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Kicking Off Halloween Season With Midsummer Scream 

Most people probably wouldn't consider the end of July to be the start of Halloween season, but then again, most people don't celebrate horror and the macabre year-round. Wizard and I were so excited to go to Midsummer Scream again this year! I bought tickets way back on March 1st and was counting down the days ever since. 
                               

Now in its third year, Midsummer Scream seems to get bigger and better every year! We arrived around 2:00 pm on Saturday, so we missed the lines in the morning. Unfortunately, we also missed the 30th anniversary celebration of “Elvira: Mistress of the Dark.” I'm kicking myself for that, but I woke up late. A ghoul's got to get her beauty sleep!

The hall looked incredible. We started on the dealer's floor and enjoyed the millions of ways you could spend all of your money. I decided to go around and see everything before I figured out what I was going to buy. That proved to be challenging, as the floor was absolutely jam-packed with merchandise and clothing that I wanted! We walked around and just tried to take it all in. We were also on the lookout for our friends, both from social media and real life. Happily, we ran into quite a few of them!

                                 

                                  Incredible artist Ben Russel and my purchases!      Wizard and one of our favorite members of the Decayed Brigade

I was especially excited to meet Miranda from Spooky Little Halloween! She came all the way from Texas for the event. Regrettably, I was so excited to see her that I completely forgot to take a picture together! Ugh. She did a lovely Q&A with us last year which you can check out HERE. Her blog is a fabulous resource for everything Halloween-related! 

We went into the Hall of Shadows and experienced some of the haunts there. We loved the Trick 'r Treat fan tribute, presented by Murder House Productions. They did a great job of capturing the feel of the film, and little Sam was as ghoulishly adorable as ever. The maze was short, but completely worth the wait. 

Next we watched a show by the Decayed Brigade, which is one of the highlights of any horror convention for us. This slider team is incredible! Not only do they roam the isles of the convention scaring the crap out of everyone they can, they put on one of the most entertaining and exciting shows around. Basically, this team of male and female sliders slide around long distances on their knees while scaring everyone. They also jump over things- people, ramps, etc. The artistry of it is not just the physicality, but the performance. There's music, there's spooky lighting, and the costumes are actually terrifying the first time you see them. We definitely recommend that you check their show out if you ever have a chance! It's always exciting.

We also loved the Peepshow Menagerie show! This spooky burlesque show was fabulous and it made me want to run out and buy a set of tassels of my very own. The two performers were powerful and fearless. While part of the fun of burlesque is, of course, seeing a great rack (which I am always a huge fan of), the artistry and bravery involved in this type of performance always inspires me. The girls were incredible and we plan on going to see their full-length show.

                                 

                                                                                The gorgeous ghouls from Peepshow Menagerie

As for the performances and offerings in the rooms upstairs, we only had time to go to two events. The first one was delightfully bizarre and macabre. It was a condensed version of the production Zombie Joe's Underground Theatre Group puts on called Urban Death. We came upon this show accidentally and had no idea what to expect. To be perfectly honest, we were looking for the kitten rescue room when we saw a line of people heading into this show! We decided to jump in line and see what was going on, and I'm so glad that we did.

I'm not even completely sure how to put into words what we experienced. The show starts in complete darkness with a sense of impending doom. A few nervous giggles came from the crowd, but mostly it was silence and darkness. I closed my eyes and prepared myself for the experience. What I saw in the next 15 minutes was shocking, bizarre and beautiful. The vignettes that were performed by these fearless actors were unnerving, but some were tender and beautiful. They were slices of unedited humanity with a horror flair. As strange as it may sound, it almost felt like a religious experience seeing these bold actors expose themselves and provoke emotions the way that they did. This is another show that we will definitely be going to see soon. Please be advised that there is nudity and a lot of graphic themes involved with this show.

We went and experienced the Slashback Video art gallery/pop-up exhibit, which was presented by The Mystic Museum in Burbank and Ryan Turek of Shock Waves Podcast and Blumhouse Productions. It is a tribute the 80's horror and video stores, and this is the second time that we were lucky enough to experience it. The first time we saw it was at the Mystic Museum.

                               

I managed to control my spending pretty well, which makes me sad. I wanted everything. I purchased an adorable "Lucipurr" mug from Blackcraft, a Nightmare on Elm Street and a Michael Myers print from artist Ben Russel, and a few stickers from The Horror Corner. Wizard bought a Lost Boys t-shirt from The Horror Corner, which he is absolutely obsessed with.

                                

I was sad to see the event end for the year, but thankful that we got to experience it again. I have never found a community of people who are more enthusiastic about what we do, or more supportive of each other. I left Midsummer Scream proud of our horror community here is southern California and happy to be a small part of it. I know, what can I say? I'm just a sappy girl who loves everyone and wants to see demonic possession and extreme violence in my films.

Until next time, stay spooky...

Nancy

A Night at The OffBeat - A Bar On York 

Last night I pried myself away from new new Punisher series on Netflix to actually leave Nightmare Manor and spend time with my fellow human beings. There really is nothing like going to see live music, so it was totally worth it. It's just like staring at a screen, but it's a very large, 3-D screen that surrounds you. If you haven't left your house in a long time and interacted with other humans, I highly recommend it! The OffBeat in Highland Park is a great place to do that.

The fact that there was no cover charge and four bands playing were the deciding factors that made me leave my house on a Tuesday night. All of the bands were Darkwave, Shoegaze, or some variation of Synthpop. I got myself a beer (Dos Equis- trying to keep the alcohol content low and pace myself) and settled in.

The vibe of this bar is fantastic.It has the vibe of a 60's bar with a Punk edge- totally non-pretentious. It has the coolest booths against the wall- I felt like a member of The Rat Pack (look it up, kids) sitting there. I was like Frank Sinatra with eyeliner and a push-up bra. 

The first band up was a duo called Historia animalium. I am not a music reviewer, nor do I ever want to be, so don't ask me for reasonable descriptions of anyone else's genre. I would guess that this is Shoegaze or Dark Wave. One guy had a Telecaster and was manning the drum machine, and the other guy played a keyboard and sang a bit. They only did two songs, but it was enjoyable. Their instrumentation and arrangements were sparse and they did some experimentation with dissonance, which was interesting. 

Between sets there was a DJ and I was really loving what he chose to play. I believe that he was also the person who was going to play the third set of the night, which I sadly didn't make it to. I think his band name is Walk Onto Sun (edit: It was.Check out his music at https://walkontosun.bandcamp.com/). He played One Hundred Years by The Cure, Just Fascination by Cabaret Voltaire, The Foyer by Drab Majesty- really dark stuff that was full of vibe. 

The second band we saw was Purple Dynamine. This band, also a duo, describes their music as "darkwave / post punk / ethereal / shoegaze / dreampop." The vocalist was very passionate and really put a lot of emotion into her vocal performance. I was also super impressed by the guitarist (don't tell Wizard, he's still my #1). The arrangements were melodic and interesting. I would like to hear more from this duo in the future. 

So, I had every good intention of staying for the next two bands, but at this hunger hit. I very stupidly had forgotten that humans require food, not just beer, to sustain themselves. There was a taco truck outside, but I don't eat animal products, so there was nothing for me there. I had to make an emergency food run. The beer was hitting me too hard at this point. I really wanted to see Walk Onto The Sun and Echolust. I hated leaving early, but with no food in my tank and an hour drive home (I wasn't driving! Wizard was the sober one), I couldn't do it. I am checking out their music online today.

I have to say, whoever booked these bands together knew what they were doing. It's always nice when care goes into which bands play together. The genres made sense and it flowed well. 

Anyway, I will definitely be going back to The OffBeat! I want to come back during happy hour and try some of their fancy cocktails. We might be playing there in February, so stay tuned. I will post details when I have them.

Until next time, stay spooky,

Nancy

Night 19 of #30nightsofhorror - Cenobites and The Babysitter 

Ghoulish greetings, Halloween fiends! 

Well, tonight is a big night. We play our second show at Universal Bar and Grill in North Hollywood at 11:00 pm! If you are in Los Angeles, come party with us at 11:00 pm. 

We had a busy night last night, between practicing for the show tonight, trying to use the new moon power to figure out Wizard's magick issue and keeping up with my #30nightsofhorror movie viewing. The first movie I watched, which is one of my all-time favorites, is Hellraiser! No matter how many times I see this, the Cenobites still creep me out. 

I always enjoy seeing Star Trek actors in other roles, and if you are a Deep Space Nine fan you will notice that Andrew Robinson , aka mischievous Cardassian Elim Garak, plays the unfortunate Larry Cotton. If you haven't watched Star Trek Deep Space Nine and you like Trek, go do that now! It's on Netflix and Amazon Prime, I believe. I'll wait.

Okay, did you get through all 7 seasons? Good, welcome back. On to the other movie I watched last night- The Babysitter!! I loved this movie so much. It was campy, the acting was good, and the little kid in it was relatable. This film was released on Netflix a week ago and it was fun to find another new one that I enjoyed so much.

Can we talk about how gorgeous and mesmerizing Samara Weaving is? She captured the "dream girl" perfectly. Judah Lewis as Cole was sympathetic and endearing, and it was fun to see him evolve throughout the movie. He kind of reminded me of a young River Phoenix. I won't be posting spoilers for this one because I really think everyone should check it out. I know that makes for a crappy review, but damn it Jim, I'm a musician, not a movie reviewer!

I'm so excited about our next three shows. We are playing a two hour set on Halloween (eek!) so we are trying to get our new songs ready for public consumption. We have so much fun stuff going on! It's busy being a modern working witch.

Love you guys! I can't tell you how much your support inspires us. 

Stay spooky,

Nancy

New Moon, New Beginnings 

Ghoulish greetings, my horrifying fiends! I apologize for my lack of blog posts for the past week. I'm sure you've all been waiting for new posts with bated breath! Okay, maybe not, but I've been slacking nonetheless.

I had intended to write about every horror movie that I watched this month, but frankly I've been watching so many that it got away from me. The most exciting thing that happened in the past week was... WE RELEASED AN ALBUM! We are so excited about it. This was the very first collection of songs we have ever recorded, so it was a wonderful adventure and learning experience. We are very happy with how it turned out. Our good friend Kenwood Anderson co-produced the album with us and programmed the drums and keyboards. Wizard played drums and bass, and I did all of the vocals. Check it out on our Music Page

We have also been happily busy with shows and with preparing for our big Halloween show at Pike Restaurant in Long Beach. We have a few Halloween shows coming up, so make she you check out our Shows Page if you are in  the Los Angeles area. 

Our most recent show was at Blood Moon University's Undead Prom. What a fantastic event! Everyone was dressed up in their spooky best and there was a murder mystery and a DJ. We closed out the night with a really fun set. Here we are pictures with Principal Lorde' Desdemona and Derrick Munoz, the vampire DJ.

So, that's what we've been up to. I've also noticed that Wizard appears to be losing energy. His spells haven't been working recently and I'm very concerned. I think his age may finally be catching up to him. We are trying to think of ways that we can magick him back to full energy, so stay tuned for more about that this month. 

On to the horror!!

Where do I even start? I think the last film I wrote about was Re-Animator. Since then I have watched at least 5 movies and a season of the TV show The Exorcist.To see all of the movies I have watched, check out our Twitter @nightwizmusic. Here are some highlights:

A Girl Walks Alone at Night- Highly recommended! If you like vampires, acting cats and bad ass women, this is a good movie for you. It does have subtitles, so be aware of that. The cat kind of stole the show, but the lead actors were purrfectly good too. Really, please give this movie a chance. You won't regret it!

The Witch- I honestly did not expect to like this film. I heard that it was slow and that you couldn't understand what anyone was saying. Shockingly, this ended up being my favorite new movie of the season so far! While I didn't find it scary, it was haunting and disturbing. It helps to have a basic grasp of colonial American history, some knowledge of the Puritans and a working knowledge of Christianity and the occult. If you have all of those things and don't find a slow build, you might love this film as much as I do. It's fancy, so I have to call it a "film," not a "movie."

**Spoilers**I have to be honest and say I was happy for the young girl (Thomasin) at the end. I know that is messed up, but can you imagine living the life that she was living with those stick-in-the-mud crazy parents and those annoying little siblings? She needed her freedom. No more shame, no more hunger, no more oppression! She now runs free with her sisters under the light of the moon! I did feel bad for her brother, as he seemed like a solid little dude. These are not witches that I would like to spend time with, but at least they are up front about their dirty deeds. 

Her father's pride was everyone's downfall. He got himself kicked out of the community because he thought he was holier than everyone. He basically led his family to misery and starvation to prove a point! I imagine they left England in the first place because his big mouth and pride was alienating everyone. He even stole his wife's silver cup and let her blame it on his poor daughter! Who is evil here? 

Those were the two films that stood out the most to me. I also watched a lot of classics that I watch every year. I'm going to try to keep up watching at least one movie a night until Halloween!

Anyway, the new moon is upon us! It's a time of new beginnings and Wizard and I will be harnessing that power to figure out what to do about his magick issue. I tried telling him that he isn't any less of a Wizard, but he seems down.

Until next time, stay spooky!

Nancy

Don't Lose Your Head! It's Re-animator for Night 11 

Ghoulish greeting, my fiends! For night 11 of #30nightsofhorror I am staying in the 80's with Re-animator. 

I didn't see this movie until very recently, but I feel like it still holds up today. The 80's feel just adds to the fun! I'm a massive Star Trek fan, so it's hard for me to look at Jeffrey Combs and not see Weyoun from DS9 or Shran from ENT. That being said, he is incredible in this film, just as he has been in his other roles. He plays a terrifyingly believable sociopathic scientist with a dark obsessions.

No one appreciates Herbert West. Not only is he a genius, he is a benevolent god. He gives people life and no one has the decency to even thank him. I know that some of them can’t form coherent sentences after they are re-animated, but they could at least give him a pleasant grunt. 

Truly, the only things that bother me in horror movies are animal deaths. I know it probably says something terrible about me that I care more about animals than people, but humans just aren't as cute. Poor Rufus! The fact that I was able to laugh about his death shows how truly funny and enjoyable this movie is. Normally a dead cat would make a scene unwatchable for me. Human dismemberment, though? Bring it on! 

Why won't the world just accept his genius and thank him for gracing it with his presence? Sure, he often kills with no remorse, but come on guys, it’s for the greater good! 

I love this movie, in all of its campy glory. The bright green “re-animator juice” is iconic, as is this film. Two paws up. 

Until next time, stay spooky! 

Nancy