Bash to the Future

You know, I've been really agonizing over this year's Monster Bash. Each year, the cost of MB has increased substantially, to last year, which carried a price tag of over $1000. No joke. The cost of props, food, music, invitations, prizes, etc to fit into the Murder Circus theme was through the roof. Have we taken what was once a simple Halloween Party (I'm lying, it's not a "simple Halloween party"...it's the best party on Earth) and made it into something too commercial?

Jim and I pondered and pondered over the future of Monster Bash. With my impending transition from "living at home" to "being a new homeowner", as well as with the tough economic times, we had a lot to think about. This year, would we make Monster Bash even MORE costly? Could we afford it? Where would it be held? Is Jim's room no longer a viable venue? Will Monster Bash be altered forever? Will I have to change my Blog tag line?!

And then, Jim sent me this:

[ No Subject ]
Friday, July 10, 2009 1:13 PM
From:
"Jim"
To:
"Monster Bash Blog"

It began as a pure evil....

And each year, it grew bigger and bigger.

And now it's time to ask yourself.....

Can this evil possibly be contained anymore?

This year...on October 31st....we'll all find out.

Because this year....Monster Bash goes...

BAcK tO bASICKs

Come experience Monster Bash as you've never experienced it before...

Experience Monster Bash...

In an EcoNoMiC rEcESSioN

The only thing we won't cut back on is the body count.

I believe we've got something here....

Stay tuned!

The Haunting In Connecticut

March 27th, The Haunting In Connecticut came out in theaters.
The internet hype for this movie, leading up to it, was out of control. I can't even tell you how many times I saw that scene where the kid has writing all over his body on my email, my myspace, CNN.com...you name it, the advertisement popped up. I think it was even on weather.com a few times.



I was moderately interested in seeing it. Remember? Anything that claims to be "based on a true story" captures my interest immediately. I also 100% believe that ghosts will remain in a house if something bad happened or if they don't "cross over". I'm a believer.

Anyway, the movie came out, then left theaters, and I still hadn't seen it.

It wasn't that I didn't want to, it was just that I didn't get the chance to.

So, Jim found it at a $1.00 rental at the A&P and I was pumped! I was finally going to get to see it 4 months later!

The movie stars Virginia Madsen as the mother, who I happen to really like, and who was also in Candyman, as well as in another movie called The Haunting (she really likes haunted houses I guess).

She's the mother and her son, Matt, is going for experimental cancer treatments far away. She decides that instead of making him drive home everynight, that they would look for a house to rent while the treatments are ongoing.

Cue the House in Connecticut.

They move in, despite it being formerly a funeral home, and the creepiness begins.

There's alot of jump scares, and some cool things, like the body carvings:




But then there are also the things about the ectoplasm? Isn't that Slimer? I couldn't get past thinking about that.


Also, I felt the jamming of the family backstories down my throat was nauseating.

Granted, there were a few parts that I jumped and some of the dead things looked pretty neat, I still was annoyed by the drunk dad. It was also more religiously based than I had expected. Were they trying to be the Exorcist?

Apparently the movie was so successful that there are plans in the works to make a sequel and possibly a thrid movie as well. The sequel will have something to do with an exorcism and an evil presence in New York or something.

Overall, I give The Haunting in Connecticut an "eh". It was watchable, and not really boring, but I wouldn't watch it again I don't think. It was "ok".

Extra-gourd-inary Jack-O-Lanterns!

If you know me, you know how much I love pumpkins. I love everything about them. They are orange, which is my fave color, they are delicious as pies, soups, raviolis, dips, roasted, seeded, etc....they are nice to look at, fun to pick, extremely fun to carve! I could go on and on...but I won't, because you get the idea, right?


Anyway....hold on, I just want to make a note that Jim just made me smell pumpkin potpourri in an attempt to make me go to Lancaster PA, and instead a whirlwind of Autumn love just came over me...

Ok, back to the pumpkin post!


I love to carve pumpkins. It's become such a staple to my fall/Halloween fanfare. Jack-o-Lantern carving is quite a skill...a skill that I personally lack, but that others are incredible at. And so, this is my dedication blog to all of you Jack-o-Lantern masters out there!

I googled "amazing Jack-o-Lanterns" and these following carvings are the cream of the crop!:



3-D Skull pumpkin. This almost doesn't even look like it was once a pumpkin at all. The details are amazing on this one. How do you do this?!


The Death Star-o-Lantern for all you Star Wars fans out there.



This is that monster:

from Pans Labyrinth that is terrifying and awesome looking at the same time. Very cool.




Transformers-o-Lantern.





Barfing pumpkin has been done many times, but for some reason, I'm still entertained by it!



I believe one of these, maybe not this one, but one of these, was done on the Food Network Challenge: Outrageous Pumpkins. BlogThemeMachine also has 54 more amazingly carved pumpkins, kinda like this one. P.S. I don't know why but this pumpkin looks kind of like John Candy.




There's even a carved pumpkin for the sports lover out there.




Pac Man, anyone?



Michael Myers vs. Jason Voorhees in Pumpkin form.



"Its'a Me! Mari-o-Lantern!"



I guess this really isn't a "Jack-o-Lantern" by default, but still...Incredible!



Oh No!


Here's a great webpage that someone has made showing pumpkin carvings through the years. The music is awesome too!

Time to start practicing my carving skills, Halloween is only 3 months away!

In Memoriam: The Essex Mountain Sanatorium

**Special thanks to Jim for sending me the link to the The Essex Mountain Sanatorium website.**

As terrifying as I find abandoned buildings, they never cease to fascinate me. During my senior year of high school, and in the beginning of my college years, there was Blue Hill....which is a creepy haunted house that was boarded up and abandoned and the police blocked it off for some reason (because it was haunted, obviously) years ago.

The past few years, I was hellbent on Eastern State Penitentiary.


And now, The Essex Mountain Sanitorium, formerly located in Verona, NJ has grasped my interest.

It has now become the Hilltop Reservation, a natural preserve made of the lands that once contained the EMS.

But prior to that, this place looked terrifying! Even the website gives me the creeps!

The history of the building is truly fascinating. Its uses constantly evolved, from beginning as a type of orphanage, then to a home for girls, then to a Tuberculosis treatment ward (where apparently there was great success in treatment of the disease) and haven for soldiers with lung injuries during WW1. As Tuberculosis was being contained by vaccines and science breakthroughs, the sanatorium became obsolete and was closed in 1982.

In 1987, the moderator of the website discovered the sanatorium and was fascinated by it.

I totally agree, it is extremely bizarre how everything was left behind. Why would people just leave behind everything as if they were in a hurry to get out? The website shows different files that were left behind after the sanatorium closed.

And of course, the scary stuff! There's an entire section of strange things caught in pictures. There is also a section where people can share their own stories of the sanatorium.

The website is extraordinary in the extensive amount of information it provides. You can see pictures of the sanatorium from all different eras here. You can also find comparison pictures from way back when to more recently to see how the buildings have changed.

WeirdNJ has also covered the Essex Mountain Sanatorium.

So has VacantNJ.

Here is a tribute video that someone made about the sanatorium (the pictures are very eerie and haunting):



This is another short film made, and it is frightening:


So what's the deal? Were there horrible experiments being performed and that's why it was closed so abruptly? Did escaped mental patients hide out there? Is it really haunted? Perhaps the answers were demolished along with the buildings.

RIP To The Thriller

I know, Michael Jackson passed away two weeks ago, but I can't stop listening to his musical catalog.

He and Janet Jackson were such a huge part of my childhood. I used to take dance classes (from Kindergarten until my Junior year of h.s.) and throughout the 80's and 90's their music was about 95% of the music the teachers would use for warmups and recitals and everything else that required music.

Now, the only time you hear "Billie Jean" or "Don't Stop Til' You Get Enough" is at a wedding.

I'm kind of sad that it took him dying for me to appreciate it all over again, but here we are.

And so, in true Monster Bash fashion, I'd like to post my favorite spoOoOoOOoky Michael Jackson song/video, but unfortunately, I can't find it anywhere that will let me post it.


So I'll just have to link to it here....you know what it is already, don't you?







And...In a special shout to Jim, here's the Indian version of Thriller:


R.I.P.

Why I Think I Like the Movie Orphan Already

Ok, I've seen this trailer a few times when I go to see movies (mainly because I only see horror films, and so, naturally, this movie trailer is always on when I go):

Orphan:




Now, I know what you're thinking...it looks like a mix between The Omen:




and The Good Son:





Right? Well, I agree. Also, I was skeptical because the director is the same guy who directed the remake of House of Wax, which was a huge stinker.

But, those things aside, I am willing to embrace Esther with open arms, because I happen to like a bunch of things about this movie:

1. The girl playing Esther is super scary looking. She's very, very creepy and eerie. The movie poster, which just mainly has some clever shadowing, also terrifies me.

2. I like Peter Sarsgaard.

3. There is major controversy stirring up because adoption agencies are FURIOUS that this movie has been made. Not that I like seeing adoption agencies in distress, but I can't believe there's drama about this. Literally, google "orphan adoption controversy" and see what comes up. Drama draws attention and public interest, hence, I'm interested.

4. It's rated R. FINALLY!! Get that PG-13 out of MY FACE!

5. One of the producers of the film is....Leonardo DiCaprio! Let's face it, anything Leo does or is a part of, I'm on board.

So, my verdict? It's got my attention, and I'm interested in seeing it.

July 24th....Esther's going to creep out and/or offend audiences everywhere!

Happy Frightening 4th!

So, I was surfing around, trying to find a good topic to blog about for today, being a horrorday and all, and I found that someone else was on the same wavelength as me!



I swear the asker isn't me, but we are definitely on the same page here!

So here were the answers:
1. Independence Day
2. Uncle Sam
3. I Know What You Did Last Summer
4. Cape Fear
5. Jaws

Ok, now let's get down to business...

Cape Fear is great and I've already discussed it here.

Jaws, I mean...if you follow MB Blog at all you know how I feel about sharks, and I reference this movie a billion times...here's one of those times.

I Know What You Did Last Summer annoys me because that title is super long and annoying to type with capitals. I....Know...What....You...we're still going?....Did....Last....ugh....Summer. I believe I went to see this in theaters because of Ryan Phillippe, and I will also divulge and say that I believe I own the soundtrack to this film. Slightly embarassing? You bet.

Independence Day isn't really a horror film, and the answerers of the question acknowledge that, but I guess Science Fiction counts, because there are aliens in it and they are trying to kill us, which is scary, right? Also, Jeff Goldblum is in it. Just sayin'.

Ok, now that that's out of the way, let's get down to business...

Uncle Sam?!

I've never heard of this movie, although I believe I used its movie poster last 4th of Ghouleye not knowing what it was for!

Here's the trailer:

This reminds me of one of the trailers they showed during Grindhouse.

This movie is so hard to find online...even Wikipedia is stumped! They do, however, give it a little blurb in the original Uncle Sam wiki:

Furthermore, Uncle Sam appeared as a horror villain in the eponymously titled 1997 film, Uncle Sam. In this film, a veteran who died during Desert Storm rises from the dead to exact justice upon those he perceives as "unAmerican" after some teenagers burn the American Flag on his grave. The poster is a full-on spoof of the classic Uncle Sam poster, with a zombified Sam and the tagline "I want you... dead."

X-Entertainment has a fantastic review of it complete with screen shots, so definitely it's worth the read, although seemingly not worth the watch.

It is available on Amazon for $13.00...you've gotta be kidding me.

Seriously though, I need to see this movie, and if any of you have, please tell me about it!

While I search for Uncle Sam for less than a dollar, you enjoy your spOOoooooOoOoOoky BBQ's and have a Happy 4th of Ghoul-Eye!

Ghoul-Eye, Round 2

Here we are again, huh?

I've found that before I embark on blogging each month, I go back to the last year's blogs to see what I was into at the time. Of course, The Dark Knight was a huge part of last Ghoul Eye, I still love it unconditionally as well. Wow, what a great movie. There was so much excitement surrounding it and I went to see it 3 times in a row...God I love that movie. I loved it SO much that I was Joker Nurse for last year's Monster Bash:

Close, right?

Also, last Ghoul Eye, I wrote about my "Autumn State of Mind", which I'm always in, FYI; as well as crazy Uncle Sam's....Ouija Boards....and Worst Deaths in Horror Films.

But the single best moment of Ghoul-Eye of last year?

So, here's to another great Ghoul-Eye of blogging!