Friday, October 31, 2014

Happy Halloween From Lady M and Mr. Bones


HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Well it is finally here - the day we've all waited for.  The day we fussed with lights and extension cords for.  The day we locked ourselves in the garage furiously carving foam for.  I hope everyone out there has the best day possible with 100's of trick or treaters and cooperative weather.  I want to thank all who read my blog in the last 31 days.  I know I worked hard to get through the whole Cryptkeepers list and  to leave plenty of comments as well as adding many new blogs to follow.  I welcome to the parlor my new followers: Scary Mary at http://thescarymarys.blogspot.com/ , Ms. Misantropia at http://msmisantropia.blogspot.com/ , Wendy the Artful Gypsy at http://thehalloweentree.blogspot.com/, Haunted Eve at http://hauntedevehalloween.blogspot.com/ , The Insomniac at http://insomniacsattic.blogspot.com/  and Halloween Spirit at http://spiritofhalloween.blogspot.com/ . And thanks to followers from years past like Mark at http://shinglecreekmanor.blogspot.com/ , Emma at http://littlegothichorrors.blogspot.com/  October Boy at http://deadwoodcemetery.blogspot.com/,  Mantan Calaveras at http://voodoo-ghoul.blogspot.com/  Bob Johns at http://mda4life.blogspot.com/  Cat at http://www.spookymoon.com/  and of course, Jackie, without whom my life would not be complete .  If I have left you off, I apologize.  I was trying to include those who left comments and who follow my blog.  I hope each and every one of you has a blast this Halloween.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Ghosts of Halloween Past

Many wonderful Halloweens have come and gone.  I am gonna take the time to walk down memory lane and revisit some.   The first two I did not even make due to my age. But I love these old costumes. Then I think my parents lost their camera because the next picture is of us as beggars some 7 years later, that we created by donning some old curtains my mother was throwing out.  We first begged in July but resurrected this idea for Halloween.  In fifth grade, my buddy Beth and I went as 1950's lasses as Happy Days was all the rage.  Then I jump to my daughter.  She always wanted to be a cat. So I have lots of pictures of her in that theme.
 
My cauldron is full of candy and I await many wonderful trick or treaters tomorrow night.  Hopefully, my graveyard will bring in more than I have had in past years as I filled the big cauldron.  Lord M ask me to just to fill the medium sized one but alas, I could not help myself.  Just an addict I guess.
My three oldest sisters on Halloween.  I was but a gleam

 

 


Just a baby so to small to trick or treat.



As beggars in 1973

Best friend Beth and I as 50's gals in '74






 
Candy 2014 ready to go - bring em on!











Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Favorite costumes from the party


American Gothic

His Lordship and Old Pal


The mouse eats the cheese

Well actually, the only costumes I had the clarity of mind to take pictures of.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Emma rides again



The 20th Annual Emma Crawford Coffin Races in Manitou were amazing this year.  The weather was gorgeous in the high seventies without a cloud in the sky, the crowd huge - about 12,000 spectators and the entries the largest ever at 70 teams.  We took some fun pictures.   Race results and many more brilliant pictures to be found here:

 
Manitou Springs at the base a Pikes Peak, host of the Emma Crawford coffin races on Oct. 25th


The event drew a record setting crowd.  Traffic getting in and out of town was crazy

Our major sponsor

 

About 70 teams of coffins and racers were competing in four categories - fastest time, best entourage, best Emma, and best coffin.  First it began with a parade of hearses followed by the coffin teams in order.










 
 

 

Then of course, we had the actual race




The winners were:

Best Coffin - American Medical Response

The AMR for using a gurney

 

Best Emma -"And You Will Know Us By the Trail of the Dead!"

This outfit was stunning

 
 
 

Best Entourage - Peaks and Pasties Zom bees


 
 

Fastest Team - Team Vosler


We did not even take a picture of this team cause they were so boring.  But dressed to run with 4 really fit men and I said to his Lordship, they are gonna win.  So I called it - wished I had placed a bet - I'd be rich.

2nd Fastest - Ghoul's Gulch Haunted House

The second place team however, was amazing from Ghouls Gulch Haunted House.  They won it the last two years but could not take the title for a third year.

The Ghouls Gulch support team

Ghouls Gulch running team - loved their airbrushed makeup
 


Just an amazing day had by all. Thanks to friend Mark and Molina for flying in to enjoy this special day with us. The costumes and details of the day were just fabulous - a real feast for the eyes.



 

Saturday, October 25, 2014

spooky spread

For todays party, I will make normal food and give it scary names presented the best I can with my Halloween party ware.  I don't really want to mold fondant or crescent rolls or use tons of food coloring.  It is a lot of work and quite frankly, I really don't want to eat to much processed crap.  So I try to be somewhat healthy.  I did however need something to tell the guest what they are eating.  Last year I used these little cauldrons with Halloween picks.  I seem to have lost some along the way and needed to make some more.
 
So here is the idea I came up with - it came to me Wednesday night in the wee hours of the morning.  I went to the dollar store and got some skeleton garland.  I then repositioned them - sometimes breaking their little limbs and glueing them back together with a glue gun. I also cut the cardboard they were attached to into squares and affixed them to make a stand.  Then I printed the names of my  offerings on cardstock and glued the cards in their hands.  I think they are cute and were super cheap to make and hopefully can be used again.  Sorry if this is your idea and I copied it without giving you credit.  I honestly can't remember if I have seen it before.

 

Friday, October 24, 2014

Happy Jack

Now that I have that song running through my head, I want to tell you about the first Jack I carved.  He came from the pumpkin festival from a bin of lovely little white pumpkins.
 
I needed a small one to fit on my wonky pumpkin stand from Michaels.  Anything to large, and that cheesy stand just topples over.  I think I got it just right this year.
 
Since it's a white pumpkin, the obvious choice was Mr. Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas.  A short internet search yielded a free pattern and last night I got to work. I use a toothpick to mark the pattern and a little saw from an old pumpkin master kit to carve. Since he is small, this Jack can live in the fridge until Halloween while doing double duty at the party on Saturday.  He gets to make two Halloween appearances this year.

 

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Emma Crawford's Coffin Races

The coffin races are fast approaching.  Every year around Halloween, the tiny town of Manitou, at the foot of Pikes Peak, hosts the wackiest event around in memory of young Emma Crawford, who came west seeking a cure for her TB. Emma Crawford Photo When that plan failed, she asked to be buried at the top of red mountain.  However, Manitou floods, and in one particularly heavy downpour, Emma's coffin came racing down the mountain. Hence, 120 years later, Manitou still memorializes this event with a crazy coffin race down main street.  Heavily costume teams with coffins of their own construction holding one of their members, compete for glory before a roaring crowd.  This year we have some awesome sponsors including Agave Underground Tequila and the Bristol Brewery.  You can find more information about it here http://www.emmacrawfordfestival.com/. His Lordship and I will also be attending Emma's wake at the Miramont Castle.  Held the night before, we will be treated to a viewing and dinner. I hope to learn a lot about how the Victorians handled death.  More info about that here http://www.miramontcastle.org/.  It's gonna be a great weekend with friends Mark and Molina coming into town for the wake and coffin races.  Then  to top it all off  Saturday night, Minch manor gears up for a Halloween party.  So hope your weekend plans are good too. So much to do, so little time.  Happy haunting!Presidential-Hearse

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Our favorite scary movies from childhood

 
What spooky movies did you enjoy as a child?  These are some of my earliest memories of the truly terrifying. I remember pouring over the TV guide for something scary to watch on old black and white tvs.  What's funny is that reading the Wikipedia summaries, I realize I did not follow the plots in many of these movies - I just remember the scary bits which stayed with me all these years. Some  parts of the plot were completely fabricated by our childhood minds but that's what made them scary.

1. Night of the Living Dead


Such a classic - my father took us to see this at the drive in.  Six kids 10 and under.  We remember the scene where the truck explodes and the ghouls eat the young folks inside.  My father said "hmmm bar b que" which became a standard family quote. I also vividly remembered the scene where the ghoul girl stabs her mother with a hand trowel.  I think I was an adult before I could watch this film all the way through.  It just terrorized me as a 4 year old.

He's coming to get you Barbara

2. The Crawling Eye

 Another family legend from when I was very small.  Upon reading the plot summary on Wikipedia I realize I only really remember the beginning with the decapitated climber hanging upside down still suspended by his rope. My sisters use to tell me there was a scene where the crawling eye comes out of the toilet and gets some guy.  I could not find that in Wikipedia's plot summary.  I think they were just pulling my leg .

Crawling Eye film poster.jpg
 

3. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane

Betty Davis was sooo creepy in this film as a washed up child star who is the sole caretaker for her paralyzed sister.  Baby Jane tortures her invalid sister in various ways including cooking her pet bird.
It has a great plot twist at the end.
<b>What Ever Happened To Baby Jane</b>?
Look at her maniacal smile

4. Carnival of Souls


A super creepy movie about a woman who is supposed to die, but continues to live and is hounded by the undead which only she can see. This movie gave me the heebie jeebies. The souls are really creepy.


5. The Day of the Triffids

 The noise those things made still haunts me to this day.  Kind of like a wet, smacking sound.  I was glad when they got it in the end.






6. Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte

Another Betty Davis classic.   Betty plays a woman whose lover gets murdered.  His head and hand get cut off.  That fascinated me  - creepy. We always thought Betty kept her lovers hand in a cigar box  but I cannot find this in any of the film descriptions.  I also thought it had a happy ending but alas Wikipedia says Charlotte gets taken to the insane asylum. So much for the accuracy of my childhood memories