Tuesday, December 31, 2013

304 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare 'o the day!

Advertisement



"Halloween Treats Gone Wrong" 

I know it's New Year's Eve, but this is That Halloween Blog, where the best celebrations are always related to Halloween!

In this YouTube advertisement from Crest, we get to see what happens when healthy snacks replace candy at Halloween. Little kids in a focus group let you know what they think!

"Halloween Treats Gone Wrong"

Running Time:   1 min: 33 sec

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and…

Happy Halloween!!

Monday, December 30, 2013

305 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare 'o the day!

Short Film



Living with Jigsaw

Living with Jigsaw is a short film parody from Chris Capel.  What kind of roommate do you think Jigsaw would be?

Check out more of Chris Capel's work on YouTube at HandleBarMustacheLand!

Living With Jigsaw

Running Time:   2 min: 26 sec

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and…

Happy Halloween!!

Sunday, December 29, 2013

306 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the Day!

Short Story


"Sparrow Ridge" by Sean Grigsby

Narrated by Mr. Creepypasta

"Sparrow Ridge" appears in the exciting new horror anthology, Daylight Dims.

Daylight Dims is available in print and e-book format and can be purchased for only $4.99 for Kindle on Amazon!

Daylight Dims has also been masterfully produced for audio by Craig Grosheck's Chilling Tales for Dark Nights!

"Sparrow Ridge" is brought to life by narrator, Mr. Creepypasta.

For more recordings of scary short stories with high quality narration from the anthology, check out the YouTube page for Daylight Dims or Chilling Tales for Dark Nights!  Make sure to subscribe to them both!!

Running Time:  48 min: 01 sec

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and...

Happy Halloween!!

Saturday, December 28, 2013

307 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the Day!

Power Point Presentation




“Taming Yesterday’s Nightmares for a Better Tomorrow”

By Peter Watts

Peter Watts is a Canadian marine mammal biologist and a writer of hard science fiction. His novels include the Rifters Trilogy: Starfish, Maelstrom, and Behemoth; and Blindsight.

So why am I mentioning him on That Halloween Blog?

Watts created the absolutely horrifying, and satirically hilarious, Power Point Presentation, "Taming Yesterday's Nightmares for a Better Tomorrow" as promotional material for his novel, Blindsight. The presentation serves as an introduction to the kind of world that exists in Blindsight, but I think it stands on its own as a fantastic horror experience.

Let Watts reintroduce you to Homo sapiens Vampiris.

"Taming Yesterdays Nightmares for a Better Tomorrow" is located on Watts' amazing website, rifters.com, which is so rich in content you should have to pay an admission fee to explore it.  Watts offers it for free! 

You should make it up to him by exploring his Rifters Trilogy or by buying Blindsight on Amazon.


Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and...

Happy Halloween!!

Friday, December 27, 2013

308 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare 'o the day!

Short Film



Jack

Here's Jack, a really short, short film from horror director Drew Daywalt, made especially for the 2010 Santa Barbara Minute Film Festival. Daywalt tells this creepy tale in less than 60 seconds! 

Jack stars Abigail Daywalt and was produced by Drew Daywalt and Jeff Farley. "Jack" was created by Farley and Akiko Tanahashi, with the band Corvo contributing the music. 

You can see more scary shorts at the Daywalt Fear Factory YouTube Page.  And, don't forget to "Like" them on www.facebook.com/DaywaltFearFactory 


Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and…

Happy Halloween!!

Thursday, December 26, 2013

309 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare 'o the day!

Paranormal Encounters?



In this clip, real life Ghost Hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren and special guest, Rob Vescey, discuss the feelings one may experience after encountering a ghost.  The video cuts off after about 7 minutes but is available to rent on Amazon On Demand.  

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and…

Happy Halloween!!

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

310 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the Day!

Animated Short Story


"Nicholas Was..." (image by Alex Quinn.)

"Nicholas Was..."  by Neil Gaiman.  Animated by James Bolan.

Neil Gaiman wrote "Nicholas Was..." as a Christmas card.  He had his friend and artist, Dave McKean, calligraph it, and then sent the 100 word short story out to everyone he could think of.  

In 2010, Gaiman challenged his fans to animate "Nicholas Was..." for Christmas and gave them just one week to do it.  This was James Bolan's response, completed in five days!!

"Nicholas Was..." can be read in Gaiman's wonderful collection, Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and IllusionsThe image of the card above was created by Alex Quinn for a printmaking class and can be found with more cool work on his web site at alexquinnmakes.com! Also, don't forget to catch more of James Bolan's animated fun on his YouTube Channel!

"Nicholas Was..."  by Neil Gaiman.  Animated by James Bolan.

Running time:  1 min: 31 sec

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and…

Happy Halloween!!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

311 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the day...

A Christmas Poem

"Three Little Boxes"

Written and read by Nick Gisburne.

I'm glad to see that my little sister Meg wasn't the only person creeped out by the idea that Santa Claus might look in on her while she slept on Christmas Eve.

Nick Gisburne is a favorite here at That Halloween Blog.  His original poetry and prose and narration of classical literature are always top-notch.  Check out his YouTube Page for more of his creepy great work! 

"Three Little Boxes"  Written and read by Nick Gisburne.

Running Time:  4 min: 16 sec

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and...

Happy Halloween!!

Monday, December 23, 2013

312 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the Day!

Short Film

The Winter Stalker 

Here's a creepy take on a not-so-jolly Old St. Nick by Stephen Reedy and Alex Pardee from Zerofriends Films!

You can see more shorts at their YouTube Page: Zerofriends Films or visit their online store at zerofriends.com

The Winter Stalker

Running Time:  2 min: 06 sec

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and…

Happy Halloween!!

Sunday, December 22, 2013

313 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the Day

Free Audiobook

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Read by Neil Gaiman

Is it any coincidence that one of the greatest Christmas stories of all time is also a ghost story?


Hear Neil Gaiman read Dickens' prompt copy of A Christmas Carol from his free performance at the New York Public Library last Sunday!

Clicking the Link below will take you the Headliners at the New York Public Library Podcast link on iTunes!

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens read by Neil Gaiman.

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and…

Happy Halloween!!

Saturday, December 21, 2013

314 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the Day!

A Ghost Story for Christmas



The Phantom Coach

"...There'll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories from Christmases long, long ago..."

--It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

by Edward Pola and George Wyle, Sung by Andy Williams

Telling ghost stories at Christmas is something of a forgotten tradition, but for hundreds of years, families celebrated Christmas not just with decorations and carols, but with tales of the supernatural, as well.

One such story is Amelia B. Edwards', "The Phantom Coach," which was lovingly adapted into a silhouette puppet film in 2009 by Richard Mansfield. Narrated by Anthony Best and featuring the voice talent of Daniel Marlowe, The Phantom Coach tells the tale of a traveller lost on a deserted road in a snow storm on a cold and dark December Night.  

What's this approaching? A horse-drawn coach? Should our hero hitch a ride to escape the freezing darkness?

See more great short films from Richard Mansfield at his YouTube Page, Mansfield Dark, and learn about his puppet work at muckypuppets.blogspot.com

The Phantom Coach

Running Time:  7 min: 45 sec

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and…

Happy Halloween!!

Friday, December 20, 2013

315 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the Day!

Web Series




Camera Obscura

Clara's grandfather is the only family she has. When he dies, Clara is left to put his affairs in order and clean out his apartment. It is filled with disturbing photographs and an old camera, the relics of a life spent as a drunken crime scene photographer... and, possibly, a demon hunter. 

Camera Obscura is a 20 episode web series written and directed by short film horror auteur, Drew Daywalt. It stars Reagan Dale Neis as Clara and, in what must have been one of his last roles, Jack Klugman (my childhood hero!) as her Grandfather. Timm Sharp and Donnie Jeffcoat round out the cast in Camera Obscura, and Corvo sets the mood with an awesome score. The web series was produced by MWG Entertainment and Jeff Farley.

I'm a big fan of Drew Daywalt's work in the short film/web series format. His set-ups are Poe-like and always lead you down the dark path toward that single, powerful emotional effect... terror!

You can see more of his work at the Daywalt Fear Factory YouTube Channel!

Interestingly enough, Drew Daywalt is also the author of a children's book, The Day the Crayons Quit, which is available to purchase from Amazon!

Don't forget to check out Carmera Obscura below!

Camera Obscura - 20 Episode Playlist

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and...

Happy Halloween!!

Thursday, December 19, 2013

316 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the Day!

Best of Scare Tactics


That's Not Santa

Make sure to check out new episodes of Scare Tactics on YouTubeSyfy, or at scaretactics.tv

That's Not Santa

Running Time:  4 min: 27 sec

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and…

Happy Halloween!!

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

317 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the Day...

Video Game


Shadow of the Eternals

I can't be the only person devastated by the fact that Precursor Games won't be making Shadow of the Eternals any time soon.

Shadow of the Eternals was planned to be the spiritual successor to my favorite video game of all time, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. Eternal Darkness debuted on the Nintendo Gamecube back in 2002, and since that time, I've been praying for a sequel. (I've also been praying that Eternal Darkness would be ported to the Nintendo 3DS, but that doesn't look like it's happening, either.)

Eternal Darkness told the story of the Roivas Family and their connection to an ancient text, The Tome of Eternal Darkness. The game spanned centuries and flashed back and forth through time and space. It contained the kind of eldritch horrors and cyclopean vistas that would have made H.P. Lovecraft proud. 

Eternal Darkness also featured a novel gameplay mechanic, the Sanity Meter. As your character faced more and more unnamable terrors, his or her sanity would slowly deteriorate, until eventually, total madness and death were the result.

Eternal Darkness was a slow-burn and vastly different than the other survival horror games of the day. It relied on creeping dread rather than jump scares and was like watching a great scary movie while reading a great scary book while playing a great scary game.

It was a lot of fun!  I still own my copy, even though I don't have anything to play it on.   

In 2013, Eternal Darkness Director, Denis Dyack, announced the crowd-funding campaign for Shadow of the Eternals. (And there was much rejoicing!) As you can see from the gameplay video below, Shadow of the Eternals was going to be very much the spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness. But after two unsuccessful crowd funding bids, Precursor sadly announced that they were putting their plans for Shadow of the Eternals on hold... indefinitely.

You can see what might have been at The Shadow of the Eternals - Youtube Channel.  And, check out the gameplay demo below!

Shadow of the Eternals - Gameplay Demo

Running Time:  9 min : 37 sec

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and...

Happy Halloween!!

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

318 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the Day!

99Fiction

99Fiction is an awesome new social network for writers and creators! The site has monthly, international short story contests and publishes works of micro-fiction, short stories that run in length between 99 and 500 words.

99Fiction has a section specifically set up for scary stories, called HorrorFix, which is why I'm sharing it with you!

Check out HorrorFix at 99fiction.net and read all the great spooky short, short stories!

And, if the spirit moves you, maybe you could submit one of your own!

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and...

Happy Halloween!!

Monday, December 16, 2013

319 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare 'o the day!

Short Film



Sebastian's Voodoo

Sebastian's Voodoo, the tale of a sentient and self-sacrificing Voodoo Doll, is an animated short film by Joaquin Baldwin. Baldwin is an award winning animator and director from Paraguay, now working at the Walt Disney Animation Studios in LA.  

Sebastian's Voodoo was produced in 2008 at the UCLA Animation Workshop.

Check out Joaquin Baldwin's portfolio at Pixel Nitrate!

Sebastian's Voodoo

Running Time:   4 min: 24 sec

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and…

Happy Halloween!!

Sunday, December 15, 2013

320 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the Day!

Short Story




"Exploration of Room B" by Aric Sundquist

Narrated by J.W. Zulauf

I have a friend who is terrified of clowns. Seriously, she can't even be in the same room with a picture of a clown. 

Her condition is apparently called coulrophobia, but that means "the fear of stilt-walkers," not "the fear of clowns." Also, coulrophobia isn't listed in the DSM or by any other reputable body of mental health practitioners. Still, it's widely been accepted by the public that people who are terrified of clowns have coulrophobia.

I should make my friend read "Exploration of Room B." Or at least force her to listen to the story. It won't cure her coulrophobia, but it might at lease give her pause. Somehow, Aric Sundquist manages to make clowns seem both terrifying and benevolent at the same time!

Sundquist attended Northern Michigan University and holds an MA in Creative Writing. His stories have appeared in multiple publications, including The Best of Dark Moon Digest, and he currently edits and writes for Evil Jester Comics.

Sundquist also plays guitar in a band called Eons Before... What a cool dude! 

Check out his home on the web: aricsundquist.weebly.com.

"Exploration of Room B" appears in Daylight Dims, an uber-cool anthology of 13 original tales of terror. The Kindle Edition of Daylight Dims can be purchased for just $4.99 on Amazon!

Chilling Tales for Dark Nights has done a superior job producing the audiobook for "Exploration of Room B." One of the editors of Daylight Dims, J.W. Zulauf, narrates the story. The recording also features the voice talents of Tiffany Herron, Jason Adams, Matt von Lindenberg, Amanda Herron, and Kristopher Mallory, the other editor and father of Daylight Dims!

For more recordings of scary short stories from the anthology, check out the YouTube page for Daylight Dims or Chilling Tales for Dark Nights. Make sure to subscribe to them both!!


Running Time:  34 min: 45 sec

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and...

Happy Halloween!!

Saturday, December 14, 2013

321 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the Day!

Interview with Infect Tedz

Crowbear!

Michael.

Jason.

Freddy.

Pinhead.

Crowbear.



Crowbear?

Could a zombie teddy bear from the UK become the next great horror icon?

Dave and Sammi, the two-person team behind the web-based toy brand, Infect Tedz, certainly hopes so!

This past week, I had the opportunity to interview the couple from Manchester, UK, regarding the outbreak of their zombie teddy bears.

"I don’t know if you remember,” Dave said, "but I tweeted last week about our house looking like the set of an 80's B movie? I wasn’t joking! The living room is full of teddies, upstairs is littered with teddy corpses and the bedroom is overflowing with zombified teddies. Yeah, you could say we’re pretty devoted to this now.”

“Plus,” Dave noted, "there is something satisfying about turning something loveable and cute into something blood-thirsty and evil… strangely, [though] they are still kinda adorable."

Infect Tedz started life as a gift for a friend.

According to Dave, "The reason we chose bears and teddies is because, sadly, there weren’t many things in our house that we could zombify. Initially, we wanted to make a zombie creation for our friend and teddies seemed perfect. It wasn’t until about a week later that we realised that people might actually want to buy these one day. 

"The idea sat in our heads for a month or so, until we actually began with the creation of the clay bear skull. Making the bear skull was really important to us because it was from this that we planned to take all the casts for our zombie bear heads.”

Dave and Sammi do all of the work on the Infect Tedz creations themselves.

Dave explained, "I’ve always been quite handy at creating things and that mainly comes from my Dad, who owns his own business... which is actually a toy store, (although he wouldn’t like me to call it that) he’d insist it is actually a hobby store! It is through spending time with my Dad in and around the shop that I learned everything I know. I was shown how to make a mold, then cast from the mold, and also, I have a good understanding of most types of paints and what effect they can create.

"We buy most of our bears as pre-loved teddies from thrift stores (charity shops). However, we do sometimes buy the bears new so we can have the right bear that matches the idea in our head. All the gory bits on our tedz (such as claws, guts, bones etc) begin life as a piece of clay. We then take a mold of that clay in silicone and it is from these molds that we cast the parts. We have taken to calling these parts ‘prosthetics.’ Each ‘prosthetic’ is made from a quality plastic known as resin.

"In the future, we want to start using latex to line the interior of any wounds to create a more gory effect, but at the moment we are still experimenting with this idea on our test subjects.

"On average it takes 2 days to make an Infect Ted, that is including the majority of the painting, gluing and casting. Although we always seem to find ourselves going back to a finished bear to do touch ups."

Dave and Sammi would seem to make the perfect Infect Tedz team. Sammi didn’t grow up in a toy and hobby store-type environment, but Dave shared, “Sammi is very creative and she picked up the skills needed [to make the Tedz], easily. But more importantly, she’s a wizard with technology. It is a great partnership because, although I know how to make the bears, it is Sammi that comes up with the best ideas! When it comes to thinking outside the box and coming up with the answers, she’s the one I look to."

The couple have taken on the task of creating the bears and establishing the Infect Tedz store and brand as a labor of love. "Ever since we had the initial idea of Infect Tedz, and especially since moving forward with the brand, we’ve always wanted it to be our full time commitment. Sadly, together we don’t have enough savings to create Infect Tedz without having to work at the same time.” Dave and Sammi remain hopeful, though, "that within 12 months, Infect Tedz will be our full time passion. We can’t wait!"

Dave and Sammi plan to launch the Infect Tedz web-store on January 1st, 2014. The store will be located on their own website and is currently under construction. They won’t be using third-party hosting, but say, “We will have the occasional eBay auction just for fun!"

Dave reports, "The price for our bears will be based on the size of the bear, materials used, time spent and any extra elements (such as props- hatchet/crowbar, etc). We hope to sell the majority of bears for around £40 because we don’t want them to become too expensive. Although a few of the bears are going to be closer to £60, we don’t want that to become the norm because after all we want people to be able to afford them!”

Dave and Sammi are also "toying with the idea of having custom orders made available, but it is hard to give a specific price at the moment because individuals will require unique prosthetics, gore, a specific bear and any custom props. Roughly we think custom orders will be between £80-£100 but this is an early estimate."

Infect Tedz will be available to ship internationally! Current exchange rates apply, but this means that those of us here in the US will be able to order them! If you’re a teddy bear collector, introducing a handmade Infect Ted into your home might lead to an outbreak, but would that really be that bad of a thing?

As for the horror icon status of Crowbear, he is just one of many Infect Tedz shambling out of Dave and Sammi’s home in Manchester. Personally, I’m hoping Hatchet becomes the star!

Hatchet!

Check out Infect Tedz on Facebook to pick out your favorite zombified teddy bear! I'll keep you posted as to when their web-store goes live so you'll be able to order an Infect Ted of your very own!!

(Special thanks to Dave and Sammi for their time and great correspondence and to Betsy for editing my very first interview!!)

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and…

Happy Halloween!!

Friday, December 13, 2013

322 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare 'o the day!

Short Film



I Love Sarah Jane

Boys will always have crushes on pretty girls... even during a Zombie Apocalypse!

I Love Sarah Jane is an Australian short brought to you by Blue Tongue Films.  It was co-written by Spencer Susser & David Michôd, directed by Susser, and produced by Angie Fielder.

I Love Sarah Jane stars Brad Ashby, Mia Wasikowska, Vladimir Matrovic, Beau South, Peter Yacoub, Richard Mueck, and Anton Enus.


Check out more great short films at bluetonguefilms.com or on the Blue Tongue Films YouTube Page

I Love Sarah Jane

Running Time:  14 min: 16 sec

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and…

Happy Halloween!!

Thursday, December 12, 2013

323 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the Day...

Paranormal Encounters?



Annabelle

YouTuber Laurence Sullivan tells the "true" story of Annabelle, the haunted doll, currently living at the Warren's Occult Museum in Connecticut.  Annabelle plays a small, but spooky, role in The Conjuring.

She doesn't look quite as scary in this pic, though, right?

Check out more of Laurence Sullivan's True Horror stories and Creepy Pasta readings on his YouTube Page and make sure to visit him on the web at laurencesullivan.weebly.com!

True Horror: Annabelle The Doll


Running Time:  3 min: 53 sec

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and…

Happy Halloween!!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

324 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the Day!

Video Game


Until Dawn

Until Dawn is a "cabin in the woods" style, teen horror game being developed for the PS3 by Supermassive Games.  Until Dawn is set in a wintry forest locale, where a group of teenagers find themselves stalked by a masked serial killer. Gameplay is centered on a flashlight mechanic which involves using the Playstation Move as controller. 

This actually sounds like the perfect use of the PS Move to me. I'm just worried that nobody actually has one of those, especially since Sony has left PS Move functionality to die on the vine on the PS3.

Until Dawn was announced at Gamescom back in 2012 and was supposed to be released in 2013, although Sony has been very quiet about the game for some time. I was actually afraid it had been cancelled, but Pete Samuels, Managing Director of Supermassive games, told Polygon on November 7th that Until Dawn was "Still very much in development..."

In the Polygon article, Samuels would not say if the game was being moved to the PS4 or if the PS Move Controller option had been dropped, however. 

Check out the teaser and gameplay trailer for Until Dawn below!

Until Dawn Teaser

Running Time:  1 min: 21 sec

Until Dawn Announce Trailer

Running Time:  1 min: 38 sec

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and...

Happy Halloween!!

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

325 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the Day!

Creepy MicroPasta



Two-Sentence Horror Stories

Youtuber WellHeyProductions discovered a list of Two-Sentence Horror Stories and recorded them for our listening pleasure!!  I especially love the last story!!

Make sure to check out WellHeyProductions' YouTube channel or on the web at wellhey.com.  The WellHeyProductions pledge:  "Bringing colorful insanity to your drab, uneventful lives." 

Like I could use more insanity!


Running Time:  3 min: 08 sec

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and...

Happy Halloween!!

Monday, December 9, 2013

326 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare 'o the day!

Short Film



Suckablood

Step-Mother intends to teach poor Tilly a horrifying lesson if she doesn't stop sucking her thumb...

Suckablood is another great short film from the talented folks at Bloody Cuts Films.  It was written and directed by Ben Tillett and Jake Cuddihy, produced by Ben Franklin, and stars Holly Jacobson as Tilly.

Make sure to check out more scary shorts at the YouTube page for Bloody Cuts Films and visit their home on the web at bloodycuts.co.uk to learn about the Bloody Cuts "Who's There?" Horror Short Film Challenge!!  

Suckablood

Running Time:  6 min: 46 sec

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and…

Happy Halloween!!