ShellHawk's Nest

Off Topic

2012-02-09T08:25:00.000-08:00

Picture via Funny or Die

Before the horrid t.v. show, there was the blog, "Shit My Dad Says." Let me tell you, the content was laugh out loud funny at least 98% of the time. Here is an old curmudgeon, telling it like it is, stripping away bullshit and political correctness and giving a piece of his mind. He saw things with a certain clarity that seems to be out of favor, these days, since the trend seems to be that more people are concerned with being perceived as part of the collective and as inoffensive as possible. Of course, in my view, people are more likely to be offended because some folks are just looking for something to offend them!

So a little while back, I was reading a post that his son put up, called "Why Internet Commentors Will Eventually End the World." Take a minute to read the article before you finish this post. I've got the link set so that it will open up in a new window.

What the old guy said, in a nutshell, is that anyone can say anything on the internet without any consequences. People my age who were brought up with Miss Manners or Emily Post or just a good crack in the back of the head when we said rude things or were disrespectful to others are now either dinosaurs, or part of the current problem of "trolls," because rude or downright nasty things that we would never dream of saying to another human being in person can be said in writing on the internet with no repercussions. Adults say things online that if said in person, would get them a quick trip to the emergency room.

I have fallen into this trap a time or two myself, I'm sorry to say, sometimes unintentionally, but rude is still rude, no matter how you slice it. Just because you can say something, never means you should say something, after all.

The generations coming after us have taken over the internet and have used it as a venue to bully other people. It's spread into the gaming community, too. Sometimes Mr. ShellHawk plays XBox Live, and will leave the volume on so I can hear what the other players are saying. The language I hear coming out of the mouths of boys who aren't old enough to shave is really shocking to me, and the bullying is un-freaking-believable! Of course, their parents should be severely reprimanded for allowing them to play rated "M" games live with adults, but that's a rant for another day.

The point of this particular rant is that over the past few days, I've seen a lot of nasty comments around the web. Again, I've made a few myself (I blame my mother's training. She is a total social retard and says the most horrifying, nasty things at the drop of a hat.), and justify it by telling myself I'm defending myself, but again, justifications in themselves are pretty weak, regardless of what you're justifying.

Even so, I find myself wondering, "Whatever happened to 'If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all?'" I did practice that with a few people who really are trolls, but I noticed that all accomplishes is to allow them to shove harder, feel more powerful and free to up the ante on rude, nasty, untrue and illogical statements. The sad thing is, there are always a number of people, also malcontents, who will chime in and say, "Yeah! You're totally right!" And the nasty-fest escalates without benefit of the intervention of truth or sanity.

Again, the old man has it right.

Meanwhile, people who are positive and sane will say nothing at all. I guess they've been bullied enough or, more likely, they don't want to involve themselves in junior-high-school-type arguments. Honestly, when you look back at the things that were important enough to fight about in junior high, were any of them actually significant? Like world peace, ending starvation in America or saving whales? Probably not. It was probably as petty as some of the things I've seen recently.

In any case, just to be the trend-setter that I've always been, I'm going to make an effort to check myself before I comment on a hater's post, or just not comment at all. That seems the best route to take.

Although, sometimes a good "F**K YOU AND THE HORSE YOU RODE IN ON, YOU CRAZY JERK!" would undoubtedly feel better and lower my blood pressure.

Just sayin'.

First Prop of 2012

2012-02-08T14:29:00.000-08:00

One of the neighborhood boys loves my Hallowe'en display so much, he plays in the graveyard every year. Last year, I asked if he'd mind if I made a tape dummy of him, and he jumped at the chance. It was so great to see his eyes just shining and happy as he stalked around in it before I cut it off him!

Now, with any luck, I'll start feeling well enough to start putting the new prop together. In case you hadn't already guessed, it's going to be "Sam" from Trick 'R Treat.

I know some of you have already made this prop. Any suggestions on what form to use for the head? Styrofoam ball or--?

New ShellHawk's Creations Discount

2012-02-08T09:14:00.000-08:00

I've decided to throw in my lot with the other vendors who are giving special discounts to the hard-core fans who are stepping up and purchasing their subscriptions in order to resurrect Hauntcast. Sign up, and you will receive a special coupon code to the ShellHawk's Creations Etsy store for 15% off everything in the shop and free shipping on everything but my matted prints. That coupon will be valid through the end of August.

If you're interested, check the Hauntcast blog for the new incentive discounts that are being posted, it seems, almost daily as vendors are finding out about the fan-drive to bring back the show and are stepping forward to help. (Last I saw, Dark Imaginings and Mini Spot Light were offering some nifty discounts.)

Regardless of the results of this "Jerry's Kids Telethon," ;o) I appreciate the support from the die-hard fans of the show. Thanks, guys!

Facelift? A Little, maybe...

2012-02-08T05:00:00.000-08:00

Big, sloppy kisses (and garment-touching) to Guy of House Bloodthorn for switching out the jack-o-lanterns in my blog header. The picture is a lineup of some of the jacks and other glowing beasties I made last season for Hallowe'en. Some of them are even in my readers' homes and part of their yearly Hallowe'en tradition!

For those of you who are unaware, Guy of House Bloodthorn was responsible for helping to redesign the Hauntcast site, as well as for redesigning my little ol' blog page. I love his work, and if you need a fresh eye on your pages, I really recommend him!

Eventually, I'll gather some cash and pay him millions to re-do my web page, 'cause he deserves it!

When Witches Were Sexy AND Classy!

2012-02-07T15:45:00.000-08:00

Pictures via Dr. Macro's High Quality Movie Scans.

Sadly, not available to buy or rent as of now, but I would so love to see this!

Hauntcast Hot Sauce? Maybe.

2012-02-07T14:55:00.000-08:00

The wonderful Undertaker at Haunted Hot Sauce has stepped forward and volunteered to make a special Hauntcast Hot Sauce if the show goes back on the air. Thanks, Victor! You're a class act!

It seems more and more people are stepping forward to support the fan-based movement. New discounts have been posted on the Hauntcast blog page.

Win a Date With Chris Baker! (And Rev, and Johnny Thunder, and the Rest of the Scream Team..).

2012-02-06T09:29:00.000-08:00

Some of you may have heard by now that there's a slim possibility that Hauntcast may be coming back.

Talented Scary Lady Terra made a suggestion that a bunch of folks get together and pitch in to bring back the show. No, none of The Scream Team have engineered this behind the scenes; this is an entirely fan-based---um, movement? I guess you could call it that. :o)

Chris called me yesterday, told me he spoke to Rev and JT, and that they and our New Jersey Devil, Grimlock, are all on board to come back, and that he's going to contact Ed Gannon and see if he's interested in coming back, too. Due purely to our personal economics, we all let Chris know we need to actually get paid this time. (I think Grimlock asked for his own trailer, and a jar full of brown M&Ms, too, but that could just be a rumor.)

Terra suggested a goal of 250 subscribers at $100 each, which breaks down to $8 a month, less than the cost of a West Coast movie ticket on a Friday night. The cutoff date is March 8th, at which point the show will either go forward, or stay dead and all the money will be refunded to whomever donated. Head over to the Hauntcast blog to get the particulars or go to the Hauntcast Minions Facebook page to stay up-to-date.

Again, this was instituted by some of our hard-core and loyal fans, so it's the fans who will decide whether the show is coming back. If you want it back, please blog and post about it wherever you hang out in Cyberland. We already have our first subscription (thanks to Chris G.!), and I've received a nice note from JustJimAZ, which I'll share here:

I hope your current campaign to get 250 subscribers by March 8 is a success.
I have posted links on Facebook and AZ Haunters and some of the forums too.
My subscription $ will be coming this weekend when I get paid, and I'll hit up everyone at our Make&Take in a couple of weeks too.

Some of us never extinguished the ghost light.

Best of luck!

Regardless of whether the show is resurrected or not, I'd like to thank all who have supported us in the past. You guys rock!

UPDATE AS OF 2/6/12 AT 9:06 P.M., P.S.T.:

Juneau Studios is offering any of their DVDs for $20.00, (a $50.00 savings) and a $250.00 gift certificate to anyone who spends $1150.00 plus a 60% discount on freight orders to anyone who subscribes. DC Props has weighed in with 15% off all products except sale items, not valid in September and October.

Those of you who are familiar with these fine companies will know what a great deal they're offering. Their products are guaranteed to be of the highest quality!

A big thank you to both Jay and Brent at Juneau and D.C. for their immediate offers of support. We're very humbled to have such great people in our corner!

And unless there is a serious change or update to share, that will be the last you will hear from me about this. As stated before, this originated with some of our fans, and it's up to the fans to see that Hauntcast either comes back or is permanently laid to rest-- and there will be no reunion tour.

UPDATE 2/7/2012:

So there you have it. If we get 350 subscribers, Chris will drop the subscription to $75.00 and refund your $25.

Season of Shadows Update

2012-02-05T21:19:00.000-08:00

It was great to get this update from Goldie, John Wolfe's friend and watcher of his blog. I've been dealing with some pretty doggone petty bullshit from some quarters of my life and boy, does this man put everything in perspective! I feel very honored that I've helped to make a small-very small-difference in this man's life at what is most definitely a stress-filled time. John Wolfe is, and will continue to be an inspiration to me, and I hope, to the Hallowe'en community. So without further adieu, the update:

Hi Everyone,

John has been feeling very relaxed naturally and he truly is wrapping up his affairs, of which are just about complete. At times he feels well enough to have the laptop near him so he can get online. He has received everyone's emails privately and is overwhelmed by the response. In addition, he also received the booklet I made for him of all of your messages to him privately threw me. He is absolutely speechless. He's actually truly shocked that so many people care that much about him. (Again an OCD thing for John which has plagued him all of his life.)

He wanted me to make certain to let you all know how much this has moved him. So much so that he's unable to read everyone's letters and emails because the emotions overwhelm him and he has to come back into a strong place to finish them. He also wanted me to tell you all how much your friendship has meant to him over the last few years. He's made some of his best top friends from the Halloween Family and all of your letters proved to him how much so. He thanks you all for caring so much, for all of your prayers and best wishes....he can feel them and believes that's part of what's helping to keep him strong. He also wants each of you to know how much he considers YOU the teacher for him. It's because of everyone support and positive energy that he was so passionately inspired to create as he did. You all were/are a huge part of John's life and he thanks you all in that it was in the last 5 years of his life. He loves all of you very much, he misses everyone badly but he's tremendously enjoyed the ride with us all.

He's down to 115 pounds now. He's so dehydrated that his eyes are giving him problems because they all don't have enough liquid in them to maintain proper function. He's officially no longer eating anything and only has 1/2 of cup of cranberry juice. At this point he's "willing" his body to stay here so he can wrap up business on a few levels. His last birthday is coming up on March 19th and he wants to see it through. Then with his uncle's passing 3 years ago on March 21st, he wants to avoid that date as well. After such time he feels he'll go rather quickly. Knowing John as I do, I feel confident he's intuitively feeling this and I can feel it from him.

John absolutely adores all of the letters and comments and video mentions there have been of him. He was surprised by the response but it's finally starting to set into him just how special he is to all of us and to our planet Earth. He thanks you a million times over and it brings him to tears everytime he sees them all. I thank you as well both for John and for myself. Many of you have been great supporters of me and I thank you kindly from my heart. SeasonofShadows has always been my addiction while awake and clearly we have the best Halloween family and friends out there!!! Thank you everyone and I will keep you all posted of any changes.

All My Best, Cynthia

Once again, John, thank you John, for who you are and have been to those of us whose lives have been touched by you one way or another.

If you are one of those who has read his blog and has not yet said goodbye and thank you to John and has wanted to, please don't wait any longer, as his time is very, very short. Go to this post to get Goldie's contact info.

Have an easy transition, my friend. See you on the other side!

Treasured!

2012-02-05T10:39:00.000-08:00

Image by Fair Shadow, via KMK Designs, LLC

Since I've been unable to do much of anything because I'm still battling this stupid virus, I've been trying to entertain myself by window-shopping. To that end, I've put together a bunch of treasury lists on Etsy. I thought I'd share them with you. Just click on the title to be taken to that treasury. None of them feature my work, just other works that caught my eye. I LOVE the photography!

And the Geek Shall Inherit the Earth

The Geek Goes On

Gothic Valentine

Gimme RED!

Feel free to "admire" or comment, Tweet or Favorite any of them, or just enjoy them!

Note From Season of Shadows

2012-02-03T08:53:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, just a quick update while it's still online; John was well enough today to post some thoughts of his on the SeasonofShadows chat box. Please hop on over to SoS and read his comments before the chat box erases what he's said. He deeply appreciates everyone's love, thoughts, prayers and good intentions and he's at peace with his coming transition. Thank you everyone for your very loving letters to John as he's most overwhelmed by the kindess of our Halloween family. Thank you to everyone :-)

Unfortunately, it looks like the chat box has already erased what was said, but I was glad to hear that John felt well enough to be on his computer for a little bit. Please keep him and his loved ones in your thoughts.

News From the Nest - Operation Baking GALS and Haunted Air

2012-02-02T10:13:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine has a nifty blog over at Kimberly Michelle daht calm. A little while ago, she posted about Operation Baking GALS, a group of ladies who bake cookies and brownies, etc. to send to troops in a war zone. (It's a little bit of home in a box, and lets them know they're not forgotten.) She later received a letter from the folks to whom she sent her baked yummies, and I thought, "How cool." I believe in supporting our troops, and what a great way to show support!

I looked into how to join up, and found out that joining Operation Baking GALS is pretty simple. I filled out the application form, and within a week or so, I was approved.

I have a bunch of girlfriends in the neighborhood I thought might be interested, so I forwarded the information to them and already have several interested in joining up. Since it's only a once a month commitment, most of us can reserve a block of time to bake some goodies for the troops. We may even start our own team!

I'll be putting the image and link on my sidebar for any of you who may want to join. Heck, getting a haunters group together for the troops wouldn't be a bad idea, either!

In other news, I was one of those poor people who missed out on the first printing of Ossian Brown's new book, "Haunted Air, which is a collection of vintage photos of people in Halloween costumes of their day."

There were a bunch of people who bought copies, jacked up the price, and started to sell them on eBay and wherever else they could, but I wasn't willing to shell out the inflated fee, even for a first edition copy. Considering the popularity of the book, I thought I'd stick with Amazon and take a gamble that there would be another printing soon. I put in my order; Amazon always notifies you as to when your product may ship or if there are any changes to your order. Well-hooray for me!-I got notice that they expect to start shipping this fine book again sometime in mid-March! I can't wait!

Oh, and I've just added an Amazon widget to the side bar, (mostly) filled with Hallowe'en goodies for you! There are some movies, books, and music you may enjoy, many of which I've posted about in the past. I'll add to it from time to time, so check it every so often. Be sure to look for the little doohickey that lets you turn pages, 'cause I've added a bunch of things!

O.k., back to my plan for world domination!

Mourners

2012-02-01T08:33:00.000-08:00

Image via Squidoo

Via The Cemetery Traveler Blog

Image by bricunin

Image by Xavier de Jaureguiberry

Really gives me some great ideas for the coming Season. I need to go back to my Chicago Graveyard post, part 1 and Chicago Graveyard part 2 for more. We're heading to Chicago in June, so look for more cool shots then!

Blank Canvas

2012-01-31T10:48:00.000-08:00

Image via Nics Pics on Fotothing.

Lovin' the old stone walls and beautiful windows.

Broken Dreams-The Fall of Raven

2012-01-28T09:26:00.000-08:00

Epic fail. Raven was still too wet to be fired and his leg blew up. He suffered cracks in other places too, though not in the spots I had expected. He will join Gnorman's head in the garden.

Yes, I cried a little. I drank a few glasses of wine, watched Shaun of the Dead and John Carpenter's Halloween, then went to bed.

I'm going to rebuild him, no worries. Version two, as Mr. Chicken kindly said, will blow you away. I've been kicking around the idea of doing a series based on deLint's Newford manitous. Who knows? I may even get a show out of it.

Special Note From Season of Shadows

2012-01-27T13:22:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd pass this along to all who are interested. I think it would make John very happy if you could drop him an email; how often do we get the chance to know how many lives we have touched before we die?

Hello ShellHawk, my name is Goldie and I'm the moderator of SeasonofShadows plus a very close and best friend to John. I was just telling Pumpkinrot how thankful I am that he wrote a post about John and his last posting. Then I found your site and was doubled pleased that you also posted something about our beloved John. John is the most amazing person, spirit, soul, human being than I have ever known all of my life. Depression has overcome my months lately and I try hard to snap out of it because I know that's what John would want but I cannot do that right now. He loved Halloween, he loved his baby...SeasonofShadows greatly and he absolutely adored ALL of his beautiful Halloween family. Please he wants everyone to know that he is beyond touched by all of our love, thoughts, prayers, meditations and intentions for health. He misses everyone so very much and what he would give to be back in his workshop finishing up Little Grim. Sadly, creation has other plans for his spirit now and he can feel it that strongly. He wishes everyone the best in life and that we all celebrate Halloween like we never have before! Lastly, I know how much you all want to say something to him so I'm passing out one of my email address so his Halloween family can send him an email that he can read. I'll print them out of course since he cannot sit at the pc anymore but he reads like crazy! So if you and your viewers would like to send him an email please send it to: Goldedstar {at} sbcglobal {daht} net and I'll print them out and make sure he gets them. I'm certain he would be touched beyond tears. Thank you again for your beautiful posting on him and Autumnforest will post his dedication on the day of his passing. Sorry for the long post and thank you for your patience. Have an excellent day :-)

I changed up the email a little to protect from spammers, but you get it, right?

Farewell, Season of Shadows

2012-01-25T22:14:00.000-08:00

You've undoubtedly heard by now, John over at Season of Shadows has made his last post.

He has undergone a rare combination of medical challenges that, God willing, none of us will ever have to endure, and I am so very sorry he has had to endure them.

John was one of the first to become a follower of my little blog. He was one of the first to post about it, and we emailed back and forth a couple of times. I loved his posts and really admired the fact that he loved Hallowe'en enough to have a live feed to his Garage of Doom when he was building props. John Wolfe is a guy who loves him some Hallowe'en!

So, even though he'll probably never be able to see this post, I want to thank him for all of the support he's given to the Hallowe'en community over the years. As Revenant of Hauntcast used to say, John keeps the ghost light burning, and those of us who were lucky enough to share that light will miss him deeply.

Thanks, John. Blessed Be.

Raven

2012-01-24T08:29:00.000-08:00

At last, the sculpt on my latest creation, Raven, is done. That nasty virus really set me back, time-wise, and I am now officially sweating the deadline to submit for Feats of Clay, which is February 2nd. (Did you know that's next week, already? I didn't! Eek!)

The sculpture has to finish drying, get fired, cool down, survive the firing without cracking or exploding, get the color put on, survive the second firing and cool-down, get pics taken and sent off, then (fingers crossed) get chosen for the show. I'm honestly not even confident it will survive the firing process. (And in looking at him, there are already flaws I perceive that I'd do differently next time...)

I found out when I came home from Christmas vacation that my sculpture is too wide to fit my kiln. Stupid oversight on my part. Fortunately, my boss at work said I could use that kiln, so there's a ray of sunshine. But, I have to get the sculpture there in one piece, and then it has to be loaded into the kiln without breaking or dinging it in any way. The kiln is a top-loader, not a front loader, and the sculpture is heavy. I was up half the night thinking of how it can be safely loaded, assuming it survives the car ride and the short trip from the car to the kiln room.

If I were firing it here at home, I would fire it Saturday, add the colors on Sunday and fire it Sunday night, but Parks and Rec is closed on the weekend, and we have a policy of not firing the kilns when no one is there, which is only basic fire safety. Still, that cuts my time down. I also hate to put it somewhere where some random person may look at it and start touching it and potentially break something. You'd be shocked at how many adults still can't keep their hands off of breakable things, so really, I'm not being needlessly paranoid! I promise! :o)

I've literally been having nightmares about this piece, just because of all the logistics involved in getting it finished in time to submit it for the show. I'm totally having Gnorman flashbacks. (All that's left of Gnorman is his head, which migrates from rose bush to rose bush, depending on the volume of Mr. ShellHawk's complaints at having a skull in the roses, year-round.)

On a philosophical level, this really is an exercise in learning how to let go. (Clearly, I need to work on the concept!) There are truly so few things in life that are under our control, aren't there? We have a neighbor up the street who is roughly our age (mid-40's maybe) who just had a major stroke. I'm sure she had no idea that's what would be on her schedule that day, but it happened and her life will never be the same, and it certainly was not under her control! I can't help but be forcibly reminded that control is an illusion.

The Kiln Gods will either smile on me, or they won't. At this stage, most of the process is out of my hands.

But why is it so damn hard?

Alright, ShellHawk. Put on your big girl panties and change the attitude!

The sculpture will be fine. The sculpture will be fine. The sculpture will be fine!

*whimper*

UPDATE: Raven made it into the kiln at Parks and Rec nearly without incident. Someone there helped me lower him in. He'll dry there peacefully for the next couple of days before I start the candling cycle. I figured it would be best if he just went straight in so nothing else could happen to him!

My Jacks in Their New Home

2012-01-22T10:42:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, there are times when I wonder at the wisdom of making jack-o'-lanterns as an avenue of income. I mean, really, how logical is that?

Then, someone sends me a picture like this one, and makes my whole day!

I'd love to see more pictures like this one. If any of you have some pics of pumpkins I've made in your home, please email them to me at shellhawksnest {at} yahoo daht calm. You know the misspelling is to save me from spambots, right? O.k.

I'm feeling so very good about this, that I'm going to offer a 10% coupon in the ShellHawk's Creations Etsy Store. Enter coupon code JANJACKS2012 at checkout to get your discount on anything in my store.

ShellHawk=Shoe Whore

2012-01-21T10:34:00.000-08:00

Iron Fist has some new shoes out. Count me in!

I'm not much of a fashionista, but I have a major weakness for Iron Fist's shoes. And some of their tees. And a couple of their handbags...

Reminder!

2012-01-19T07:58:00.000-08:00

The Haunters Video Awards deadline is around the corner, Darklings, so be sure to get that video together and get it submitted before January 31st. I know I've said this before, but the DVD collection that comes from this is absolutely the best! It's like being at a Mad Scientist's Convention!

The link I've included will show you who has submitted their video and will give you instructions as to how to get it uploaded. There are only thirty-tree submissions so far, and they really want to see one hundred this year if at all possible! Even if you only have a slideshow put together, please take a minute to submit it.

And by all means, please, spread the word through whatever groups and forums you belong to, so we can keep this DVD set growing; it's perfect rainy day entertainment!

In other news, I'm still sick. I'm finally going to have to break down and call the doctor today for an appointment. I hate that! The good news is, I should be finished with my sculpt today (fingers crossed), or maybe tomorrow, and then it can dry for a little while before the first firing. Fingers double crossed that it survives!

1959. It Was a Very Good Year

2012-01-14T13:53:00.000-08:00

Marvin Pasley, funeral director and hearse buff, restored this stunning 1959 Cadillac hearse to its original glory. For those of you who wonder why the body style looks a little familiar, it's the same model used for the Ecto-1.

The full details are in this article in The Post and Courier.

Big hat tip to Amy the Hearse Queen of Grim Rides. Check out the Grim Rides Facebook page here and Amy the Hearse Queen's Facebook page here.

I hope to meet her one day. Seems like we'd get along like a house on fire!

Thanks, Skull-a-Day!

2012-01-12T08:27:00.000-08:00

Skull-a-Day featured one of my Raku skulls on the site today! How's that for a great way to start out the New Year?

You can check out his pics in my Etsy store.

Autumn Crown

2012-01-11T08:50:00.000-08:00

Image via Pixdaus. If you scroll down, there are some really wonderful graveyard images to see!

New Year, New Virus

2012-01-10T09:47:00.000-08:00

I've been sick since Christmas. What I thought was just crud in my lungs from breathing Los Angeles air was, in fact, a virus that was going around. It decided to stay with me and Mr. ShellHawk. While I have the luxury of staying home and making attempts at nursing myself back to health, poor Mr. ShellHawk has had some pretty important meetings to attend and hasn't been able to shake the damned bug. Meanwhile, the puppy keeps throwing his toys at us and stepping back with an expectant gaze: "You are going to throw that for me, aren't you?" I just stare back for a minute and ignore him as best I can. I feel guilty about it, mind you, but I still ignore him.

The older dogs don't seem to care and are enjoying the extra nap time.

Meanwhile, the submission deadline for Feats of Clay is approaching. I'm working steadily on the sculpture I plan to submit. It's the same one I didn't get done in time last year, actually. I'm very close to finishing the actual sculpt, which is great. I'll need to let it dry and then I get to fire it, put the color on and fire it again. I'm not entirely sure if I'm going with oxides (stains, essentially) or glazes, but I think oxides will give me more control over the outcome. I'm really hoping I don't get any cracks in the clay when I fire this guy, or I'm out of the running, for sure.

Well, back to work. Where's my bottle of Dayquil?

Happy Birthday, Charles!

2012-01-07T09:25:00.000-08:00

Kudos to Google for celebrating what would have been Charles Addams's 100th birthday!

Buddy, Can You Spare $35,000?

2012-01-06T09:58:00.000-08:00

And a ticket to Buenos Aires?

I guess this guy still hasn't unloaded his hearse. The 1929 Cadillac hearse is back on eBay for the low, low price of $35,000. Such a deal!

Did I Mention It's Hungry?

2012-01-05T09:47:00.000-08:00

And, possibly, a wee, tad, bit demented.

Via The Sun.

Home Haunters Video Awards 2012

2012-01-04T07:53:00.000-08:00

Just in case you didn't know, the deadline for the new Home Haunter Video Awards is coming up on January 31! Get your videos and slide shows together and get them submitted as soon as you can, so the folks who vet them aren't swamped at the last minute with questions and problems. Remember, they're ordinary folks like you, who have jobs and families to juggle, as well as volunteering their own time (and sometimes money) to make this happen for all of us, so please try to make it easy on them by submitting early!

Head over to the Haunters Video Awards website for all the details on how to submit. Please don't ask me, because I have no idea how! I always ask Mr. ShellHawk for help! :o)

As an aside, I have the 2010 collection, and I cannot tell you how amazing it is to sit down and watch what everyone did for their haunts. It's really inspiring!

ShellHawk's Latest Crazy Idea...

2012-01-01T11:40:00.000-08:00

Former Scream Team members are already rolling their eyes at that title. I can just hear those little ocular orbs squishing in their sockets!

Mr. ShellHawk and I have been discussing, off and on, how I'm going to get my ceramics to shows. The Explorer has got maybe another two years of somewhat dependable service left in it, so we need to think about its replacement. We have three big dogs that need to go places in addition to needing to haul around all my "show stuff," such as the tent, tables and product.
So the question becomes, "Do we sell our Explorer and the Dodge to get a bigger, better SUV or van, or do we get a newer, six cylinder SUV and buy a trailer?" (Yes, I still have the Dodge. I'm still struggling with letting it go, as I have been since 2009. I'm waiting to stop crying every time I think about selling it.)

Photo via Artstream Library

Those considerations in mind, I've been kicking around the idea of picking up an Airsteam trailer. I mentioned to Mr. ShellHawk that if we got something like that, we could take it camping, too, and have plenty of space for the dogs.
Lest this idea seem entirely too random, in my defense, this idea is actually ripped off from the folks who run the Artstream Library. They converted an Airstream into a mobile gallery/library with the intention of loaning out cups by noted ceramic artists and expand people's experience with art and ceramics. Great idea, huh?
I figure we could find a way to make it go all Autobot inside and be able to transform it from living space to gallery and back again. (Famous last words, right? "We'll figure it out.") I think it would make my packing and unpacking easier, and as a display space it would be more secure. Let me tell you, not having to worry about a random football or soccer ball come smashing through my booth would be worth every single penny I would spend on a trailer, that's for sure!
Well, we'll see what we decide. I still have to sell the idea to Mr. ShellHawk. Wish me luck!

ShellHawk: Back and Forth

2011-12-31T11:17:00.000-08:00

So this is it: the last day of 2011. Looking back, it was something of a mixed bag, as are most years. There were some losses, some gains, and some personal growth-though not enough personal growth in terms of exterminating some of my bad habits. As I've said before, I'll be perfect next life! This one is still a work in progress.
Losses:
Hauntcast. I've had a couple of eps come up on my iPod over the Christmas season, and found I miss it. The positive that comes out of it is that I'll actually have more time to make things and focus on my business. Being an adult is overrated, though...

Gains:
I expanded my business this year, though I've been procrastinating on getting my numbers together. I'm getting a better sense of my market and the best methods for my sales: sales shoot through the roof when people can see and touch my art. Note to self: Spring open house is a must, and signing up for more art fairs is also a must.
I expanded my practical/technical knowledge of my craft this year. My pumpkin pots are better than ever, and I have some great new ideas for them for 2012.

"He's just so fluffy!"

Respect of my teacher and clay hero: I was pleasantly surprised my teacher commented that I really deserved my "A" this semester. Coming from him, that's high praise. I still have a long way to go, but at least someone who knows what they're doing thinks I'm on the right track.
My work was shown in an international ceramics show, and was purchased within 10 minutes of the show being open to the public. (Now if only I can get my current sculpture finished in time to submit for this year!)
My new puppy! Lots of joy and frustration (and expenses) involved, but worth it. Though while I was gone for Christmas holiday, he turned utterly evil and started to destroy things and actually decided that digging in the fireplace was a fun new sport. Apologies to my house sitter!

All in all the gains outweighed the losses, and really, that's all you can ask of a year. Indeed, sometimes the things we view as losses turn out to be opportunities in disguise.

Looking forward, I'd have to say that I'm going to be more focused on staying organized this year. I'm expanding the business a little more, so I'll have to actually figure out how to use my new phone's calendar or whatever to stay on top of deadlines. I'll especially have to keep up with the day-to-day bookkeeping, a task of which I've been neglectful because I hate it, pure and simple.
I'll probably have to scale back even more on my Hallowe'en prop building, because I'll need that time to actually make my business go. As I said on the last episode of Hauntcast, "Don't spend productive time on non-productive resources." In other words, if I want to make my business successful, I need to spend the bulk of my productive hours making that happen, not playing on Facebook or building props or whatever. I'll probably be posting less frequently, too.
Again, being an adult is highly overrated.
There's a frightening sense of responsibility in knowing that my success (or lack of) in 2012 is almost entirely going to be a direct result of my actions.
There's also a growing sense of excitement.
So here's to an exciting (in a good way!) 2012 for all of us. I hope it brings you joy, health and prosperity!

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-25T14:23:00.000-08:00

Click to watch, and Merry Christmas, again!

Merry Christmas! God Bless Us, Every One!

2011-12-24T10:18:00.000-08:00

I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, or whatever Solstice-ish holiday you may celebrate.

I know some of us have had some pretty rough times this year (and the past several years, really), so what my Yuletide wish for us all is a turn of the tide in 2012, toward a brighter, more prosperous future!

God bless us, every one!

Easter. Christmas. Whatever

2011-12-23T10:36:00.000-08:00

Click below to watch, and hit "play all".

New in the Shop!

2011-12-15T09:47:00.000-08:00

New in the ShellHawk's Creations Shop, along with a few other things! Get 'em now in time for Christmas.
Seriously! I'm putting the shop on vacation tomorrow night and won't be back until after New Year's!

The End

2011-12-14T08:33:00.000-08:00

Of the semester, that is!

Just a few pics of some of the stuff that came out of the kiln at school this year.

I made this pitcher for a friend who lost a similar one in a fire. Unfortunately, the pitcher was in a cooler spot in the kiln, so the part that was supposed to be blue turned out purple. I sent her a note to ask if she wants it re-fired next semester, so we have another shot at the blue color, or if maybe she wants a different one made. We'll see what she decides.

I made three pitchers this semester. Well, technically, I made four, but I trashed the other one because it was truly awful.

I had a lot of fun making this gargoyle pitcher. I'll be making more in the future, for certain!

I like how this one turned out somewhat mossy-looking.

This vase was made from porcelain, then I carved the design into it. The celadon glaze turned out perfectly, which was a blessing, since celadon can be anywhere from blue to pale green. I'm really very pleased with it.

I had a couple of larger plates, too, though I haven't taken pics of them as of yet. One of them really needs to be re-fired, as the glaze fluxed enough to start to flow, but not enough to allow the bubbles to smooth out. When bubbles cool, they can leave tiny shards of glaze that will continue to break off, something you definitely don't want to use for food!

I'll be posting these and one of my plates on my Etsy shop shortly, though if you want them by Christmas, you'll have to order them by Friday, as I'm closing the store for vacation Saturday!

Well, onwards!

Lost in the Woods

2011-12-13T08:21:00.000-08:00

This would make a great facade for a walk-through...

Image by Chuli-Stock on Deviant Art.

Hungry

2011-12-12T07:51:00.000-08:00

Images by s_kessler.

Flower Car Barn Find

2011-12-10T08:49:00.000-08:00

This article about Argentinian funeral cars was posted a year ago. It just fascinates me that these were all custom made, hand-carved cars. What an amazing find!

Sam Says Goodbye to "The Boys"

2011-12-08T09:47:00.000-08:00

And gets his puppy hernia fixed, too.

Did you know that dogs can be born with hernias? I didn't either. It wasn't giving him trouble, so with the vet's recommendation, we waited until his neutering to have it taken care of. Sort of a two-for-one deal.

There's not enormous drama involved with this for us. We don't intend to breed Sam (Can you imagine me taking on one more completely life-hijacking task? Really?), so we did the responsible thing and had him neutered on Tuesday. There was a lot of going back and forth on what age to have it done. Some people say as soon as four months, some people say it should wait until one year. We decided to split the difference at 7 1/2 months. Since I never act stressed at the vet's office, and my vet's office has a great team, Sam was totally relaxed when he was led off by a veterinary tech, and wagged his tail at one and all. Even through the closed door, I could hear them fussing over him and telling him what a good, handsome boy he was. That made me feel good.

It was very gratifying to have one of the vets comment on how stable a dog I have on Tuesday morning when I dropped him off. You have to figure that veterinarians see the full range of dog owners, from the crazy pet hoarders who love their dogs too much and never set any boundaries for them because they think it's mean, to the ones who plainly do not care and either abuse or neglect their dogs to dangerous levels. That compliment made my day, because it means I'm doing my job.

Anyway, I found out my little puppy now weighs in at seventy pounds! Wow, that happened fast, huh? And I found out that though he cried really loudly when they put in the i.v. needles, he didn't nip at anyone or show any signs of aggression. Another good sign. He came out of the sedation well, and they let me know I could come and get him early.

So now, it's Sam's first experience with both pain that doesn't go away in a minute or two, and "The Cone of Shame."

Not surprisingly, Sam hates The Cone of Shame. Whined about it for several hours straight, although he also could have been disoriented by the last of the anesthetic working its way out of his system. That night, he was up and down, bashing the cone into the walls so much that I had to get out of bed and go lie down on the couch to be with him and allow Mr. ShellHawk to get some sleep. Around two a.m., Sam crawled up onto the couch with me (something he never, ever does, because he knows he's not allowed on the furniture without an invitation), and went to sleep. I think he was not only needing his "pack leader's" reassurance and closeness, but was hoping I could make it all better and incidentally take The Cone off. It was a very special moment. I threw an arm over him and managed to go to sleep for a little bit.

He seems better today. Now, all I have to do is keep him from playing with the other dogs. *sigh*

Donations Needed

2011-12-06T06:33:00.000-08:00

Folsom Parks and Recreation Ceramic Department needs your donations!

Most of you know that aside from Halloween, my passion is clay. I started with it a few years ago, and among all the amazing things I've been able to do because of it, I landed a job with my local Parks and Recreation.

Our Parks and Rec doubles as a Senior Center, so the seniors can stay off the streets and out of trouble! ;o) We have a number of different activities for all ages, such as photography, Chinese brush painting, Polynesian dance classes, and of course, various classes teaching techniques with clay.

And, of course, in this economy, Parks and Recreation has suffered budget cutbacks, just like everyone else. The ceramics department has been growing steadily, in spite of the cutbacks, but there are things we just can't cover right now. We're hoping that people local to us will be kind enough to donate the things on our wish list, or perhaps other clay things in good condition.

If you think you can help us out, please check out our Craigslist ad and contact the City of Folsom Parks and Recreation Department through the ad.

Thanks, All! Public service announcement over!

The Obscure Hollow

2011-12-05T04:00:00.000-08:00

Just so you know, I seldom recommend blogs unless I really find myself taken with them. It's not that I think I'm the world's greatest expert on blogs. I'm far from it! But I figure you can find them on your own, for the most part, and don't need any guidance from an old podcast has-been like me.
However, if you want a fantastic resource for your haunt set decoration, you really have to head over to The Obscure Hollow.

I've been following this blog since '08, and am so impressed with the amount of spooky film screen shots available to us. For instance, one of the latest posts she did was on Dracula (1979), starring Frank Langella. Pop over there for just a minute and look at the set decoration on that thing! Holy goodnight! The leaves all over the steps. The bazillion candelabras and chandeliers in the dining hall. The costuming. The thousand small details that add up to some seriously creepy atmosphere!

My God, it's beautiful! I mean, this is where our images of angry mobs with torches and pitchforks come from. This is where that ominous, yet opulent castle touches that bone inside that chills us to our very souls. These were the movies that made us haunters, in the first place.

And the entire blog is filled with these amazing tidbits! It's like listening to Theater of the Mind, but with your eyes. It's an amazing journey into the history of spooky cinema, too. I know for certain, there are films listen that I have never seen or heard of, and that I need to put in my Netflix cue or on my Amazon wish list. Maybe, before next Halloween's planning meeting, they should go on yours, too.

The New Desk

2011-12-03T19:21:00.000-08:00

I took the day off from shoveling through the strata in my office, but I thought I'd post pics of the new desk.

As you can see, it was made by the Huntley Simmons Furniture Company. From what little information I've been able to gather, it was likely made between 1929 and 1935. It's not in fantastic condition; it's gathered a few scratches and dings along its way to my office. Overall, though, it's still a pretty piece.

It's been great to actually have a drawer for my pencils instead of a pull-out shelf for a keyboard. I can't tell you how happy I am to have that option. You really can't find old-school desks like that in Office Depot anymore, you know? The only regret I have is that it doesn't have a file drawer in the modern sense, but there's still some space for that in the back of Mr. ShellHawk's desk!

It really is a monument to when people actually sat down and hand-wrote letters to one another. I just love it.

Now all I need is to be able to afford one of Datamancer's nifty Nagy Magical-Moveable-Type Pixello-Dynamotronic Computational Engine thingies. I think it would go perfectly with the desk, don't you?

The Pigsty-I Mean, Home Office

2011-12-02T09:22:00.000-08:00

Just to remind you that I am far from perfect, I thought I'd post a couple of pretty horrifying pictures.

Admittedly, I have been going a hundred miles an hour since August, and things like cleaning and organizing my office got firmly shoved to the bottom of my ever-lengthening "to-do" list. Sixty hours went to the last three episodes of The Charmed Pot. Other hours went to school and teaching, many went to packing and unpacking my booth for the Jack Russell Brewery. Not nearly enough went to sleeping.

So when I came home from one thing or another, whatever boxes I had got chucked into my office and the door was firmly shut. And so these are my wages of sin:

Mind you, I'm actually not a hoarder. I'm just over-freaking-committed!

The good news is that things have slowed down a bit, and--I finally found the perfect desk for me. (Will post pics later!) Many of the things you see lying around are now in either the trash or the donation pile. A woodworking neighbor is going to build a bookshelf that doesn't hide the faux limestone block walls I spent forever painting, so not one but two bookshelves are going away. Loads of papers are going into either the trash or their appropriate files as I get ready for my joyous tax-filing day. Books I know I'll never read again are getting donated. I'm passing on a couple of nifty pieces of movie memorabilia to a couple of folks whom I know will appreciate them.

I feel so virtuous, it's sickening.

As I was going through the cabinet in the top picture, I found my old autograph book, and among the signatures of the entire "Happy Days" cast, as well as one or two from the M*A*S*H series, was this signature:

He signed my book during the Screen Actor's Guild strike in 1980, and at the time, I had no idea who he was. Now, I have Inspector Kemp's autograph (plus all the other amazing characters he played in his long career), and I'm glad to have it.

I've uncovered a few things left over from grade school days, and while I really should just throw them in the garbage, I can't quite part with them as of yet. After all, I don't have kids, so to whom would they go? And wouldn't they throw these pieces out, anyway?

Well, maybe next major purge, I'll get to it.

Have You Seen--

2011-11-30T04:00:00.000-08:00

This tiny little puppy?

Because someone stole him and replaced him with this monster!

Can you believe he's seven months old already?

Wine + Buellton = Elvira???

2011-11-29T12:24:00.000-08:00

Turns out our very favorite Mistress of the Macabre is catwalking onto the wine maker's runway come December 3rd.

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark is working with Sort This Out Cellars in developing some new wines, and is having a wine signing party on December 3rd from 12-3 to launch the first wine: Elvira's Macabrenet. (It's a 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon and will retail for $25.00.)

The event is being held at Avant Tapas and Wine, 35 Industrial Way, in Buellton, CA (home of Andersen's Pea Soup!). Their number is (805) 686-9400. I really wish I were closer than 6 1/2 hours away, because I would be there, for sure!

Check out Elvira's official website for other details and to catch up with all her doings.

A big thank you to big (by that I mean freakin' tall!) brother, Johnny Thunder, for the heads-up!

Dark Music

2011-11-28T04:00:00.000-08:00

I love the soundtrack to Bram Stoker's Dracula. It's dramatic, symphonic, and the bass notes just seem to resonate in your chest and grab your mood. I use it in the graveyard on Hallowe'en night to spook the kids.

If you don't have the soundtrack, I'd suggest you go here to listen to some samples and perhaps pick up a copy for yourself.

You can click on the pic to pick up a copy of the collector's edition of the movie.

And if you're something of a movie geek, like I am, you can see the making of Bram Stoker's Dracula on YouTube. I made a playlist, so just hit "play all." It's a fun watch, even though the sound isn't synced right...

Small Business Saturday: A Shameless Plug for My Business

2011-11-26T09:53:00.000-08:00

It seems like yesterday, it was Hallowe'en, but here it is, two days after Thanksgiving! (I just can't believe it!) That means the "other holiday" is just around the corner.
In celebration thereof, I'd like to thank the guy who came up with the concept of Small Business Saturday, whomever he (or she, come to think of it) is. What a great idea! Take a minute out of your Christmas buying frenzy and buy something from a small business. Like ShellHawk's Creations, for instance. Just throwin' it out there...

Seriously, though, although the big corporations employ a lot of people and are helping to keep the economy afloat by manufacturing bunches of stuff for us to buy, I think it's important to support small businesses who are run by people like you and me. Why? Because for the most part, we still make great products and don't want to use the consumer as quality control. Because when you buy from us, you're supporting people who still buy their own groceries rather than send "their people" out to do it for them, and are coaching their kids' soccer teams. You're supporting people just like you. And that's pretty darn cool.

Cars for the Apocalypse

2011-11-25T08:28:00.000-08:00

In the event you are one of those folks who, like me, are looking for a new vehicle, you may be overwhelmed by all the considerations and options of said new vehicle.

Four wheel drive or all wheel drive? Automatic or standard? Hybrid? Truck?

Since you're upgrading, anyway, why not just be prepared for anything? Use this as your opportunity to prep for the upcoming Zombie Apocalypse!

AOL has a handy article to aid you in choosing your post-apocalyptic ride.
From the article:

To find the five best cars for surviving the zombie apocalypse, we looked at cars with good performance (for outrunning zombie hordes), maximum ground clearance (for plowing through zombie mobs without getting stuck), decent gas mileage (fuel will be scarce when society collapses), strong reliability ratings (try getting your car serviced when your mechanic is feasting on your brains), nice interiors (outrunning zombies is stressful and you’ll want good lumbar support) and maximum defensive capabilities (zombies will rip through a ragtop and devour you in no time). We’ve also pointed out cars that may seem like good options, but could end up turning you into the main course at a zombie buffet faster than you can scream, “Rick! Behind you!”

I've kind of had my heart set on a GPS, but I'm pretty sure the satellite connections would be screwed up, too. Oh, well, I'll enjoy it while it lasts!

And Now For Something Completely Different...

2011-11-23T07:59:00.000-08:00

I was just on Facebook, scanning the home page while sipping my first morning cup of coffee, when I came across a link to this post: I'm Christian Unless You're Gay. I read it, and the powerful responses post that came afterwards, and I'm just blown away by the guts of this guy.

I've never read his blog before, but I'm particularly glad I took the time to do so this time. Yes, I know I'm from California, so of course, I'd love this blog post, right? (People who live in California are sort of a joke to folks who don't live here, because of our notoriously screwy politics and overly liberal ideas. Heck, I feel that way sometimes!) But the fact is, I think most people who read it will be affected by it, either positively or negatively, and it's not just one of those "California things."

It's not about gay rights; it's about loving people who are different from us. It's a great observation of the human condition, and our nearly psychotic need to isolate "our people" from "those people." I've done it myself, and so have you. For instance, how many haunters have gotten bent with a local church group who has tried to shut them down, and painted the entire Christian faith with the same brush?

I have. I know some of you have, too. We're not perfect, right? (Next lifetime, I keep telling myself. This one, I'm still working on it...)

In any case, read the post if you like. My rambling here will make more sense afterwards. Please feel free to comment, here, either positively or negatively. If you're moved to do so, please post on his blog, as well.

I hope his post creates a lasting change for the better in all of our lives.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Catch you next week.

Witch of Rose Hill 2011

2011-11-21T14:15:00.000-08:00

It's not perfect, but it'll do for now. Click on the pic to watch...

Vintage Creepy

2011-11-21T07:21:00.001-08:00

Via All Hallows Design blog.

A Haunted Halloween at Blackstone Cemetery

2011-11-19T07:42:00.000-08:00

More images here. Be careful of Cthulu, though. He seems to be lurking...

The Haunting Grounds

2011-11-18T09:53:00.000-08:00

More pics of this lovely haunt here.

Post-Mortem Elegance

2011-11-16T08:36:00.000-08:00

Via Retrorides.

Hauntcast, R.I.P.

2011-11-12T06:53:00.000-08:00

Click on the pic to listen to our last episode.

For those of you (and you know who you are) who have supported Hauntcast with your time, efforts and cash, we all humbly thank you as we lay the show to rest.

Bloody kisses, darklings!

A Small Request

2011-11-11T06:31:00.000-08:00

For those of you out there who own one of my hand-made jack-o'-lanterns: I'd love some pictures of them in their new homes.

I have this dream of revamping my website and including a gallery of past jacks in their new homes. If you have any pictures with you and your new jack, that's even better! (We'll call it "New Jack City." Get it? Har.) At the very least, I'll upload them to a new Flickr gallery as they come in. Send them to shellhawksnest dawt yahoo dawt com. And keep your spam and viruses to yourself!

And don't worry, you don't have to take a pic with them if you're shy.

Thanks, All!

Oh, and if you're in the area, I'm up at Jack Russell Farm Brewery again this weekend, selling my "normal" ceramics, most of which I still need to post on Etsy. Oh, well. In my next lifetime, I'll be more organized and have the two clones I need to carry out my work.

Photography

2011-11-10T08:49:00.000-08:00

It's been a crazy, mixed bag around here since the first of October, but now that things have settled down a little bit (very little! I'm returning to Jack Russell Brewery this weekend to sell my "normal" art), I thought I'd share some things about photography with you.

First, I want to share that I'm not a photographer! I'm just someone with a Canon Powershot that's a few years old, and that I really love. I have to confess that I've barely cracked open the operating manual, that I have no clue what an F-stop actually is or why it needs to stop Fs, and that I'm just starting to figure out the whole macro thing. Even so, I've managed to take some pretty good pictures!

I figured out pretty quickly that showing daylight pictures of my jack-o'-lanterns wasn't getting much interest, and wasn't showing them fulfilling their true purpose. So I started to set them up with candles glowing inside to entice people to see them as they were meant to be seen in their homes.

Don't get me wrong, now. I'm not under the impression that I'm Ansel Adams, by any stretch of the imagination. I have much to learn, there's no doubt! What I did learn straight away-and this is where it gets useful for you haunters who want to take pics of your props next October 31st-is to turn the damn flash off and use a tripod! (Click Tripods for your camera to search for the right tripod for you. You can search for Digital cameras, too, if you need one. Don't forget, that other holiday is coming soon, so you may be able to get Santa to bring you one.)

We spend our time creating the best lighting our budget allows for the ToTs to come through the atmosphere we decide to create for them, and then we try to take flash pictures to show it off. It just doesn't work. The shadows are destroyed, the lovely red or green floods disappear, and you can just forget about that led pin spot on your favorite mourner.

Getting back to photographing my jacks for a moment, I believe I shared with you that taking the photos of them lit, in a nighttime setting, nicely framed, and displaying them in my booth, plumped up my sales enormously. Not only that, but people actually started to ask me how much the photos were! Because of that, I started to list the photos in my Etsy store and brought a bunch of matted photos with me to the booth, as well as having several framed sets ready for people to hang on their walls.

One of the best things I did was to sign up for my Etsy newsletters. It seems like at least once a month, there are some tips on photographing your products. While Product Photography for Beginners and Give Props: How to Style Your Photos may seem off-topic, their other posts on photography [be sure to scroll down] helps you learn how to run your camera and see your shot setups in a more creative way. You can easily translate this to your haunter's needs, and it may even change the way you set up and light your haunt next year.

For night photography tips for beginners, there's always the "Dummies" series on YouTube. I found a good article here, too. Obviously, doing a Google search will turn up oodles of results.

You can get all crazy and find Books on How To Photograph at Night on Amazon, too. I'd recommend it if you want your haunt pics to look their best next year! I'd recommend Skull and Bones's lighting tutorial for your haunt, too.

If you're like me and do better with someone actually helping you out, you might consider ponying up for a workshop. I don't know anything about this person, but I have to say that taking night pics at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery is so tempting! There are sure to be some workshops closer to where you live if you do a little research.

So, go forth and educate thyself! You've got a whole year to practice. Just keep at it, and you'll be amazed at how much you improve.

Bob

2011-11-07T07:17:00.001-08:00

My dad sent this over to me and I thought I'd share. Be sure to watch past the credits!

And Yet More

2011-11-06T14:32:00.000-08:00

I honestly debated whether to post more pics, as aside from Leota and the change in the front room, there haven't been any changes to the graveyard. The witch is still substandard in looks and no new tombstones have been added. I was just too damn busy this year.

The hand-blown spider jar looked quite at home on the apothecary shelf, I must say.

I brought out my trusty tarot deck for a prop. I'm sure someone will be offended by that, but oh, well. And, oh, my dog found and tore up that lovely zombie head the next day. Bad dog!

My last-second costume decision. I was feeling a little dark that day, I guess. Had to pose by my favorite Pumpkinrot treasure.

Even though this is a bit out of focus, I thought it looked pretty decent. The fog was very cooperative that night.

Stewie always looks so deceptively sweet amongst the roses. We'd had an unusually warm October, and they rewarded us with one last lovely bloom.

I hope to cut together the Leota footage this week. My back has been giving me a helluva time, so it doesn't look like rearranging the studio is on the list and sitting on the couch is.

Just to Keep You in the Loop

2011-11-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

Just so fans of Hauntcast are aware, we're pushing back the new show until (we hope) Friday the 11th.

Clearly, Chis and the boys are still suffering from Hallowe'en hangovers and need the extra time to pull everything together! (Just kidding, guys...)

Tune in next week!

Remains of the Day

2011-11-03T16:25:00.000-07:00

I was leaving the garage to take a break from putting Hallowe'en away in the attic when I noticed I left a light on. Thought it was kind of cool and creepy, all at once.

Damn, it went by fast.

Just realized that it's the three-year anniversary of this blog. (Again, damn, it went by fast!) Spooky Blue was the first one to ever post a comment, and on my first post, too! He is still a great inspiration to me, and I'm sure to you all as well.

So, to all of you who have come back again and again to read my rants and ramblings, and glean that occasional pearl among the dross, I humbly thank you.

Happy New Year.

Swamp Foetus

2011-11-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

If you haven't had a chance to get over to Pumpkinrot's blog, now is absolutely the time!

Each year, Rot and his lovely bride, Bean, create Hallowe'en in their own unique style. Both are artists in their own rights, with the artist's attention to detail and the moods they wish to evoke in their viewers. Rot usually has a video of the year's special project, and the video always wows. This year is no exception.

Swamp Foetus. It even made it onto the Dread Central website.

Congrats, Rot. You and Bean really outdid yourselves this time!

A Few More

2011-11-02T20:24:00.000-07:00

Did some packing up of the outside today (plus laundry put-away duty, plus returning costume bits, plus...), as we're expecting a huge rainstorm tomorrow. Gotta get Stewie covered up! So I haven't had time to compile things appropriately, as of yet. (I guess it's called having a life! Who knew?)

More soon...

Just a Few

2011-11-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

More soon.

From the Annual Party at the Nest

2011-10-31T10:03:00.000-07:00

This Is Halloween!

2011-10-31T08:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Hallowe'en, All! Here's to good, still weather and a ton of ToTs!

Click for the song!

The Legend of the Scarecrow

2011-10-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

An old favorite. Click on the pic to watch.

This is Just My Week. Meh.

2011-10-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

There has been a long string of one thing after another for the past several weeks. Car problems, overwork, behind in schoolwork, etc. And now this. Please don't read on if you're grossed out by real dead things.

O.K. so remember that Hauntcast episode where I told you to pull out your props a month early so you had time to do repairs? Yeah. That just didn't happen for me. I was way too busy making stuff to sell, teaching and going to school. I really screwed myself on the whole repair thing this year! Bad ShellHawk!

"Beloved" became a rat condo since last winter, apparently. The smell was awful, but seeing the extent of the damage that had been done just made my heart sink. Oh, and then there's the disgusting part:

Why yes that is a dead rat stuck to the side of the tombstone. I'm used to gross things, but that, combined with the smell of living and dead rats was almost too much for me to bear. Did I not tell you this was just not my week?

Because I'm stubborn and stupid, I decided to try to repair her in time for our Saturday party. I have my doubts she'll be completed, but maybe some clever lighting will take care of that... So it was off to Goodwill to drop off a bunch of Mr. ShellHawk's old clothes that no longer fit because he's a svelte supermodel of a guy right now. I took a minute to see if they had a cheapie wedding gown to destroy. They did. Friend Stacy models, below.

We cut the skirt off and hot-glued and duct-taped it to the existing body, then went to town with the monster mud. By the way, not one but two drill batteries were dead, and the drill I borrowed at first wouldn't take my mixing squirrel. Thankfully, the last one worked! I can't vouch for how long the repair will last, but I'm sure it will at least take us through Hallowe'en.

Two tone was not a good look for this, so on with the mud!

She was still wet in patches today, so I dragged her out into the sun to dry. Perhaps tomorrow I'll be able to Dryloc her.

*sigh* Back to other work!

Rule #4: Always Check Your Candy

2011-10-25T17:50:00.000-07:00

You know what happens when you don't check your candy, right? Click the pic to watch...

The Last Jacks

2011-10-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

Friday morning, I opened the kiln to the last jack-o'-lanterns (and one last plate) of 2011. I really had been pushing hard to get these finished in time for this last weekend up at Jack Russell Brewery, as one of them had been made with someone special in mind.

No fancy pics, really, as I literally haven't had time to take them. (I should also be working on my Power Point presentation for the Rotary Club speech I'm doing on Thursday morning, but we'll let that slide for five minutes.

The booth looked really nice this year. The banner shows up really well on my new tent. (Thanks to Guy of House Bloodthorn for another great design job on that banner!) This pic was taken Friday, before Stacy of Necrotic Creations came up with her nifty wares.

I do have to say that as a seller, while it's gratifying to hear how cute or original things are, it's more gratifying when they go home with someone! There are a couple of pieces I have that have been handled a lot, oohed and aahhed over, but put down, and they weren't high-end pieces, either.
Be that as it may, there was one very satisfied customer that came through the ol' booth yesterday. She's the owner's daughter, and I made this Jack especially as a gift for her. I know she'll keep it forever!

Clay: $10.00. Glaze: $20.00. Time spent making, firing (two seven hour cycles) and glazing: eighteen hours.

Making a Jack Skelington fan happy: priceless.

If you decide you need anything last minute from ShellHawk's Creations, use coupon code LASTJACKS2011 at checkout for a 10% discount.

ShellHawk's Creations Shop.

Favorite Ghost Stories-Mr. Macabre of Mr. Macabre’s Cerebrations

2011-10-23T03:00:00.000-07:00

Mr. Macabre runs a delightfully southern gothic blog (Mr. Macabre's Cerebrations) that balances a dollop of twisted humor with a healthy serving of down home Hallowe'en goodness. I'm so pleased to share his ghostly experiences with you today!

I'm not psychic, let me put that to rest right now--although I wish that I was-- but for some reason, I have had many encounters from what I can only attest to as being supernatural. I don't ask that you believe in ghosts, spirits or what have you. I'm just reporting this sampling of true incidents that have happened to me in my life. You can make your own decisions about ghosts yourself.

Starting from childhood (we are talking 4 or 5 years old) I remember lying in bed watching "the changing face", for lack of a better descriptive word for it. It was a semi-transparent head that floated in my bedroom and morphed from male to female to different people. Sometimes it would be at the foot of my bed, around 6 feet from the ground, sometimes to the side. I would watch it night after night; it always stared straight ahead, never looking at me, changing faces constantly (about one every 4 or 5 seconds). For some reason, I wasn't afraid, or maybe I should have been, I don't know. I thought this was just something that I experienced, but by happenstance I was talking to a friend that told me of a little gold dancing man on his bedposts. He said he would watch him night after night and although it wasn't the changing face, it was something that he wasn't scared of, but maybe should have been.

Fast forward to my early 20's (and no, this isn't the 1950's era as some of my friends like to tell me, I'm not that old, yet). All h-e-double hockey sticks breaks out in the paranormal. I would sit in the front yard in the swing at night and just swing by myself; it was just something that I liked to do. I would see fleeting black figures in the yard at times. More than once I observed a swirling black 'void' above our front lawn, silently turning. I would watch it for many minutes before it melted away.

What the weirdest thing was that I was just swinging one night and I look over to my car, an 83 gold Honda station wagon. It was a figure; it looked like a corpse. Its skin was decayed and it was grinning at me, the eyes a dull glowing yellow. He had a shirt on. It looked like a gray work shirt, tattered but it buttoned up the front. He grinned as he rested his chin on the top of my car, looking right at me before disappearing. During that time I heard whispers, sometimes male, sometimes female, sometimes in chorus but definitely 'human' voices. The voices could be easily located; I could pinpoint the location from where they originated, beside the stairs, by the bush beside the carport door, any number of places. I saw streaks of light at night, in different colors, but mostly white. I could watch them through windows. I don't think that they were an illusion of any sort because I could pinpoint their proximity. I would go outside and reflex dodge when one zipped too close. Sometimes there were many, sometimes few, sometimes none. Sometimes they arced, sometimes they went straight, sometimes they were bright, sometimes they were dim. Yes, I went to the optometrist, my eyes were fine. Were they orbs that I was observing? Who knows?

And then there were the footsteps…I could deal with apparitions but footsteps were another matter.
My brother and I were alone in the basement and we heard them the first time coming from the kitchen, through the dining room and into the den. They were heavy footsteps, like men's boots. We ran out the back door and scampered up to the next door neighbor's house and called the police, all the while keeping a close eye on the house. 7 patrol cars were in our yard in minutes and the house was thoroughly searched, from attic to under beds to closets to basement.

Nothing.

We had a vantage point to see every door in the house, to see if anyone came out. No one did, no one that could be seen, at least. That was NOT the last time that footsteps were heard. My mother heard them repeatedly, as did my brother and I. Sure it could have been a pipe banging…until I came home for lunch one day…

I worked as a cashier at Piggly Wiggly one summer and my folks had taken my brother (unwillingly of course) on vacation with them to Williamsburg. I was a typical teen, 'family fun' was an oxymoron to me. I said I couldn't get off of work (lied) and got the house to myself. I came home one day for lunch and was sitting in the kitchen…alone, or so I thought. I heard the steps coming down the carpeted hall, hitting the hardwood floor and then the area rug in the foyer, muffling that one step before stepping onto the hardwood floor again, getting louder, coming to the kitchen. It was EVERYTHING I could do to stand up and look around the doorway (like a dummy, I should have gotten the #$%^ out of there) to see…nothing. Silence. No one was there. That was terrifying. But the pièce de résistance was yet to come…

look at the lower right corner of the window by the
front door,a bright orb is there. No flash is used.
Orb is outside the window, more on the frame of
the window.

Orb is passing through the glass/window
frame, going inside the house.
Window pane frame can be seen around orb.

I joke about being old at times (and sometimes I feel that way) because I like to go to bed at oh, 8:30 or 9:00 and get up at 5:00 (you know the old saying, early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and an obnoxious morning person that you want to kill). Alright, I know, I'm old. But it wasn't always this way, I used to go to bed at 2 in the morning and get up at 6 or 7 and able to go all day. Those days are LONG gone.

I remember coming home one night late and my folks were home in bed asleep. It was late, maybe 1:30 or 2 in the morning. I didn't party, never have really and I'm not able to drink alcohol (I'm allergic to sulfites, a component to a lot of alcoholic beverages, it makes my guts cramp but that's TMI, isn't it?) so I wasn't drunk and I never have done drugs (ok, smoked weed 5 times in the early 80's…had a deep philosophical conversation about Dr. Seuss and decided it wasn't for me). I had been having a strange repeating occurrence near that time…my house key was bending in my pocket. It would bend just enough to make it hard to get it into the lock and I would have to take a pair of pliers and bend it back. It was a brass Kwikset key, I couldn't bend it with my own hands, much less accidentally in my front pocket. My folks had forgotten to turn on the carport light and I was fumbling for the house key to let myself in when I heard it: Demonic tongues. The sound was by the mailbox at the end of the driveway, it was a loud, rough, old and raspy male voice speaking in an unknown language that sounded somewhat like people that speak in tongues in church, except it was guttural, snarling, and definitely evil and loud. Nothing was there to see, no one could be hiding nearby, no one could have made that sound or that language.

Bent key or no bent key, that *$&^% key got into that lock in record time. I was shaken; I looked outward from the supposed safety of the kitchen door window.Nothing.

For years, things quieted down, except for a couple of incidents here or there. After my grandfather died, my grandmother was scared to stay by herself so I would spend the night with her every now and then. My grandmother (and grandfather) viewed ghosts as a 'normal' part of life. My grandfather was a hellfire and damnation Independent Baptist preacher who worked for the railroad (who at about 6'4" was a VERY imposing figure) and had ghost stories that he would tell as someone would explain the weather, very matter-of-fact. "Ghost lights" that would hover above a house that foretold an imminent death was a favorite of mine.

My grandmother was the same, she called the house one morning asking about me if I was ok; she had seen a young man dressed in "old fashioned" clothing walk down the hall, sit in a chair and disappear. I think that she said he looked at her. Ghosts were a part of my grandparents' lives. She asked me if I minded sleeping in my grandfather's room, some people minded sleeping in a 'dead man's bed' as she referred to it. I didn't care; I loved my grandmother like life itself and understood her terminology. HOWEVER…apparently my grandfather had issues with me in his bed. I had just laid down and closed my eyes (I had a light on, whaaat? I didn't want to stump my toe if I had to get up) and I heard my grandfather clear his voice plain as day in the room with me. The sound came from the left front of the bed, about 6 feet up…about as high as my grandfather was and there was no mistaking it.

I moved to the next room.

I casually mentioned it to my grandmother the next day. She told me that he still came by to check on her (she had what is now diagnosed as apnea which is stopping breathing in one's sleep, just like her grandson), waking her up sometimes at night by saying "Mae, you alright?".

Fast forward to 2004 and the birth of Mr. Macabre. After a fierce battle with our own unscrupulous realtor, Mrs. Macabre and I get our dream house. Big front yard, great neighborhood, good neighbors, grand back yard, perfect for us!

Comes complete with 2 ghosts, no extra charge.

This is when we first stepped foot in
the house with the Realtor. Snapped this picture in the kitchen.

Glowing balls of light showed up on photographs both indoors and out, from different cameras. We would catch the scent of a woman's perfume in the house and in the yard occasionally, just a whiff but strong. I asked my next door neighbor what kind of perfume that the lady that lived here wore and it was the exact perfume we smelled: White Shoulders. Keep in mind the house had been vacant for over eighteen months and the lady had died in a nursing home years before. We would smell pipe tobacco in the living room. It would be strong but no smoke, just the scent. I asked my next door neighbor did the man of the house smoke a pipe…the answer was yes, but was only allowed to smoke on the back porch. I guess he sneaked in and could now smoke in the living room.

We had been moved in a bit and were still
being checked out to make sure we were
going to take good care of the house.

Oh, and did I mention that he died in the late 1960's?We heard noises on the roof at night, like walking, sometimes; sometimes it was like people gathered around up there. We dismissed it as the house settling. Strange though, it doesn't happen anymore in spite of the fact the house is older.

Mrs. Macabre didn't believe in ghosts. There was always an explanation, even though one might not be readily available. Until one night…

I had gone to bed early (yeah, big surprise), and it's an ordeal for me to go to bed with a CPAP machine. Once I'm down, I'm out for the count.

About 45 minutes go by and Mrs. Macabre bursts into the bedroom,"Have you been up?!"

Groggily (and ticked off, I just had started dozing off),"No, I haven't."

"Someone just walked down the hall! I heard heavy footsteps down the hall!"

I smiled to myself, "It's probably just Mrs. Murtz taking a look around to make sure everything's fine." Did I mention that Mrs. Murtz was a portly woman?I went back to sleep and Mrs. Macabre went to bed a believer.

Halloween party. Apparently, we had an
invisible party crasher.

The paranormal incidents have slowed. I didn't say stopped, I said slowed. Mrs. Macabre one day told Mrs. Murtz that everything was fine in the house and to not worry about it, we were taking good care of it. Events started to wane and I can't say I wasn't disappointed somewhat. I enjoyed the fact of living in a 'haunted' house.

But things still happen occasionally. About a month ago we were coming in from shopping and we stepped into the door. Mrs. Macabre abruptly stopped, "Someone's' here! I heard them say 'they're back!'" I asked if it was male or female, she said it was a male voice. No radios, no television, no telephones were on. I didn't hear it but we searched the house over including the attic. And yes, you guessed it.

Nothing.

Our cats sometimes chase and watch unseen objects. By itself, it's not that unusual, but there's a difference between one psycho crazy cat playing by himself when he gets good and wound up and a cat playing with something. Maybe one cat, but multiple ones doing the same thing?I can sit in the den sometimes and hear faint music and voices over the air cleaner machines. I can sometimes sit quietly, close my eyes and start to hear something like broadcasts. It hit me one day about the air cleaner, it's making a white noise. Sometimes I hear music from the 20's, sometimes western, sometimes an old radio show with people talking cheerfully but all of it old. No radios are on or televisions or any other musical device.And this is not all, just what I can remember. Then there's the Samara story (http://mistermacabre.blogspot.com/2009/03/samara.html) in which a waving young woman in a black dress appears to Sausage Von Trapp and I one morning and disappears. Someone I believed tried to communicate with me at one time through an app on my iPhone (http://mistermacabre.blogspot.com/2010/04/haunted-iphone-app-review.html). I still have occasional visits from phantom cats gently walking on my bed (http://mistermacabre.blogspot.com/2009/07/invisible-visitor.html) as well as glimpses of figures in and out of doors.

As I said, I'm not clairvoyant. I'm not on a crusade to make the world believe in ghosts, this is just things that I have experienced in my life. It's probably just air currents, happenstance, coincidence, banging water pipes, overactive imaginings, or some other rational, logical explanation. After all, we are living in the 21^st century, with our superior level of civilization, it would be utter nonsense of us to lower ourselves to the level of superstitious tomfoolery to believe in such poppycock as ghosts, spirits or the boogy man…Or maybe not…

Jack O'Lanterns

2011-10-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

Never blow out a jack-o'-lantern!

Classic Beauty

2011-10-21T07:02:00.000-07:00

This illustration always gets me in the mood for Hallowe'en! Thanks, Mr. Mugnaini.

Michael Lays Down the Rules

2011-10-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

Click on the pic to watch.

30 Second Bunnies-Trick R Treat

2011-10-20T03:00:00.000-07:00

As bunnies would have it! Click on the pic to watch.

Rule #2 Pass Out Treats

2011-10-19T13:13:00.001-07:00

Click to watch...

Rule #1: Always Wear a Costume!

2011-10-19T03:00:00.000-07:00

Click the pic to watch!

Favorite Ghost Stories-Pam Morris of Labyrinth Creations

2011-10-18T03:00:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad that Pam Morris of Labyrinth Creations took the time out of her schedule to join us at the Nest again this year! I find her ghost story offering deliciously chilling!

Well, I could say it was a dark and stormy night, but it wasn't. And, despite the fact that I was a mere seven and a half years old, I distinctly recall each and every little detail. It was, as a matter of fact, just a few days before Christmas. This I know because a baby brother was born the 14th of December, and he was now ensconced in the little room next door to my brother's and mine. The excitement was building as the big holiday drew near and to vent some of it, my brother and I lay in our trundle beds and I made him listen to me sing carols. (And I have the worst voice in the world so perhaps I relieved some of my holiday 'stress' but I don't think I did much for my brother's.) I finally drifted off, my voice worn out and my brother already fast asleep.
Well, I could say, "when what to my wondering eyes did appear..." but that would imply I had seen something delightfully child-like and pleasant -- that was far from the truth. No, instead I woke up in a terrible sweat, hot, uncomfortable and--scared. My eyes frantically searched the room for some reason for my distress... I found it very quickly. In the doorway, swaying gently back and forth was a VERY tall cloaked figure--the kind of tall where the individual would have to duck his head beneath the door-jam before he could straighten up again. He (I say he because I KNEW it was a he) was dressed in a muted shade of grayish white, what I now know to be a monk's robe, hooded-- just a blackness where the face should be. He said nothing. He merely stood there--just inside our room with only the slightest bit of movement and then he slowly 'floated' into our new baby brother's room.

Well, I could say I bravely sounded the alarm to my parents, but I didn't. I seemed to be voiceless and despite nearly dying of heat, I did what any sensible child would do and yanked the covers all the way up to my eyeballs. I waited. It seemed like for a very long time. And then, he floated back into our room--never coming past the doorway-- just hovering there and watching. This was repeated twice more and when he finally disappeared into the baby's room, I went for it. I gathered every ounce of my child's courage and I did it, man, I jumped out of bed, and ran screaming and yelling into my parents' room, "There's a man in Andy's room! There's somebody in there!"

Well, I could say my parents gently shushed me and told me I was just having a bad dream, a nightmare, but they didn't. My terror was so genuine, the sweat glistening off of me, my eyes wide as saucers, that my father took one look at me, jumped out of bed and ran for my brother's room. After a short time, all the lights turned on, he returned, looked at me closely and said, "Pammy, there's nothing there". And yet, he knew I had seen SOMETHING. There was no chastisement, nothing more said. (I did, however, get to spend the rest of the night in my parents' bed, safely snuggled between them.)Well, I could say that my child's imagination got the better of me, that the next day I just blew off the whole experience, but that wasn't the case. I have never had a dream or encounter even remotely like the one that night, and I am very far from childhood. No, I remain convinced that what I saw, I saw. I did indeed see a ghost.

And yet today I consider myself fortunate to have had that experience (especially since I lived to tell of it). I will never forget that extraordinary fear, the extreme terror I experienced that night. What a rush. Perhaps that's why I'm a dark and macabre artist; why I have loved Halloween for as long as I can remember and now take such delight in scaring the %#*! out of people at my little "Home Haunt". What a feeling... what a rush!

The Tell-Tale Heart

2011-10-17T03:00:00.000-07:00

It was one of my very first exposures to Edgar Allen Poe; The Tell-Tale Heart. Of course, when you're a child, you're probably not able to grasp why the narrator is a madman, or the graceful nuances of storytelling Poe used. You may even be tempted to sort of agree with the narrator, for a bit, because he sounds so reasonable.

At first. And then, the heartbeat, and the murder.

I've made a playlist of several different interpretations of this chilling tale, and one musical interpretation of which I'm fond. I hope you enjoy them! Click on the pic to watch...

Poor Mr. ShellHawk

2011-10-16T07:06:00.000-07:00

It's been a helluva week for me, and I'm really glad to see the back end of it!

Turns out the editor of Child Style Magazine essentially got herself some free product, as I haven't yet seen the link for the "Halloween supplement" in which my tombstone salt and pepper shakers were to appear. I had to write a politely phrased nasty email, as nicer ones were ignored. When the editor got my note, she threw something up on the blog without even proofreading it. The sentence is clearly copied and pasted from the description I sent her, with several of her own words thrown in randomly at the very beginning; the sentence doesn't make sense. Lesson learned, I guess.

Thursday evening, my Explorer was acting up badly enough I knew I needed to put it in the shop. Of course, Friday is the day I go to set up at Jack Russell Farm Brewery, so when else would the car not work right? Oh, and Mr. ShellHawk had a business trip over this weekend, so there wasn't a car in our garage that was going to work for the purposes of schlepping everything up the hill for the booth.

So Thursday night, after I get done teaching, I'm pretty stressed out. Mr. ShellHawk told me Thirsty Thursday was being held across the street, so I headed over there after I dropped my stuff at the house.

Fortunately, Mr. S. had worked out a mechanic for me with one of our other friends, and my neighbors offered their Suburban for my use. Whew! What a relief!

Now, here's the funny part.

One of the guys mentions how I need a new car or minivan or something that's going to be more dependable. Now, Mr. ShellHawk and I have been good stewards of our money and agreed that next year, we'll start to figure out what the vehicle is going to be, right? We haven't discussed budget, but we know we want to pay cash because we don't want any car payments. (Before you ask, no, I haven't sold the Dodge, yet. I haven't been able to get myself to let go, even though it hasn't run in over a year-but that's another story involving the neutral safety switch.)

Then one of the guys comes up with, "You should just buy her a hearse!"

Now, I've wanted a hearse since I was seven or eight years old, so my whole demeanor perked right up at that.

Mr. ShellHawk's face did not light up, I'm sorry to say.

Pressing the advantage, one of the other guys says something about how a hearse would have all the cargo space I needed, and would be fine to get the dogs to and from the dog park and the vet, etc.

I said I'd sell the Dodge and the Explorer to buy a hearse.

Now, Mr. ShellHawk has had an unreasoning hatred for my Dodge Dart from day one. If I die while the Dodge is still in my possession, he'd have it towed to a junkyard immediately, in spite of the fact that (other than the neutral safety switch) it runs like a top and has a pretty new old stock set of seats. He might even take it to the desert and set it on fire. Why? I have no idea, but that's the lay of the land.

So needless to say, when he heard "sell the Dodge," he got really happy.

"Fine, but the money has to go into buying the hearse."

Neighbor V asks about the budget and he tells her. "Great," she says, "Shell, you need to start looking now that you know what your budget is!"

I smiled. "Done." I turned to the five other people there, "You're my witnesses, right? You heard him say I could get a hearse, right?" Everyone allowed as how they did hear it.

The, "Oh, shit, what did I just do?" look came over his face. He tried to rally.

"But it's got to be your everyday car." Like that's supposed to be punishment or something? Really?

"Sure."

At this point, all the guys start chiming in with how we've got to get the "funeral in progress" sign in the window and put a fake body in the back and drive down the carpool lane in a procession to see if the CHP has the nerve to pull me over. All of them are trying to outdo each other, and Mr. ShellHawk has got the deer-in-headlights look in his eyes. Then neighbor Dave delivers the coup de gras.

He holds his phone out to Mr. S. "Look! Here's a 1986 Cadillac hearse on Craigslist!"

We are all busting up at this point. All except Mr. S., who plaintively asks me, "Why can't you be normal?"

I told him I was like this when he married me. That probably didn't make him feel any better.

Now, funny story and good-natured ribbing aside, it's still unlikely that I will get a hearse, just because I really do like being married to Mr. ShellHawk. Neighbor V pointed out that he "got all pinched up" about it, and that it was a good idea if maybe I didn't mention it for awhile. I'm still tempted to email him for sale ads, just because I'm wired that way.

I mean, I could be driving this 1938 Packard Formal Town Car! I'm only $100,000 short on my budget!

As for Mr. ShellHawk, it occurs to me that though I'm sure to make him comfort food and have a martini waiting for him when I know he's had a rough day, he still has to put up with some pretty odd things from me. Poor guy.

Update: Official words this morning, October 17th: "If you buy a hearse, I will kill you. It's completely impractical!"

*disappointed sigh*

I may have to get a "real job" for awhile to buy one. It might even be worth going back to that horrible feeling that my soul is being killed inch by inch. Not to mention the horrible florescent lights and the weird, repetitive conversations...

Ghost Song...

2011-10-15T03:00:00.001-07:00

Click on the pic to watch.

Image via World of Ghosts.

Jack and Ape Snuggle

2011-10-14T07:30:00.000-07:00

I understand that Jack was quite impressed with Ape's ghost costume.

Thanks, Patrick! It's beautiful!

Favorite Ghost Stories- Mike C. of The Skull and Pumpkin

2011-10-14T03:00:00.001-07:00

Making Hallowe'en is such thirsty work, isn't it? Let's all head down to the pub and see what Mike is serving up at The Skull and Pumpkin, shall we?

When I was around 8 years old, I had two good friends living right across the street. They were two fun and pretty girls, Joanna and Denise, and their very kind but busy parents had hired a nanny named Mai, a crushingly beautiful young Japanese girl who made the best crepes, the best fried rice and told the best ghost stories I'd ever heard in my young life. Of an afternoon, especially in the summer, we'd close the curtains, turn out all the lights, and gather in the hallway with a single candle between us, and Mai would whisper her tales in her charming broken English.

The one I remember most was called 'Mujina', and Mai said it was very famous in Japan. The way she told it absolutely terrified me, not in panic but in a subtle, unsettling kind of terror I hadn't felt before.

I cannot recall her exact words after these 35+ years, but I found the original English text as it was first told from Japan to the rest of the world by Lafcadio Hearn in his book Kwaidan. It still frightens me, and as I read it, I can easily hear Mai's voice, whispering...
MUJINA, from Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn
On the Akasaka Road, in Tokyo, there is a slope called Kii-no-kuni-zaka, which means the Slope of the Province of Kii. I do not know why it is called the Slope of the Province of Kii. On one side of this slope you see an ancient moat, deep and very wide, with high green banks rising up to some place of gardens; and on the other side of the road extend the long and lofty walls of an imperial palace.
Before the era of street-lamps and jinrikishas [rickshaws], this neighborhood was very lonesome after dark; and belated pedestrians would go miles out of their way rather than mount the Kii-no-kuni-zaka, alone, after sunset. All because of a Mujina who used to walk there.
The last man who saw the Mujina was an old merchant of the Kyobashi quarter, who died about thirty years ago. This is the story, as he told it:
One night, at a late hour, he was hurrying up the Kii-no-kuni-zaka, when he perceived a woman crouching by the moat, all alone, and weeping bitterly. Fearing that she intended to drown herself, he stopped to offer her any assistance or consolation in his power. She appeared to be a slight and graceful person, handsomely dressed; and her hair was arranged like that of a young girl of good family.
"O-jochu [young girl]," he exclaimed, approaching her, "O-jochu, do not cry like that!…Tell me what the trouble is; and if there be any way to help you, I shall be glad to help you." (He really meant what he said; for he was a very kind man.)
But she continued to weep, hiding her face from him with one of her long sleeves.
"O-jochu," he said again, as gently as he could, "please, please listen to me!… This is no place for a young lady at night! Do not cry, I implore you! — only tell me how I may be of some help to you!"
Slowly she rose up, but turned her back to him, and continued to moan and sob behind her sleeve.
He laid his hand lightly upon her shoulder, and pleaded: "O-jochu! O-jochu! O-jochu!… Listen to me, just for one little moment!… O-jochu! O-jochu!"
Then that O-jochu turned around, and dropped her sleeve, and stroked her face with her hand; — and the man saw that she had no eyes or nose or mouth,— and he screamed and ran away.
Up Kii-no-kuni-zaka he ran and ran; and all was black and empty before him. On and on he ran, never daring to look back; and at last he saw a lantern, so far away that it looked like the gleam of a firefly; and he made for it.
It proved to be only the lantern of an itinerant soba-seller who had set down his stand by the road-side; but any light and any human companionship was good after that experience; and he flung himself down at the feet of the soba-seller, crying out, "Ah! — aa!! — aa!!!"…
"Kore! kore! [Here, here]" roughly exclaimed the soba-man. "Here! what is the matter with you? Anybody hurt you?"
"No, nobody hurt me," panted the other, "only… ah!"
"Only scared you?" queried the peddler, unsympathetically. "Robbers?"
"Not robbers, not robbers," gasped the terrified man… "I saw… I saw a woman — by the moat; and she showed me… Ah! I cannot tell you what she showed me!"
"Ha! Was it anything like THIS that she showed you?" cried the soba-man, stroking his own face... which therewith became like unto an Egg—
--- and, simultaneously, the light went out.
Man! That sobe seller's wry, sardonic scare, his knowing entrapment of the victim, has always impressed me. I try to frighten in my haunts the way he did -- subtle, quiet, then a quick wink of recognition and a dousing of the lights, and they screeeeaaammm all night long.

Thank you Lafcadio, and thank you very kindly, Mai. I wonder where you are now, and if you still make the best crepes and tell the greatest ghost stories to your kids' kids.

Happy Hallowe'en, all.

Making Friends

2011-10-13T15:30:00.000-07:00

Click the pic to watch.

Happy Hallowe'en to you, too, Mike!

New Tombstones for Your Table

2011-10-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

ShellHawk's Creations on Etsy.

"You're the Caretaker, Mr. Ape. You've Always Been the Caretaker."

2011-10-13T07:06:00.000-07:00

Big thanks to Patrick Nottingham! Ape is very pleased! (He says the next best thing would have been having Jack Torrance snuggling him, but this was great, too!)

Chris Aype's Facebook page.

New Photos in the Shop!

2011-10-12T10:02:00.000-07:00

Available in 5 x 7 matted or 8 x 10 matted.

ShellHawk's Creations Etsy store.

Creepy

2011-10-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

Via Jamaica Byles blog. Nice medical illustrations!

Hallowe'ens Past

2011-10-12T03:00:00.000-07:00

Someday, I really am going to have to Photoshop Ape into that photograph.

Of course, I'll have to learn Photoshop, first...

Good Hallowe'en Reads

2011-10-11T03:00:00.000-07:00

If you're one of those folks who is new to cruising the Hallowe'en blogs, or only cruise them at this time of year, you may have missed some of the best Hallowe'en literature out there. I've compiled a short list of Hallowe'en and spooky reading for you.

October Dreams has got to be one of the best compilations of personal stories and scary stories out there. I discovered this gem through Pumpkinrot's recommendation, and got it almost immediately. I'm really glad I did. The Official description says this: "Classic novellas, never-before-published stories, essays on the history, literature, and films of Halloween, and real-life memories of October 31st-from today's best practitioners of fear." With offerings from Ray Bradbury, Dean Koontz, Poppy Z. Brite and Peter Straub, you are constantly entertained by the upper echelon of our passion.

One of the things I love about this book is that it is in that short-story style, so you can read a story and put it down for a little bit and not worry about forgetting where you were. I really recommend this!
The Halloween Tree, is a near-legendary Hallowe'en story by Ray Bradbury. For those of you who haven't had the chance to read this, now is really the time, because you can't call yourself a true Hallowe'en enthusiast if you haven't. Disneyland has gone so far as to build their own Halloween Tree and dedicate it to Mr. Bradbury. There's a video about The Halloween Tree and Disneyland with Ray Bradbury here. They dedicate and light the tree towards the very end, but it's worth watching the whole thing for some tidbits about Something Wicked This Way Comes and other Disney things...

I covered The Halloween Tree in Hauntcast 24, so if you want an engaging and incredibly intelligent synopsis, you should give that a listen! ;o) The book itself is a very articulate read, almost a poem in its rhythms, and the pictures it paints are fantastic.

Speaking of Hauntcast, by now you've downloaded the new show and heard all about The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
In the show, I recommended you read the original classic for yourself. You can get the copy pictured for free and download it to the Kindle for PC app, or you can browse the other free apps for Kindle here. I can't stress enough what a joy it is to read the original text describing the mad ride of Ichabod Crane as he's pursued by the Headless Horseman. The buildup of tension is wonderfully creepy, and sure to give you vivid dreams!

Well, what are you doing here, still? Go read something!

Favorite Ghost Stories-The Captain

2011-10-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

The next ghostly offering in the Favorite Ghost Stories Series comes from The Captain.

As a young boy The Captain was a Cub Scout. One of my favorite memories of Cub Scouts was going camping with multiple troops at the Boy Scout Jamboree each year. Of course being a spooky kid early on, my favorite part of the whole trip was the campfire at night and the scary stories that were told in the firelight.
My wife and I recently took our 7-year-old niece, 8-year-old nephew, and 3-year-old nephew on their very first camping trip. I wanted to give them the experience of the spooky fireside stories that I remembered so fondly from my childhood. I could vaguely remember this one story about two boys in a tent that had freaked me when I was a kid. So I search the Internet for almost a week trying to find the story that had stuck with me all these years, and then I found it!
It’s not a Halloween story, but it is a ghost story of sorts, and it will stick with the kids. Every time I lay in a tent I think of this story that I heard as an 8-year-old Cub Scout. There are a few versions of this tale and I altered my version for telling to non-scouts, but you can easily change the beginning to suit your situation.
Indian Graves. When I was a teenager we use to come camping right near here with the Scouts, but they don’t camp out here anymore. The last time I came camping out here we lost 2 scouts right near here. There used to be campsites over in that area, but its all closed to camping now (point to an overgrown area). They set up camp, had a campfire, and got ready for bed - 2 scouts per tent.

Around 2:30 in the morning, there was an awful, blood-curdling scream that echoed all across the campsite. Everyone woke up and I got on my shoes and ran over to the tent where the scream had come from and where I could hear someone crying hysterically. I opened the tent and there was one scout sitting there crying.

'Where's Randy?' I asked.

'I don't know. He's just gone!' said Joey Marshall. 'I just heard some weird scraping sound and then Randy screamed and was gone.'

Looking around with my flashlight, I saw Randy's sleeping bag torn to shreds. There was also some blood on it. But, there were no rips in the tent and Randy's shoes were still sitting by the door just fine. But, looking again, I noticed the floor of the tent had a large rip in it under Randy's sleeping bag.

I told the other scouts that had gotten up to go in pairs and check around the campsite looking for any clues, but to not go more than 50 feet out. I ran to the park ranger's cabin for help.

About 5 minutes later, the ranger and I were running back here when we heard another awful scream. When we got here, all the scouts were crowded around the campfire - all except Joey. The scouts said the scream came from Joey's tent but none of them wanted to go near it. They said they had heard some scraping noises and then Joey's scream and then silence.

I opened the tent flap and Joey's sleeping bag was ripped up just like Randy's and the floor of the tent was shredded.

The park ranger called 911 and in about an hour, just around dawn, the sheriff was here with dogs. They searched the entire camp - not a trace of either boy.

The local newspaper ran a story about the tragedy and the investigation continued for weeks. The boys' folks were heartbroken and our scouts had a rough time of it too.
A couple days later, I got a call from an archaeologist expert in local Indian history. He said that the tribe of Indians that used to inhabit this area were especially ruthless and fought the white man's invasion to the very last brave. Their burial grounds were protected with many signs and curses and he believed that there was a burial ground somewhere on the campground property. I contacted the park ranger and he told me that he and the expert spent a week exploring the area where we had camped.

After some digging, sure enough, they found some bones, arrowheads, and knives. He also found a pocketknife and compass - they were marked with R.R. - Randy Roberts. These were found in an Indian grave 4 feet underground directly under where Randy and Joey had pitched their tent. They quickly filled in the excavation and then the ranger closed off that part of camp and seeded it with nettles, poison ivy, and brambles to keep everyone away.

To this day, I'm a very light sleeper when I’m out camping. When I lay down, if I feel the slightest rock or root under my tent it will keep me awake remembering how Joey and the other boys described the scraping sounds – I’ll lay there listening for scraping and wondering if it is really just a root, or maybe it’s a boney finger.

They were so buying it!

Ruder Than Ever. Almost. Hauntcast 35!

2011-10-08T07:46:00.000-07:00

Seriously? 35 shows? YES! This one is the best evah, so give a listen to Hauntcast 35!

Those of you with kids who are concerned about content and language should probably let them get back to their rated M XBox games. Just sayin'.

Hasta Los Huesos

2011-10-08T07:39:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to watch.

Hallowe'en Finds

2011-10-07T03:00:00.000-07:00

One of the nifty things about being up at Jack Russell is there are other vendors who are also artists.

One of them is a glass blower, who actually does live glass blowing demos. I had a moment of quiet at my booth, and wandered over to where he was working away and scanned over the many pieces he had on display. He made some gorgeous goblets that had me thinking about vintage vaseline glass, in addition to a number of other pretty, shiny things. I was actually really impressed with what he'd made, and once again wished I could get into glass blowing (and iron work, too), but one more thing on my plate is simply not an option!

Then something caught my eye.

SCORE! Spider apothecary jar! Fill with plastic spiders and life is good, baby! I asked him to set it aside for me until I made a few sales and could pay him for it. Doesn't it look fantastic? I can't wait to see how it looks in my setup.

Another find were these fun drink charms. I never seem to have enough of these at any time, so when I found them on tartx's Etsy store, and found they were Hallowe'en and Dia de los Muertos themed, I had to have them!

They came quickly and are fairly reasonably priced, I have to say that these pictures don't really do them justice. They're much nicer in person!

These are really going to make a splash at my annual Hallowe'en party.

Oh, and while we're somewhat on the topic of drinks, I had a drink testing get together with the girls last week, and discovered that the Black Lagoon Cocktail from Martha Stewart's site is just fantastic. It does take some prep work beforehand, but it is so worth it. I'm going to have to start making the ice cubes for the party here pretty soon, just so I know I have enough. One of my neighbors has been kind enough to give me some extra ice cube trays; who has those anymore, with built-in ice makers so available? I love the effect the melting of the black ice cubes gives the drinks, and the whole concoction is really tasty. I'm glad BevMo and Costco are close by, that's for sure!

Cocktails, anyone?

New Jacks in ShellHawk's Creations Etsy Store!

2011-10-06T12:03:00.000-07:00

Don't let the warts fool you. He's a great guy!

ShellHawk's Creations on Etsy.