Haunted Product Review--AND GIVEAWAY!!!

I got this today and it is TOTALLY cool and evil, hence the name Eviltron!  A small electronic unit a bit larger than a quarter with a powerful magnet on the top.
So what?

It's what it DOES that counts...scares the $#!+ out of someone!  With a choice of 5 short creepy sounds (scratching, a creak, a hiss, a little girl laughing, a man saying 'hey can you hear me?' and a random mode that mixes up the sounds), you simply choose the creepy sound that you would like and hide it, the powerful magnet holding it securely in place!  Then the fun starts, ever so often, it goes off...what was that, did you hear that?  What do you think that was?!  I don't hear it now, what do you think it was?!  Listen, I think I heard it again!!!  What was that?!
Where could you put this fun little device?  Here's a few suggestions:

• under the bed
• in a kid's closet (probably will cost you later in therapy bills, I wouldn't recommend this!)
• in the car
• anywhere you want to scare

I'm giving away 1 brand spanking new Eviltron unit.  All you have to do is leave a comment about who you're going to freak out and why!  How fun and easy is that?!
Only 1 thing, I MUST have a way to get hold of you if you win (I use Random.org for drawings).  If you're anonymous, I don't have any way of getting your Eviltron to you!

Drawing will be on April 1st...April Fool's Day (appropriate!)

So (rubbing his gnarled hands together in evil delight), tell Mr. Macabre who you're going to scare and why...

Good luck, you sneaky devils!

P.S.  Since I only have 1 Eviltron to give away, you might not want to take any chances...Click Here to be transported to ThinkGeek.com to buy an Eviltron for yourself!

P.S.S.  I have a confession to make...I was HONESTLY going to put one of these babies under Sausage Von Trapp's bed and leave it when I went to teach her kids art.  It could only have been heard when she and Baron Von Trapp went to bed.  I know that she's spooked fairly easily and I guess my sense of compassion has gotten the best of me.  @%$#&! my conscience! 

When Zombies Attack!! A MUST SEE!!!!

I found this through a perusing through Pumpkinrot's past entries.    You HAVE to see it...it's hilarious, I love the expressions of the kids!  Puppets, zombies, kids and grainy old film...I'm in love!

Click Here To Zip To The Site!

My first cease and desist!

Remember THIS post?
 
Please, gentle readers, keep in mind that my comments on this post was," I don't know who to bow down and grovel at their feet for executing these works of art but whoever they are, they are genius!".

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "How Fairy Tales Really End":

My name is Dina Goldstein and I'm the creator of Fallen Princesses.
I just found my work on your site..used without permission.
Also added is a shot of sushi ..that is NOT part of my series!!! and a great insult to my work.
Dina Goldstein
http://www.fallenprincesses.com
Please fix this asap.

Publish this comment.

Reject this comment.

Moderate comments for this blog.

Posted by Anonymous to Mr. Macabre's Hallowe'en Cerebrations at Monday, March 22, 2010 12:07:00 PM

 I will say and maintain that Ms. Goldstein is indeed talented. I had no idea who she was, where these came from or the series she created. I have removed them from my blog but left the sushi since it was not part of her series (I had no idea that it wasn't part of the series, this was forwarded to me in an email and I posted it as is).

My sincerest apologies to Ms. Goldstein for unknowingly insulting her work and for unknowingly publicizing her Fallen Princesses series with the sushi.  I encourage her to use a watermark on her work to prevent further infringements, both knowingly and unknowingly as mine was.

However, a more genteel response might have been:

My name is Dina Goldstein and I'm the creator of Fallen Princesses.
I just found my work on your site, thank you for your kind comments on my talent and that you enjoy my work. However, this was posted without permission and I am not at liberty to grant permission to use my works at this time.
Also added is a shot of sushi ..that is not part of my series.
Thank you for your attention to this, I appreciate it.
Dina Goldstein
http://www.fallenprincesses.com

Oh, I almost forgot...A Sponsor for the Unresting Place!

The Final Unresting Place Cemetery got a sponsor for 2010, with an organization that is near and dear to my cold, black vile heart, the West Alabama Humane Society.  I will be collecting money for the West Alabama Humane Society to help take care of homeless animals.  In return, I will be able to link myself to this organization and in a win-win situation, promoting the Unresting Place and at the same time, helping animals.

And like Bob Barker used to say "spay and neuter your pets"; there's not enough totally insane people like me to adopt and love them all.
 

Haunted Book Review...On Any Given Day

I'm going to start doing book reviews as I can instead of just waiting until a Thursday...


The Complete Haunted House Book

Written and illustrated by Tim Harkleroad



I have several books on how to make a haunted house even though I don't run a haunted house per se (I'm a yard haunter by definition).  I got them in the early days when I was trying to decide what to do with haunting. 

This book (and I didn't pay $210.22 for it) is an excellent guide for the beginner and the more advanced haunter, either if you are just doing a small haunted house or something a little more elaborate.  From finding a house to haunt, construction, making money, making monsters, making props, making scenes, making special effects, this book can guide you each step of the way.  The directions to each effect are clearly illustrated, workable, and doable for most everyone who has put up some shelving or hung a ceiling fan.  He has a small section on party and home haunts with a couple of recipes and even some tips for haunted hayrides.  Even if you're strictly a yard haunter like me, you would still benefit from the make-up, masks and costumes section, the illusions section as well as the special effects section. 

This book is a great resource for the home haunter and pro haunter alike so would I recommend you get it? Yes I would, but scout around for it a bit, $210.22 is a bit steep.

Go get yourself something free!!! Shellhawk's Postcard Giveaway!

Shell of Shellhawk's Nest is hosting her first giveaway.  She's giving away 100 full color front and back custom postcards from Uprinting.com.  I designed and received a set a couple of weeks back and they are gorgeous!  I'm using mine to promote the comeback of the Final Unresting Place Cemetery with my new sponsor, the West Alabama Humane Society and I can always use some more!

So get on over the Shellhawk's Nest and enter!

A Dare...How to eat a Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie

Most people who know me know that I have a big mouth but contrary to popular belief, I cannot dislocate my jaws and swallow small children.

Yet.

However, Sausage dared me to eat a whole Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie...whole, no bites, no folding the pie, it had to go all the way in whole and perfect.

Pfft, this wasn't a challenge to the man to can put half a soda can in his mouth.

I'm sorry you all had to see this.

And by the way...

Lots of people don't have iPhones but might like their picture done with this program...send me a jpeg photo if you would like to: mr.macabre@hotmail.com as an attachment with the word "photo" in the subject so my spam filter won't eat it and I'll be happy to do it for you and send it back to you.  I won't color it, you can print it out and do it with crayons or in Paint if you'd like since color is kinda personal.

I would like to show some of these in a blog entry if you'd like but only if you let me know it would be ok...otherwise I'll just email the sketch back to you if you don't say anything.  Be sure to give me a day or two to get it back to you in case it's a pretty day outside and I want to go frolic in the dandelions.

A hint...lighter or medium lit photos do better...darker photos don't do as well.

One more...

Made a frowny face and snapped it. Is my nose really that big?  I look like the love child of a troll and the Wicked Witch of the West!

Now THIS is fun...

Got an iPhone?  Then you need to mosey on over to the app store and buy ToonFX Paint!  See how pretty it made me!

Before........

After!

With a bit of color (courtesy of Baron Von Trapp, unfortunately the yellow eyes didn't come through)
And of course...Sausage Von Trapp....

She looks positively evil in this...love it!

DON'T buy the program for the computer, it does NOT work the same, VERY unfortunately!!!  I bought it and it doesn't look anything like these with the textures and shadowings.   I have to import and export pictures through my phone to doctor on them.

Would y'all like application reviews that I've found?  Computer programs that might be of interest?  Give me a shout yea or nae.

Piano Man

Some progress on the piano...first of all, an upright piano is a heavy Heavy HEAVY piece of wood and metal.  It took 3 strong men to load it in my van, and I stood on the sidelines cheering them on. 

Then came the delicate job of disemboweling it. 

Until we finally have it stripped down into something that will be canvas for something a little more...haunted....

More to come...........

A Site for Sore Eyes--Phantasmechanics!

Betcha didn't know that I am a Phantasmechanic, didja?  You might not have ever heard of Doug Ferguson but I bet that most haunters have heard of and built a Flying Crank Ghost (otherwise known as a FCG to us haunt geeks). Doug Ferguson is the inventor of the Flying Crank Ghost and I would dare say the father of modern home haunting.  You NEEEEEEEED to traipse on over to Phantasmechanics.com and start sifting through the many, many pages of fascinating information and plans for Hallowe'en animatronics.  This is a MUST.

Oh, and by the way, I said that I was a Phantasmechanic, didn't I?  Scroll on down until you see a link on Harry the Hitcher, yep, that's yours truly.  That was the first incarnation of Harry before he got a makeover.  There's tons of other props there as well as safety hints and my favorite...The Dark Ride Project, the House of Shock made a dark ride from scratch...fascinating reading.

And yes, I'm an uber haunt geek!

All I can say is...coooool!

For you die-hard Lugosi or Dracula fans out there, I present this:

The Ebay auction listing is right here! I wouldn't mind him hanging in glorious full color in my living room (However, Mrs. Macabre has a wildly different opinion on this).  Below is the description, a lot of elbow grease went into making these!

THIS FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND POSTER WAS SOLD BY THE

CAPTAIN COMPANY AND HONOR HOUSE PRODUCTS COMPANY IN THE 1960'S AND

 EARLY 1970'S. 

THE POSTER WAS JUST REPRODUCED BY MY COMPANY IN 

...FULL COLOR...

"THE FULL IMAGE WAS SCANNED NOT BLOWN-UP FROM A SMALLER PRINT."  

ON GLOSSY INDOOR VINYL. 

FOR A SHOW I JUST FINISHED IN NEW YORK.

ONLY 10 POSTERS HAVE BEEN MADE.

4 sold in the show for $400 each and 6 are left...of which 

I am selling to raise cash for the upcoming Chiller Show.

THIS IS A GREAT REPRODUCTION!!! 

"BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL"

 IN THAT IT'S

(PRINTED ON INDOOR VINYL)

ONE ORIGINAL SOLD

 FOR $500.00 IN THE FAMOUS CHILLER THEATRE CONVENTION. 

Again we are able to offer you this great gem for a limited time. After they sell out...

we have no more!!!!

............GET IT WHILE YOU CAN!...........

.....SPECIAL REQUEST ONLY.....

THE ORIGINAL BOX CAN ALSO BE REPRODUCED FOR A REASONABLE FEE.

EMAIL ME ON THIS MATTER. 

Another great product by the houseoftheunusual.com

and thelandofsecrets.com

Haint Blue--Supernatural protection in one coat latex or oil enamel!

Sometimes even Mr. Macabre can be taught a thing or two.  While taking my morning walk with Sausage Von Trapp, I casually asked about the color of her porch ceiling, which was a kind of sky/powder blue and that I had noticed a couple of homes with the porch painted the same way.  I was informed it was "Haint Blue".  Coming from the South, I of course, knew what a haint was; a restless spirit, usually a bit on the nasty side.  And I knew the color blue.

Photos courtesy of Curb Appeal For Dummies

So what makes this color so special?   Legend has it that spirits cannot travel over bodies of water and this color mimicked the color of water thereby tricking haints from crossing into the house.  Not only porches were painted for protection, but shutters, doors, window trims as well as whole houses too for the particularly supernaturally paranoid.  Haint Blue comes in many different hues and shades from greenish to deeper blues depending on the area of the country. 

Some believe that it can deter insects and birds by mimicking open sky.  I wouldn't bet too much on that theory personally, my money's on a can of OFF and a citronella candle. 

So there you are, if you're looking for a color to paint your porch roof and are in a particularly spooky mood, give Haint Blue a consideration, if nothing else for the conversation it could strike up.

Sadly enough, I don't like the color blue very much.  Why couldn't it have been Haint Purple or Haint Orange or Haint Ochre?

Macabrely Cooking: A Cheesy Endeavor! Make Your Own Mozzarella!!!

You'll notice something new on my blog that might help you find the products/books/videos that I review and that's the Amazon.com links.  Yes, I make a little commission from them but hey, I'm going to put it all back into props and in turn will blog a tutorial about them and then you'll make them and be the envy of the neighborhood.  Or I might buy a bottle of booze and get snockered.  Nah, I promise that it'll go for Hallowe'en so if you do decide to buy something, please keep me in mind. Thanks!

I always thought mozzarella cheese was this bland, rubbery stuff in a shrink wrap that says 'low moisture' meaning dry.  I also thought that making cheese was an artisan's trade that took a ton of time, expensive equipment and waiting until the planets lined up.  No on both.  I have made mozzarella 3 times now and it comes out smooth, buttery and deeply flavored.  I can't wait until tomato and basil season comes so I can have Insalata Caprese salad!!!  You will be shocked how easy it is, and it takes less than an hour to make about a pound!

Let's get started, shall we?

What you'll need:

• Large stainless or enameled pot, at least 2 gallon
• measuring cups and spoons
• slotted spoon
• stirring spoon, wood, silicone or plastic
• glass bowl for the microwave
• cooking thermometer that measures 35 degrees up to boiling

Ingredients

• 1 gallon whole milk (you can use 2% but just make sure it isn't ultra pasteurized)
• Unclorinated water (I got mine out of the water filter and it worked fine)
• citric acid for food
• rennet
• kosher salt (grocery store, I like it better than regular salt anyhow)

 (A thermometer like this that you can clip on the side of the pot is what you need, but doesn't necessarily have to be digital.)

Steps:

Dissolve 1 1/2 teaspoons citric acid into 1/2 cup cool water.  Dissolve 1/4 teaspoon rennet in 1/4 cup cool water.

Pour milk into stockpot and put on thermometer. Either wait until milk comes to 55 degrees by itself or heat milk on very low until it comes to temperature.

When milk reaches 55 degrees Fahrenheit (sorry, I don't know Celsius), stir in citric acid.  Slowly heat milk to 90 degrees, stirring gently ever so often to evenly distribute heat.  When it hits 66.6 degrees, draw a circle in the floor with your foot and spit in the middle of it to keep evil at bay.

At 90 degrees, gently pour in rennet solution and mix to distribute once or twice and that's all. The milk with start to chunkify (I hate the word coagulate when it comes to food!)

Gently heat to 100 to 105 degrees and turn off the heat.  There should be a clean break around the edges and the liquid should be clear.  If the liquid is still milky, let it sit a few minutes.

Scoop out curds (hate that word too) with slotted spoon. I pour mine in a strainer.  If I had any sense, I would have bought cheesecloth, which would have made everything so much easier!

Try and squeeze as much water as you can from the curds, they will start to mash together as you squeeze them.

Microwave the curds for 1 minute on high.  Take them out and knead them, pouring off any water that may have come up.  Be careful, these steps can burn your hands!

(Curds after first microwaving)

Microwave the curds for 35 seconds on high.  Take them out and knead them, pouring off any more water.  Add 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of salt if desired (start with 1 1/2).  Knead salt in.

Microwave the curds for 35 seconds more and knead until they look like taffy, shiny, smooth and pliable.  THEY WILL BE HOT, BE CAREFUL, I KNEAD MINE WITH A SPOON!!!

You can either place in a silicone mould for a festive shape (I think muffin tin shape is quite festive), roll in a log for slicing, small balls for snacking, whatever.  You have a very small window of time before the cheese gets cool and stiff but you can hit it with the microwave a couple of more times for about 20 seconds to warm it up.

This is about the best mozzarella I have had.  Once you make it, you won't want to settle for store rubber cheese again.   If you like this (which I do) you might try other recipes from where this one came from:


Macabrely y'all's,

Mr. Macabre

Gentleman Jim--The Floating Head Ghost

As per requested by a fellow haunter, here is a short tutorial for Gentleman Jim. 

How Fairy Tales Really End

Cinderella

Snow White

Sleeping Beauty

Jasmine from Alladin

Belle from Beauty and the Beast

Ariel from The Little Mermaid

These were forwarded to me by Ms. M.  I don't know who to bow down and grovel at their feet for executing these works of art but whoever they are, they are genius!

My favorite has to be Belle, she has that whole 'bitter beautiful' sneer.

Spreadin' the Love--Best Blog Comments Award

 

Bad Mr. Macabre, he's been disassembling a piano and forgot to thank some wonderful people for some awards he was given.  He also has an annoying habit of talking about himself in the third person but that's just an endearing irritation to most people.
Shellhawk of Shellhawk's Nest  was too kind to award me the Best Blog Comments Award for the inane/insane things that I say on her blog.  In all seriousness, she has one &%$#@*&^%?%$* great blog (forgive my dirty mouth) that is just a whole lot of fun to read.

Thank you very much Shellhawk!

Now for a few people (although not in the least a complete list) that do some kick@$$ commenting (sorry, I'll go get the soap for my mouth):

• The Captain from The Captain's Ramblings, a nice guy who has a rapier wit
• Throwing it right back to Shellhawk!  Funny lady!
• Pam Morris of  Labyrinth Creations (although she already got it)
• Pumpkinbrain, a great haunter and overall great guy 
• wiec? of When Is Evil Cool?, the guy's as cool as his sites!
• The Frog Queen  who NEVER fails to amuse with her spider reactions!
• Diane, for being an inspiration and encouragement to me
• Carrie Mae of Creepy Cupcakes, one of, if not the first blogs that I started following, with a heart of gold that shows in her comments

I'm sure there's others but it's getting near my bedtime and my eyes are starting to cross.

Now, here's what you need to do:


1) Link back to the blog/blogger who nominated you and say a few kind words.

2) Paste the picture of the award in your award post.


3) Nominate bloggers you think deliver great comments to your blog.

4) E-mail/post/tweet or do whatever you need to do to inform these bloggers they have been nominated for an award.