Music & Scary Tales for a Hallowe'en Weekend

Today, it's eerie music - with scary tales every even-numbered hour!

Mouahahahahahhhhhh! This weekend is Hallowe'en, and the delectable Miss Gabi will be playing the soundtrack for the actual day, Sunday 31st, on our Main Stream, but Elrik Merlin is kicking off the proceedings today (Saturday) to get you in the mood.

In addition to a wide and sometimes surprising collection of music during the day, varying from classical to rock and including a selection of fantasy SF TV and movie themes to boot - and of course the ZBS Radio Hour at 11am and 7pm Pacific (7pm and 3am UK time) - be sure to tune in at the top of every even-numbered hour (4am, 6am, 8am etc) to hear a "Scary Tale". They include old-time radio plays - and of course we are including the famous Orson Welles 1939 War of the Worlds, how could we not! - some presentations from that master of the macabre, Vincent Price, and readings of E F Benson ghosts stories. There's also Frederick Bradnum's classic play Private Dreams and Public Nightmares - the first BBC drama to include Radiophonic music, which led to the foundation of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

Today's programme is produced by thap gump in conjunction with the Alexandrian Free Library Consortium of Second Life. You can listen to the programme in-world now at http://main.radioriel.org, or simply click here to start your player, if your browser is configured to do so. Today's music is presented from the music library of Elrik Merlin.

For more information on the Alexandrian Free Library, current exhibits and the work of Consortium members in general, please visit the Alexandrian Free Library website, or one of their branches in-world.Source URL: http://idontwanttobeanythingotherthanme.blogspot.com/search/label/Halloween
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Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun

by Susan Sey

I know it isn't Halloween just yet but it's the Friday before, which means it's officially time to party like the undead.

Now if you're a kid this means the Weekend of Free Candy is upon you. Get out there & shake down the neighborhood, kiddoes!

A word of advice, though? If you can shave, drive a car or appreciate an ironic costume, you're too old to trick or treat. Same goes if you either a) want to go as a Naughty Nurse or b) have what it takes to fill out the costume. Time to move on, 'kay? Hand out candy at home, or get out there & TP the cranky neighbors. (Yes, I know I'm asking for it, but seriously, I'd rather get TP'ed than stare down the six foot tall college freshman at my door wearing a t-shirt that says, "This IS my costume.")

But I don't want to talk about kids & costumes. Today I want to talk about grown ups. Because grown ups have totally co-opted this holiday.

I'm not whining. Certainly not. I love Halloween. I met my husband at his annual Halloween bash. (He used to turn his entire basement into a haunted house every year. Then we had kids who lose sleep over movies like UP--"The talking dogs were BAD!"-- & that nonsense had to end.)

For us these days Halloween is all about dressing up our little princesses & carving smiley faces into pumpkins but one day...

...one day I want to do the Zombie Pub Crawl.

I want to dress up like the undead, parade all over town & drink like my liver really has kicked it. I can't explain this fascination with zombies. I don't normally enjoy dead things, or movies about dead things. Or movies where people make previously alive things dead.

But I thought Shaun of the Dead was one of the funniest movies I'd ever seen.

This shocked the heck out of my husband who, if he wants me to watch a scary movie, has to promise to walk me to the bathroom at any hour of the day or night, and take charge of any household chore which involves going into the basement after dark.

And Zombie Land! Oh! Comic genius! This is a movie in which Woody Harrelson (so often underestimated as an actor) watches a female zombie chowing down on some poor guy and remarks offhandedly, "There's a lady who likes her Manwich."

I cried laughing. I still chuckle every time I walk past the cans of Manwich in the grocery store.

Based on this, I feel confident it would give me no end of enjoyment to get dressed up in raggedy clothes and stagger through the streets of St. Paul in search of brains (by which I mean beer) this weekend.

How about you? What are you doing this weekend to celebrate? Are you celebrating kid- or adult-style? Any traditions? Let hear 'em!
Source URL: http://idontwanttobeanythingotherthanme.blogspot.com/search/label/Halloween
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Halloween Yumminess

by Tawny

I know, I know, Halloween is really more Jeanne's province. But we're
building our haunted mansion this week (cardboard, scrapbook paper, glitter and flocked bats - oh my!) and it got me thinking about the upcoming holiday and all the ensuing fun.

It also got me thinking that, despite my best intentions, every year I'm scrambling the last week to get organized and prepared. We're hitting the grocery store the week before the holiday, grabbing whatever Halloween=ish ingredients we can. I recall one year, I was up until 1am making witch hats for the annual party while trying to get that stupid iced-up rubber glove for the punch bowl to quit leaking in my freezer. It's similar to the pre-Thanksgiving craziness of making individual mini pumpkin place settings, or the pre-Christmas 'have to have a gingerbread house' race on the 23rd. Or the list of wonderful friends I want to send those handmade cards I never get made.

In other words, I'm an overachieving procrastinator. I'm incapable of letting the holiday's go with just a celebratory nod, but never quite get my act together early enough to do justice to all my plans.

But this year!!! Oh yeah, this year I'm gonna rock. I'm even taking a workshop that combines crafting and scrapbooking with organizing. I have lists, I have plans, I have many options for distracting myself on the way to achieving those lists and plans. I've even bought my first Christmas gift (jammies for my girls).

But before I jump forward that far, I have Halloween to attack... I mean, enjoy. In addition to completing our holiday mansion in a timely manner, we're creating a costume. I wear my witches garb every year, and my oldest doesn't dress up any longer (pout) but my youngest is going on safari, complete with a whole host of stuff wild animals :-) And I'm definitely making my very favorite fall treats - caramel apples!

So how about you? Are you holiday organized or joining my procrastinators club? Do you dress up for Halloween yourself? And whats your favorite Halloween treat? Source URL: http://idontwanttobeanythingotherthanme.blogspot.com/search/label/Halloween
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Verrrrrrry Scarrrrrry....

by Jeanne Adams

BOOO!!!

Did I scare you? BWAH-Ha-Ha-HA!!! It's Halloween! Tonight is Trick or Treat! Tomorrow, All Soul's Day...Are you ready?

Oh, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Grins.


All of you know, by now that I ADORE Halloween. Almost every year we have an annual Addams Family Halloween party - in hiatus this year because I was on deadline, alas.

*huge, long-standing pout*

However, it is an event like no other. We've had up to 65 people in our house and garden for this affair. One year, early on while it was still just "Jeanne's Annual Halloween Party" (i.e. Pre-DH) I did a scary movie fest.

That was a strange one - not that they all don't have their strange character! - but this one struck me as odd because half the group was in the family room of my then-condo watching the scary movies, devouring popcorn, beer, and cupcakes with the same abandon as the monster on the screen devoured people.

The other half were in my miniscule kitchen talking as loudly as they could so as not to hear the scary noises or gasps of the populace from the TV screen.

Hmmm. I drew a frightening conclusion. Some people are really frightened by scary movies! Imagine that!

Did I mention that I'm REALLY missing the party this year? Can you tell? So I thought we could have a Virtual Halloween Party here.

Let's talk about Scary Movies! And Scary Books, Shaaaaall we?

The scariest movie I ever saw (nightmare producing scare and I was an adult!) was Aliens II. The one on the ship. *shudder* Something about that one just gave me the flat out willies. I literally did have fall out of the bed nightmares after that one. Could'a been the cold medicine too, but jumpin' heebie jeebies, Batman! That one was a doozy.

Second to that one in the "gives Jeanne the collywobbles" category is American Werewolf in London. Now before you go all Hollywood Critique on me and tell me it's a parody, I'll say that yes, I do know that. Doesn't matter. That scene, where the werewolves are dressed as Nazis and bust in the house? Huh-uh, oh no you dinnna!?! I truly did walk out of the theater. Well, run on wobbly legs might be a more writerly description. Ha!

Others that were on the "Sleep Disturbing" list are : Jagged Edge; Body Heat; and Wait Until Dark.

Alien (the first one) didn't get me. The Halloween movies didn't bother me. Neither did any of the Elm Street movies. Frankly if you are boneheaded flat out stupid peabrained enough to get yourself IN to that situation? Damn if you don't deserve to get dead. Snork!! And hey, Jamie Lee Curtis? If you go in the house to get something, come back out and the car doors are locked and the windows fogged?

GET. THE. HECK. OUT. OF. THERE. Yeeesh. Too Stupid to Live. Seriously.

What really seems to get me are not the slasher/gore movies. No, it's the pscyological ones. Hitchcock. The Birds.

I still have an unnatural fear of things that flap.

Gaslight. Are you mad, or are you being "gaslighted?" Grins.

Then there's the books and movies-from-books like The Exorcist and The Omen and Rosemary's Baby. Oh, and all the Anne Rice books.

Ohhhh yeah. Scarwy.

So I knew what scared me. I figured I'd ask some of the Banditas.

For Suz, it's the old school thriller - Rear Window; Midnight Lace; Charade; and the aforementioned Gaslight.

For our own AC, The Talented Mr. Ripley made her shiver, along with the end of the world flick 28 Days.

Nancy says Wait Until Dark had her covering her eyes. She also cited Dead Again and Terminator as among the collywobble films. (Now, with passing time, she's decided Michael Beign made all the Terminator fear worth it.)

Joan, despite her love of blood thirsty Romans, assures me she does NOT watch scary movies. Of course, she went on to list three....Exorcist (the mere discussion of it had her worried); Jurrassic Park (especially the part with the raptors in the kitchen...but you know, she doesn't watch scary movies); and What Lies Beneath. I'm sure she saw this for Harrison Ford, never THINKING it was a scary movie. Right JT? Grins.

Our own Anna says the first Halloween scared her to death, along with The Shining. "Daddy's home!" *shudder!* Anna likes thrillers. Movies like Fatal Attraction, Dressed to Kill, Sleeping with the Enemy, Seven, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle and Suspect. Suspect's one of my favorites, but Anna says Notorious is one of the best.

Tawny too refuses to see the scary ones, but says her kids think the REAL scary movies are: Dead Alive, Sixth Sense, the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Quarantine, The Grudge and the Evil Dead.

So what about you? What's YOUR scary movie?

Any of them give you nightmares?

Do you get more frightened by the psychological stuff - Jagged Edge, Mr. Ripley, Gaslight, and so on - or the blood guts and gore, like Saw, and Halloween and Elm Street?

What about books?


Lisa Gardner's Say Goodbye had me seeing spiders everywhere. *shiver!!* and I certainly wouldn't want to meet any of Linda Howard, Karen Rose Smith or Lisa Jackson's villains in MY town!

Last but not least...I always buy at least three new Halloween books for my children each year. This year, the best is:

Tell Me Another Scary Story by Carl Reiner
Now....last but not least, for all my Pagan Pals...

Blessed Be and HAPPY SAMHAIN!!!!Source URL: http://idontwanttobeanythingotherthanme.blogspot.com/search/label/Halloween
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No Place Like Halloweeeeeeeeen....

By Jeanne Adams

The holiday season begins at my house on October first. Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday and always has been. Given that, I get to start in September these days, which is when I put up the Halloween decorations. Every room gets something, even the half-bath.

For one month, I'm worse than those little old ladies you see with 4000 Santas out all year long.

From September 30th on, I get to read Halloween books to my kids without any remorse (I do it all year long, by the way, I just get to do it guilt-free for the months of September and October) and we get at least one new one every year.

We start planning the outdoor decorations in September and begin issuing the invites for the annual Ad(d)ams Family Halloween Party - a wickedly fun event where the adults get to dress up and say BOO! Of course, if you insist on coming sans costume, you have to bring something to eat. I get about half and half every year. Grins. We had a Cavalier, a Catholic Schoolgirl, an Elfin Warrior and a Karate Master this year along with assorted other characters. It was great fun!

But back to the books...The favorite new book this year is one by Carl Reiner, you know him from all the way back on the Dick Van Dyke show and from his later work in Oceans Eleven. The book is called Tell Me a Scary Story...But Not Too Scary. It's marvelous! I've read it to my youngest about six times per night for the past four or five nights. We've even read it during the day sometimes too. Bwah-ha-ha!!!

Past favorites have included The ABC's of Halloween, The Runaway Pumpkin, and A Very Brave Witch. You've never heard anything funnier than a four year old yelling, as you read, "RUNAWAY PUMPKIN!!"

Then there's the costumes for the kids. We discuss this at length from Labor Day on. This year we have a Football Player (Miami Dolphins, for some unknowable reason) and IronMan.

For the Halloween party, my darling hubby and I were Biker Trailer Trash. There were people who arrived at my door who did not recognize me. I guess I'm glad about that, since I pulled off the trailer trash thing pretty well!

I put the picture down below. What do you think?

And then there's the pumpkins. Gosh I love carving pumpkins. What is not to love about those fabulous orange canvases? There doesn't seem to be anything you can't carve into a pumpkin. From ghosts to vultures to bad-ass bikers, you can create a pumpkin tribute. One of my "Bucket List" items is to get to the famous Keene, NH Pumpkin Festival. It's one of the world's largest pumpkin festivals. This year's count was 22, 596 carved pumpkins. Check it out at http://www.pumpkinfestival.org/

The other fun thing is the Life Is Good Pumpkin Festivals. Wow are they delightful! Life is Good partners with a local charity to set up twelve festivals scattered in various parts of the country and the classic Life Is Good style t-shirts are in full swing.

There's always a specially designed Festival shirt. Really cool! http://www.lifeisgood.com/festivals/ They also have cool Halloween gear if you want style without costume! http://www.lifeisgood.com/category/search-by-interest/fall-halloween.aspx

And oh...the candy. Considering we've had our Halloween party already and there's still cake, pie, brownies and we're making cupcakes today (Halloween), I probably should be doing at least three hours on the exercise bike per day for the next ten weeks.

Then again, I also bought five bags of candy. I'll give 'em out too. Really. I will. *VEG*

I always buy the candy I like, don't you? This is just in case I don't give it all away to the mini-goblins then I'll have good stuff around. I hate to have leftovers of candy that I won't eat. *shudder* Now that's scary. Besides, it hurts my Scotch soul to throw anything away, especially candy!

(By the way, the picture at the left is our pumpkin effort this year...)

As to candy, my favorites are malted milk balls, tootsie roll pops and tootsie rolls. Jeez, they make me drool. I've got to stay away from the blinking things until tomorrow night. Cripes. It's like they call to me.

....Jeanne....we're heeeeeerrrrreeeeee....we're deliiiiiciousssssss....

Scary. Verrrrry Scary.

So, are you dressing up this Halloween? What about your kids, if you have any?

When you shed that "normal" face of yours, whose face are you going to assume?

What about candy? What's your favorite? Mars Bars? Snickers? Tootsie Rolls? What kind of candy do you despise?

Last but not least, any good Halloween books to recommend?

Source URL: http://idontwanttobeanythingotherthanme.blogspot.com/search/label/Halloween
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Fall is in the Air!

by Christie Kelley


While Anna and Christine (and all our Bandita Buddies in the Southern Hemisphere) are enjoying spring, here in Maryland it’s fall. And I love it! I’m writing this on Thursday but it doesn’t really feel like fall here yet. Some of the leaves are starting to fall but most of the trees have only just started to turn. Not to mention, it’s almost 80 degrees here.



Luckily, a cold front is heading our way.




Fall is that time to hunker down and make sure every thing is in working order before winter comes. This year, I’ll have heat!! For anyone who wasn’t reading the blog last winter, my home was being remodeled and for 4 months I lived in a house with only two portable heaters. It was cozy living in one room with my husband and two boys but this year, I’ll have two gas fireplaces and working heat pumps. I’m actually looking forward to the cooler weather.

Fall makes me want to bake things like warm cookies with cinnamon. Last night with all the windows opened, I made peanut butter cookies and banana bread. With the warm weather, it just wasn't the same.

Fall also brings one of my favorite holidays: Halloween. There's nothing more fun than handing out candy to the little kids all dressed up. Their excitement is contagious.



And for some reason fall makes me want to start things. I guess it’s good that I just received word that Zebra wants three more books. So I’ll have a lot to start this fall and winter.

What does fall put you in the mood for? (well, that didn't come out right) What do you enjoy doing in the fall?



Or if you're in the land of sping, what do you enjoy doing in the spring that you don't or can't do in other seasons?

Today (Friday) my husband and I are packing up the kids and taking them the Shenandoah Mountains in western Virginia. We plan on doing Luray Caverns one day and maybe a hike up Old Rag Mountain on Saturday. So if I’m not responding much to comments today, that’s the reason.

Source URL: http://idontwanttobeanythingotherthanme.blogspot.com/search/label/Halloween
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