TV & Animation: Ugly Americans

Ugly Americans is a horror & twisted cartoon created in 2010 by Devin Clark. The show premiered on march 17th 2010, with just 7 episodes. Due to it's popularity, 7 more episodes were added to season 1. And now, well, around a month ago season 2 began, which I cannot be more thankful for! I think the best way to explain what exaclty Ugly Americans is about, read the following quote from IMDb:

"Take New York City, add every horrifying beast, science-fiction freak, and fantasy faerie, shake thoroughly, and you've got Ugly Americans."

The cartoon's main character is about a social worker called Mark Lilly, who works at the New York's Department of Integration. His bosses are demons, and his immediate superior Callie (half human half succubus) is his on and off girlfriend. Callie is one of those she-devils who get turned on by the sight of physical injury, so she is seen with Mark having their BDSM sessions. Moving along from Callie to Leonard, Mark's best buddy at work. Leonard is a wizard who is one damn heavy drinker, really doesn't do anything at work, just relies on Mark all the time.

He shares an apartment with a flesh-eating zombie who he found on craigslist. Who wouldn't want to live with a zombie? I mean c'mon now! Randall, the zombie that is, became a zombie because the girl he was into at the time had a thing going on for zombie guys. Turned out she wasn't into zombies anymore after Randall turned in to one though!

I really don't think it is that fair if I just will go on writing and babbling about the characters in the cartoon, because you really have to watch this show. Especially if you love horror (which of course you do.) and sick and twisted humour. This show luckily aimed towards adults, so there isn't really any dry and lame humour in this. You need to watch it!

Science: Pumpkin Pie is Sexy!

Photo by Lilia Tombs

You've heard the saying 'a way to a man's heart is through his stomach' and it turns out that just might be more true than anyone realised. Well, perhaps it's not the way to his heart, but according to Dr. Alan Hirsch from the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Center in Chicago, the scent of pumpkin pie mixed with lavender does cause a significant level of arousal in men. The center's research showed that the aroma of pumpkin pie caused a 40% increase in penile bloodflow, compared with things such as cranberry sauce that only increased it by a mere 2%. Pah!

Photo by Valerie Everett

So, if you want to impress a certain special man in your life next Halloween, make him some pumpkin pie and light lavender scented candles in your jack o' lanterns for a double dose of turn-on!

News via: wpbf.com

Animation: Pet of Dracula

Even Dracula can't resist the hypnotic stare of a cat!

Toys: Sock Horrors

Madame Horror's 'Sock Horrors' are devilish monsters from a land called The Doldrums. They are intent on liberating their fellow socks from their human oppressors and are responsible for all the missing socks in the world!

... ... ...
Okay, maybe not, but they are pretty cute :) Click below to go to the Sock Horror website and shop.




 
Monster pictures after the jump.

Theme Parks & Haunted Houses: Kunz Geister-Schloss

The delightfully cheesy and colourful picture above features Munich, Germany's Kunz Geister-Schloss (Kunz Haunted Castle). I've watched a few videos of it, which look absolutely amazing! You walk through parts of it and sit in a ghost train for others, whilst the "castle" does its best to scare you with a combination of animatronics, actors, props, lighting and sound. Next time I 'm in Germany, I need to visit this place!

Website (in German): http://geisterschloss.com/geisterbahn.html

Ghostly videos after the jump.

Animation: Ernest, le Vampire

I owe many thanks to my friend Nasu-hime for finding out that the cartoon I loved when I was a child so much that I forgot the title of it was in fact the French show, 'Ernest, le Vampire' (Ernest, the vampire)!

"Each morning as dawn breaks, after nights of lunatic activity, Ernest the Vampire settles himself comfortably into his coffin and falls asleep. Ernest is somewhat clumsly and does not exactly strike fear in the heart of others. He is never short of ideas but they invariably end in catastrophes."

So of course, I thought I'd share it with you!





Except that I watched it on a German TV station, so it was called 'Ernest, der Vampir', not that it really mattered anyway though, because there isn't any dialogue. If you want to buy the series on DVD you can do so from the ICTV website.

Ah, spooky childhood memories!

Speaking of which, if you happen to read this entry, tell me - what's your first horror/Halloween-related childhood experience? Anything from trick or treating to being completely freaked out by a movie to hearing an urban legend.

Movies: Zombieland

Well, after a little break from updating (okay, so it was only just over a week, but still!), I'm back, with something for all the zombie fans out there. I am of course talking about the upcoming comedy horror 'Zombieland'.

"In the horror comedy Zombieland focuses on two men who have found a way to survive a world overrun by zombies. Columbus is a big wuss -- but when you're afraid of being eaten by zombies, fear can keep you alive. Tallahassee is an AK-toting, zombie-slaying' bad ass whose single determination is to get the last Twinkie on earth. As they join forces with Wichita and Little Rock, who have also found unique ways to survive the zombie mayhem, they will have to determine which is worse: relying on each other or succumbing to the zombies."

'Zombieland' may be ridiculous at times, but it's still gory, the plot seems interesting and  zombie movies are always a little amusing anyway (though I love them haha). There's no reason why horror shouldn't be fun too and I for one will be going to see it in November. If you happen to live in the US, it's being released a month earlier, on October 2nd.  

Official Site

Bars & Restaurants: Donny Dirk's Zombie Den

Donny Dirk's Zombie Den was opened recently in Minneapolis, on the former site of Stand Up Frank's. The zombie-themed bar was the idea of Leslie Bock, who also owns Psycho Suzi's and Saint Sabrina's, as she didn't want to lose Stand Up Frank's completely, despite its somewhat checkered history. The staff dress as Shaun from 'Shaun of the Dead' and there's even a chainsaw in a glass case with the notice "In case of zombie attack, break glass". It sounds like great fun!

Address: 2027 N 2nd St. Minneapolis, MN 55411
Opening times: 2pm - 4am daily. Closed on Mondays

Website

Zombie Resurrection: Article on Star Tribune

Short Film: The Cat with Hands

"By animusfilms. A dark animated tale about a cat who, the legend has it, wants to become human.

Year: 2001
Director: Robert Morgan"

The Cat with Hands' is a bizarre, creepy, fairytale-like story...I love it! This was the second short film made by director Robert Morgan and was said to have been "inspired by a recurring nightmare Rob’s older sister Eleanor had when she was young". If you think that's weird, Morgan also went onto make a film partly inspired by finding a severed goose head outside his house as a child. Nice >.>;

To read more about Robert Morgan or to watch his other films, check out his page at Animus Films ⇒here.