Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Regurgitating Horrors!


Ah, Kara Kum of Hollywood.  How could it possibly be a bad show if it's "from Hollywood"?  The "Cannibals of Curitiba with King Lungri".  I would have loved to have seen this show.

Vintage double sided Party Favor Cup



Vintage Cardboard favor cup.  I love the "ghost" at the top of the piece.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

He Waits


Halloween is over, and he waits behind the house, lighting up nightly at dusk, becoming alive.  He allows the cute smiling snowman and happy lights have their own turn in the front yard.  He wants them to think that they run the show.  At least for now.  He's got nothin' but time.
 

Saturday, December 19, 2009

The Castle Green


Earlier this year, they gave tours of the historic Castle Green Hotel in Pasadena, now apartments and condominiums.  I shot the photo above during the tour, I've always loved this 1890s building. It feels very haunted.

I Miss Halloween


He's just waiting for the thaw.

Link to original flickr photo

Friday, December 18, 2009

The Dark Places of the Earth


GREAT ambient music for Halloween.  It was available on CD in a limited edition, but you can hear samples and buy this wonderful soundscape on iTunes.

iTunes - The Dark Places of the Earth

Lustmord's Website

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Owl Tell Your Fortune


GREAT design for a vintage Halloween Fortune Telling game, and much safer than baking those sizzling hot metal  charms into a cake!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

1920s Beistle Halloween Invitation


Always a favorite - this one was loaned to me many years ago for scanning purposes from Pamela Apkarian-Russell, the Halloween Queen.  She now owns Castle Halloween!  Visit the link below!

Halloween Dancers A Go Go


As often happens with vintage Halloween, the packaging is as much fun, and sometimes better than the decorations themselves.  The Halloween A Go Go Beistle dancers above have "Swingin' Watusi Action"!  Groovy!

Be Good For Goodness Sake


Kids used to have an extra reason to be good for Christmas.  Santa had an evil assistant;  Krampus, who rode around with him handing out punishment instead of toys to bad girls and boys.  You'd better watch out.

The story of Krampus

Friday, December 11, 2009

Fave Christmas Movie


It's the perfect blend of Halloween and Christmas, you get four ghosts in one Christmas movie!  And of course, they saved the best ghost until the end.  It's the same ghost that made me hide behind a chair when I was 3 years old watching "Mr Magoo's Christmas Carol"!

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is my favorite ghost.  It has no face and no voice.  It's easy to transfer your wildest fears into that ghost. 

Everyone has their favorite "A Christmas Carol" movie.  I think mine is the 1984 George C Scott version.   He portrayed Scrooge with convincing anger and bitterness that rivals Dick Cheney.  In the near future, I will sit down with my 1984 version of the film on DVD and once again marvel at the lush sets and spooky ghosts.  I can't wait.  All I want for Christmas this year is Halloween.

The Spirit of Christmas Long Passed


"Long Passed?"  "No, YOUR past".
This is the Spirit of Long Passed nixed by Charles Dickens.

Ted Kennedy in a Pirate Costume - Halloween 1934


Friday, December 4, 2009

Vintage Halloween Photo


1964 Addams Family Gum and Trading Cards


I always liked the gum from trading card sets, it had an odd flavor that was never present in other gums.  The Addams family card set - complete - consisted of 66 cards.  On the back of each card was part of a photo that when put together made a huge portrait of the family.  I scanned mine as seen below.

I remember going into our local drugstore and asking for the empty display box.  They looked at me like I was a very crazy kid, who would want the box?  I liked it because it was in color and looked very cool with that purple background.  The saleswoman gave it to me, but it was destroyed within a couple years, I wasn't very careful about saving things back then.  The box sells for at least $500 now.


Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Fleer's Haunted House Candy Maze


The Laboratory of Satan


1870's Stereoview - 1/2 of the image is above.  If you have an old pair of the red/blue 3-D glasses lying around, check the version of this below.  The 3-D effect and depth of the photo is AMAZING.  Either image can be clicked to view a larger version.




The Magnificent Void


I play a lot of different Halloween soundscapes each year, but the one I keep coming back to, and seem to like using for my yard haunt, is Steve Roach's The Magnificent Void.  It's the perfect background music for Halloween.

Samples here: 
The Magnificent Void

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Halloween Pumpkins by Noma


Box Cover Art for the 1950s hard plastic version of the Noma Pumpkin lights.  These had a flying witch graphic on the back of each pumpkin.  The original 1920s celluloid Noma pumpkins had similar faces, but were much nicer, very detailed, and extremely fragile.


Click any image for a larger view.




The two photos above are the hard plastic 1950s version of the lights.  Below are the 1920s Celluloid lights, the first electrically lit Halloween decorations.


Punkin Chunkin






Punkin Chunkin - an annual post-Halloween Pumpkin launching competition in Delaware. I watched this year's World Championship Punkin Chunkin on the Science Channel on Thanksgiving night.  It was fantastic!  November 2010 will be their 25th anniversary, get your plane tickets now!