You’re the designated driver!
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Really nice Alfred Hitchcock intro. I’ll have to listen later, though; it’s time to go to my coffin bed.
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The was way cool! Love ghost Cab Calloway.
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i’m dressed as the hipster neighbor with the curly mustache who carves the pumpkin that everyone goes, “whoa, i like your pumpkin!” (even though it was just a pattern i googled), and who gives out candy that kids say “oh, i LOVE those!” – but aside from the pumpkin we put out ZERO decorations.
i had some standout kids this year: one gorgeous, shy little cleopatra, her sister who was a “Spider Fairy”, and an old-school b-boy who even did his “robot” dance for me.
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I will counter you “Spooks in Space” with “New Year’s Eve in a Haunted House.”
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This October I’ve been delving into some of the early, early horror films. I’ve been using the IMDb as a research tool, so (considering the IMDb’s reliability) many of these may not strictly qualify as horror. (For examples of the IMDb’s unreliability, it lists King Kong as an actor. Not a character, an actor. Also, it lists Tom Petty’s music video “You Don’t Know How It Feels” as horror.)
The IMDb lists this 15 second short as the first horror movie ever. That may be stretching things a bit, but it’s quite possibly the first gore film.
This one’s got a better claim to the title. Georges Méliès’ Le manoir du diable (1896) involves the devil flying into a castle in the form of a rubbery bat, transforming into a human shape, and vexing two travelers with various supernatural shenanigans. Of course, Méliès worked more in the tradition of fantasy and trick films, with little intent to scare or horrify, but this one still probably fits in the genre.
When one mentions Méliès, it’s customary to within the same breath genuflect towards the Lumiere brothers. Mostly known for their documentary films, they did create the occasional fiction, perhaps most notably “The Mechanical Butcher,” a science fiction film from 1895! Le squelette joyeux (1898) is arguably another documentary, 45 seconds of marionette manipulation captured on camera. But, as the skeleton’s limbs fling themselves loose from their body and yet continue their contortions, isn’t there perhaps a first glimmer of the frolics to be found in The Evil Dead or Re-Animator?
Segundo de Chomón is often referred to as the Spanish Méliès, working in the same tradition and frequently (unofficially) re-making Méliès’ films themselves. This has given him a reputation in some quarters as a mere imitator, but he frequently showed more style than the original, and he could innovate as well, having created the first camera dolly for 1914’s Cabiria. This film, La maison ensorcelée (1907), is itself a remake, but a fine example of his work, one of the early films in the haunted house genre.
The first film of Frankenstein, long considered lost. It’s actually quite good, especially the creation scene and the climax. Hilariously, the first intertitle, which occurs before the action actually begins, suggests a wacky alternate version, “Frankenstein Leaves for College.”
Jumping ahead considerably we come to the first of Disney’s Silly Symphonies. The five-year-olds in my class loved it.
Jazz to Disney’s classical (or termite to white elephant?), here’s the Fleischer Brothers’ Swing You Sinners! (I considered posting the above-referenced Bimbo’s Initiation, but considering the title, and its focus on members and spankings, I decided to keep things family friendly.)
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Alien cells. Made 'em early Halloween morning, gave 'em out that evening. They taste amazingly like vanilla wafers.
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Among the stuff I made for Saturday’s Halloween party, this more-or-less permanent installation:
The lid opens and closes via linear actuator. The switch is mounted on the side of an antique wall phone to the right of the stairs. I wasn’t using that compartment anyway. 
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This was the first time in 12 years that I have not taken my kid trick or treating; instead she went with a small group of her tween friends, and so I went bar hopping.
For our costumes, she was the mummy, and I did sugar skull makeup and skeletal accessories.
And between the two of us on our separate adventures, there is now a metric fuckton of candy in our house…
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It’s my dad’s 72nd. Hence, one of the reasons we kids never got to do much for Halloween. I got him a cupcake (since he’s not a big birthday cake fan).
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“Powerhouse” was his, right?
Bugs Bunny (and Carl Stalling, and Rush for that matter) sure owe him a huge debt of gratitude.
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yeah, i can’t hear Raymond Scott without thinking of Bugs / Warner Bros. / Merrie Melodies cartoons.
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The temperature last night was down in the mid 40s so every trick-or-treater got an envelope of instant hot chocolate in addition to a choice of chocolate of fruity treat. The clear favorite was the hot chocolate - if the weather next year is comparable I might not even bother with candy.
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Flee while you still can…
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Regretfully, it was my dad that usually got the short end of the stick on that day. It’s hard enough to corral four boys on one of the biggest days of the year.
I think half the worry he’s ever had in this life is to try to get all four sons in the same room at the same time.
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Naw. You have 363 days to get ready. Pro tip: Right now is the time for the best deals on pumpkins.
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