Most Profitable Horror Movies

HorrorMovies.Ca has a list of the 9 most profitable horror movies.  Top honors go to blockbuster indies that filmed with very small budgets, like the Blair Witch Project (below) and Paranormal Activity.

The Creepiest Halloween Costumes Ever

 

Last year, the Huffington Post compiled a slideshow of the creepiest Halloween costumes ever.  

A pretty good showing, I'd say.  Definitely worth sharing, even a year later.

Top 10 Creepy Children in Cinema

Here's a solid list of creepy children in horror movies, which, while comprehensive, seems to leave out quite a lot of them, too.  Seriously, what is it about kids that's so unsettling?  Has anyone ever done a study of this?

Creepy Costumes Through the Ages

I love this list of creepy Halloween costumes over at Fist City Vintage.  And of course many of the worst offenders are clown costumes.  Of course.

DIY Embroidery Hoop Wreath

This delicate wreath, made of miniature embroidery hoops, makes a great Halloween decoration, but could easily be retooled for other holidays.  Christmas isn't that far away, and those spooky cobwebs could easily become pretty snowflakes.  Full tutorial from the Craftzine blog at the link above.

Top 10 Illustrated Horror Movie Posters

The art of hand-drawn movie posters has all but died out (at least here in America -- it's alive and well in places like Ghana and Thailand), but FEARnet has a list of the ten best illustrated horror movie posters to take you back to the good old days of pen-and-ink posters.

Morton Salt Girl

Here's an easy costume suggestion from vivacia on Polyvore: the Morton Salt Girl.  All you need is a little yellow dress, an umbrella, and a canister of salt to complete the look.  As I recall, my friend Jessica did this a few years ago and it was a hit.

Midnight Pastoral

 

"Midnight Pastoral" skeleton toile by Alexander Henry Fabrics, via Old Fashioned Halloween.

Ghost T-shirt

 

"Ghost" T-shirt, by droopbomb, on Threadless

Scorcese's 11 Scariest Movies

Last year, the Daily Beast ran a list of Martin Scorcese's 11 scariest horror movies.

The list is a pretty great one, though it skews pretty heavily towards pre-1970s cinema. I haven't watched my way through the entire list, but those I've seen have been excellent, and Scorcese includes a couple of my favorite ever horror films, including The Innocents and the 1963 version of The Haunting.

Spiderweb Memo Board

 

This spiderweb bulletin board by the Greenbean Crafterole is great because it's more than just a one-time seasonable decoration.  I'm always taping notes up to my window, or pinning them to the wall near my desk, so I'd love to have a board like this up on my wall all year round, to keep me organized and maintain a little Halloween spirit throughout the year.

Twilight Vampire Baby Costume

Just in time for the release of the first installment of Breaking Dawn, here's a super-creepy/brilliant Twilight costume. 

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes terrifying vampire c-section

LIFE Magazine Black Cat Audition

 What are Vincent Price and Peter Lorre doing with those cats, you ask?

They're auditioning them, of course!  What else?

Apparently Price and Lorre were part of a 1961 Hollywood casting session for black cats, presumably for a horror movie.  LIFE Magazine was there to capture the proceedings, and as you can see, the results were fantastic.

What impresses me most is not that some Hollywood executive decided it would be a good idea to have an open casting call for cats, but that so many people managed to wrangle their cats into coming with them.  No matter how lovely I may find my two black cats, I know there's no way they would tolerate being put on a leash and trotted down to a movie studio.  Although, to be fair, the cats at above don't look too happy about it, themselves.

There are a bunch more truly awesome photos from the LIFE Magazine shoot here, and here.  [Via BoingBoing]

Last-Minute Superhero Costumes

Whether you're indulging in Ghostbusters nostalgia or gearing up for the release of Dark Knight Rises, here are some last-minute Halloween superhero costume ideas.

And in case that's not enough, here are 20 last-minute sci-fi costumes for the procrastinating SF fans.

A Plethora Of Pumpkin Recipes

Good Housekeeping has a host of delicious-looking pumpkin recipes, and, pleasantly, they're not just you're run-of-the-mill pumpkin pie recipes.

If you're looking to switch up your Halloween course list, or just looking for something to do with some late autumn gourds from your garden, try some pumpkin creme brulee or pumpkin shortcakes with fruit compote.  Yum!

David Gordon Green on His Suspiria Remake

Pineapple Express director David Gordon Green will be directing a remake of Dario Argento's horror classic Suspiria.  Complex has an interview in which he talks about the project:

With Suspiria specifically, you’ve been trying to get a remake made for years now. What is it about Dario Argento’s original film that keeps you so determined to make a new version?

To me, what I love about it…. I love the original, but the movie that I’ve written based on that is just very much influenced by that. I think the idea of an isolated setting with a young, naïve girl stuck in the isolated setting is just a field day for what I find to be scary. It’s me responding horrifically to that movie; I was really terrified by that movie. My take is somewhat different from what Argento’s movie is, and it’s really me seeing what I have to offer that genre.

It’s the seed that Suspiria planted in my head, rather than a shot-by-shot remake. It takes that tone and goes into a new place with it

Ten Tricks For Surviving A Horror Movie

 Not only is this article on how to survive a horror movie in the Miami New Times full of helpful hints should you fall into a horror movie, it also demonstrates a pretty sharp understanding of the rule-governed nature of the horror genre, and of the concept of genre in general:

​A scary movie is nothing but a pattern; a circumstantial plot that moves from one point to the next,systematically taking its viewers into a familiar world. In one version the chick might be the hero, while in another she's the victim. There are serial killers and ghosts, and there's always some idiot who does the opposite of what the audience is telling him to do.

But the thing is, no matter the premise, horror flicks are adrenaline-based entertainment that drag their audiences through the mud and back again, throwing obstacles at them from all angles without a care in the world about feelings, stress, or any other emotion.

Celebrity Baby Halloween Costumes

Why, yes, that is Paul Rudd, with his son, Jack

I don't know who half these kids are, but there are some hellaciously cute costumes on this slideshow of best celeb baby costumes on Babble.  I think my favorite part (besides the Fanning girls' preternaturally spot-on costumes) is seeing these famous parents being cute with their kids.  So whether you're trying to keep the Halloween spirit alive a little longer, or just exorcise your grandmother instincts, it's worth checking out!

Top 10 80's Horror Movies

Don't go into the light!

Here's a list of the ten best horror movies of the 80's to mull over.  Thoughts?

Werewolf Bar Mitzvah

Tintype Witches, 1875

Via Sexy Witch.  Read the whole post here.

Everybody (Backstreet's Back)

Here's an enormously guilty pleasure from my adolescence.  I want to assure you, this was the only Backstreet Boys song I ever liked, and this only because the video is monster movie themed.  It is kind of catchy, though . . .  And very Halloween-appropriate.

How to Compost Your Pumpkin

"Angry old man" by sethtex, via Flickr

It's been a week now since Halloween, and chances are, that once-gorgeous Jack-o-lantern is starting to look more like refuse than decoration.  Loathe as I am to suggest doing anything to dissipate the lingering Halloween spirit, it may, in fact, be time to get rid of your pumpkins.  Luckily, The Daily Green has some useful tips on how to compost pumpkins so that they don't go to waste.

9 Ill-Advised Musical Costumes

Houston Press has a compiled what might be most accurately be called a worst-of, a list of musical couples costumes that would be in bad taste, including this charming couple:

Celebrity Costume Recaps

In case you didn't get your fill of famous people in Halloween costumes, here's a slideshow of some celebrity Halloween twitpics.  I'm not sure what my objection is to celebrities dressing as other celebrities, but it seems to demonstrate a basic lack of perspective.

Halloween TV Specials

If, like me, you're saddened to see your neighbors taking down their decorations and the pumpkins on your front step slowly sinking in on themselves, then one sure-fire way to bolster that Halloween spirit is by rewatching some classic Halloween TV episodes.  I've been thinking of what my list would include (certainly Supernatural's ridiculous razor-blades-in-the-candy opener), and maybe at some point I'll put together a list of my own, by in the meantime, here's a great roundup from Jezebel of Halloween specials from our youths.

There are a lot of clear winners on this list -- the Buffy episode, of course, and every episode ever of The Addams Family - but I think my favorite is the Freaks and Geeks episode.  Bill as The Bionic Woman.  It just kills me every time.

Jezebel's Ghost Stories

Here are those ghost stories Jezebel was looking for.  I think my favorite is "Charlotte," although it's a fun selection generally.

Real Halloween Horrors

Proving that sometimes the real world is scarier than horror stories, there were some sad events this Halloween, including a young woman who has accidentally hanged in a St. Louis haunted house attraction, and at least 6 people who were shot on Halloween night in Washington, DC.  Be careful out there, people!

Happy Halloween!

Today's the day!  Hope you all had a marvelous Halloween!