Welcoming a New Year...

... and all the greatness it has to offer.

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    2016 was rough. We, as a whole, were dealt a rough hand filled with tragedies, losses, and moments of despair. Personally, there were some difficulties I faced as well, but thankfully nothing too serious or detrimental, so overall, I am thankful for all of the goodness around me; friends, family, health, wealth, and happiness. Still, I faced a few growing pains that I have learned I must be patient with. The older I get the more I learn about patience. And the more I learn about patience, the more I also learn about action. How after enough patience, enough waiting, listening, learning, watching... action can and should be taken.
   I feel like I have spent the last year coasting, waiting for things to take off, for my life to begin in a lot of ways. This year, with patience, and my desire to finally take a little more action, step by step, I'm hoping to make some changes. So, here's to being more creative and working harder to finding ways to do the things I love like write and film more, take improv to the next few levels, and travel to the places I've always wanted - and to see what more I can do with my love for Halloween. May not happen all at once, or even all this year, but if not now, when? I just feel it's vital now more than ever to go after the things that fulfill me. After all, a wise witch I always looked up to once uttered some of the best advice I've ever heard, and I think it's time to follow it; "Magic is really very simple, you just have to want something and let yourself have it."

Goodies and Gifts

    While recently browsing through my favorite Etsy artists, I gladly visited Dame Darcy's shop. Over the years this artist has been one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to the rare, yet intriguing genre of southern gothic. She is a talented, witchy, and a one of a kind artist who performs, illustrates, and sells incredible handmade goodies!

View DameDarcy.com today!

When I saw her 2016 Witch Calendar, I had to indulge...

    I was so excited when I purchased this gem, I decided to send a short heartfelt message to the Dame herself, just to say hi and remind her that her art is just as amazing as ever. I also thanked her for allowing my film crew and I to use her version of Down in Willow Garden, "Mercury Wine," in the credits of our film Avery Parrish Thieves. For more of her tracks, indulge here!

     Soon I received a response that made my heart leap! Dame Darcy was flattered and in turn shared both Avery Parrish Thieves and Séance on her social media sites, along with personally complimenting my work. As if I wasn't already feeling so flattered and happy, I became even more so when I received the witch calendar... along with an adorable gift...

There's nothing more rewarding than making great friends through great art. Cheers to all who agree, in the mean time, when it comes to Dame Darcy: Like, Follow, Read! 

Actual Gallows Hill

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       Not too long ago (probably back in 2012 or so) I saw an interesting documentary that I'm no longer able to find. It was about Salem, and the search for the actual location where the infamous 19 men and women were hanged during the witch trials. The host and researcher behind the documentary was a descendant of one of the accused (I want to say of Elizabeth Howe). In the end she discovered the exact location - this exact location - as "the one":




     Also found this while I was searching for the documentary (can't even remember the title), unrelated to Gallows Hill, but still interesting insight on the trials. Here, author Stacey Schiff adds explains, "It's a Story of Women":

"No one ever suffered afflictions without being able to name a witch."

And for fun, here she is on Stephen Colbert:


Stacy Schiff Explains How The Salem Witch... by nvx90sports

Check out her recent book (one I'll be adding to my list): The Witches: Salem, 1692 

Read reviews and purchase here on Amazon.com

My Halloween Costume for 2015...

Fiona Goode...

 ...from American Horror Story: Coven! 

I only recently got into the third season of American Horror Story: Coven - I know I'm super late to the game. I saw the first season long ago and wasn't that into it. The second season didn't grab me either. But when a few friends of mine suggested I watch season three, I gave it another chance and was so glad I did. Coven is fantastic - at least to me. It's everything I dig: witchcraft, New Orleans, voodoo, resurrection, and so much more! 

The writing (dialogue and structure) is so impressive and the acting is wonderful, of course. I mean, when you have Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, and Angela Bassett, you kind of can't go wrong - especially when they're all playing bitches. It's great. 

I decided to combine two of Fiona's costumes: the "Bitchcraft" episode ensemble she's known for (above) and the outfit she wears at nan's funeral from the episode, "Protect the Coven," (below) - just in case I got cold on Halloween night, turns out the wrap came in handy.

For the main part of the costume all I needed was a black blouse with a ruffled bottom (which I luckily found at the thrift store for $5), a black pencil skirt, black stockings, black gloves, and black heels. Not to mention the cool sunglasses...

... and the awesome black umbrella.

I was pretty excited to find the sunglasses at H&M, after much searching, but even luckier to have found an umbrella that actually resembled Fiona's! Took forever to find, but worth it.

Only 15 bucks!

I cut all the seams where the lace was sewn on, and I have to say it turned out to look pretty spot on.

Of course, there was one more major issue - I'm no blondie. So I had to find myself a blonde wig similar to Jessica Lange's gorgeous locks. Trickier than I thought since a lot of them were either white or intense yellow, and super curly, but finally I stumbled upon this one...

Again, only 15 bucks! I gave it as professional a haircut as I could and ended up with it looking pretty decent.

I happened to only have a men's styrofoam head at the time, so it kind of looks like Buffalo Bill dancing to Goodbye Horses... like exactly... (you can hear it now, can't you? So sorry)

A little better? Hope so. For the second look I just added a black hat I got at H&M ($25) and some millinery netting from JoAnn to go over the eyes (around $5, I think). 

The funeral costume also has a beautiful fur-trim wrap, so I half-assedly (not a word? It is now) created one by getting soft, thick black fabric and hot glue-gunning (cause it wouldn't be Halloween if Nina didn't get out her hot glue-gun) a black fur trim around the edges. 

So... what do you think?

Luckily my boyfriend's wonderful friends had a great Halloween party so we all got to celebrate together. Here's my cute man as Bacchus, the Roman god of agriculture and wine. Originally we had planned to dress up as Val Kilmer and Angelina Jolie from Alexander, but I ended up not having enough time to complete (or even really start) my Angelina costume, and he didn't have time to do the finishing touches to his costume either, so we changed things up. He was clever enough to call himself Bacchus and luckily, I had already made my Fiona costume for a party much earlier in the month so it was ready to go. I guess it was meant to be. 

Halloween 2015

Hoping everyone had fun this year.

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The VVitch

Not sure whether to be excited (because this looks amazing as hell), or to be mad since I've been writing a story somewhat similar to this for years now... Damn it, it looks so good though!

Sandra the New Martha?

 

     I've been a Sandra Lee fan for years, admiring her style, her table-scapes, her cocktails, how her kitchen always matches what she's cooking and baking that day, and her overall fun personality - she's like the barbie I always wanted to be! As much as I adore Martha, who's style is iconic and a one of a kind, Sandra always has a much warmer personality and vibe. And although their approaches differ, Martha being the up-scale entertainer and Sandra going with the semi-homeade method, I still feel Sandra is just as great of a home-entertainer as Martha - both of whom highly influence my Halloween season each year.

   Needless to say, I was very happy to see Sandra Lee's special Halloween issue on the stands the other day - a new magazine to add to the collection! The formatting was very much like Martha's special Halloween issues as it too included the double cover - one side for tricks and one side for treats - and, of course, Sandra in costume. Table-scapes, treats, and a lot of recipes for fall baking - definitely check it out!

Salem: The Series

    So looking forward to this! WGN America has produced a new series called Salem, focusing on the infamous Salem Witch Trials, probably the most intriguing part of American history, in my eyes. Unlike the play and film The Crucible, the series is proposing that actual witchcraft played a role in the trials and community during 1692. As someone who has grown up with a curiosity for the trials and its secrets, I've spent many years reading up on the subject. I've always wanted to see a show or film portray the trials more accurately, because the tension between the people involved is probably enough drama already. As fictionalized as this depiction of the trials looks however, it does seem like it's going to be pretty awesome! I look forward to the partial accuracies and the fictionalized fabrications and how they will all melt together. I'm not expecting it to be the best show on television, and hell, I may not like it after all, but I think it's worth a shot. If you've been dying for Halloween lately like I've been, this may be our fix!

Check out more info here; Secrets of Salem

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone had a great time this year! Looking forward to all of the amazing photos and blog posts to come! 

More vintage Halloween postcards and images here: My vintage Old School Halloween Graphics board on Pinterest! 

200

200 Days 'til Halloween.

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"Within These Shadows Dark and Rotting..."

"... Lurks a mind perverse and plotting..."

Click to watch:

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Ghost Adventures: Salem MA; Part One

Sorry for posting that this episode was going to premiere on Friday when it had already aired the previous week, shows how behind I am on my Ghost Adventures! Here is the first part of the episode if you missed it. This episode ended up being an all-time favorite of mine- one, because there are a few funny moments (as always); two, they had to go to the town council in order to get permission to investigate, which makes them the first crew ; and last but not least... it's Salem. Need I say more?

Part One

Ghost Adventures: Salem Massachusetts

Really excited to see this episode, it comes on tonight on Travel Channel!

Witchery...

Going to see The Crucible and then heading over to the Harry Potter premiere, all in one night.

...A night of witchcraft and wizardry...

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Fake Blood

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2010 Haunt

See more pictures on my Flickr Photostream

My Costume for 2010

Sorry it's taken me so long to reveal what my costume was this year, but here it is: The Witch from Sleepy Hollow, otherwise known as 'The Crone.'

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Here I am in the costume:

I must give thanks to my friends and family members for taking such cool photos.

I have always thought it would be cool to do this costume for Halloween.

I remember in my sophomore year of High School, my theatre class was going to a drama festival where one of the categories was 'Scenes from Film' and my group ended up choosing it. Soon, as we were coming up with ideas for what movie to do, Sleepy Hollow came up and we knew we had to do it. We realized with our small group the only scene we could end up doing was the scene with the Crone. I then said, "Could I be the witch?"

We ended up having a great time and I loved playing the Crone. We realized how hard our category was because we couldn't use music or special effects like in the film, but instead had to adapt it to the stage. Overall, the scene ended up being fun to perform, though I doubt it was all that great to watch, may have been awkward to see it without all the music and special effects.

For the costume I went to the thrift store and found a white petticoat, a white corset (or something that looked like it), and found a quarter-length t-shirt from target with lace sleeves. After I got these I dyed the shirt and then bought some gray/blue fabric which I then sponge painted with silver paint and glitter. After that I attached the fabric to the corset and then attached cheese cloth to the skirt. For the back of the costume, I attached fabric and some gray gauze to the back of the shirt so that it would fall straight down and look like one of the dress styles from the 18th century. After that I made sure the entire top part of the costume had some fake spider webs all over it. Once the costume was done, I made the veil. I glued a black rose and black leaves to a tiara and then attached more gray gauze for the veil.

I'd like to take some full shots of the costume soon so that it can be seen better...