Autumn Splendur

You know, I have to say, I've been deeply heartened by the decorating efforts of my neighbors this year. Eugene is usually cold and rainy in October; so most people, myself included, tend not to decorate. But this year I've noticed a remarkable number of houses draped in cobwebs and skeletons. Maybe it was the long, dry, warm indian summer we had. Usually it starts to rain around the end of August, but it was hot and clear through till the first couple of weeks of October this time. I thought I would share some of the neat houses I've seen.

Snapped this on my way in to work. Classic!

These are from an afternoon bike ride along the Willamette

This house was pretty cool. I like my skeletons piled in perfectly equi-distant positions. That way I get optimal spookiness.

Autumnal Sploendoor. Read that in the voice of Matt Berry

Eugene doesn't have a pigeon population. Instead we have all these black birds. They are everywhere, rooting for unspeakable morsels in the soil.

This house was cool, even though a couple of their tombstones had fallen over. Darn you rain!

Here we are in the Whit. This house looks cool at night. They have a blue porch-light that makes everything glow.

Casket full of baby dolls. Full disclosure, this isn't really a Halloween display, this house looks like this year round. As I was snapping the photo, one of the residents was getting into his car, and mentioned that they used to bury the baby dolls in the yard.

This was the first house I noticed, and probably the first yard haunt other than my own that I've ever seen in Eugene. It looks great at night, with that blue flood light going.

And lastly, this was the house across the street from the gargoyle graveyard. They carved their punkin' too early, and it's already started to ingratiate itself with the porch.

I hope to get more shots of the cool decorations I'm seeing on my way too and fro' downtown!

It's October

One of our pumpkins, models a penny auction mask. I got this mask cheap, for a buck, from China. Ha ha! I have a fondness for cheesey cheap stuff. It's a little flattened, and I haven't been able to mold it back into shape. I kind of like that effect though, makes it seem all more the mummified.

I did repaint it though, the original paint job was pretty flat and lackluster, just a yellowish white with some blood around the mouth.

I started the repaint by giving it a wash of black, and then layered on some brown, then cream for the bandages. Lots of green, especially to bring out the layering on the bandages, and finally a brushing of sickly yellow. I love the look of dry brushing.

I bought this mask, because it reminded me of a monster from a childhood nightmare. It was kind of a wacky nightmare, taking place in a hospital full of monsters. This mummy was confined to a hospital bed, and I couldn't be sure if it was an Egyptian mummy, or some long forlorn hospital patient.

¢1 Dreadfuls

A few weeks back, Fright Catalog held one of their in-famous penny-auctions on ebay, and I bid on and won this fearsome Manimal Mask (I think they officially call it "Kong the Missing Link"). I'm going to use this on a dummy for Hallowe'en. Believe it or not, I already had the pith helmet, it served as my summertime bicycle helmet, and worked great.

But, acquiring this mask got me thinking, and I did a search on ebay for masks within the .99¢ - 3.00$ range, and lo-and-behold they had quite a few. So I've been buying up these cheapo masks with the intent of turning them into dummies this Hallowe'en.

I'm kind of envisioning my carport as a manor-house parlor, or possibly a gentleman's club a-la Wodehouse's "Ganymede Club". I'm liking this idea.

Fall Descends

Well, the weather has cooled substantially and the air is redolent of softly fermenting apples. We're here at the tail end of August, I suppose the kiddies are heading back to the gulags just about now?

Looks like we're about ready to coast into fall. I'm ready for a nice easy Hallowe'en season. I'm thinking old skool, I'm thinking stuffed dummies and rubber masks.

But, what are you guys up to this year? Big plans? Little ones? What do you have in your bag of tricks this year? I can't wait to see everyone's haunts!

Boom boom! Whistle, CRACKLE

Original Artwork by ShawnCoss

Happy 4th of July everybody! It's been a while since I've posted, but I've started to make the rounds again, and it's go-od to see y'all keeping the spirit alive all the year long. As the seasons change, and summer rolls along, I can't help but be drawn back to you, my beloved Hallowe'eners.

I've just been über busy of late, still working on animation for the movie Blackbird Pie, working on our horror comic, tentatively titled "Despair of the Fallen", Brennan is working on scripts for the second and third issues, and I am really impressed with how it's developing. I'm now also involved in producing some weirdo toys for GOBLINKO! And all this in addition to my day jobs (3). CRAZY times.

I won't have time to prepare the haunt at all this summer, but, last years ghouls are still lurking out in the Crypt, and I may make time for one special addition.


I wish you all an appropriate 4th of July, WHICH ABSOLUTELY MEANS FIREWORX, BEE-BEE-Q, and King Khan:

LAND OF THE FREAK, KING KHAN & THE SHRINES

Surfacing for Air

Hey peoples, it's been a while since I posted anything, and I haven't been keeping up with my blog roll, but things have been really busy lately.


Editing is underway on our first feature-length independent horror film Blackbird Pie, and I am currently directing (i.e. chin deep in paperwork) for the animated sequences of the film.

I'm really excited about the animations, we had a great first meeting of the animation team, and everyone contributed a ton of right-on ideas. If we swing it right, we'll be able to pay homage to some of my favorite artists and art movements, everything from the films of Jan Svankmajer, to the Fleischer Bros, and "Big Daddy" Roth!

In addition, I'm anticipating work on a new horror comic, details to be announced, tentatively entitled, "Despair of the Fallen". I'm really excited about this project, the script is underway, and we have the potential to do some really interesting stuff with the horror genre, and I'm sure you all know that I am a great fan of EC Comics Horror Mags, and Weird Tales, and I think we definitely want to do right by the example they set. It's gonna be fun!

This is, of course, all in addition to my new day job(s). Whew.

Also, I've got something new for you at the top of the page. I'm a great fan of The Skull and Pumpkin Blog, and I often visit through all seasons just for Mike's excellently curated seasonal playlists.

So I made my own, it's at the top of the page, and it's not as good as his, but has some of my favorite Hallowe'en tunes. Check it out! Hope everyone is having a Spooktacular off-season.

Where Have I Been

It's been a while, like over a month. I meant to do a few more posts in December, wish you all a Merry Christmas and a felicitous new year and the like, but then major big time life stuff happened, and I haven't had time to keep up with all your lovely blogs, or even post anything on mine.

I won't go into the succession of unpleasant events that impinged upon my life over the season, except the worst and saddest, which is that our sweet little dog Keiji got very ill, and we had to put her to sleep.

You may remember her from this post. Here:


She was a good dog, and it is in recalling little moments that I miss her the most. We may never again get to see her tear-ass across an open field, but the important thing is that we did get to see such sights, so that we may miss them.

Anyhow, I will slowly make my way back to blogging Halloween, once enough of these life experiences have been sorted away and dealt with.

Hope everyone is having a good year so far!