A Quickie Mr. Macabre Giveaway!

Disembodied head not included

Ok,  how would you like a creepy mirror to hang on your wall? This one is about 10 inches across and has 2 lovely layers of skulls cast in genuine resin!

Now couldn't you see yourself putting on your makeup in this?

Now, here's all you have to do...

Tell me what's wrong with this plaque that I bought yesterday.  You have to be specific about what is wrong.

Simply comment and tell me what's wrong.  I will post that I received your name but not post your answer and all the correct entries will be put into the Random.org hat and drawn for the mirror.  Contest ends Saturday, September 4!

Good Luck!

Haunted Product Review...Froggy's Fog Products

One of the only reasons that I do reviews is to help YOU have an educated haunted opinion on what works and what needs work in the wonderful world of Hallowe'en.  This is why I bring you one of the staples of any self-respecting haunt...fog.  It's kind of hard to mimic the exact atmospheric conditions that make a lovely patch of low lying fog but NOT that hard when you have a fog machine, fog juice and a fog chiller.  I'm not going to go into the different types of fog chillers, you can Google it and get all the plans that you could possibly need or want, or the different types of fog machines (from cheapie WalMart's to one of the 1500 watt bad boys from Chauvet) but I WILL give you a heads up on the people that can make the fog that the machines produce a lot better...Froggy's Fog.

I have used their products for several years now and I will attest to the fact that there is a MAJOR significant improvement in their fog fluid than the over the counter stuff you find in any drug store chain or retailer.

Freezin' Fog Juice is my weapon of choice in the Final Unresting Place Cemetery...From their website:

 Froggys Freezin Fog is a water based fog machine fluid formulated to create optimum low lying fog effects for outdoor graveyard scenes. It is super thick on the front end and creates the perfect graveyard ground fog but here comes the good part; it is formulated to hang in the air to create the spooky graveyard scene as well. You get a 2 for 1 deal with the Freezin Fog that you miss out on if you use a Fast Dissipating Fluid outdoors. It is compatible with the American DJ Mister Kool Fog Machine. Freezin Fog, also known as, "Sta-Lo", "Kool Fog" or "Chiller Fog" is perfectly formulated for all water based fog machines. This fog juice was designed to be the best Halloween Fog for Outdoor Graveyard Scenes! Freezin Fog can also be used with Ice Chest Chillers, Trash Can Chillers, Kool Kore Chillers etc...

Please note that you HAVE to use a fog chiller for this fog to work.  And I will say that the boxed ones that you put ice cubes in do NOT work!  I encourage you to build one of the many easy fog chillers one afternoon (yes you CAN do it!).  I use an ice chest chiller and it works spectacularly!

Froggys Swamp Fog Juice is a water based fog machine fluid formulated to create an extremely long lasting / super long hang time fog. When you hear about Froggy's Fog, you almost always hear the words Swamp Juice as well. It is being used by thousands of theme parks, haunted attractions, laser tags, skating rinks, family entertainment centers, nightclubs and in many more places. It has been featured on the TV Show "World's Greatest..." as the World's Greatest Fog and Froggys Fog has even won the International Association of Haunted Attractions Vendor Excellence Award for all the great things Swamp Juice has done for the Haunted Attractions Industry. Some of our great clients are Universal Studios, Busch Gardens and Six Flags. Swamp Juice has also been used by the military in Urban Warfare Training Centers and by Police and Fire Departments for Simulated Smoke Training. It is perfect for so many applications they are hard to name, but if you want an extremely long lasting fog with great dispersion properties, and does not have an obnoxious odor this is it. Froggys Swamp Fog Juice can be used in any water based fog machine. It is made from the highest quality pharmaceutical grade chemicals and with the amazing results you will see from this fluid, it makes Froggys Swamp Fog Juice the perfect alternative to high priced retail fog fluids. All Froggys Fog and Haze Fluids are made from lab-grade UV-Filtered de-ionized water and pharmaceutical grade chemicals, each approved by the FDA.

I've used Swamp Juice...Love it but found it is a little too thick for my haunt.  We're talking pea soup here!

  Froggys Fog Juice is a water based fog machine fluid formulated to create a high density, medium hang time fog. It is perfect for DJ's, skating rinks, laser tags, bowling alleys, concerts and for general lighting enhancement. Froggys Fog Juice can be used in any water based fog machine. It is made from the highest quality pharmaceutical grade chemicals and with the amazing results you will see from this fluid, it makes Froggys Fog Juice the perfect alternative to high priced retail fog fluids. All Froggys Fog and Haze Fluids are made from lab-grade UV-Filtered de-ionized water and pharmaceutical grade chemicals, each approved by the FDA.

I haven't used this one but I would have no problem with their claims or quality.

This year, I'm trying something new...One of the good  absolutely marvelous things about Froggy's Fog is that it is VERY low odor, if at all.  I can remember the smell of burning fog fluid in my machines when I was just starting to haunt and I do admit that there is some nostalgia about that smell, like the smell of a burnt jack o' lantern's lid.  But I've grown up a little and gotten to be a Hallowe'en snob so to speak,  I'm trying out some Fog Scents from Froggy's Fog (I figure that they make the fog fluid, then they know what they're doing).  Here are the three scents I've purchased and my description of the scents:

Rain Forest--Closing my eyes I can smell the dirt of a newly dug grave.  There's the slight hint of moist green leaves in the fragrance with a subtle touch of pine. THIS should have been named Graveyard at Midnight!  Excellent scent for the old decrepit bone garden!

Forest--A deep scent, like that of a pine tree.  This has a bright woodsy scent, I like it, a lot, but it's a little too "happy" for my deep, dark purposes.  This would be the IDEAL Christmas fog scent!

Gothic--A heavy ethereal perfume from somewhere unknown.   The residue from decades of censers swinging their sublime incense throughout a crumpled church.  Might mix a tad with Rain Forest just to see what I might get; hopefully the scent of a damp graveyard with a hint of dark perfume from unknown places.

Bottom line...fast shipping and the nicest people that you could want to meet.  A couple of dollars more than what you buy on the shelf but so worth it for the beautiful thick plumes of fog that come billowing out! I'm excited about the scents, I think that it will add dimension to The Final Unresting Place that hasn't been there before.

Froggy's Fog

In the kitchen with Mr. Macabre...CHOCOLATE BACON!!! (with apologies to The Spooky Vegan)

Somebody hold me and bring me a cigarette, I'm in the midst of an afterglow after eating this...

Last week I was listening to NPR and I caught the tail end of something about carnival food.  I've had a fried Twinkie (meh, it wasn't all it was cracked up to be), fried Oreos (tasted like a wonderfully moist brownie), funnel cakes, twister fries, Polish dogs, I love 'em all.  Then they mentioned something that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck in curiosity and excitement...

Chocolate coated bacon.

I haven't been able to get it off my mind until this evening and I will share with you the preparation for the ecstasy of this (children, shut your ears) orgasmic treat:

Ingredients--
Bacon
Chocolate (a chocolate bar will do nicely)

 Fry your bacon in your usual fashion (I use a microwave to catch the grease, although a restaurant nearby me deep fries their bacon)

Save the drippings for a bacon smoothie for these hot days!!!  Yum!

Melt the chocolate either in a double boiler or in the microwave.

Spread the melted chocolate over the bacon and let cool...my eyes rolled back several times involuntarily while eating a couple of pieces.  Somewhere, my physician has got a cold chill and he doesn't know why...

Mr. Macabre's Costume is just about finished!

Each year I spend a whole lot of time on props but forget about little ol' me until the last second.  Not this year, I have just about finished my Mr. Macabre outfit and I'm really pleased with it.  All I have left is a cummerbund and I'm done...

The Shirt (100% cotton sateen batiste with tiny bronze skull buttons; feels sooooooo good on, I'm a sucker for nice fabric)

My Cane and Cameo (made out of glow in the dark polymer clay.  For those who work with polymer clay, I bow at your feet in reverence...this stuff was a $($*&**~!! to work with!)

My little glowing cameo (looks better in the dark)

My top hat with MASCULINE undertaker's black satin bow and ribbons.

Side view

The Coachman's Coat, got a great deal on the wool on teh interwebs! 

Back view, I lengthened the cape and the bottom hem about 3 inches for that menacing goth til you drop look.

Sleeve 'buttons'.  Actually they're skull guitar strap studs but that will be our little secret.  It's hard to find nice large gothic skull buttons!

The front of the coat is still kind of meh, I might have to buy more skull studs.  Found a pair of tux pants on the Ebays and I'm almost ready to go!

Me Get Award!!! I'm Versatile!

The Creepy Vegan awarded me this honor a little while back (I'm embarrassed to say how long, I've been so far behind on my blogging!) and I'm just now formally saying THANK YOU!

The rules attached to this award are:
• Thank the person who gave it to you
• Share 7 things about yourself.
• Pass the award along to 15 who you have recently discovered and who you think fantastic for whatever reason 
• Contact the blogs you picked and let them know about the award.



er, I'm going to do what she did and go with 5 and that haven't been awarded this already:


7 things about Mr. Macabre:
1.  I was an award-winning neon artist in the 1990's
2.  I was in the ministry once
3.  I've been sewing since I was 12
4.  Growing up, I used to be the biggest fraidy cat in the world!  
5.  I could eat pizza every day and never get tired of it
6.  I  was an art teacher to 6, 7 and 8th graders in a Catholic school
7.  Pastries are my weakness


Here's Some Blogs That Deserve Your Following:
1. Labyrinth Creations
2. Nichols Manor
3. Pumpkinbrain
4. Shellhawk's Nest
5. Wouldn't You Like to See Something Strange?

Again, THANK YOU CREEPY VEGAN!

And Now for Something TRULY TERRIFYING!!!

When I was growing up, I would go to my grandmother's house and on top of the television in a faux cut crystal glass dish they sat, gently being warmed by the Philco console.  

Circus Peanuts...candy of the damned.

I was at an elderly customer's house the other day and after finishing, she pulled a grandmother on me...tried to feed me.  Oh yes, I put up a brave fight, saying that I was on Weight Watchers, didn't want to be a trouble, really wasn't hungry, but in the end I lost and she reveled in her victory by loading me up,  a couple of pieces of pizza, 2 pecan swirl pastries, a bag of homemade coconut macaroons, and my eyes beheld the horror... 

CIRCUS PEANUTS!!!

Memories flooded my head of the orange peanut shaped concoctions.  I think my first thought as a young child tasting the strange sweet lump was the same as the one as I had last week...

WTF?!

*shudder* why the #*&@$ do these companies think that a creepy @$$ clown that looks like he's about to throw up orange chunks is a good marketing strategy for this product?!!!!  

I'm not going to say what these look like because you already know. I just now noticed the company name on them.  

They say that it's marshmallow.  I say more like a cross between stale Play Dough and spoiled Duncan Hines frosting.   If you leave them out to get stale, you can build a storm shelter with them.  The taste, I just don't know.  PLEASE, IF YOU KNOW WHAT THE TASTE OF A CIRCUS PEANUT IS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW SO I CAN DIE IN PEACE!!!   Traditionally, foods are flavored to mimic, however loosely, a flavor found in nature.  I cannot determine the base flavor of this at all.   

And if you suck them like a Jolly Rancher, they get really slimy in your mouth a fizz a tiny bit.   I think that I threw up in my mouth a little just now.

I'm going to go lie down now, I'm getting rather queasy thinking about these.

The Bad Halloween Books Review

The economy stinks still.  We all know that. What I'm going to do today is stretch your budgets by showing you some Halloween books that I have wasted my money on so you won't have to!  A little about me first...I'm just this side of a hoarder when it comes to Hallowe'en books and videos.  I just am.  Even if they are rotten, I'll still buy them because they're Hallowe'en and I HAVE TO HAVE THEM ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!  

ahem, where was I?

Any book boasting the title including the words EXTREME, ULTIMATE or BEST can be well assured they AREN'T.  

Extreme Halloween: The Ultimate Guide to Making Halloween Scary Again.

1. No it isn't Extreme.  

2. No it isn't Ultimate

3. No it doesn't make Halloween scary again

Two of the three words are in the title and so I expect more.  I didn't get it. Cute and very clever pumpkin carving and a prop or two but that's about it.

Better Homes and Gardens: Halloween Pumpkins and Parties: 101 Spooktacular Ideas

1.  I hate the word 'spooktacular'

2. Better Homes and Gardens sucker me in each and every year to buy their Halloween book.  I regret it each and every time.

Better Homes and Gardens: Halloween: 101 Frightfully Fun Ideas

1.  I hate the word 'frightfully'

2.  If you think that taking wire, curling it into swirls and sticking it into a pumpkin is scary, then this book is damn terrifying.

Better Homes and Gardens: Halloween Fun: 101 Ideas to Get in the Spirit

1.  If you think it's witty to spell 'cute' with a 'k', then this book's for you.

Better Homes and Gardens: Big Book of Halloween

1. It's thankfully not all that big

2. How many more witch hats made with a sugar cone and cookie can we take?!

Hocus Pocus: Halloween Crafts for a Spooktacular Holiday

1.  You know where I stand when 'spooktacular' is involved, don't even go there.

Creative Costumes and Halloween Decor: 50 Projects to Craft and Sew

1. Yawwwwwwwwnnnnnn

2. I will say this, if you're a novice seamstress or seamster, this book has some pretty decent costuming tips with lots of pictures using a hand model.  NO ONE that has, does or will haunt or sew will have as beautiful, graceful and perfect hands and nails as the hand model in this book.  Looking at my hands, I have 2 warts and counting, 2 swollen joints, several cat scratches and dry skin that looks like someone's peeling back after a bad sunburn.  I love hand models, there's just something about the illustrations in a book where someone is demonstrating something that clearly, they've never done it before because they have pristine hands.

I'm weird.

This is NOT by any accounts a complete listing, just some of the bad offenders that popped up.  I have some supposedly professional haunting books that deserve the full wrath of my viperous tongue.

Bottom line, if you're a book ho like me, then go ahead and buy them just to have a big collection.  If you're serious about your Halloween, start with Martha Stewart and go from there.

Woodworking for OUR kind of people!

Props season SHOULD be in full swing for y'all now (whaaaaaaaat?  I promise I'm starting today!) and maybe grandpa or dad want to help with Hallowe'en this year in their woodshop.  Maybe they're not really into making a coffin and they're not really that great at corpsing, then The Winfield Halloween Woodcrafter's Collection  may help you out.
Most are cute, and some are doggone witty...

I like skeletons, the last one is just rude.  He would be out ALL year in the FRONT yard!

I've got this pattern although I haven't put it to use yet.  He looks bad@$$ with the cowboy hat.

While looking through their online catalog, they have some patterns that incorporate animation, optics and lighting!  Absolutely perfect for anyone who may want to consider trying some animation in their yard designs!

Worth checking out!

The Winfield Collection Home Page

I was doing so good until now...

I was doing fine, I was staying on budget BUT this happened:

Can you dig it?!  I ordered this, and it's absolutely fantastic!  3 are left at last count so get one while the gettin's good!

Artwork Link Page

To make matters worse, he has the matching shirts...

Workshirts are $40 and tees are $20 USD.  You have to order 2 tees at $20 and then put in the Paypal note to seller that you would like a workshirt instead.  And the design GLOWS!!!
BUT HURRY AND BUY BECAUSE AFTER AUGUST 21, THIS DESIGN WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE ANYMORE!!!

Shirt Link Page

I'm here...still here!

Ok, so I've been missing in action lately, and I'm so terribly sorry. First of all, it's been hot. Like surface of the sun hot with humidity that lets you swim to the mailbox. THAT kind of summer and then there's work; I have a residential and commercial window tinting business and with the heat, comes the business which is good.  VERY good since last year stank.  But enough of excuses...I have been sewing a lot lately and made myself a wonderful ruffled shirt and long wool coat for Hallowe'en.  For those who sew, I have 3 words of wisdom...Butterick, Simplicity and McCall's.  I wouldn't deviate from the mainstream pattern companies anymore because I had forgotten how much easier they were to sew than the independent companies that I have used.

Now, for something that I've decided that I HAVE to collect...

The Dennision Bogie Book series ran from 1909 (NO, I WAS NOT BORN YET THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!) to the mid 1930's.  These were basically idea book/catalogs featuring the Dennison line of holiday decorations.  This is the one that I bought from Amazon.  Now my review:

Wow!

This is a glimpse back into history when Hallowe'en was for adults and not children, the days before it was associated with the gore genre.  The illustrations (and they are lavishly illustrated) show elaborately decorated rooms for parties, that could be done with Dennison's crepe paper and paper decorations.  The costumes, well, let's say we've come a long way baby, they looked kind of goofy but they might have been the height of haute couture back then.  Charming but goofy.

The bad news is that the 10 cents price tag has gone up...considerably.  If you get your sights on an original Bogie Book for less than 100.00, then you're lucky.  Fortunately, there are high quality reprints out there (the route I took) for 12.00 to 14.00.  Yes, they're worth it.  A fanatic of Hallowe'en should have at least one of these on their shelves to see where we came from and what out ancestors did (at least the rich ones, all the people in these books look well off) to celebrate the most fun night of the year.

Some vintage photos from the interwebs (not from the Dennison books)...Please visit the blogs, I happened up on them and they're great!

This one scares the %$#@ out of me! (via Halloween Monster Party)

This SHOULD be a LOL Cat saying 'I iz skard fur life' (via Johnny Cupcakes, a really cool blog and store!)

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET (via Ethics Soup)

All I can say is WTF?! (Via Ethics Soup)