Music & Reviews: Welcome to the Horror Show by Sam Haynes

Track Listing:
1. All Hallows
2. Ghost House
3. Shadows
4. Scarecrows
5. Zombie
6. Doll House
7. Ghost Train
8. Midnight
9. Seance
10. 31-13
11. The Dark
12. Halloween Night
13. Midnight at the Funhouse
14. Endless Nightmare
15. Ghost House (Fettdog remix)
16. Scarecrows (Cheekyboy Dub)
17. Witching Hour
18. Spirit Box

Welcome to the Horror Show, the second album from Sam Haynes, is a collection of tracks that were created to be used in Halloween haunts and on horror movie soundtracks. There are sixteen individual pieces, plus two remixes; Fettdog's more aggressive remix of Ghost House and Cheekyboy's darker take on Scarecrows.

The album is very atmospheric throughout and tracks such as Ghost House, Spirit Box, Doll House, Midnight and 31-13 are particularly ominous and would be perfect for haunts and horror movies. There are, however, some more up tempo, danceable and almost "cute" tracks like Zombie, Halloween Night, Ghost Train, and Witching Hour, which would be great for Halloween parties and spooky fairgrounds.

While the influences of 70's, 80's and 90's horror soundtracks - everything from John Carpenter's Halloween and Christine scores to the Phantasm and Suspiria soundtracks by Fred Myrow/Malcolm Seagrave and Goblin respectively -  are overt, Sam Haynes manage to mix in their own brand of creepy to Welcome to the Horror Show as well. Many of the tracks have a familiar feel to them, but are simultaneously unique. 

Overall, Welcome to the Horror Show is an enjoyable and creepy album, with a great balance between horror-influenced scares and mischievous fun. It's definitely one for those with a love for movie scores and Halloween haunts.

Sam Haynes are giving away 5 free digital copies of Welcome to the Horror Show and all you have to do to win one is head over to their Facebook page and hit the "Like" button! Winners will be chosen at random on August 13th, 2013.

Websites:

• Haunt Music (Sam Haynes website) 
• Facebook
• Twitter
• iTunes

A-Z Blogging Challenge: J is for Jack o' Lanterns

Jack o' Lantern by Madame Luciel

With their hollowed-out, glowing orange faces and distinctive silhouettes, Jack o' Lanterns are an instantly recognisable symbol of modern Halloween celebrations. Originally carved from turnips, beets, and other root vegetables, Jack o' Lanterns represented faries, spirits and the Will o' the Wisp phenomenon (lights / orbs that floated above marshland etc.) in Gaelic folklore and were part of the Samhain celebrations. 

Will o' the Wisp / Stingy Jack Folklore

One of the tales associated with Jack o' Lanterns is that of Stingy Jack, which comes from Ireland and Scotland and is similar to the story of Will o' the Wisp. Although there are many different variations, one version tells of a thief called Jack who is running from villagers from whom he has stolen. He meets the Devil,  who wants to take his soul, but Jack comes up with a plan in order to prolong his life for a little longer. 

Jack o' Lanterns by myself & Madame Luciel

He tells the Devil - who can take any form he pleases - to turn himself into a coin and allow himself to be found by the villagers. Then, when he makes himself disappear the villagers would begin to fight and their souls would be more susceptible to the Devil's trickery. The Devil agrees to the plan and jumps into Jack's wallet; however, he finds himself next to a cross, which has also been put there by Jack. The cross strips the Devil of his powers and he is trapped there. 

Before Jack releases the Devil, he forces him to promise never to take his soul, to which he agrees. When Jack eventually dies, his Earthly deeds mean that he is not allowed into Heaven, but because of the Devil's promise, he's not allowed into Hell either and so has nowhere to go. Jack asked how he would find his way in the dark without light and so the Devil mocked him by throwing him an ember from the fires of Hell, which would never extinguish. Jack then carved out a turnip, in which to put the light and endlessly roams the Earth, looking for a place to rest; thus he became known as Jack o' Lantern.

Modern Jack o' Lanterns

Jack o' Lanterns by Madame Luciel

Although pumpkins were never traditionally carved for Halloween, in the 19th century US, where pumpkins were harvested close to the Harvest Festival / Samhain / Halloween celebrations, they began to use these orange gourds. Their skin was much easier to carve and their size made it much easier to put candles inside of, and so the pumpkin became much more popular and synonymous with modern Halloween celebrations. 

Pumpkin Crafting

Death Jack o' Lantern by Kei of Unfortunately Oh!

Traditionally, pumpkin carving was limited to faces, but now there are a vast array of designs used by crafters; it really is an artform!

Witch Jack o' Lantern by Madame Luciel

Frankenstein's Monster Jack o' Lantern by Kei of Unfortunately Oh!

This post is part of the A-Z Blogging Challenge, 2013.

Games: Halloween Sale on Steam

This is only a short entry, mainly because I liked the graphic at the top (which you can see above). It is a sale thats going on right now with lots and lots of Horror games of lots of different genres. There are a few different images that appear randomly. Like this one below!

Anyway, there are also a few Halloween events going on (some of them on free games), and several of the games mentioned here, are on sale!

Steam store

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

Giveaways: Halloween Giveaway!

Halloween is fast approaching and so, ghoulish creatures, the Horror Shock Lolipop Halloween Giveaway is here! There are 3 prize packs available: The Halloween Pack, The Vampire Pack, and The Zombie Pack. You can enter via the Rafflecopter gadget below, or in the Contests section, until October 25th 2012. Open to everyone, from any country, whether you follow the blog or not :D

The Halloween Prize Pack

The Halloween Pack includes:
1 x Mister Mumbles (Invisible Fiends 1) by Barry Huchison (book)
1 x Boo Berry lip balm
1 x Sugar Skulls key clips (black)
1 x Sugar Skulls key clips (cream)
1 x Ghost with pumpkin candle
1 x Coffin soap
1 x Silver Bullet mints
1 x Grey Web soap
1 x Orange Pumpkin soap
1 x Ghost with pumpkin soap
2 x Glowsticks
3 x Little Pumpkin soaps
6 x Candy bracelets (2 pumpkins, 2 skull & crossbones, 2 skull & crossbones clock)

The Vampire Prize Pack

The Vampire Pack includes:
1 x Dracula (1931) on DVD (region 2)
1 x Count Chocula lip balm
1 x Garlic Mints
1 x Death Mints
1 x Coffin soap
1 x Bat soap
4 x Gargoyle soaps

The Zombie Prize Pack

The Zombie Pack includes:
1 x Zombie Housewives of the Apocalypse by Sharon Day & Julie Ferguson (book)
1 x Zombie Mints
1 x Franken Berry lip balm
1 x José ~ a Skull soap
1 x Ribs on a Rope soap
2 x Brain soaps
3 x Finger soaps
4 x Candy bracelets (2 skull & crossbones, 2 skull & crossbones clocks)

a Rafflecopter giveaway


If you don't want to enter, but still want to get your hands on these treats:
All soaps, candles, and glowsticks from The Soapy Shop of Horrors.
All mints and lip balm from Cyber Candy.
All Sugar Skulls from The Works.

And don't forget, you can still get 10% off everything at The Soapy Shop of Horrors webstore, until November 1st, by adding the code SHOCK on the shopping cart page!

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↓