SeñorScary.com

I'm currently a film studies student and my latest class explored filmmaking by actually making a film to explore the technical aspects from the inside. It's been a nightmare with COVID and don't have access to the fancy lab equipment, so I ended up postponing this class for later. But, I continued my own self-study using the book from class as well as various online learning tools.  I asked the Scream Team to help me shoot a short at their fancy-spooky Victorian mansion. This worked out since Britta wanted a promo video for Halloween. In one week, Britta wrote the shooting script, we filmed it over 14 hours one Saturday, and then I edited it over the week. Just like that we had a  silly spooky short, learn a lot, and had fun making it.  This was meant to be an educational experience and there was definitely a learning curve. I understand the need for a full crew as we all wore too many hats. I have a newfound respect for the industry and have seen first hand what it cou

I met my dear friend Britta Peterson while posting about Halloween books on my main site in 2010. I loved her book Enhanced Eerie Elegance and noted in the publication data that she was living in Santa Clara, CA where I had just bought a house. We met and have been friends ever since. We have even collaborated on projects as the Scream Team , alongside her husband Glen, a fearless engineer and mad scientist behind their technical wizardry of their home haunts. He tolerates my tomfoolery and happens to be a great guy with a sort of acceptable taste in horror movies.  Her brand, Eerie Elegance , has been going through an evolution, and as a graphic designer I jumped the chance at taking a stab at her new logo. Even though she's was wary to give up control, rightfully so since she's been cultivating her brand for over two decades, she agreed to let me work my wicked magic. We came up with a great new look that I think will benefit her whimsical, spooky take on Halloween.  Britta

This meme has been driving me nuts! There are 40 horror films represented in this image. I missed or could not identify 7. And I call myself a horror fan?! The answers are below (no peeking)!  The answers are... (SPOILER ALERT!) (SPOILER ALERT!) (SPOILER ALERT!) 1. The Pumpkin - Halloween 2. Striped suit - Beetlejuice 3. Lips - Rocky Horror Picture Show 4. Red balloon - IT 5. Butterfly on lamp post - Silence of the Lambs 6. Tricycle - The Shining 7. Hockey mask - Friday the 13th 8. Paws in box - Gremlins 9. Pack against lamp post - Ghostbusters 10. Silhouette under lamp post - The Exorcist 11. Hand - The Addams Family 12. Castle - Dracula 13. Unraveled bandages - The Mummy 14. Mushnik's shop - Little Shop of Horrors 15. Biohazard sign on chimney - 28 Days Later 16. Headless man - Sleepy Hollow 17. Burning Statue - Wicker Man 18. Green frog comics - The Lost Boys 19. Stick symbol on tree - Blair Witch Project 20. Striped jumper in window -The Nightmare on Elm Street 21. Slaughtered

My Haunted Library is one of my prized possessions. With over 600 books in my collection, they cross multiple genres and include everything from Halloween history, cooking and crafts to scary movie companions, rare art books, and paranormal investigation. I add a handful every year, scouring Amazon, blogs and Twitter for updates on new releases. Here are some of my recent acquisitions for 2020: Pumpkins and Party Themes by Roxanne Rhoads This book cleverly groups invitation, craft, pumpkin carving projects to explain how to carry a theme across a party. Tricky Treats By Vincent Amiel A stunning hardcover book with recipes that cover all the courses with some really ghoulish recipes, like the eyeball truffles and syringe martini.  The Wicked Baker By Helena Garcia This beautifully produced hardcover book is a wealth of creepy baking projects with gorgeous photos throughout.  Fright Favorites By David J. Skal One of my favorite authors overviews 31 great horror movies giving historical c

I've been wanting to make horror-themed tombstones for a long time, and working on Eerie Elegance 's Day of the Dead display in 2015 gave me a lot of inspiration. I finally got started on my horror graveyard this year and plan to add a few tombstones every year! Here is my general overview of how I made my tombstones. While there's many techniques I've yet to learn, this was my starting point. Beyond the standard crafting supplies, I used the following: Polystyrene insulation foam Hot knife foam cutter Plastic embellishments  Woodburning tool Plaster of Paris wrap  Lightweight spackle Water-based spray paint ( MTN available at SprayPlanet.com ) Step 1: Plan the Design First I looked through photos for inspiration and roughly sketched out the designs I wanted, keeping the lettering and embellishments in mind. Since this was a first-time project so I keep the design simple. Step 2: Carve the Foam I lightly drew on the foam with a Sharpie since I find it easiest to cover w

While I love carving real pumpkins, sometimes a cheap plastic pumpkin will do the job. Department, grocery and hardware stores all carry those orange blow-form beauties in all shapes and sizes but they can be a little lifeless. With a touch of paint and dry brushing you can easily transform a plastic pumpkin into something truly unique. Don't worry if you are not an artist. You will get great results because there's nothing complicated or exact about the technique. The best part is that its takes only a few minutes and you'll have them for years to come. You will need: Plastic or foam pumpkin Liquitex Basics  Red Oxide (dark red), Burnt Sienna (dark orange), Burnt Umber (dark brown) paints (any craft paint will do, but I love Liquitex colors) Flat, wide orange nylon brush Paper towels Spray bottle with water Spray matte varnish or spar urethane The one minute video below shows you the simple technique: Dry Brushing Tips You want a very light, quick touch with the brush, add

One of my favorite memories of San Jose, aside from living between two of its oldest cemeteries, was having the Winchester Mystery House a few blocks from our house. The immediate area is now home to two major malls (sorry, one is an open-air, upscale, urban center called Satan's Row, I think). It's difficult to imagine this as the orchard-filled, rural area Sarah Winchester retired to for isolation and quiet – and spiritual mysticism.  "The Spirit House" as it's sometimes called is a stunning marvel of Victorian architecture and madness complete with a maze of over 500 rooms (160 rooms remain), 2000 doors (some with a steep drop), and10,000 windows (some with intricate web designs) sprawling across six acres. I've been there for many tours and Halloween events, but the flashlight tour in 2008 left me a gasp. I was alone in the Grand Ballroom and witnessed a door open in front of me. I didn't think anything of it and  thought a docent would appear but they

Autumn nights are about to get a little chiller thanks to author Jeff C. Carter . His new book, We Bleed Orange & Black ,   was recently released just in time for the Halloween 2020 season and it's chockfull of "fun-sized" stories that range from family- fiendly to out right shivers-down-your-spine. There's such a wide variety of short stories and poems, and best of all – they are all about Halloween.  Some of my favorites include “Unsettled” about a little girl hearing the house creak around her and a final line that made me shiver. "Haunted House-1 Star" was a hilarious take on oblivious internet trolls. And in "Working the Roots of the Pumpkins" a mother teaches her daughter a family history lesson while baking a pie with deadly results. Some of the stories end with an ambiguous final sentence that seems to percolate on the mind for quite a while until the horror finally seeps in.  I've keep my copy by the bed and read a couple stories,

I'm a sucker for bookazines from the market checkout lanes & Witches: The Truth Behind the Legends & Lore  delivers a gloss overview of the history, lore, pop culture imagery & even an intro to being a spellcaster. It has some gorgeous photos, infographics & illustrations and perfect for that one person who loves everything witches. At $12.99 it's pricey and I would preferred a softcover book that could stand the test of time. 

HomeDepot.com has unearthed another fantastic line of products this year. I've already posted about their massive 12-foot skeleton which is quite impressive. A limited selection of products makes their way to the brick-and-mortar stores but most of the goodies are online only (but they ship to your home or local store for pick up). Here are some of my favorite items from Home Depot's 2020 Halloween Collection include a giant jack in the box, a headless horseman, a hearse and skeleton horse, and a ground-breaking anaconda. The crouching grave digger was also has a sinister, detailed face, hair and perfect for a tombstone cemetery scene. In the airblown category, I loved the sand snake from Beetlejuice , Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors and a fuzzy orange spider with speckled eyes. Finally in the home decor aisle I loved this rotten pumpkin that has a flame light effect inside, and a really ornate (too ornate?) snow globe with a weird, sparkly mist continually swirling insi

Several years ago HomeDepot.com  burst onto the Halloween scene with the most unusual collection of decor. And lately, they have been offering some of the  largest  and most awe-inspiring props I've ever seen. Sorry everybody else, you are a very distant second.  This year we got the most impressive, consumer-level prop I've ever seen: a  12-foot Giant Skeleton . This thing is HUGE and heavy (in the box it weighs 93 lbs.). With a metal frame and plastic bone overlay, it's quite solid and must be tied down securely with the included braided wire and supports. Added sandbags are recommended. I can already see the lawsuits from wind pushing this thing over onto windows, cars, pedestrians, etc. It will take two people to assemble this monster and there's even an app to guide you through the process. It's not posable, but the arms do rotate up and down. The head features animated LED eyes that blink, close, look around, and add a lot of life.  I was able to assemble it r

I have been cosmically disquieted by HELLIER, a reality tv documentary following Greg and Dana Newkirk to a small town plagued with strange occurrences. The second season premiered this year and both seasons are now streaming on Amazon Prime or on the Hellier website .  I am a paranormal geek but wouldn't categorize myself as a ghost hunter. I like to visit eerie places reported to be haunted, and anytime I travel, a detour to a mysterious place somehow ends up on the itinerary. I've been around the world to Iceland, Ireland, Italy, China, Mexico, Canada, and all over the United States in search of something scary. I didn't come face to face, literally, with the unexplained until I lived in San Francisco. (I wrote an article about that experience for  Gayly Dreadful  this past June.) I've also watched a lot of the ghost hunter tv shows, read a library of spooky books, and studied the paranormal. The Hellier series however introduced me to concepts I've never come a

The Babysitter: Killer Queen is an insanely gory, ridiculous & highly stylized sequel that recaptures the lunacy of the first one. The returning cast of bewitching satanic cult idiots vs. the amiable nerdy kid makes it quite watchable horror but the syrupy ending needed a major rewrite. The Owners is a well-polished U.K. home invasion horror movie with several expected twists. Outlandish performances hold the film together but after a few gory moments, it sort of stalls & takes on a mean-spirited vibe. It ends illogically & confused with a sort of whimper.  Sputnik takes a familiar #scifi story & keeps the focus intimate. At its core it’s an exploration on the cost ambition, the search for knowledge, heroism & also a vicious alien. It’s a solid debut with a brisk pace that keeps the plot moving toward the expected conclusion.  8: A South African Horror Story (a.k.a. The Soul Collector) has an old-school horror vibe, teeming with slow burn dread, gorgeous atmospher