good spooky stories and history before their lock downs - and they do often revisit places they've gone to before. They also have some of the weirdest equipment out there. 

So if you're home on a Friday night and have nothing better to do, tune in the Ghost Adventure boys and watch Zach and his crazy hair yell at dead people in the dark.

Boo,
Mother Firefly

Day Thirteen: Dark Candles

 

As I said a couple of days ago, I started using scented oils instead of candles. One of the best places I've ever bought oils is Dark Candles.


Not only do the bottles look great and have fantastic artwork, the oils smell AMAZING.

A few of my favorites are Dracula, Corpse, and Haunted House.

Day Twelve: Society of Eclectic Halloween Artists Blog

Check out the contest here at the Society of Eclectic Halloween Artists Blog

All you need to do is go to their blog and enter in the comments section. You can also post about the contest for an extra entry in the contest.

This is one of the cool things you can win:

Day Eleven: Bat Scentbug

Just when I was doing so well......work came along and a few long days have totally knocked me off my schedule. For two nights in a row I've fallen asleep in front of my computer trying to work on Halloween posts. But TGIF, and I have a few things planned including Mama's first ever CONTEST!  I'm hoping to get caught up before we leave for vacation next week, and then post some things from Orlando....provided the Wi-Fi we're supposed to have works correctly.

Anyway, here is one of my Halloween purchases this year:

It's from Bath and Body and they also have new scents for October like Autumn, Caramel Apple, Pumpkin Patch and Autumn Apple.


I stopped using scented candles about a year ago and switched over to oils. I usually use a warmer, but this one runs on batteries and a fan - the scent isn't as strong as the warmer, but it does a fairly good job in a small space.   The scent was strong enough to make my cat gag, anyway.  Nissa (Miss Glowing Eyes from Day One) is also Miss Sensitive (to food, strong odors, and change of any kind) and gags (yes, actually gags - it'd be funny if it weren't so pathetic) when she smells things like coffee, perfume, and now, Autumn Apple, apparently.

That's a great advertising campaign for Bath and Body -
Scentbugs....scents so strong they'll make your cats gag!


Plus, it's a bat!



See you tomorrow......
Mama F

Day Ten: Go Shopping

Go ahead, treat yourself. You deserve it.

Deep Discount's Horror Sale

Day Nine: Rifftrax: House on Haunted Hill

I heart House on Haunted Hill.  It's one of the movies I watch every October.....so I thought I'd do the Rifftrax version this year. (BTW, all the Rifftrax discs come with the regular non-Rifftrax version of the film as well).

The Rifftrax version had its moments - I've only seen three Rifftrax films, with Plan 9 From Outer Space being my favorite so far. I'd have to put HoHH in 3rd place - just as MST3K had some movies that lent themselves better to the format than others, the same is true with these films.

I think that maybe this doesn't work quite as well because House on Haunted Hill is actually a good movie. Sure, there's moments to poke fun at, but to me, this is maybe the best William Castle film and one of my favorite Price films.

Also, we have the delectable Carol Ohmart:

She and Price are all kinds of scrumptious.  I wish they'd made at least one more film together.  She's also amazing in another one of my favorite films, Spider Baby.

Still, in the set that I bought, the Rifftrax films came in at under five bucks each - that, with the original version of the film, is a pretty sweet deal. Otherwise, if you're considering buying some of these at full price, I'd hold off for a sale unless you don't already have a copy of this film and you are in all kinds of love with Mike Nelson. Then go for it.

PS
Happy Birthday to Mike Nelson. Apparently he turns 46 today - I had no idea until I read The Halloween Blues tonight.

Day Eight: Black Devil Doll

what can I say about Black Devil Doll?  It's on par with Thankskilling - with titles like these, there's really only two responses.  Either you're rolling your eyes and wondering how our culture could stoop so low (in which case you're probably not reading this blog) or you're all, HELLS YEAH WHERE DO I SIGN UP????

I think you know what side Mama F falls on.  Yes, the side with the extra cheese, please.

Black Devil Doll begins with a killer being put to death in the electric chair - a killer responsible for murdering several women.

Meanwhile, a young woman with big boobies and nothing better to do decides to play around with an Ouija Board:

And wham, bam, before you know it, we have.......Black Devil Doll.

For a while, things go okay between BDD and his new lady love. We know this because we have a montage showing us how in love they are.

 Tell me, who doesn't love a montage - especially one that features a large breasted woman playing with her puppet boyfriend at the park?  But eventually BDD gets bored, and tells his woman to bring her friends over, because he needs something new:

Except BDD has more in mind for these chicks besides lovin' (although he does that too, in just about every way you can imagine)

Make no mistake, BDD is made to offend - it's sleazy, it's nasty, and it's also hysterical.

A couple of posts ago I mentioned that I waited months on an order from Deep Discount - and this movie was the one I was most pumped about. It didn't disappoint - it was just as nasty, tasteless, and as funny as I expected it would be.  Another bonus - a track you can play with the movie featuring the audience reaction at a screening. I thought that was great, and I'll definitely watch the movie again with that playing. There's also a commentary track featuring Black Devil Doll, but I haven't checked that out yet. Should be fun.

Day Seven: The Undertaker and His Pals

I woke up Saturday morning craving a cheese-tastic horror flick, and for my money (and short attention span), you can't do much better than this little film:

With a runtime of just about 60 minutes (!), Undertaker wastes no time getting to the red stuff:

We have Sally Lamb, sitting at home, writing a letter (presumably to sailor boy in the photo on the table)

When she's attacked by three men in leather and motorcycle helmets:

Even sailor boy can't believe it:

Turns out her attackers only want parts of her body.....hmmmm.

Sally Lamb is laid to rest at the local funeral home:

Apparently they opted for the Divine funeral with the ever-popular 'Eyes-Open' feature

And her parents are incensed to find out that the $144.98 funeral they were promised is going to cost much, much more than that (thanks to all the 'extras' that were tacked on).

Meanwhile, a local detective decides to take his secretary out for lunch at a local dive:

And it's only pointed out about a dozen times during this scene that the special is 'leg of lamb' and that a woman named Sally Lamb was murdered recently.  You know, in case, REALLY REALLY slow people are watching the movie.

AND - the secretary's name is Miss Chicken, so you know she's probably not long for this world:

As her boss and other police are investigating her murder, our slimy funeral owner shows up to sell his famous $144.98 funeral - well, the cost before any 'extras', of course.  But the detective fills out the contract bottom line for 144.98 - and tells the funeral owner no 'extras' are necessary.

And then then the slowest detective on the planet goes back to the restaurant to miss out on more huge clues:

In case any of this isn't completely obvious, the three killers are all profiting from the murders - with the restaurant owners serving up the murder victims, and the funeral owner making money burying the 'leftovers'.

I like Undertaker - it kind of has an HG Lewis / David Friedman kind of feel, but with a purposeful tongue in cheek attitude.

After all, a movie that has pie fights:

Vats of acid - which are labeled 'ACID' so as to avoid any confusion:

And in what HAS to be the funniest scene in the movie (although I can't tell if this one is on purpose or not), the killers make what has to be the SLOWEST escape ever out of window after being walked in during a murder.

Then, after they've literally taken their sweet time getting away, one of the women runs over to the window and pulls out a gun in the table nearby -

What ensues is the strangest, most hysterical bad dubbing of a gun firing that I've ever seen in my life - complete w bizarre hip thrusting by the young woman with the gun.

Oh, and BTW, this is what a $144.98 funeral looks like:

The insanity is worth the price of admission - and btw, you shouldn't have to pay more than a few bucks for this movie. Mine cost a whole DOLLAR when I picked it up a couple of years ago.

Wink-wink,
Mama F.

Day Six: Rifftrax: Reefer Madness

Sometime early last summer, Deep Discount ran their semi-annual 25% sale, and I ordered a Rifftrax box set of 10 movies, along with some other things. DD sent me half my order, and the rest was backordered....and backordered.....finally last week the rest of my order - which was this box set and a handful of other movies, arrived. (I think DD kind of wanted me to forget the order - they kept sending me emails saying they hoped to send it out in a couple weeks, but that I was more than welcome to cancel the rest of the order if I wanted to. I'm all, uh-uh bitches, I want my cheap-ass movies. I'll wait.)

It ended up coming at the perfect time - there's a couple October favorites in the mix.  But I started with Reefer Madness - somehow or another I have managed to never see this movie, and I thought it sounded like fun.

Reefer Madness wasn't quite what I expected - for some reason I thought it would have more of a documentary type feel - but Mike Nelson and co. made for an enjoyable funny evening. Otherwise I think this film would be interesting as a time capsule type of thing, but I don't think it's anything I would watch again.

Rifftrax isn't quite Mystery Science Theater - but it's fun and in some ways, less intrusive than MST - fewer jokes and no silhouetted forms covering the screen.   Not that I mind that during MST - this is just a different format.

Last fall I went to a local theater to see Plan 9 on the big screen with the Rifftrax experience - in that format they frequently cut away to the Rifftrax gang live in the theater, doing their thing.  This format is quieter, more intimate - it's almost like having a couple of funny friends along to watch a movie with you.

By the way, I see Rifftrax will be doing the same thing this year with House on Haunted Hill - and I was set to go until I found that it was the same evening as the NOLD Puppet Show - and I think you all know where my loyalties lay in that regard. 

Yeah, boyeeeeeeeeeeeeee, I'm gonna go see zombie puppets at the Oriental that night.

Day Five: Awesome Halloween Box

Okay, so it's technically day 9, but Mama had a hell of a week, so we've got some catching up to do. Never fear, I've been slavishly watching movies all day just for your benefit (I'm so selfless) so I'll be posting my reviews and other Halloween themed things I've discovered in the last few days.


One nice thing that happened yesterday was the delivery of a package I wasn't expecting (don't you love that!) from Grandma Firefly.


What I got was a little Halloween care package courtesy of Hallmark:

The Dancing Frankenstein was inside the cool Halloween box, that screamed when I opened it. 

Neato!

A nice way to end a long week and a great start to my self imposed Hermit style weekend. It's my last one before I need to pack for my trip, so Mama is putting her feet up and indulging in movies that all kinds of bad for me....including one that's probably bad for everyone....but in a good way.....more on that later.

Boo,
Mama Firefly

Day Four: Krypt Kiddies

I think anyone who has hung around the Firefly Ranch for any length of time knows that Mama likes creepy dolls. I'd have a hard time topping the creepiness of Sam from Trick R Treat (currently haunting my bedroom) or my Zuni warrior from Trilogy of Terror (hanging out in the living room) but I think one of these could give them a run for the money:

Check out Krypt Kiddies -


Not only do they have some jacked up baby dolls:

They also have some CRAZY looking clown dolls.

 If you really want a treat, go to the website and look at the custom made babies.

Day Three : Buried

This was the finale for the Milwaukee Film Festival last night.

All I knew about this movie going in was:
Ryan Reynolds.
Buried Alive.
Cell Phone and Lighter included.

I highly suggest if you're going to see this - and it opens in wide release next weekend - that you avoid knowing much else.  I think letting the events unfold in front of you (vs going into the movie knowing who he is, where he is, and how he got there) will make for a much richer movie experience.

Buried is not a fun movie to watch.  I'm glad I saw it, I'm happy I saw it at the venue I did, but it was NOT an enjoyable night at the movies. And I'll never watch it again.

How's that for a recommendation?

Creeped the F**K out,
Mother Firefly