Day 31: HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

It is with great sadness I present to you my final post in the Halloween Countdown. But I have had a terrific time blogging during this month, and I hope you guys had a good time reading. I somehow managed to blog everyday for an entire month. I am quite proud of myself. And unlike the stores which have already gotten rid of most of their Halloween stuff in favor of Christmas crap, I will carry the spirit of Halloween with me all year long through my love of all things dark and horror.

In honor of the final day in this holiday I present you with some random clips of awesome Horror and Halloween themed stuff:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN READERS!

Day 30: Kweeny Krafts: Costume Pictures!

I got really drunk last night and had a blast at my friends Halloween party. She even decorated! spider webbing, bloody eyeball Koolaid, the shower scene was amazing...

But without further wait I thought I'd also show you my costume from last night. Here she is folks, the hostess with the mostess, Kweeny Todd!

I couldn't get the white streak I was going for in my hair, but the rest turned out pretty good. The spray white I bought just wouldn't hold.

Had to do the pose with my razor you see. 

I love the bloody stockings. And yes, I made the shirt myself. It was FUN! I wanted to spray blood on everything after that but Bear wouldn't let me. :( 

Just a possessed girl. Only slightly crazy...right? 

At the party last night I just had to have a photoshoot in the bloody bathroom. My friend really made it look wicked! 

Bear tried to capture the red lighting in the washroom. Creepy awesome! 

Just look at this cool bathroom... 

I love when people get into the spirit! 

 The lovely Nena (who was dressed as Elvira) took some awesome pics too. Like this one of the Koolaid...

And this awesome one of Bear as Lemmy from Motorhead! My husband's a rockstar!

She also got a pretty cool one of me in the shower. With even a hint of the mist that was going on from the smoke machine.

So much fun last night! I love my friends! Thanks for the wild times guys! I sang, I drank, I laughed my face off. Ate too much junk food. Definitely a successful weekend. Now a day of rest and recovering from my hangover before Monday arrives! 

Day 29: Who is Kweeny Todd?

So tonight and tomorrow night I'm off playing at some parties. Though I already started partying this week at Justine's Halloween Bash, tonight I get unveil my creation of KWEENY TODD! *cackles madly as lightening flashes behind her.* I shall have pictures for tomorrow don't you worry, but tonight I need to post something for you readers... to tie you over.

I thought I'd tell you story of who and what the character Kweeny Todd is. I have been thinking about it, and every character needs a cheesy story to go with it. Though if you got better things to do, I suggest doing those tonight. It is Halloween weekend after all.

Once upon a time long ago when she was young, a girl named Kweeny (who just happened to be a horror lover and dark musical fan) decided in her early years of studying occult lore that she could summon a demon. Kids these days am I right? So young Kweeny got herself all the necessarily tools required for summoning demons. Candles, salt, chalk to draw sigils, blood, pizza, Kraken rum and enough dark eye liner to black out the sun. She took pages out of the book "Demon Summoning for Dummies" and drew her funny little sigils.

Using all the powers of darkness and three day old pizza, Kweeny got more than she bargained for. She made a nice little pentagram on the floor of her bedroom with salt and candles, then cut her thumb to add some blood to the center as an offering. Not only did she get indigestion, she managed to summon forth a demon from the bowels of hell far more talented than she bargained for! It wasn't just any demonic entity either. It was a demon who could sing, and who liked razor blades.

Kweeny looked upon the entity with curious wonder. He was handsome, covered in gore, and his throat was still gushing with blood like Niagara Falls. Seeing the pain in his eyes, she felt a little sorry for him. She had a big heart like that. It always got her into trouble.

The only problem was, when she went to him to comfort him, she forgot one of the most important rules of demon summoning: Don't break the circle. When she crossed the threshold, she knocked over a candle and erased some of the salt. She knelt at Sweeney's feet, and he grinned wickedly, a mouth full of razor sharp teeth glinting back at her. "Silly little girl," He said with a gravely voice, "Now you are mine!"

Of course, he didn't kill her. No, he had better plans. Swifter than a flick of the wrist with his razor, he entered Kweeny's body and possessed her. Kweeny screamed and fell to the floor, holding her now throbbing head as Sweeney tried to push her psyche out. But the girl was stronger than she looked. Her will was like iron and after hours of mental anguish and struggle, Sweeney realized he was going to have to adapt to his new host.

So they struck a deal.

Sweeney wasn't really a people person, and well, Kweeny was. And Kweeny loved gore and blood just as much as Sweeney did. So maybe they could live together. Maybe they could help one another. He could help her out with his vast knowledge of blades, and he could tell a good yarn. Kweeny loved a good story! And Kweeny was friendly, had lots of sarcasm and tons of useless knowledges. He convinced Kweeny that living horror movies was far more fun than just watching them. They decided in the end they would just have to live with one another. Kweeny wasn't too keen on the killing, but having demon powers was fun and she did like sharp pointy things...

And thus the legend of Kweeny Todd was born. Kweeny and Sweeney are together in one body, fighting for control, and wrecking havoc upon all they touch. Sometimes Kweeny breaks out into song against her will, as she slices and dices her victims. Murder is just more fun that way! Though she refuses to eat meat pies now. They bring back too many bad memories.

Day 28: Canadian Content: My Favourite Canadian Writers

Canada is full of awesome horror stuff. And while I do enjoy the films made in my home country, there are some amazing writers too. And you may or may not know of these hard working people. I'd hate for you book worms like me to miss out on the chance of some good reading, so here's a top ten list of my favourite Canadian writers to give you something to read this holiday and all year round. I'm gonna focus more on the writers themselves and not give too much away about their books, so you will get curious to look them up on you own. My Canadian horror writer friends need some love too. I haven't done enough to give them props on my site yet. So I shall FIX THAT RIGHT NOW! 

Nancy Baker has a trilogy of vampire books, starting with this masterpiece A Terrible Beauty. For those of us with a desire for good vampire fiction, I would highly recommend Nancy Baker's work. She has a way with writing torturous vampires. And she's not the only Canadian who does so...

If you love your vampire tales to have some sex appeal to them, look no further than Nancy Kilpatrick. Her writing is sensual and sinister and she has a love for all things dark. She doesn't just do vampires either. I've read some of her "monster erotica" series, and she writes for all sorts of characters, such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. She's also the writer of the famous Goth Bible.

I know I've mentioned her before, but Kelley Armstrong is an amazing Canadian writer who brought werewolves back into the limelight in fiction. She doesn't just write about werewolves either. She has a whole supernatural series that is dark and gritty. Why stop at Bitten? Find more of her work. you won't regret it.

Another awesome female writer is Sephera Giron. I know lots of talented female writers in Canada, what can I say? They are still my home girls. Sephera knows how to weave a murderous tale. She's been in movies like Slime City Massacre, but her main bag is book writing. She writes everything from erotic dark fiction to outright horrific pieces like Mistress of The Dark. If you want a tale about crazy bitches, look no further.

If you don't know who Jovanka Vuckovic is, then you probably haven't read Rue Morgue Magazine. She used to be the Editor-in-Chief, but now she's gone on to pursue her personal ambitions. This is her new book, and it's got lots of awesome history (and pictures!) about zombies. And she knows her stuff. It's a really fun read.

This delightfully twisted lady is Gemma Files, and I tell you, she writes some of the most fucked up awesome horror in Canada. I love how devious her writing is. It's visceral, sometimes cruel, and poetic all at once. She is a must read. We have a novella of hers in Burning Effigy's catalog called Book of Tongues, and I highly recommend you give it a read. 

And to add a little testosterone to the mix we have one of my favourite Canadian horror writers Edo Van Belkom. This book above is an awesome little story, that takes a new spin on an old classic. I won't say anything more than that. But Edo has done quite a bit of horror stuff, from young adult horror to mature content like the above book. 

And if we are gonna talk about some of my old Canadian chums, Douglas here is a really awesome guy. You'd never guess he was super nice from his fiction, but I tell you, he is one of the sweetest guys going. He still checks up on me every so often through Facebook to see how I'm doing. But the man has written some amazingly creepy shit. He has a twisted sense of humor sometimes too.

And of course, I cannot forget my Big sister Marcy Italiano. If anyone knows the depth of suffering, it's Marcy. She's written horror ranging from books about real-life ghost stories, to personal tales of horror like Pain Machine. She recently came out with a book called Katrina and the Frenchman, which is a real account of her experience being trapped in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina! It's an intense, powerful book. I'd say Marcy's real talent shines when she writes real horror stories like that one.

And that's my list! indie published or mainstream, we Canadians are adding our horror to the genre through fiction. We bring a fresh perspective to the genre, and I hope the more adventurous of you readers will give some of these talents a try. Who doesn't like a good book this time of year to curl up with when things get cold and dark?

Day 27: Monster of the Week: The Ghost

Spirits. Poltergeists. Apparitions. These are some of the many terms used to describe a creature that literally haunts our lives as ghosts. They are a type of creature caught between the living and the dead. Be they vengeful or sorrowful, they strike terror into our hearts.

We fear them living beside us. We fear them possessing our things, and literally our selves. They invade, they take control. They are undefinable and hard to reason with. Because they can do so many things, be so many of our fears, they are the prefect creature for any horror story. Before the vampire, before the werewolf and even long before the zombie ever struck fear into our psyches, we had stories of ghosts.

Why are they so potent? Why do their tales still get told even to this day? Why is it they strike such fear and fascination? Perhaps because of the questions they make us face. Sure, vampires and zombies are of the undead class, and they make us face the grisly face of death, but spirits take a different angle on this question. They make us ponder life after death, but unlike the shambling hordes or the blood drinkers, more people than not can actually believe more readily in ghost stories. Those of us tied to the idea of having a soul, believe after death it goes somewhere. Or that it should. The idea that it could be trapped here and that there is no peace, especially if something terrible trapped you on this plane, is a horrible concept to a lot of people. Especially those of us who are spiritual. The very word spiritual relates to spirit, and to be a spirit, you must have a soul.

Most horror stories told about ghosts involve such things as possession of an object, such as a house. Then there are the possession of a person tales. Usually some unruly poltergeist is tired of tossing around plates and decides he wants to get "in" on the action. Ghost stories are so versatile they can be done a million different ways. Ghosts speak to a primal part of us that fears what will become of us when we die. They also speak to the parts of us that fear being trapped. Ghosts are usually unwelcomed guests, party crashers and bad reminders of the past. They are the incarnation of our shadows. The best ghost story plays on things such as the trauma of being trapped in a terrible event in time, reliving it over and over, and never finding rest. To be held within a never-ending state of rage, pain, sorrow or fear. The best ghost stories weave those emotions into the tale, making them live again.

And now, on with my selection of a few of my favourite ghostly goodies in the horrorverse...

This book and all it's predecessors were my first taste of well told ghost stories when I was a kid. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was an amazing young adult series, that still holds up to this day. The artwork alone in these books was chilling. I highly recommend them, if you can get your hands on a copy.

Now I know the image above is from the American remake (which I will add I thought was okay) but the original Japanese version is better of the The Ring. I just think Asian ghost stories are friggen scary as hell. Their ghosts are so vengeful, and so unforgiving. As they should be. I mean, they are usually horribly created through terrible murders, so why wouldn't the spirits be angry and want to drive people mad? And the imagery in Asian ghost stories is creepy shit. I think I wet myself the first time I saw the Japanese version of The Ring.

This lovely lady is from the movie Event Horizon, one of my favourite haunted object stories. Ghost ships can make awesome stories when done right. I'm real picky about my sci-fi, so when sci-fi blends with horror I am all over it. This is one freaky movie. I mean just looking at the picture of this bitch makes me wanna crawl under the covers until she goes away.

It admit it, I liked this movie. I don't love it, but the premise was so neat I just tried to ignore things like the terrible acting on the parts of the living cast and such things. 13 Ghosts was almost an excellent movie. I mean look at the art! I love shit like that. And the house was kinda neat. Some of the ghosts even made me crawl inside my skin for comfort.

And of course I can't forget the original Poltergeist. If we are gonna talk about things that made me stay up all night as a kid, this movie is on that list. I LOVE this movie. It is creepy, and it made me afraid of my TV for days. I got over it eventually when I started getting bored. TV pretty much raised me.

Ghost stories are always going to be around to haunt our lives. They are reminders that emotions have the power to trap us, that the past doesn't stay dead, and that we all fear being stuck on this plane after death. I suppose another round on this rotating ball isn't everyone's idea of a good time. Especially without a body.

Though you could always just steal someone's body...

Day 26: In Kweeny's Gory Kingdom...

We had our Halloween Pumpkin Massacre! I thought I'd document the event in pictures. I got a pumpkin for me, my roomie, and my hubby Bear. We all got together tonight and slaughtered our pumpkins until they were ready for Halloween! This is my first Halloween living with my husband. We have had Halloween together before, but we never got to do things like pumpkin carving. This year I get to share this tradition. It makes me feel like a big kid again. 

On with the photo show!

Bear decides using a butcher knife for the tops of the pumpkins was best. I didn't argue, he had the knife after all.

I thought it would be nice to start a Halloween tradition of watching  Nightmare Before Christmas while we gutted our pumpkins.

My roomie Savanna is getting her hands dirty with pumpkin guts...

While I separate the seeds from the guts as best I can, so we can roast them later.

She gets her hands right in there! 

Mmmm yummy!

Soaking the seeds in salt water for baking later.

Bear decides to help out. This is his favourite part of the process.

Adding the stencil on for carving. Yup, that's electrical tape. It's what we had on hand.

Jack entertains us in the background while we get messy in the kitchen.

GOOEY PUMPKIN GUTS!!!!

Adding Bear's stencil on with classy electrical tape.

See how much he likes killing carving pumpkins?

I'm working hard on my pumpkin.

See? I really do turn into a kid when I'm carving. :)

Bear's finished pumpkin....yes he is a bit insane folks. He has to be to be married to me.

Savanna and her lovely pumpkin.

Me making out with my pumpkin.

Of course, they look SO MUCH COOLER lit up.

Wicked Witch

The Pumpkin King

Scary Face

And we will have delicious seeds to eat after! WOOT!

I think now we are set for Halloween. How's your preparations going?