Will's Book Nook: The Price of Fear Scribblings

The Price of Fear is technically not a book. It's a radio show. But I wanted to share my interest with it. Hosted by Vincent Price, The Price of Fear is a vintage BBC Radio horror show. He would introduce the main character as though they were a close friend and then he would become part of the narrative. In one episode he sells his friend a haunted piece of art. Another episode, The Specialty of the House, was about cannibalism. It's a bit old school, but it is a horror classic and very entertaining. Vincent Price's voice really takes you to a spooky place and I listened to it with the lights off for atmosphere. I highly recommend if you like old school horror.

Halloween Costumes: Classics & Favorites

It's always fun to dress up for Halloween, no matter what age you are. There are always classic options to choose from, and they are often easy. Ghosts, pirates, zombies, vampires, princesses, black cats and pumpkins are costumes we tend to see every year. There are also some great creative options. Some of our favorites from the past are a haunted house made of cardboard, a mobster, a bunny that sits on your head, and a dalmatian. Whatever your costume, just make sure to have fun!

Margaret as a dalmatian with VSA friends

Top Ten: Mark's Favorite Night Gallery Episodes (2021 Edition)

 

1.  "Hatred Unto Death/How to Cure the Common  Vampire" (May 27,1973).

2.  "You Can Come Up Now, Mrs. Millikan/Smile, Please"(November 12,1972). 

3.  "The Girl With the Hungry Eyes" (October 1,1972).

4.  "The Waiting Room/Last Rites for a Dead Druid"

(January 26,1972). 

5.  "Green Fingers/The Funeral/The Tune in Dan's Cafe" (January 5,1972).

6.  "House-With Ghost/A Midnight Visit to the Neighborhood Blood Bank/Dr. Stringfellow's  Rejuvenator/Hell's Bells" (November 17,1971).

7.  "The Diary/A Matter of Semantics/Big Surprise/Professor Peabody's Last Lecture" (November 10,1971).

8.  "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar/The Last Laurel" (January 20,1971).

9.  "The House/Certain Shadows on the Wall" (December 30,1970).

10.  "Room with a View/The Little Black Bag/The Nature of the Enemy" (December 23,1970).

Crystal's Bow Blog: Single Bow with Braid

 This week Crystal is sporting a single purple bow with a beautiful braid, styled by Candice.

Halloween Decorations

It's that spooky time of year, and some people are going all out with decorations. There are so many options out there, so how do you decide how to make you space spooktacular? It can be helpful to develop a theme each year, like a graveyard, haunted house or horror movie themed. You can also have a lot of fun with homemade decorations, especially if you have kids. If you have a large property, creating zones can narrow things down. And you can always just pick your favorite items and go with a Halloween Hodgepodge!

Pumpkins

Scary pumpkin patch

Practical pumpkins

 

Haunted pumpkins

No carve pumpkins

Minion pumpkins

Fancy pumpkins

Ghosts 

Pumpkin ghost

DIY float ghost

Scary ghosts

Skeletons

12 ft skeleton

Drunk skeletons

Shallow grave skeleton

Skeleton door decoration

Skeletons ironing

Attack of the skeletons!

 

Haunted House

Keep out haunted house

Victorian haunted house

Raven haunted house

Graveyard haunted house

No trespassing haunted house

 

Zombies

Zombie-vampire babies

Keep Calm and Zombie On

Zombie House Party

Zombie Garden

 

Halloween Hodgepodge

Dragon crash decor

Inflateable decor

Monster house decor

Neon Halloween decor

New Orleans style decor

Top Ten: Mark's Favorite Twilight Zone Episodes (2021 Edition)

1.  "The Bewitchin' Pool" (June 19,1964)

2.  "Number 12 Look Just Like You" (January 24,1964)

3.  "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" October 11,1963)

4.  "The Bard" (May 23,1963)

5.  "I Sing the Body Electric" (May 18,1962)

6.  "Once Upon a Time " (December 15,1961)

7.  "It's a Good Life" (November 3,1961)

8.  "The Night of the Meek" (December 23,1960)

9.  "Eye of the Beholder " (November 11,1960)

10.  "Time Enough at Last " (November 20,1959)

 

Will's Book Nook: Sandman Act II Scribblings

"Scribblings" are Will's first impressions of a book. In this case, we're talking about Neil Gaiman's The Sandman. Specifically, the second installment of the audio book. 

 

Dream (Morpheus) from The Sandman comic

Will says he was hooked from the very beginning, which he attributes to the amazing cast of voice actors. The new actors joining the series made it particularly interesting, because he wondered where they were going to go with it. Joining James MacAvoy as Dream (aka Morpheus), Michael Sheen as Lucifer Morningstar, Kat Dennings as Death and Jeffrey Wright as Desiney, among many other powerhouse actors, are David Tenent as Loki, Bill Nighy as Odin and John Lithgow as Emperor Norton. Will wasn't expecting to be as involved as it was, but he found himself rooting for some of the characters who storylines got a lot complicated (in a good way) in the second half. Some parts were weird, but he expects that having read the first part. It was cool how much the world of The Sandman expanded, including real history and the world of the novel. Particularly impressive, was the way the French Revolution was depicted. While it was the most bloody chapter, it was amazingly visual, despite being in audio form. And it described really well the differences between the haves and the have-nots, and painted an interesting picture of the tyrant, Robespierre. Will highly recommends this book, and in particular the audio book. Neil Gaiman Pro Tip: look at the comic while listening along for the visuals.

Crystal's Bow Blog: Two Different Shades of Purple

 

In honor of Taco Tuesday. Crystal is wearing two different shades of purple! Is purple the official color of Taco Tuesday? No. But that's what Crystal is feeling today.

Top Ten: Mark's Favorite Soul Train Performances

1.  Stevie Wonder 

2.  The Jackson Five

3.  Aretha Franklin 

4.  Gladys Knight & The Pips

5.  James Brown 

6.  Barry White

7.  The Commodores

8.  Whitney Houston 

9.  Destiny's Child 

10.  New Edition