We caught a ghost (or two) Haunted Humpday

Good evening spooky people!

How are you this warm but cloudy Wednesday?

I'm am doing great.

What did you do this week?

We went to pick some pumpkins!

It's always pretty warm here and last year when we went 

to a Fall festival

Helena's face turned bright red from the heat.

This year we went to a place called

Mother Nature's Farm

It's open from 9 am to 9 pm,

so of course we went at night.

It was perfect to keep her out of the sun

and to put a creepy spin on everything.

You can decorate your pumpkin, if that's what you like,

then you can go on the hayride, which, in the dark, is very eerie.

Just the way we like it! 

Afterwards we stopped at IHOP and had 

pumpkin spice pancakes.

Has anyone watched this movie?

It's incredibly weird and unsettling.

The first the story gave me nightmares for years!

'Drop of water' is about a nurse that is called to tend to a 

dead woman's final preparations..

But she does something pretty wicked and ends up getting 

more than she bargained for.

To be perfectly honest the two other stories weren't as good..

At least I don't think they were, I was so disturbed by this one, that I

couldn't concentrate.

...............................................................

Now, this one,

is one of my favorites!

I've always felt it centered closely around the seven deadly sins.... 

(spoilers included)

The first segment is a Christmas one, in which the wife murders her husband to get the insurance money:

'And all through the house' (greed)

The second one is about a man that leaves his wife and family to be with another woman:

'Reflection of Death'( lust)

The third

has a father and son bullying an old widower to suicide, just because they don't think he's good enough to live in that neighborhood and because they want his property:

'Poetic Justice' (envy)(wrath)

The next one (another favorite) is a version of the 'Monkey's Paw'

A man with a failing business and his wife find a statue that will grant them three wishes.

'Wish you were here' (gluttony)

The new director of a  home for the blind makes financial cuts that leave the residents hungry and cold, 

while he lives comfortably...

the residents don't take this abuse for long.

'Blind Alleys'(pride)

If you have not watched them, I hope you get a chance to soon.

I made these on Friday the 13th,

Did you do anything fun?

Then, the other night I made s'mores cocoa again..
before you add the marshmallow toast it, then add graham crackers.
(sugar bones are optional)
It's SO good!

I found some cute little decorations at the 99 cents store:

This spider web candle holder..

It throws the prettiest shadows..

more candle holders..

This little sign that says
Cuidado con las brujas /Watch out for witches

/

and this Dracula sign.

 
Have you ever seen a captured ghost??
Not only have we seen them..we've  got a couple to show you!!
This is the one I caught...

This is the one Helena caught....

To make these you need
cheesecloth
ping pong ball (for the small one)
ornament ( for the large one)
paper towel rolls for the bodies
and wire if you want to add arms.
I used an empty cookie container (about 14 inches)
Helena used an empty coffee jar
hot glue the ping pong ball, or ornament to a piece of towel tube
paint it white
add eyes and mouth with black paint
glue to lid of jar
glue on cheese cloth
sprinkle with iridescent glitter
place decorative tape or trim around jar lid
put lid on jar
Done!
.................................................................................................

I also made a large art card..

Helena is under the weather so she didn't make one.

 

For the past few years
I sit down and write a story for HH and it never fails..
I hear a strange noise or I see something odd.
It makes sense though,
I'm usually a bit freaked out being the only
one awake.
But, things have been happening here..
things that cannot be explianed,
like doors opening on their own
or finding the faucet on.
Hearing voices in another room when no one else is home...
how do you explain it?
If you hear something behind you right now..
what do you tell yourself?
...............................................................................
Here's a story my Aunt would tell
about a girl that didn't believe in anything paranormal.

She lived her life and did what she wanted to.
She was calm and pretty level headed.
one night  her friends invited her to accompany them to an abandoned house at the edge of town
 that was rumored to have a demon living in it's cellar.
If you were brave enough to go down the stairs and ask for it to show itself,
it would reward you with answers to any questions you asked it.
She did not believe, but she went along with them..making jokes and laughing at
their silly beliefs.
Once there, her friends chickened out, refusing to go passed the kitchen door.
Exasperated, she stomped down the stairs and demanded the demon show itself. Nothing happened.
She came back upstairs and they soon left.
She mocked her friends relentlessly the rest of the night.

A few weeks later she was taken away from her home in an ambulance.
She'd attacked her little sister and her mother with a large kitchen knife after mutilating herself and trying to stab out her own eyes.
it took several paramedics to restrain her.
As they were putting her in the ambulance she broke away, ran to the house and pointed at each of her siblings in turn..
Her face was covered in gore and her eyes were gushing large amounts of blood, yet she spoke calmly.
She told her brother he would die in a car wreck that year
of her sisters..she claimed one would have a miscarriage,
the other would marry and become a widow within 6 months.
(Eventually, all of her predictions came true)
That night, she got away from the paramedics somehow and ran off into the large apartment
complexes that were under construction near their home.. beyond that was a lot of empty desert.
They could hear her wild screams growing fainter and fainter,
She was never found.
I always thought that story was just a story my aunt would tell, to pass the time..but
Every time we go driving and pass an apartment building that is being built, I imagine I can hear her shrieking in the night.

 
Well, that's it for this week.
May your week be filled with magic,chocolate and spooky stuff!

 

Humpday with apples and skellies

Happy Haunted Humpday!!

It's our 2nd one in October!

How are you enjoying this festive month?

We try to get in a scary movie every evening.

So far this week we have watched..

What can I say? TCM has them for free on-demand:)

Have you watched this one before?

It's from the early 80's.

Plot

Six girls have been found murdered in the apartment of famed russian occultist,

 Karl Raymarseivich Raymar and the police cannot explain it. 

When Raymar's body was lifted onto a stretcher, bolts of electricity shot out from his fingers. 

His estranged daughter Olivia and her husband Allan are unaware of this until

 they meet Samuel Dockstader, a feature writer for The World of the occult as a friend of Raymar.

 Dockstader explains that Raymar was a psychic vampire who gained great powers of telekinesis by kidnapping young girls, terrorizing them, and feeding off the bioenergy they produced. 

Allan does not believe him, but Dockstader shows Olivia a set of photographs to demonstrate how bioenergy works and gives her an audiotape that outlines his findings, which convinces Olivia to believe him.

Meanwhile, High school student Julie Wells wants to be part of a club entitled The Sisters, which consist of three snobby high school girls named Carol, Leslie, and Kitty, 

Unfortunately, Carol is the ex-girlfriend of Julie's new boyfriend Steve, and is jealous. 

She intends to get back at Steve and Julie by making Julie spend a night alone in a mausoleum, unaware that Raymar's body was just entombed there. 

That evening, Julie is dropped off by only Carol and Kitty, as Leslie had refused to accompany them on the plan. 

Julie explores the mausoleum and sets up her sleeping bag, unaware of the cracks that appear around Raymar's vault.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's pretty good, a little cheesy and gory but 

worth it if you can find it.

We watched  it on YouTube a little while back.

It's perfect to watch huddled under a warm blanket with the lights out.

We are planning on making these on Friday.

There's a trip to a local pumpkin patch in the works too!

Caramel Stuffed Apples

Total Time: 0:40

Prep: 0:05

Level: Easy

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 apples, halved
• 2 tbsp. butter, melted
• 3 tbsp. cinnamon sugar
• 12-16 caramel candies
• 1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Using a melon baller, core the apples. Place apples in a shallow baking dish and brush each with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Pour water into baking dish and place in oven for 20 minutes.
3. Remove apples from oven and add 3-4 caramels to the well in each apple. Return to bake, 15 more minutes. Drizzle with chocolate, sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar, and serve

This passed week has gone by so fast!

I've started many new paintings and projects but the only one 

I have ready to show is an art card I created.

she has a burlap skirt on!

Helena painted these wooden witch legs, haha!

Last year on my birthday I received a gift card to a bookstore here called

Changing Hands..

I was not able to go use the gift card until February, due to health problems.

By that time everything was on clearance, including these cuties, they were three dollars!

I almost forgot I had them!

 

My friend stopped by the other night to watch movies and paint.

For no reason, he brought me some sweet amazing gifts!

This awesome candelabra...

and this handsome guy..isn't he CUTE!?

Ready for a story?

The nights have become chilly

 and the shadows are creeping in earlier and earlier

So let's sit by the fire now...

This story is about a lady named Bettina and her husband Ricardo,

They lived on a small farm in a pretty desolate area of town, 

( in fact they only had one close neighbor, her sister and her nephew)

with a small apple orchard and a modest sized pumpkin patch behind their house.

.  They also had some chickens, a couple of goats and an old pony.

 

One afternoon Ricardo arrived home and said one of his friends was moving

 and had asked if he wanted to buy his hog, 

It was very large and would be ready to slaughter by next fall.

They had an old pig pen already built and it was empty,

 so he purchased the animal and brought it home the next day.

 From the start Bettina didn't care for the hog.

She told Ricardo that every time she went to feed him she felt uneasy.

It would stare at her and whenever she got near the pen to care for the other animals,

it would rush at the fence then turn away at the last minute.

She asked Ricardo to please replace the wood because it was old, and rotted.

She was also afraid the hog would push the catch with it's snout and the door would swing open.

He promised her he would, but honestly did not understand her fear,

to him the hog was just that, a hog.

He removed the latch and replaced it near the top of the gate,

but the new reinforcement would have to wait until harvest was over.

She began to have disturbing nightmares where the hog 

would leer at her through the window and speak to her in a raspy voice.

One night as she was getting ready for bed,

she thought she saw it watching her from the closet.

Ricardo was busy working, so he did not notice her discomfort getting worse. 

Her twenty year old nephew arrived one evening to help Ricardo finish out the season.

he noticed how nervous she was and asked her what was wrong.

She told him it was the hog..she believed it was evil.

she said it giggled softly when ever she went passed the pen. 

Sometimes she could it hear it muttering to itself.

It haunted her dreams and told her it was going to catch her and tear her throat out.

To her it was no longer a hog, but a demon.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

He attempted to assuage her fear but nothing he said helped.

 He spoke to Ricardo about it and 

he said he'd go into town as soon as he had a chance and get some wood to reinforce the pen, 

He also wanted to cover the fence so she would not have to see the hog from the kitchen window.

He thought that would help her feel better.

The next morning after breakfast,  Ricardo got in his truck and  went to purchase

the necessary supplies to fix up the area.

 When he got back he was surprised to see the sheriff and an ambulance in front of the house.

He was not allowed to enter his home.

His sister-in-law was there, in hysterics.

Once she calmed down she told him what she knew.

She had heard his truck start and drive off, then about five minutes later

she got a phone call from her sister, 

claiming that she could see the hog was on it's hind legs 

and was trying to undo the latch on the gate.

As she listened she said her sister started to scream.

By the time she threw down the phone and raced over to the house, it was too late.

When she got there the back door was in pieces

 and the hog was eating her sisters face.

It had already torn out her throat.

 It was ruled an accident, of course..

The pig obviously broke through a door that was weak and attacked a human.

that's all..

The strange thing was, the gate to the hog pen was not broken.

It had been unlatched.

 

Guess what?

it's my blog's birthday!

This place has been a home to me.

Many people feel blogging is losing steam, choosing Instagram and FaceBook

to post their art and tell their stories...that's fine, obviously, it's your own choice.

I use IG and FB, but I always come back here.

There's a certain comfort to blogging for me.

I won't be quitting any time soon,

So to my little blog:

See you all very soon!

have a happy Haunted Humpday!

countdown to Halloween day 8

posting this as a Cryptkeeper 

for the countdown to Halloween.

this is day 8.

It was the start of May and my heart was longing for October and something spooky.

 I decided to watch 'Halloween' 

then got inspired to paint this.

 

October Haunted Humpday..Finally!!

Hi!

It's the first Haunted Humpday of October!!

Isn't that exciting?

I feel like I celebrate it all year,

but it's SO nice to see it in the stores.

Did you know there's a blog dedicated to Halloween?

you can go there and click on any of the 

Crypt-keepers

 links and you will be taken to one spooky site after another!

So have you done anything spooky lately? 

I try to watch a scary movie and create something 

from beyond the grave!! every day.

okay, maybe not that extreme, but I do try and create

 something cute and Halloweenish after a good movie.

I've made a few things this week that I really love!

Before I get to them though I want to show you this throw pillow from Target..

Doesn't it look like it's from the Haunted Mansion?

 OOOH! I got the latest issue of 

Faerie Magazine,

It's the Practical Magic issue...

It's just gorgeous!

It reminds me of the  Practical Magic blog parties

Anna from Frosted Petunias would host.

Don't you miss those?

aaaaand I bought

 This awesome Medusa bust from Marshalls, 

It has a color changing bulb inside.

Oh my gosh!

I watched Gerald's Game on Netflix last night.

It was such a good movie!

If you decide to watch it, make sure the children are asleep first though,

it's not appropriate for the kiddos.

We bought these Halloween treats to make this week too,

Have you seen the Scooby-Doo cookies before?

We got them because the cookie looks like Helena's ugly little dog, Spanky.

He makes this face when you ask him to smile..

You have to have rice krispies treats when you watch Halloween movies.

And they taste better when they're monster shaped:)

I have to admit, the packaging is what gets me every time!

Here are three little canvases I created for today..

This first one is a silly, trick or treating goblin...

A fuzzy little werecub..

And a baby creature from the darkish lagoon, hehe

They are all made of felt.

Okay, I'm not sure I talked about this one or not..

there are many stories and only so many brain cells, haha!

anyhow,

This one happened to me.

I was about 5 years old and loved going to visit my cousin..

We are about a year apart in age

which was great because my siblings are all at least 10 years older

and never had time to play..(or be nice)

It was fun to go visit her during the day..

She lived in a big old ranch house

on many acres with pecan groves, corn fields and what looked like a swamp.

We always had fun, either playing board games or exploring outside. There were horses

in a field right next to her house and we would often sit on the fence and watch them,

 occasionally giving them apple chunks when they ventured close to us.

All of this was amazing to me.

One thing I remember doing with absolute clarity is

playing in her older sister's closet.

My cousin never wanted to go in there, it was creepy and flashlights never stayed on.

I didn't mind it though

It was fairly large, the floor was cool and it smelled like mint gum.

I liked sitting in there with the clothes hanging down around me..almost like a tent.

I felt happy and protected in a fort made of 

"fancy" teenage girl dresses and a make believe campfire 

made with clunky high heeled shoes.

One day I was puttering around towards the back of the closet, being nosy and looking through

an old shoe box filled with old perfume bottles,scented erasers,

  broken jewelry 

and a journal covered in squiggly writing that I could not understand (cursive)

for some reason I decided to put my hands on the wall behind me..

I went further and further into the closet trying to find the back

next thing I know I was opening the door and crawling out through my aunt's bedroom closet

that was at the other side of the house!  

I ran back down the hallway to my cousin's room and crawled back into the closet and tried to find that

passageway again..

I did this for a long time,

going in through one closet and coming out another.

It happened every time I visited there.

What I can recall, during these little...jaunts, was:

It was dark, I was aware of the clothes hanging down around my shoulders

then it would get very dark for a little while,

 eventually I would see the light underneath the doorway and I'd come out

in  my aunt's room.

I was always afraid it would stop,

This went on for a couple of years.

I still remember the day it didn't happen..how flat and close the back wall was..

the huge disappointment I felt. 

When I think back to it now

I'm reminded of stories I've listened to on YouTube.

stories about glitches and time slips...

Here are a couple horror narrators that have true glitchy stories:

Mortis Media

HellFreezer

What do you think that was?

I never felt scared or threatened and I'm positive it happened.

Has anything like that ever happened to you?

 

I hope you enjoyed this week's Haunted Humpday...

I'm going to get ready to watch a movie with Helena.

Goodnight!!