Halloween Tradition

I'd like to share with you, if I may, a bit of my Halloween tradition. Besides watching old, scary movies, my mother and I will sometimes break out the recordings of old radio shows. Most of the ones we have are adventures or mysteries, but there is one that scared the living daylights out of me when I was little. It is a 1945 radio drama of "The Dunwich Horror" by H.P. Lovecraft.

I've never actually read any of Lovecraft's stories; I've been too scared to and it is all because of this radio show. It even made me afraid of whip-poor-wills for a while.

It isn't really that scary, to be honest. But it is chilling. It gets into your mind and nestles there next to the imagination, whispering to it and allowing it to run away with all kinds of unsavory images. Even now, I get chills when I listen to it.

If you've about 30 minutes to spare, I recommend giving it a listen and I dare you not to shiver when you hear the voice of Wilbur Whateley demanding the incantation, or when something unmentionable calls out to its father.

Don't pay any attention to the slide show that come with the videos, just listen and let it sink in.

Happy Halloween! Don't let the Elder Gods haunt your dreams.

How to Rent People

People come into a costume store to rent costumes for Halloween all the time. But how frightening would it be if you went into a store to rent a person. How frightening would it be if you were a rented person. It could possibly be much more frightening than this little story here.

Progressively Scary Snippets

As things do, they don't go according to plan. So, instead of the creepy photos of my black cat, which were eaten by my unformatted camera card, and instead of a really long story about renting people in costumes to people who want people, I'm posting three little photos I've taken and three scary snippets of  the lives in which these "people" live.  Happy Halloween!

Keeping Dead

Hi, Everyone!


We hope you've been enjoying the wonder October Treats Clara and I have been posting for you during our Annual Break from Blogging! We're back tonight with a few tales that are ripe for the season, and just in time for Halloween! Hope you've all been good ghouls and zomboys. Even if you haven't, the Spatulans still have some treats (not tricks) for your enjoyment. :) 

Keeping Dead

I surveyed the land stretched out before me. It was a modest place, old and overgrown. You could feel the history of the setting through the grass and up through the soles of your shoes, as if the land was trying to convey to you the importance of its past through every cell and fiber of your being. 

I had worked the land for many years. I came here to be the Keeper when my mentor, Chris, a wise woman, asked me if I would be interested. Needless to say I jumped at the chance.

This job had been completely different from the one I worked before. My former profession was that of a lay minister. I had grown up in this same town, sadly receiving no formal training or education, married, raised children, and settled into the life and heartbeat of a humble, backwards community. And it is here that I remain. 

This Is Halloween

I was going to post something Lovecraftian and horrifying, but then I found this video and...well... what's Halloween without a little fun?

Happy Halloween everyone!

The Haunting

"The dead are not quiet in Hill House."

The Haunting, the 1963 original, was the first  movie that scared me stiff. Sure, by today's "horror" standards it isn't really that scary. But that's the thing about this movie; there are no jump scares, no excess of gore or violence. In fact, you don't see anything.

And that's why it scared me so much. My imagination was free to embellish all kinds of horrible possibilities for the things that happened in Hill House. And I really think that is what is missing from movies (and movie audiences) today, nothing is as terrifying as what our own minds can conjure for us.

I watch this every Halloween and it stills gives me cold shivers every time I watch it.

The Raven

It wouldn't really be Halloween without Poe's "The Raven." I present, for your entertainment, the two masters of horror reading the masterpiece poem. It's hard to figure out which one I like more, Vincent Price's frantic tone or the creepy deepness of Christopher Lee's voice.

Cauldron Bubble: An Apple Cider Recipe

Today's recipe is brought to you a mite bit late due to getting the dodge out of hell to see Louis CK in Durham. The smiley muscles, they ache! :) 


I'd been looking for an easy, yet delicious, apple cider recipe and this one is it! Hope you all enjoy!


Ingredients: 
4-5 cups apple juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg




Directions:
Combine all ingredients into a saucepan and stir until all the spices have dissolved. Chanting of Shakespearian Witches' rhyme optional. 

Eye of Newt: A Green Smoothie Recipe

Eye of Newt | A Green Smoothie Recipe

While I'm aware this might look like something Latrine would have concocted, I can assure you it tastes much better than it looks.

It's also a healthy alternative to Monday's milkshake, and a good way to get yourself going in the morning. Unless you're a night owl like myself. In that case this will help you wake up after 8... in the evening. ;)

Ingredients: 

• 1 Frozen Banana
• 1/2 Cup Frozen Mango
• 2 Cups Kale- Chopped fine or torn
• 2 Tsp Raw Cacao (I substituted chocolate syrup for this. Hence why the color came out a little less green and a lot more pond scum)
• 1Tbs almond butter
• 1-2 Cups water
• *Optional: I added a little bit of honey to the top and swirled it around with a toothpick. This adds a nice touch, and also a little more sweetness for us Sugar Addicts. 

Directions: 

Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth.

Twitchy, Witchy Girl: Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

AH, yes, Fall is the best time for making ooey-gooey treats and dipping into warm, refreshing beverages. While we are all dreaming of wearing our scarves and borderline-fashionista-drool-worthy footwear, the weather around Southern Virginia has been a mite bit inconsiderate. So while we are having dreams of cider and bonfires, we're still swilling on iced lattes with our feet still happily in their flip-flops. 

Thus, a Pumpkin Pie Milkshake is the best of both worlds! Autumnal Spices blended with Summery Ice cream, and suddenly everyone's happy again and all's right with the world! Now, if only everything else were so easy!

A pumpkin pie milkshake out in the wild!

There are actually two recipes. You could use the more involved one, as I was originally going to do, explained here. OR, you could take the easy, no-brainer route. You can tell which one I used...

Here's the Easy Way-

Ingredients:

1. Two- Three scoops of Eddy's Limited Edition Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream.

2. 1/2- 2/3 cup of milk (or soy, or almond milk, depending upon your preference.)

Directions:

1. Combine ingredients in blender and churn those suckers up! 

2. Top with your choice of nutmeg or cinnamon. I chose to top mine with a swirl of caramel and a dash of pumpkin spice for extra OOMPH power. 

3. Enjoy!

In His House at R'lyeh, With A Mouse?

A little levity for Friday!

The Artists dA gallery, check out the other pages.

H.P. Lovecraft meets Dr. Seuss courtesy of dA artist DrFaustusAU, complete with rhymes and cute illustrations.

"There are certain themes of which the interest is all-abosorbing,

but which are too entirely horrible for the purposes of legitimate fiction."

-Edgar Allen Poe, The Premature Burial

A Lonesome Road

Are YOU Afraid of the Dark?

Growing up in the 90's made for some pretty wonderful television. SNICK, (Saturday Night Nick), was the highlight of the week for me. Mostly because my siblings and I weren't allowed to watch TV during the week, and Saturday meant staying up late.

One show in particular captivated me. There was nothing quite like "Are You Afraid of the Dark?". Not only did some of the episodes absolutely TERRIFY me, I was enthralled with the story telling and the act of gathering around the campfire with friends.

Today, when I went looking for clips to share, just the intro alone gave me a serious case of the heebs. (I frighten easily. Thanks, Adam!) 








Some of my favorite episodes, and the ones that scared me the most, were:

"The Tale of the Phantom Cab"

"The Tale of the Lonely Ghost"

"The Tale of the Prom Queen"

"The Tale of the FInal Wish"

"The Tale of Locker 22"

"The Tale of the Ghastly Grinner" --> Note: Don't watch this if you're afraid of clowns! :-/

"The Tale of the Unfinished Painting"

"The Tale of the Frozen Ghost" --> Note: This one guests Clarissa Joan Hart! Always a favorite! :)

Did you ever watch AYAOTD? Which episodes kept you up all night?

And thus, on Saturday, I watched the last episode of Series 6 of Doctor Who.  Spoilers may ensue.  So is it just me or has River Song over the course of this season gone from "badass" to "Mary Sue"?  I mean yeah she's cool, but it's like he's trying to outdo the RTD companions.  Series 5 may as well have been called "The Amy Pond Show" and nobody would have noticed.  Now it's "Time Travelling with Amy and River".  I have never seen the Companion role get soooo much attention as it has under the auspices of one Steven Moffatt.  Anyways.

After a week of nearly losing my job, my apartment, and my mind, I have now reached a place of peace.  Remember, whenever things seem dark, there is always a sensible way out.  It may require some sacrifice, usually of one's own ego, but it's there and help is always available.  I am a college graduate and I have an interview with DSHS for the food stamp program.  Was it a blow to my ego?  Sure.  But it's what I needed to do.  That's the essence of making magic.  Letting go of the familiar, taking a chance, putting heart and soul and a good helping of hope into whatever you're doing, and watching awesome things happen.  So, whatever life decides to throw at you, throw a bit of magic back at it.  If it helps to toss a handful of glitter, so be it.  Sprinkle that fairy dust.  Just remember, it's a beyach to get out of your hair and carpet.  Vacuum cleaners won't touch that crap.  Yes, I used the vacuum cleaner hose on my head.  Shut up.

The Shortest Horror Story Ever Written

Knock

by Frederic Brown

The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door.

Little Bit of Housekeeping

Hello Lovelies-

It seems that some folks are having trouble leaving comments on here and across blogger. If you're having this problem, try two things: delete your 'cookies', and make sure that third party cookies are enabled. Apparently the people experiencing the most trouble are those using Firefox and Internet Explorer. 

Hopefully that helps! 

<3,

Lucy

When the Moon Howls

"Work, Job, and Play" or "Don't Skimp On the Magic"

Carlo's Magenta Wig=Magical Work Uniform

October 1 marks the beginning of Halloween Season for Carlo's One Night Stand, a costume-rental and vintage clothing store for which I work. Halloween Season proves to be an interesting time. People come in the door and characters go out. Sometimes characters come in and sanity goes out. It is a shiny Magical season.

My job, and the jobs of the other girls working at Carlo's during Halloween (aka Carlitas), is to make sure that everyone who comes in the store leaves with something that makes them happy (and of course make money for the store).  Sometimes a person will come in looking for a costume to a character so obscure you'd have to have been alive at a certain obscure time period, at a certain obscure town in a certain obscure city, wearing certain obscure clothes to even get the obscure reference. More than likely that person will have to make said obscure costume at home because the Carlitas and I have scoured the thousand-costume-countryside and come up with "not exactly" what the person was going for. BUT. We will make sure that we give them ideas on how to make their costume and suggest pieces of clothing and accessories they could use to make that obscureness shine just a bit brighter than all the other obscure costumes this Halloween.

Carlo Really Does Have 1000s of Costumes

It's a fun job and at Carlo's we don't skimp on the Magic of Halloween (think eclectic, electric-colored, multi-decadal, playhouse crammed from ceiling to floor, wall to wall, front to back with costumes, vintage clothing, and accessories). I love running around the store putting things in their place, pulling out the perfect hair piece for Jane Austen, showing Gonzo the perfect Hawaiian shirt, getting the bride of Frankenstein all decked out, finding Waldo and Carmen San Diego talking in a corner next to the assassin capes, and helping someone decide on a costume they love. I love dressing up, and costumes, and playing. It's a pretty awesome job.

But it is a Job (a Job that I love, that is fun work, and for which I am grateful, mind you). It is not my Work. My Work is writing and making art. My Job pays the bills, makes ends meet, and makes it possible to do my Work. But too many times I make more time for my Job and skimp on my Work/Magic-Making hours. Too many times I have forced myself out of bed to get to a Job I didn't like but then slept through the hours I could have used for my Work/Magic.

Carlo's reminds me that if a Job can be fun work then Work can be a fun job. Set the hours, force yourself to get to that Work you love on time, and Don't Skimp On the Magic.