Thursday, March 31, 2011

Spooky Street

More images here.

Fright Club Challenge

Well, apparently, I've been thrown in the ring, all unknowing!

The proprietor of Fright Club has pitted my blog's horror content against Adele's SpOOky Art, and just when I have a mass of Ape pictures recently posted (and him without even his ghost costume!).

Be that as it may, head over to Fright Club, join, read this post and vote for the blog you feel has the best horror content overall. At this stage, I'm pretty sure I'm going to get my ass handed to me. I'm a lover, not a fighter.

Maybe I should just post a bunch of random gorey images to cravenly get votes...

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Monterey Birthday

My brother and sister-in-law, kicking it with Ape
I did promise a few more pics from our weekend in Monterey. Mr. ShellHawk, Ape and I met up with my brother and sister-in-law for some lunch and a visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
The weather in California has been really bad, with some pretty epic rainstorms that are making those in Sacramento nervous about the safety of the levees. The bright side, of course, is that Tahoe has some fine snow for skiing, and the drought, I believe, is officially over for the year.
We drove through some pretty nasty weather conditions to meet them and dried off over Mexican food. Though my sister-in-law is an old friend of Ape's, this was his first meeting with my brother since he stepped into the Facebook spotlight. Thankfully, it went well. 
Chris Ape and his new penguin friend. He said they smell funny.


Ape and Mr. ShellHawk,
relaxing before dinner

We had a great time, watching the penguins get fed and being overwhelmed by the masses of people who were crowding the aquarium. We took a break before dinner to go back to our respective hotels and freshen up a bit.

Mr. ShellHawk is in Monterey at least once a year on business, so he knows all the best places to eat. He took us to Cafe Fina on the pier to celebrate their anniversary and my brother's birthday (both on the same day), and my birthday, which was Sunday. Mr. ShellHawk had won an amazing collection of wines from the Michael David Winery while at the local elementary school's annual crab feed, and he was smart enough to bring a bottle of the Petite-Petit to share over dinner. If you ever have an opportunity to purchase this wine, by the way, do it! It's both a drinker and a keeper, as you can drink it now or save it for a couple of more years. It really opened up after about twenty-five minutes or so, with some very rich flavors.
Dinner and service at Cafe Fina is always fantastic, so if you're celebrating a special occasion in Monterey, I can't recommend this restaurant highly enough. We were treated like visiting royalty, and the whole evening was a wonderful time. (We even called my dad while at the table to say hello, and passed the phone around to each of us. He was delighted!)

The next day, the first sun we had seen in a month finally made an appearance! Mr. ShellHawk and I completely broke our diets and had breakfast at The Paris Bakery Cafe. Can I just share how good a fresh croissant is with a latte in the morning? Yum-my!

After breakfast, we headed out to the commercial pier to do a little birding. While peering through the binoculars, I saw a bunch of fins in the distance, but since they were only drifting, I thought for a minute they might be some odd art installation. It wasn't. It was a group of Harbor Seals hanging out together in the water.

I left Mr. S to his birding and walked down to the end of the pier to get a better look. It turned out that there were a number of those groups of seals hanging out around the pier and the bay.

Click on the pic for video
 Afterwards, we started our three and a half hour journey home, stopping once for a potty break at Casa de Fruta. Ape ignored all warnings to stay off the antiques and had himself a romp. He is such a rebel!
Surveying new territory from his high vantage point

First carousel ride

I didn't have the heart to tell him the train wasn't going anywhere

Of course, the capper of the day was when we found this clearly labeled "Haunted Tunnel." 
When we got home, I discovered that Mr. ShellHawk had arranged for a few folks to come by to celebrate my birthday with us.

Friend and restauranteur Dominick brought me his first ever dessert
pizza. Nutella, pineapple and powdered sugar. Yum!

Dominick also brought a lovely bottle of champagne to celebrate. You can tell it's good, because I won't put the champagne glass down, even to blow out my birthday candles!

Thanks, Mr. ShellHawk, for a lovely birthday!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Ghostly

Via Standing on my Head: Ghosts, Demons and Deliverance
Via Eat My Potato

Via Ghosts of Earth

Via Actual Ghosts Video Clips

Via Real Ghost Pictures


Monday, March 28, 2011

Ape and Shark

Ape at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
My darling husband took us to Monterey for my birthday weekend getaway, where we got to see my brother and his wife, as well as some of the cool sights at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I'll post more later in the week.

Home Haunter Video Awards Assistance

From the desk of Jeff Davis:
Can't afford to buy the DVD set and your submitted video? Avid home haunter
who wants to see the videos but has no budget? Check out the link at the
bottom of the purchase page for the DVD set for a unique offer that might
help you out.
http://www.hauntersvideoawards.com/videos.htm

Jeff & Chris Davis

www.davisgraveyard. com
I already ordered mine and look forward to seeing all of your haunts! If you can possibly afford to support this unique set of videos, it's well worth your time!

Friday, March 25, 2011

Zombie Love Song

Thanks, Cory of Nightmare Playgrounds. Fun tune!
You know where to click, right? Good.

Hauntcast's April Fool's Release

Yes, I know. You're itching for a new episode of Hauntcast. Usually, it's up the last Friday of every month, so what gives? It's going up April 1st this time, that's what gives!

I'm sure Chris will have the most dignified and mature content than ever on this show, so be sure to tune in. Oh, and subscribe to Hauntcast 'cause it's only $12 a year. Blah, blah, blah.

The site should be back up and running by tomorrow, and Chris will be allowing free downloads of both season one and season two. But please, guys, don't be cheap jerks and download all the free episodes and not subscribe to any of the new content. For one, it's a slap in the face to the whole Scream Team, who put in many hours of work each episode for your entertainment. Secondly, you'll miss the joy of listening to Hauntcast commercial-free, and listening to the extra content that's available instead of the commercials!

Seriously, just subscribe already!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Hauntcast is Migrating

Hi, All. Just a quick note that the Hauntcast site is migrating to a new server and should be back up and running tonight, after the goblins finish working on it!

Next Hauntcast posts Next Friday!

In the Name of Research

I've been researching and compiling information for my next Charmed Pot segment on Hauntcast, and ran across this interesting video. Be warned: this video depicts dead people in various states of decay!
Click on the pic to watch.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

My First (Maybe Last) Vlog or, Fun for the (Very) Mentally Challenged

Click on the nice zombie to watch.

Because I'm So Busy, I Don't Know Where to Start

demotivational posters - WELCOME
So, I'll just leave you with this wonderfulness while I figure out where my damn gas mask is!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

The World's Premier Haunters Subscibe to Hauntcast

Do you? Click on Skully to get a cool surprise.
You don't? Freakin' loser. (Love you. Mean it.)

Survival Tips from the Cast of The Walking Dead

Just in case you were wondering, here's some food for thought from the cast of AMC's The Walking Dead.

Surviving every day life can be a chore under the best of circumstances. Surviving the zombie apocalypse? Well... Weapons are at a premium, consumable resources are scarce and finding the will to face down the undead can be as challenging as finding your next meal. But don't take our word for it: Listen to the cast of The Walking Dead, who have experienced the apocalypse first-hand and lived long enough to share some survival tips.

Andrew Lincoln suggests packing a pair of swimming trunks, Sarah Wayne Callies recommends a go bag, and Lennie James shares his bean recipe and more.
Full article here.

Personally, I would add that you should always know where your towel is. But hey, that's just me.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Puppy Shower 2011

I know all the guys who read my blog are about to execute a huge yawn and move right on to the Hearse Ning Page they've been meaning to post on, but, well, that's o.k. We girls can rub shoulders and babble about how cute and charming everything at the Puppy Shower was. Tthhpt! to you boys!
Neighbor Jeanette really went all out to organize this, in spite of her own busy schedule. Those who were able to make it, made it a really fun time. (And we all know a puppy shower is just a great excuse to get together with the girls and drink lots of good wine!)

Jeanette set up a beautiful table!

I have no idea where she found the dog bone candies, but aren't they cute on the cupcakes?



Most of the goodies were served in little dog dishes, a nice, creative touch!



Mini-hot dogs and sliders, along with a nice sun-dried tomato pesto dip, made up a part of the eats. I really loved the plates and the napkins she found, too!

Neighbor V was in charge of the games. We had a race to see who could finish the dog word-search first so we could win a prize. There was a dog trivia contest-do you know who the first dog in the dog hall of fame is without checking?-to win some gourmet chocolates. (CalHaunter Stacy won those, and was gracious enough to share!)


Neighbor V with bone-shaped animal crackers-we had to guess how many were in
the jar for the big win of wine-themed chocolates.

Dog toy or marital aid, we wondered...

Stacy, Jeanette and Leena, sharing a glass of wine.

Even Jack, neighbor dog, joined in the fun, along with neighbor V's son.


 So great to have friends to toast the new Hellhound's imminent arrival. Now, if only we had confirmation that the dam is pregnant! Another week or two to wait before that news comes!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Haunted Mansion News

Via Creepy Cupcakes. Thanks for the heads-up, Carrie Mae!

UPrinting Postcard Winner!

Grim Ghost, with his mad movie suggestion: Evil Doll Smackdown: Chucky vs the Zuni Fetish Warrior doll. Congratulations, G.G.!


Life really doesn't get any better than an evil doll smackdown, does it?

Grim, if you will email me with your email address and real name (to be kept super-secret), I will forward it on to the minions at UPrinting so you can get your postcards!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Stalkarounds and Great Costumes