The 1,000th Haunt...

      Yesterday was my birthday and I got to spend the day with my sweet guy at one of my favorite places, Disneyland! I'm pretty laid back when it comes to Disney having been an annual passholder before as well as a cast member, so nowadays I like my Disney trips to be pressure free and go with the flow. I'm never forcing my group to have to get every ride in, every time we go. That being said, there's still one ride I do like to make sure I ride every time (if I can) and it's, of course, The Haunted Mansion. Luckily, my man is wonderful and loves the Mansion too, so yesterday turned out to be our first ride since the infamous Hatbox Ghost was placed in the attic of the Southern plantation inspired mans - and we loved him! 

"The Haunted Mansion boasts 999 haunts, but were there 1000 when it first opened?"

Read the Hatbox Ghost's story here!

And See him for yourself in this video!

100 Days!

In honor of it being 100 days 'til Halloween, here's my Throwback-Thursday: Seance! 

"Like" it here!

Séance from Nina Sharifi on Vimeo.
A stop-animated short about a séance gone awry. Animated and Designed by Nina Sharifi. Audio Mixing and Mastering by Bijan Sharifi. Music Composed by Anthony Ferraro.

Pottery Barn: Halloween 2015

The season is starting early, folks! Loving these goodies already!

More Pottery Barn Halloween Items Here!

Rest In Peace James Horner

Very sad to hear about the passing of composer James Horner. 

I watched a great piece of footage in my Film Music course last year of Horner conducting the orchestra for Something Wicked This Way Comes. I got chills watching the piece come to life (so wishing I could find that footage now!) - he really knew what Halloween sounded like. 

Here is another piece I have always loved, not only because I admire Horner's work on Jumanji (one of my favorite movies), but because this one makes me remember Robin Williams and his great performance in the film. Missing him, too. 

Click Below:

A Change in the Wind Says I

 The insane semester finally ended, but not before I got the ever-evil strep throat...

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Thank goodness that hell has ended now! I was able to graduate just as I was getting better! Feels good to be done with school once and for all...

At a very transitional stage now. You know, where Dustin Hoffman is in the scuba outfit at the bottom of the pool? That stage. Using this free time to write, improve my health, and figure out which road to take. Here's to a whole new direction, but staying me, all the way!

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Goosebumps: The Movie

   Been so looking forward to seeing this final product and was happy to find a few photos on IMDB. I love Jack Black already, but also really hope that writers Carl Ellsworth (Red Eye, Disturbia) and Scott Alexander (Ed Wood, 1408) capture the spookiness and campiness of our other favorite spooky book series! 

Scary Stories: A Documentary

Our favorite childhood book series is not only on its way to being a feature film (see more here, let's just cross our fingers and hope they don't mess it up), but it may also soon be the subject of an in-depth documentary which will focus on the lure and love of the series as well as its controversy. Gammell's art has haunted us and Schwartz' stories have frightened us for decades. Now, filmmaker Cody Meirick wants to discuss the series and all it has become. 

To donate money, visit their IndieGoGo page here! And also check out their website for more information: ScaryStoriesDoc.com. For more updates, "Like" the project on Facebook!

Had no idea just how banned the series is, thank goodness it wasn't at my schools.  The Scary Story series was the most checked out, shared, and talked about series of books throughout all of my elementary school and even middle school years. I couldn't be more grateful to have spent my beginning years of reading with my head stuck in a series that really made me think, wonder, and stay fascinated about the unexplained. Especially because I reading was very hard for me, I just couldn't stay focused. I soon realized it was because I hadn't been reading anything I found interesting - until I found Scary Stories. Not only did this series get me more open to reading, but they peaked my interest in all things spooky, something that has heavily influenced me as a writer and filmmaker - something I just wouldn't have pursued if it wasn't for this series and other books like it. It's a real bummer that people have banned the series out of so many schools. If I had kids, these books would be required reading!