Happy Hallowe'en

For some of us though, every day starts out scary.  Happy Hallowe'en y'all!

It fall down and go BOOOOM!

Let it be known, Hallowe'en and wind do NOT mix.

Before:

After:

The archway and columns blew down, taking the seance table with it. Luckily, no one was around.  This was the second archway dive, I think I'm going to leave it off for safety's sake.

What the blankity blank blank DOESN'T cause cancer!?

Was sawing through a piece of wood the other day and saw this warning. Are they just trying to make me a hypochondriac basket case!?

Scare Tactics

Although I don't scare people in my haunt, I DO love to scare (just ask Sausage Von Trapp, when I scare her, I end up getting hit each time, but the bruises are well worth it)!  I also love seeing other people being scared, it's hilarious!  I never knew Ellen was a Hallowe'en fan, much less she loved to scare.







But be careful...

B. A. Spider

Saw this fellow this morning near my shed. Big, fat and creepy but spun a gorgeous web.

The Ouija Experiment

Now isn't this weird, I get an email from Spirit Halloween saying leave the Ouija board alone and now here's something out of the blue about a collective group to try and contact the dead via Ouija board.  On Hallowe'en night at 10pm EST, there's going to be a collective effort to hold an internet seance to try and establish contact with the departed.  These guys don't seem to be some sort of crackpots either, there's a lot of scientific terms and theorizing about electromagnetic fields and such as well as what looks like wiring a Ouija board to generate an electromagnetic field.

I don't know if I will be participating yet (I've had my share of paranormal activity in my life to last me for a while) but I probably will be observing. If you are interested, please click here or on the Ouija board:

The Ouija Experiment

With my luck, I'd either open a portal to let Zuul out or this would happen:

I would LOVE to know what was going on here!!!

And So It Begins

Got the sign up tonight despite a grueling headache. The witch has already taken a nose dive this year but a couple of zip ties and some TLC, she's flying high again...minus one foot.

Here we go. 6 days to showtime...

Spell For Conjuring Spirits

I wrote this little poem/spell for my fortune teller....

Yes, it is indeed my voice, just raised a pitch.

Edison and Spirituality

Found this little article while perusing through teh interwebs...

Edison was of a scientific mind and at the turn of the century, the supernatural and paranormal was all the rage (sound familiar?).  He theorized that if communication was possible with the dead, then it should be done by scientific means.  It is legend that he was/had been working on/had made a "ghost radio", a device that was able to pierce through to the next plane and allow those bygone to communicate.  Unfortunately, the prototype has never been found and the schematics aren't around either.  

Whether or not Edison had indeed constructed/planned out this device went with him to the grave.  The stuff of urban legend and conspiracy theories are made of such as this.  For a little more insight, click here for another (bit more up to date) article.  

And here's a scary@$$ ventriloquist dummy picture thrown in for good measure.

Creature Feature, My New All Time Favorite Band!

Ok, if this don't get you in the Hallowe'en spirit, nothing will!  I dig his burns!  I've got to grow me some like that!  Of course I would have to get another job, find another place to live and dye them daily.  Guess I'll stick with what I have.





More available from iTunes...

Ouija Warning

Strange, today I was checking my email and I get this (ya gonna have to click on the picture to see the whole thing because it's so big):


[Via: FrightCatalog.com: The The Web's #1 Halloween Costume StoreView Larger Image and Get the Embed Code to Add This Infographic to Your Site

Yeah, it's put out by the Fright Catalog and it's an advertisement (I think) but it makes for some interesting reading and makes you say hmmmmmm.

Ever play/use a Ouija board?  Anything weird happen?  I knew someone who had a board and said that they heard it scream when they burned it.  Not sure about all of this myself, I played with one when I was in middle school/high school and it didn't do anything. True, I levitated several feet off the floor, my eyes rolled back in my head and I started screaming "I'M RELEASED FROM THE BOWELS OF HELL!  LET THE TIME OF BLOOD AND PAIN COMMENCE WITH MY NEW EARTHLY REIGN OF EVIL!" but I couldn't get the little pointer to move.

How about y'all, had any dealings with the Ouija board?

Warning/Graphic...One Post to Rule Them All

I've been saving this for quite some time.  I will be inclined to warn you to please read the story BEFORE you click on the link at the bottom of the page.  I have included the link to the picture at the bottom for those of you that may not want to partake of the spectacle.

When I first heard the story from my dear Sausage Von Trapp, I was awed; it was the stuff of legends, of Southern gothic tales and then some.  Although not ENTIRELY a Hallowe’en per se post, you will nonetheless agree with me that this is definitely creepy.  When you see what I've brought to show and tell, you will agree that this is the...

One Post to Rule Them All.

The back-story…

Sausage’s grandfather was a 5-year-old little boy back in the early 1900’s. There wasn’t this overwhelming obsession by the government and lawyers to protect its citizens; they were depended upon to use common sense ("horse sense" as my grandmother used to say, whatever that meant). 

For ease, we shall refer to Sausage’s grandfather as Jim, and his older brother as John.  Jim and John lived in the foothills of Tennessee at the turn of the century. One fateful day, John was showing Jim his new hatchet.  (Before you stick your nose in the air at our ‘primitive’ ancestors, just remember that not too terribly long ago, in the 70’s, I had a chemistry set with real bad@$$ chemicals in it, a bow and arrow set with NO little rubber tips on the arrows, and a carving set in which one night I slipped and carved my hand with the curved blade requiring a trip to the emergency room and 16 stitches).

Of course, as 5 and 7- year-old boys do, there’s always going to be a game of chicken…John made the challenge: “Stick your finger down there on the chopping block and I’ll cut it off.” Jim stuck his hand down on the piece of wood; one was to never back down from a dare.  John was sure that Jim would move his hand out of the way…Jim was sure that his own brother wouldn’t dare bring the hatchet down.  Both trusted the other.

Both were wrong.

The hatchet went all the way down and Jim didn’t move.  The next thing was probably a scream and a pool of crimson. 

Both boys ran back to the house to their mother.  Jim's hand was intact, but his finger dangled from a small sliver of muscle.  The doctor was called and he came quickly in his horse and buggy.  Upon examination, there were two options: the bone and muscle endings could indeed be sewn back together (but the severed nerve ending ensured that the finger would never work)...

or...

he could amputate the finger. 

A quick discussion and it was decided, amputation.  A quick snip with short surgical scissors and it was all over. 

But what of the finger? 

What do you do with a severed limb? 

My dear gentle readers, YOU DANG WELL SAVE IT!!!  

(Remember, we here in the South still have Decoration Day in May; you go to church, then after service you decorate graves and have dinner in the cemetery, then a singing.  Ever see “Crazy in Alabama” or “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”?  Those aren’t movies about Southerners, those are documentaries!  We Southerners invented gothic!  If you don’t have at least one ghost or crazy person in the family, well, let’s just say that every good Southern family has some skeletons in their closet.) 

Ahem, back to the story…

A small, unused jar of Listerine was found in the cupboard. (Yes, you read that right, Listerine.  Basically at the time I think it was just this side of moonshine in terms of alcohol content).  The finger was dropped in...

...and that was that. 

Jim's mother couldn't bear to part with it.  In later years Jim and his new bride became the keepers of the finger.  It resided in the china cabinet, tucked back in the corner.  But Jim had a request, a simple one:  that his finger in the jar be buried with him when he passed on from this life to the next.

And when Jim did pass, and the wake was over, and the casket lowered into the cold earth, it was realized that the finger was still in the china cabinet…in the hustle and bustle and emotional stress of a death and burial, the grief-stricken family had forgotten to put the finger in the casket.  After a bit of worry, there was nothing that could be done.  Jim's wish could not be fulfilled; the finger would reside in the china cabinet until the passing of his wife in which the finger was then handed off to the daughter of Jim...to where it sits today in her china cabinet.

Jim was remembered lovingly and lived a life too short, but a joyful life indeed.  His finger has graced several show-and-tell times in school, never failing to get an awestruck audience. It was and continues to be a conversation piece.  

When I heard this story, I asked Sausage if her mother could take a picture of the finger and send it.  I was delighted that she was gracious not only to take a picture but a great close-up picture!  Please notice the details...the jar hasn’t been opened in over 90 years: and in it, the wrinkled, shriveled pink finger, complete with a little wart and Tennessee dirt under the small fingernail. where it will probably be passed down again and again from generation to generation.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE PICTURE PAGE 

Cartoon Time!

A few cartoons from the Mr. Macabre YouTube favorites...

How to deal with death...

Kick its bony butt!!!

Death and the Doctor have it out over a little widow woman...

Produced by Antonio Banderas, a great little film!

Day of the Dead Rockabilly Cowboy Skeletons! It's in Spanish, but don't worry, you'll get what's happening...

Should have given my Spanish classes a little more time than I did just to know what they're saying.

This one shouldn't be in here because it's of a more somber tone but it's beautiful and the song Catrina sings sends shivers down my spine.


Pure silliness to cap it all off!

50 Personalized Pens Giveaway Winner

After consulting the Oracle of Randomness, I think we have a winner...

The Favorite Things Guy!  Congratulations from Amsterdam Printing and Mr. Macabre!

Pumpkinrot's Wife, Bean, Handiwork

I just got this the other day from Primitives by Kathy...I ordered it in June or July and it was well worth the wait, beautiful!!!
And it's well made too, the thing must weigh 5 pounds at least and the detail is amazing!

He just reeks of old school Halloween! And he lights up too!

DO WANT NOW!!!

Gasp, have you ever seen something so beautiful?!  I KNEW I should not have perused over to Design Toscano (I always get in trouble there!).

Followed a link through trickortreat in Midnight in the Garden of Evil, (very good Halloweeny blog, you should be following her!). 

100 Postcards Winner

The Oracle (Random.org) has been consulted and has spoken.  Caffeinated Joe (what a great name!) is going to help out his brother-in-law's small business get a little kick start with some postcard advertising!
Congratulations from Uprinting and me, Mr. Macabre!

Cure for constipation!

This will scare the $()*%&@( out of you!!!!



Yes, I know that it could be fake, I'm not no dummy.  BUT...at the very end, the guy's voice goes into this deep guttural yell that is EXTREMELY hard to duplicate unless you are in a stressful situation.

You decide, although their first mistake was breaking into a funeral home, that's just asking for it on a silver platter!

EEEEEYYYYYAAAAAAAAA!!!

This actually did scare me, no kidding.  Click to view bigger size...

via $#!7brix.com (didn't think that I would really type it out would you? We have kids in the audience!)

Hint...look to the far left.

A UPrinting Giveaway!!! 100 Custom Postcards!

Could you use 100 postcards? Custom printed?  For FREE?  Of course you could, there's a ton of things that you could use them for, like sending out invitations to that police-gonna-be-called-it's-so-good Halloween party, maybe promote your new business of corpses and cadavers for the season, or something really horrible like something (shudder) normal like bridal shower or baby announcement.

Just kidding.

As some of you may know, I have used UPrinting.com for several years for my online printing needs, from brochures, business cards and posters and I can attest that they have fast service and the quality is absolutely incredible.  Vivid color printing at a great price!

Postcards in all seriousness are a great communication tool that lets a picture on the front say a thousand words, to get someone's attention quickly and make a good impression.  And let's face it, everyone likes a postcard, there's something nostalgic about it.

Here are the details of what you could win:

100 custom postcards for one lucky winner
5 inches by 7 inches
14pt Gloss Cardstock
No folding
Front only printing
2 Business Days Print Turnaround Time
Limited to US residents 18 years old and above only

Giveaway ends 12:00 pm CDT September 20 so go ahead and enter!  Winner to be chosen by the ORACLE OF RANDOMNESS (random.org).

Here's what you have to do to qualify:  Simply tell the world what you would use 100 custom postcards for. I'm going to send out custom invitations to The Final Unresting Place this year for a VIP night.  You MUST leave me a way to get in touch with you...Some people I can look up via Blogger, some I can't.  Make sure that you leave your email in this fashion:  gruesometwosome at snotmail dot com so the spambots won't hijack your email like they did mine.

Good luck from UPrinting and Mr. Macabre!

This giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, no monetary compensation was given and I will receive a set of 100 postcards for hosting.