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

Animation: 'The Maker'

Still from The Maker by Christopher Kezelos

The Maker, directed by Australian Christopher Kezelos, is a stop motion animation in which "a strange creature races against time to make the most important and beautiful creation of his life". It has a very definite dark fantasy aesthetic and it is animated beautifully! I should point out, though, that I adore stop motion animation, so those of you who don't may disagree with me there. 

Still from The Maker by Christopher Kezelos

In addition to the wonderful visuals, music plays an important role in the film - from the f-hole shapes on "The Maker's" head to his violin playing - and the lovely soundtrack throughout is provided by Paul Halley. Of course, if you aren't a fan of violins, you probably won't like it. However, according to the creators of the film, the point of The Maker was to illustrate how little time each of us has and that "life is what you make it". So the use of stringed instruments gives the film a faster feel, I think.

It's only about five and a half minutes long, so if you want to see it for yourself you can watch it on The Maker's official website, or below.

Book Reviews: Mr Mumbles (Invisible Fiends 1) by Barry Hutchison

What if the imaginary friends you had as a child came back years later? What if they were no longer the fun and playful friends you remembered, but instead had become bitter and violent distortions of their former selves, after being forgotten for so long? This is the premise of the Invisible Fiends series by Barry Hutchison. Mr Mumbles is the first book in the set and centres around 12-year-old Kyle and the vicious return of his former imaginary friend Mr Mumbles.

The story itself is aimed at older children and teenagers, but Hutchison writes well and creates vivid worlds excellently. The only real differences between his books and those written for adults are the lack of sex, slightly toned-down gore and the fact that the main character is only twelve. I don't really mind those differences, to be honest, as a lot of sex and gore scenes in narratives are just filler and, although Kyle and his "sidekick" Ameena do have their cringe-worthy one-liners during fights, they aren't irritating. 

The lines between reality and imaginary are frequently blurred throughout and it's often purposefully unclear what is actually real and what is a product of imagination. For example, Hutchison uses common fears of children - banging on windows, storms, dark attics etc. - to signal Mr Mumbles' presence. However, it could easily be assumed that Mr Mumbles is simply the personification of those fears, at first and that Kyle just has an over-active imagination. This works effectively as you don't immediately guess the plot and it makes you want to read on to find out more.

There is also an unexpected and slightly odd twist involving Kyle and his parents, which still isn't explained completely by the end of this Invisible Fiends installment, but hopefully that will be addressed in later books. It is quite a big plot detail and something that will either make the series very good or not make any sense at all. It would be a shame if it was the latter though, as this is such a promising opening.

Posted as part of the Month Before Halloween event:

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!