29th: Food: Spider & Bat Cupcakes

As I mentioned in a previous post, they have chocolate bats at Sainsbury's this year. So when I also got this bat cupcake decorating set (above) from Asda, I decided to combine the two and make some spooky cupcakes (below)!

They're really simple, so I didn't do a proper tutorial about them. Just use whichever cupcake recipe you prefer and, once cooked, then leave them to cool.

Following that, ice them all, put a bat-topped cocktail stick in and spider chocolate on each one and you're done! :)

This post is part of The Countdown to Halloween

Places & Events: Model Village Halloween Evening of Mini Horrors

The Halloween flag

The Halloween Evening of Mini Horrors at Model Village in Babbacombe, Torquay,  is running this year from October 22nd - October 31st. Prepare yourselves for zombies, vampires, werewolves, witches, pumpkins, ghosts, monsters and more, all set in a miniature world!

A shot of some of the miniature models and real plant life

I didn't know quite what to expect from the evening, as the last time I visited Model Village was for school, with some German exchange students when I was about 14 and I don't remember liking the place much. However, The Evening of Mini Horrors was pretty great! I think what struck me the most about the event was how much effort was put into it. Model Village is not usually a horror attraction, and the Halloween event only lasts for 9 days, but nearly every part of the venue - inside and out - was transformed into a ghoulish spectacle, or at least decorated in a spooky way. Even the roof of the ticket booth had a giant tarantula on it, which my friend and I nicknamed "The Yeti Spider", and the woman behind the counter was wearing a ghost ring that I really wanted!

"The Yeti Spider"

So, on to the event itself...during the evening sessions, which run between dusk and 10pm (last admission at 8pm), there are various things to see and activities in which you can take part. First of all, there's the park, which covers 4 acres of land (not including the indoor areas) and has a multitude of moving model displays of varying sizes, interspersed with greenery and - at this time of year - Halloween props.

I don't want zombies on my lawn♪

It really pays to look closely at the scenes that are set up, as you often find unusual and interesting additions to seemingly everyday scenes. Even in the zombie scene above there's a random pumpkin head shambler! 

The Wicker Man display

After dark, many of the displays are illuminated and some even have pyrotechnics and sound effects going on too. The Wicker Man, The Addams Family house, (what I perceived to be a) haunted mansion, and castle with fire-breathing dragon displays were my particular favourites during the visit.

The Addams Family house

Gomez & Morticia get amorous

Pugsley & Wednesday "looking after" the baby

As we walked around the park, we ran into some of the undead staff who were floating around. They told us that although they didn't mind being photographed, the camera might not be able to see them. Luckily enough for us though, it did!

Apparently this was the first year that the park hired actors for Halloween and they really did a good job of staying in character, whilst also being amusing and entertaining. I did notice a few little children skirting around them, wide-eyed though - haha. Speaking of which...

Workshop of Horrors animatronic

The Workshop of Horrors tour is something of a cross between a haunted house and a spooky behind the scenes look at the model-making workshops. If there was one part of the evening that I thought perhaps wasn't suitable for very young children, it was the this. There are a lot of eerie sounds, life-size animatronics and models, scary stories and it's also fairly dark throughout.

A skinned dungeon dweller

That's not to say that all 6 or 7-year-olds would find it scary, but some younger, or more sensitive kids might find it a little disturbing. On the other hand, I loved being scared and creeped-out when I was a child, so it really does depend on the each individual's personality I think. 

Werewolf chained to a tree

The park does have plenty of signs warning parents about what the workshop tour entails though, and the actress leading the tour makes it very clear at the beginning that people can leave anytime they want if it's too frightening. Besides - upon exiting, this inflated cuteness (below) is just around the corner - who could be scared of that?!

Creepy-cute pumpkin ghosts

Apart from the displays and actors, there was also a 4D cinema with that showed an animated version of Dracula in the evening. What made it 4D, you ask? Well, in addition to wearing 3D glasses, the seats shook and rocked, blew jets of air at us and squirted water at opportune moments during the film. One of the moments was particularly gross, as even though I knew it was water, due to what was happening on the screen, it didn't feel like water. 

The Dracula 4D poster

Nevertheless, it was enjoyable and probably something that children over the age of 5 could watch without being frightened. It was really a light-hearted, horror-themed comedy adventure though, so it wasn't supposed to be scary.

This Dracula prop was at the door to greet us!

Overall, The Halloween Evening of Mini Horrors was enjoyable, well-put together and a lot of fun. If you're really only interested in being shocked and terrified, this isn't the place for you. As the MV website states, the Halloween event "is largely aimed at families with a light-hearted Halloween theme, it's not a scarefest". However, if you're looking for a spooky evening out - with or without children - that's a bit different, I'd definitely recommend this event!

Animatronic Uncle Fester (dressed as Dracula) in the gift shop

Location:
Babbacombe Model Village
Hampton Avenue
Babbacombe
Torquay
Devon TQ1 3LA
UK

Tel: +44 (0)1803 315315

This post is part of The Countdown to Halloween

↓To see more pictures, click the cut below↓

23rd: Carving Pumpkins...With a Gun

The zombie uprising isn't for a few months, but lots have people have been getting prepared early! This one man Mr. Hickok45 has apparently combined zombie preparedness with Halloween festivity and now uses this to carve his pumpkins!

This man has videos going back to 2009 of this method, and has released one for this years season!

It does have the bonus of carving both sides at the same time! Though the face is a little :- | it would be a very quick method for some last minute pumpkins during an assault of the undead!

This post is part of The Countdown to Halloween

18th: Halloween Decor - Skeleton Garland

This spooky skeleton garland is from Asda and was given to me yesterday as a "get well" present, along with a bag of other Halloween goodies! The garland consists of five skeletons, which are made of painted plastic and held together on a length of twine.

Each of them has jointed arms and legs, which means they can each have a unique pose. Their head also turn slightly, but I haven't moved them too much, as I'm not sure that this was intended.

These are really fantastic and I think when they've ceased to be Halloween decorations I'm going to transform them into a necklace of sorts, or pin them to a shelf in my room (it already has a large, jointed skeleton hanging from it...).

Although the skeleton garland isn't available on Asda's online store, they do have some other great Halloween horrors:

Asda Halloween Section Online

Also, Cherry Neko informed me that they have big chocolate skulls at some Asda shops as well :D

This post is part of The Countdown to Halloween

17th: Halloween Food - Chocolate Spiders

This year spiders seem to be everywhere for Halloween - even the food is full of them! Sainsbury's have some milk & white chocolate spiders (okay for vegetarians too, but sadly, no dark chocolate for vegans).

They come in packs of 12 and are each about 2cm long. I think they'd be great at parties or as a spooky surprise for someone!

This post is part of The Countdown to Halloween

14th: Pumpkin Fridge Magnets

These pumpkin / jack 'o lantern fridge magnets are from a company called The Witches of Pendle, who are based in Pendle in Lancashire, UK. The company mainly specialises in witch-related items - specifically those relating to The Pendle Witch Trials in 1612 - but they also carry other merchandise as well.

For some reason, the above pumpkin reminds me of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes whenever I see him. He's cute nevertheless!

The other magnet (pictured above) seems to be some kind of pumpkin-magician-elf type guy. Quite charming really! I don't know if these two are sold anymore, but The Witches of Pendle do still make lots of other spooky things.

This post is part of The Countdown to Halloween

12th: Toys & Figures - Sam (Trick 'r Treat) 15" Vinyl

The rules of Halloween:

• Wear a costume
• Hand out treats
• Never blow out a Jack o' lantern
• Always check your candy

If you break the rules and this little horror comes knocking on your door, don't say I didn't warn you!

For those of you that haven't seen Michael Dougherty's dark comedy horror film Trick 'r Treat, the above photos are of a 15" vinyl figure (by Sideshow Collectibles) of a character called Sam, who appears in it. Trick r' Treat consists of 4 separate stories, all happening on Halloween night in the same town, with Sam tying the plots together by showing up in each one. I won't go into detail about the movie in this entry, as it's all about Sam today, but if you want to see the trailer you can watch it below, or on the official website. I actually think the trailer doesn't do it justice, but oh well...

Anyway, back to Sam...I actually got him before the film was released (on DVD...it was never given a general theatrical release at the cinema and only shown at film festivals / events before that) for around £35 and, although I had heard of the film, I hadn't seen it at the time and bought him because I thought he was creepy, amazing and weird, haha. (I have subsequently seen Trick 'r Treat and thought it was a great movie, but truthfully, that wasn't my reason at the time). 

Without the burlap sack on his head

His pumpkin-esque head is incredibly detailed with its wrinkles, stitches, veins and gory eyes and, to give him a more "realistic" look, Sideshow also applied gloss to the gory / shiny parts and matt to the rest. 

Sam comes with his ominous burlap sack (pictured above) and razor sharp lollipop, which I didn't photograph of, but if you're interested it's made of transparent orange plastic, has a stripy orange and black stick, and looks like this:

I absolutely love this figure and, even if I had hated the film, I still wouldn't regret buying him!

This post is part of The Countdown to Halloween

More picture behind the cut below↓

11th: Games - TeraLumina's Haunted Halloween Escape

Recommended by Death himself! (Wait...maybe that's not a good thing...)

I originally found this point-and-click, Halloween-themed escape game by TeraLumina, via Kei at Unfortunately Oh! (you should check out her blog - it's not horror, but it is fantastic!). 

On a scary Halloween night, you're trapped in a frightening room. Can you escape this room of horrors and keep your wits about you?

Halloween cheese!

The object of the game - as with all escape games - is to get out of the room in which you're trapped, by finding hidden items in the room and using them for specific purposes. Sounds simple right? Well, that's because it is, but it's also quite a fun and an amusing way to pass the time if you have a spare 10-15 minutes to kill.

Stealing from the dead is encouraged, apparently!

It's spooky Halloween feel throughout - from the eerie sound effects to the undead wandering around - and there's even the added bonus of having Johann Sebastian Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor playing during the opening.

Just your "friendly" neighborhood ghost

Overall, although it's not an amazing game, it's an enjoyable Halloween-themed game that can be finished in approximately 10-15 minutes (if you're not taking screencaps and being distracted, that is). Oh, and it's free to play, too.

If you'd like to try it out, you can find it on the website below↓

TeraLumina's Haunted House Escape Game

This post is part of The Countdown to Halloween

10th: Toys - Skull Daddy

I bought this strangely adorable little fellow, dressed like a teddy bear skeleton, from Closet Child (a second hand / vintage store chain in Japan) in Shinjuku in 2009. A brand called Skull Daddy made him, along with a rabbit version, which I don't have. There were also pink versions of both designs, but I don't think Skull Daddy make either of them anymore, unfortunately.

As well as being a toy, he's a fashion accessory of sorts, as there's a clip on his back that can be attached easily to a bag or parasol handle. He's a little too large to be attached to anything else.

His cute bear guise can be removed - or rather the hood can be pulled down - to reveal his true skull with a mohawk form. Even after the transformation he's about as scary as The Nightmare Before Christmas, but I am very fond of him regardless of that. (I like TNBC too though).

The title of this post is Skull Daddy, simply because I don't remember what his individual name was, only the brand. If anyone happens to know it, tell me!

This post is part of The Countdown to Halloween    
More photos behind the cut below↓