Toys: Living Dead Dolls - Series 21

Marking 13 years of Living Dead Dolls, Series 21 will be released in May 2011. The set is 'Things With Wings' themed and features angels, demons, pixies and fairies. The individual names of the new group are:

• Pixie
• Sunday
• Desmodus
• Tenebre
• Absynth

 Information via: Entertainment Earth and Ikon Collectables

 

More pictures after the cut below↓

Toys: Living Dead Dolls Little Red Riding Hood & The Big Bad Wolf

Mezco will release the their Scary Tales: Little Red Riding Hood pair of dolls in 2011, coinciding with the debut of a film of the same story.

"Living Dead Dolls Presents Scary Tales: Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf

"What big teeth you have"

Inspired by one of the most famous of the Grimm Brothers stories, Mezcos popular Living Dead Dolls reimagines the little girl who dared venture into the dark woods, as well as the legendary wolf with whom she crossed paths.

Red Riding Hood is dressed in her namesake hooded cape and comes complete with her picnic basket: all the better for bringing goodies to Grandma.

The Big Bad Wolf comes dressed in Grandmas nightgown, sleeping cap, and wears her glasses.

This timeless tale has been capturing readers imaginations for hundreds of years and is set to be released as a big budget film from Warner Bros. in March 2011. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke and staring Amanda Seyfried, Shiloh Fernandez, Max Irons, Julie Christie, and Gary Oldman.

Each is shipped in their own coffin."

The variant, to be released in March 2011, has also been announced, and features Red Riding Hood wearing the wolf's pelt as a cape. All three are available for preorder now.

Living Dead Dolls Official Site

Information via: LivingDeadDolls.net, Ikon Collectables and BigBadToyStore.com

Horror Shock Lolipop: Our Halloween~

We hope you all had a wonderfully ghoulish Halloween and showed the dead around this world on their special day! All of us at HSL are in different countries, but we celebrated it in our own ways!

Erinia Spooky, in Spain, dressed as Hi-Na from SaTaN...the evil Alice look is creepy and cute!

Then in New York, sad Oasis dressed as a mummy/zombie (stealing all the candy!)

And then there was me, in the UK...I didn't need to dress up ^.~

The very amazing corset is from Boom! Boom! Baby!

Luciel didn't take any photos, but the little horror did carve this spooky friend with me:

Did any of you dress up or carve jack o lanterns? We'd love to see some photos!

Art: Mark Ryden

Hey there little monsters!

Today I dedicate my entry to one of my favourite artists of all time: Mark Ryden. I'm sure some of you already know about this American painter, since his work is pretty famous all over the world, even if the portraits he creates are full of spooky and macabre scenes. At first you may notice innocence and cuteness on his art, but just take a closer look at it and you will see macabre and disturbing things all over the painting.

I found about him for the first time by chance and it caused a big impression on me. On the painting, there was this little girl next to her bunny... but the bunny was cut in half and bleeding all over the floor. The expression on the little girl's face was so... apathetic and that made it even more impressive.

Since then, I started researching more and more about this painter and his art and I've became a fervent fan! The vast amount of details on each painting, all the feelings you get just by looking at them, the enormous imagination put into all of these portraits. I could literally spend the day enumerating the reasons why Mark Ryden is such a great artist for me.

 

Even if this art may seem like niche art, Ryden is quite famous, admired and respected, and lots of celebrities have openly declared their admiration for his art. Some of them have even worked with him, like, for example, Michael Jackson, who hired Ryden to design one of his CD jackets.

Michael Jackson was not the only one; people as Ringo Starr, Oingo Boingo, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Butthole Surfers or Jack Off Jill have worked with Ryden too. There's many other people who fervently admire and buy Ryden's paintings; just to name a few... Robert De Niro, Björk, Bridget Fonda, Christina Ricci and Leonardo DiCaprio.

 

I think I've already said enough, but if you're still interested in knowing more about this man's work, just visit: http://www.markryden.com/

Animation: Classic Trick and Treating

With Halloween fast approaching, I wanted to share three  video clips that represent a older, more classic view of the mischievous holiday.

Let's start with a classic Disney video from the 20's.

This clip is tremendously charming, holding quite a bit of black humor. The children's classic cartoon company really went all out creative to represent "Comical death."

A very amusing clip, also from Disney. The music and lyrics are probably the best thing on the clip; very childish indeed, but surely any halloween-loving adult may enjoy!

Lastly, a short clip titled Season Greetings by Mike Dougherty. Sam goes out trick or treating, and the essence of the holiday, and it's traditions, are represented in Sam, a little "boy" who loves the holiday.

Food and Drink: Bat Cookies

I decided to try using a cookie mix instead of baking from scratch as I usually do and came across this! Dr. Oetker's 'Halloween Bat Cookie Kit' will make a spooky addition to any seasonal party food this year, or just a creepy and cute treat for any occasion! They're really simple to make, since all you have to do is combine the ready-prepared dry ingredients with some butter/spread, cut out the bat shapes (cutter included) and cook for 10 minutes! Simple!

They came out really well and I don't think anyone, no matter how young, would have any difficulties making these. So they're definitely a good choice for those of you with little monsters or just those of you with less time/baking experience.

If you want to add anything like chocolate chips, nuts or fruit, you will need to add a little more butter/spread and flour to ensure that you have enough dough to go over the extras. It may be better just to add those on top of each cookie instead though.

 

The kit includes:

• Cookie mix
• Bat cookie cutter
• Black writing icing

Makes 6 cookies

(I managed to make 7 and probably could have done 8)

 

In addition to these kookie cookies, Dr. Oetker also make a Halloween Cupcake Kit and Halloween Apple Decorating Kit as well! I want to try them out some time.

More pictures and a cookie recipe (for anyone who can't find the kit but still wants to make Halloween cookies) after the jump↓

Toys: Living Dead Dolls - Series 20 Red & Black Variants

"In the spirit of Halloween, Mezco's latest set of Living Dead Dolls pays tribute to the skeleton filled holiday known as The Day of the Dead or El Día de los Muertos. The variant series features intricate skull designs and exclusive crimson and black elaborate costumes, depicting traditional imagery with a Living Dead Dolls twist. Each doll comes in a signature coffin package with death certificate. This set is extremely limited and will ship in mid-October."

Sources: Mezco & LDD Network

Toys: Dismember-Me Plush Zombie

I remember spending hours when I was a child trying to create my very own zombie from parts of broken toys and bits of string. Little did I know, that in the future, those clever people over at ThinkGeek would create a plush zombie for me!

"What happens when you take old broken plush toys and bury them in the woods by the light of the full moon while whistling the theme song from "Halloween"? Unfortunately nothing...which is why the skillful design monkeys here at ThinkGeek were forced to come-up with our own scary (but cute) zombie plush.

The Dismember-Me Plush Zombie begs to be torn limb from limb. After all he is a decaying re-animated corpse turned into irresistible cuddly plush. Rip off an arm... he doesn't mind. Tear him in half.. he'll barely notice. Pull off his legs... ok now he's getting a bit annoyed. Steal his brain... now you've really done it. Keep your teddy bears under close guard tonight because undead plush have come back from hell to walk the earth."

One of these delightful little darlings can be yours for just $12.99 from the ThinkGeek store.

Animation: Pet of Dracula

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

Toys: Living Dead Dolls - Retro Halloween Set 2010

Mezco unveils it's best Halloween treat ever: Three retro Halloween-themed boxsets that include an old school-styled plastic mask, exclusive 10" doll and a coordinating T-shirt (XL only). The trio consists of three of the most popular Halloween Living Dead Dolls ever created: Calavera The Skull, Pumpkin- The Jack Oˆ Lantern and Gabriella- The Ghoul.

Each set harkens back to your favorite childhood Halloween memories with an adult-sized plastic mask with elastic straps, cut-out eyes and mouth hole; a limited edition exclusive Living Dead Doll with glow-in-the dark mask that coordinates with the set; one exclusively designed extra large tee shirt by Dave Cook and packaged in a fantastic retro-style Halloween costume window box.

Set includes:

Calavera -The Skull,

Pumpkin - The Jack Oˆ Lantern

Gabriella The Ghoul.

Limited to 500 pieces of each set, worldwide.

They're available for pre-order now, but sadly, Mezco don't ship internationally, only to the US and Canada. However, they do have a rather handy list of links to stores that stock their items who might! The list

Source: http://www.mezcotoyz.com/

Retro Halloween Set 2010 Page: http://www.mezcotoyz.com/store/detail.aspx?ID=885

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.

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.

Fashion: T.U.K. Shoes

TUK have been terribly helpful and combined two of my loves - horror and shoes! Whilst I'm the first to admit that shoes are not usually very creepy nor horror-related, I think these are absolutely worthy of a mention.

As TUK themselves described these purple and black wonders "Cotton candy colours, cupcakes and skulls, Oh My!" Indeed.

Cute and spooky not your style? Not to worry! There's something for you classic horror lovers too, with TUK's Anti Pop Heels, featuring green stitches, purple lightning bolts and their version of The Bride of Frankenstein:

And if you're still not satisfied, they even have flip flops, complete with skulls and bone-shaped grips. Perfect for those long Summer days spent hiding from the sun, watching old Dracula movies at the beach.

To get your claws on these and other TUK horrors, visit their online store:

TUK Shoes

Art: Mia Mäkilä

Swedish, self-professed 'low-brow horror artist', Mia Mäkilä, uses a variety of techniques, styles and mediums to create her strangely wonderful art. Whilst some of her work does seem to draw heavily from Hieronymous Bosch, Mäkilä also has a distinctively dark and sometimes comical style of her own as well.

Creepy, bizarre and unnerving. What more could you ask for!

Official Website:

http://www.miamakila.com/

Toys: Living Dead Dolls - Series 20

Living Dead Dolls - some people love them, some people hate them. Personally, I love them, and Series 20 are just as horrifically adorable as their predecessors, and Day of the Dead themed too.

Dolls:
El Luchador Muerto
Camilla
Catrina
Savannah
Santeria

They're available for pre-order now, but won't be shipped until September 2010. I can't wait!

Toys: Living Dead Dolls - Rose & Violet

Mezco have announced the release of their newest Living Dead Dolls, the adorable Rose & Violet!

“Roses are red, Violets are blue…a single soul, slashed in two”. This classic poem of love now personified with two newest editions to the Living Dead Doll’s family: Rose and Violet. Dressed in elaborate 1940’s period dresses with hair bows, each is a mirror image of the other. Rose, dressed in red, Violet in blue. Each doll is sold separately and includes a unique charm that can be worn; combine both charms to create a symbol of star-crossed love. Packed in special edition coffins with death certificates. Ships late January 2010. NOTE: Each doll is packed in her own individual coffin. With this set you get 2 coffins, each with 1 doll.

I'm well aware that not everyone thinks highly of Living Dead Dolls, but I don't care, because I love them, and these two certainly make a lovely set. Roll on January!

Mezco Page

Home & Garden: Fred BONE CHILLERS

This is one of the vast array of novelty ice cube trays from homeware company FRED. According to the description you can:

"Chill your beverages to the bone! Fill and freeze our Bone Chillers tray and you’ll create an icy array of skulls and crossbones that’ll have everyone’s timbers shivering. Drink up, me hearties!"

Okay, so they're marketing them with a pirate theme, but they'd easily fit into a Halloween/horror party. Or, just for any occasion. Cubes are boring! 

To buy one, or to browse their other products, you can check out the FRED website.

Art: Junko Mizuno

Japanese artist Junko Mizuno debuted in 1996 but first gained attention in 1998 with her 'Pure Trance' manga series, and has since made a name for herself as an artist and illustrator. Inspired by shoujo manga (girls' comics), many of her works combine cute, sexy (and happy) female characters with gory scenes, monsters or grotesque situations. The result is really effective and original and I love it! Her more recent art has been less horror-influenced, but it's still interesting. Of course, her style won't be for everyone though, as it's quite cutesy and cartoonish, but to me, it's fantastic!

For more information, take a look at the following sites:

Official Site

Official Blog

Junko Mizuno Fansite

Miznotic Fantasy (Fansite)

Poison Candy (Fansite)