Notes from the Spooky side

Oh what fun we had.....

2010-11-29T14:14:00.000-08:00

A wonderful Halloween weekend was had by all!

It was a more sedate one this year, but next year is going to be HUGE!

Spook to you later.

Almost there.....

2010-10-28T04:48:00.000-07:00

Just a few quick shots of some of this years decorating. The brand new black-lights have been installed tonight and all that's left to do tomorrow is the front porch.

It's great to see that more shops and businesses are getting into the Halloween spirit, even though it's kind of strange to see skeletons and witches hats competing for shelf space with tinsel and reindeer. This year I bought two Halloween pumpkins from Woolworths, for a much cheaper price than I've paid in previous years.

With any luck the numbers of trick-or-treaters will be up this year too.

More photos soon.

Happy Halloweening.

The arrival of Halloween candy 2010!

2010-09-21T18:38:00.000-07:00

I know that to those of you living in the US, where candy corn is readily available and commonplace, my excitement at the arrival of the box of goodies above probably seems a bit strange. Here in Australia, (sadly) Halloween is still a bit of a foreign concept for most people and while there is a growing market here as far as Halloween decorations and costumes go, it is still nigh on impossible to find candy corn and other themed sweets.

Luckily, I have discovered a place in Melbourne called USA Foods and I highly recommend them to any Aussies who may be searching for American candy. The range of Halloween candy they carry is quite small I'm sure, compared to what's available in the US.....but to me (and my kids) it's just heaven and we are all ridiculously excited when the box arrives....it definitely heralds the start of our Halloween preparations!

Along with the decorating of the house, the baking and presentation of the Halloween food is the thing that I find most enjoyable. I've posted a few pics here of some 'witches fingers', 'monster cupcakes' and 'spiderweb dip' that I've made in previous years. I've yet to decide on the menu for this year, but after watching the TV show 'Community' (how fantastic is that show, by the way!) I definitely want to make Tombstone Cookies with everybody's name on them.

Well that's about it for this post. This year I hope to put up more links to interesting Halloween sites etc, as well as keep a record of my own preparations and creations.

Roll on Gothtober!

Happy haunting everyone!

Awesome movie of Halloween at our place!

2009-11-16T12:58:00.000-08:00

My amazing, wonderful and talented friend Linda shot this film during our Halloween party this year. It's in two parts here as the file size is quite huge. It really captures the spirit of the night so much better than still photos do....this is an event that takes weeks of preparation and is over far too quickly, so I'm over the moon to have this brilliant movie as a record of what is definitely my favorite night of the year!

Thanks to everyone who came along.....we'll see you here next Halloween!

.....and yes, that's me covered in spiders and generally acting the fool (a respectable quantity of "witche's brew" had been consumed!), my husband Guy is the pirate, my 10 year old son Noah is the spooky clown, my youngest daughter Grace is the witch who opens the film, middle daughter Taylor can be seen scoffing strawberries dipped in the chocolate fountain along with Linda and eldest daughter Meg is the dancing doll. The dancing skeleton is Linda's husband Nick.....hilarious!

Also appearing.....Junahya, Charlotte, Cassie, Elliot, Jared, Steve, Cherie, Dallan, Liana, Ebony, Alaina, Nat, Julie, Scott, Brenton, Bev, Dakota, Lainie, Wayne, Trent, Sally, Jane, Ian, Mia, Michelle, Matt, Sue, Chelsea, Anne and Ben.

Scary, scary scarecrow.....

2009-11-01T13:34:00.001-08:00

It's difficult to photograph at night without using the flash, but I think these have captured our new scarecrow......now to find a place to store him till next Halloween!

Till next time.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T23:27:00.000-07:00

Another Halloween has come and gone....all too quickly for those of us who feel right at home in the fright zone! Last night was our annual Halloween blow-out and a terrific night was had by all. I managed to take a few shots before friends arrived and the mayhem began in earnest.....above is my son Noah (evil clown - aren't they all??), youngest daughter Grace as Dorrie the little witch, eldest daughter Meg as a Doll, lovely hubby Guy in pirate get-up (and again with mate Steve in full freak-out) and yours truly as the Spider Lady. I hope to have some more pics to post soon and my friend Linda was filming for most of the night and is going to put together a little movie, which I will certainly be sharing on this blog.

As always, a huge thanks for coming goes out to all our friends, many of whom travel from Adelaide to be with us and who really get into the spirit of Halloween. We also had quite a number of trick-or-treaters this year....I think word is getting around that there is heaps of free candy and spookiness at "The Castle of Doom"!

I've just realized that I haven't taken a shot of the finished scarecrow....I'll do that tonight.

Till next time.

Scarecrow and paper mache pumpkins....

2009-10-26T04:48:00.000-07:00

Made some good headway on my new scarecrow and paper mache pumpkins today....the incredible and Halloween genius Scott, of STOLLOWEEN is the inspiration for the pumpkins. Do check out his blog if you aren't familiar with it....he does amazing things with paper mache. I've been wanting to try out these pumpkins for a couple of years now but always run out of time.....this year, I've still run out of time, but I'm doing them anyway. I won't go into the process here because it's all covered on Scotts wonderfully generous site, but I will say that so far it's been great fun and not too difficult....my biggest problem is my own impatience - I just want them to hurry up and dry already so I can paint them....and then light them!

The new scarecrow is progressing well too.....I wanted to make something really creepy to welcome people on Saturday night. I've collected a bunch of twigs and branches to make his arms and dyed up a heap of grey fabric to make some shredded rags for him to wear. I tried to find a suitably 'scarecrowish' hat, but was unsuccessful so ended up making one....I like the way it hides his face till you get right up under him!

With Halloween only days away now, it's the usual last minute, barely contained panic, trying to get everything I want finished so that I can relax (!) and enjoy the night.

Till next time.

2009-10-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

I visited the "Mutant Barnyard" earlier this year as part of the Adelaide Fringe Festival and thought I'd post the photos here for all to enjoy (or not, as the case very well may be). I admit to having a morbid fascination with all things freaky and strange, so this tent of real (and fake) wonders was a real treat for me. In the other half of the tent my husband and I watched a woman swallow razor blades and walk barefoot on a sword ladder....oh yes, and she set off mousetraps on her tongue! Hokey...but very entertaining!

Till next time.

Re-dead dollies

2009-10-21T22:52:00.000-07:00

There is not much I enjoy more at Halloween time than visiting my local op-shop, buying up some old dollies and giving them a make-over that's to die for!

Maybe it's just me but there is something very satisfying in taking a perfectly innocent childs toy and turning it into something it was never meant to be. I guess the other aspect of this for me (apart from ghoulish delight!) is that being a sculptor of "art dolls", I'm used to being meticulous in my work and it's very liberating to just splash paint around....also, because I didn't sculpt the doll there isn't such an emotional investment.

By the way...I never tell the dear ladies at the op-shop what's in store for the dollies....they always seem so pleased that someone is taking them home to love!

Till next time.

It all began in childhood.....

2009-10-21T04:51:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about it for a while and have finally decided that my love of all things Halloween deserves to have its own blog.....that, and I've noticed my other blog (Notes from the Fae side) is getting a little cluttered with my Halloween side projects. So, obviously this blog will be more active around this time of year, but I still hope to post to it year round on a reasonably regular basis.

I've loved the idea of celebrating Halloween since I was very young, even though I live in a country that traditionally does not celebrate it. As a child, the whole trick-or-treating thing seemed like enormous fun, and lollies coupled with nighttime spookiness was my idea of heaven.

Years later, when I started my own family, I introduced them to Halloween.....carving out 'queensland blue' and butternut pumpkins and dressing up as witches with my girls to scare dad when he came home from work. All four of my children have grown up with the spirit of Halloween, and our annual celebration is a highlight of the year for them (and me, of course!).

So, for this first blog post, I thought I'd share some pics of my little darlings in some of my favorite costumes.....none of them have ever been squeamish and they've always come up with their own costume ideas....so we have a vampire, a mad scientist, a prom night accident, Samara (from 'The Ring'), a wee devil and 'Little Dead Riding Hood'. There are also a couple of pics of my two youngest a few years ago sticking their heads in the guillotine that my husband, Guy made.

Till next time.