Category Archives: Throwbacks

Creepy Kids, Games, Throwbacks

Throwback: Bloody Mary and Other Deadly Games

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I remember watching Candyman at a sleepover I hosted when I was little.  My friends and I decided to test the movie’s premise by speaking the name ‘Candyman’ 5 times in the mirror in the bathroom.  (Spoiler Alert: He didn’t show.)

My aunt came over when we were in the middle of it, and being an inquisitive individual, she asked, “What the hell are you doing?!  What were you going to do if he showed up? Die?”

I guess we hadn’t thought that far ahead.

But being idgit kids, we played these games over and over and over.  And being an idgit adult, I decided to play a few tonight, just for the sense of nostalgia.  Here are my favorite deadly games from yesteryear:

Bloody Mary

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Not this.

I really don’t think I need to explain this one, but just in case you’re a mole person that just escaped your hatch, you basically speak the name “Bloody Mary” three times in front of a bathroom mirror in the dark and she appears to kill you, or hurt you, or read you a scary story or something.

So I went to my bathroom, turned the lights off, and said the magic words.  She was a no-show.  But then I decided to pee while I was in there and found out I had started my period. Success?

Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board

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This one probably needs very little explanation.  A group of kids surround a kid who is lying on the floor.  Each kid puts two fingers under the lucky kid on the floor and chants “light as a feather, stiff as a board” repeatedly until the kid magically floats off the floor.  Just good old-fashioned witchcraft at its finest, folks.

Well, as you can tell from the description above, you need more than a few people to do this one, but I improvised by getting my husband and dog involved.  Since my dog doesn’t have fingers, she got to be the lucky one on the floor.

And she was not having it.

We attempted to do the chanting and the lifting, but she just wiggled around until we gave up.  I mean, we were able to lift her, but it wasn’t really in the spirit of the game.

Concentrate

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We’d do this one while waiting in lines in elementary school.  Two people play.  One pounds lightly on the other’s back while chanting “Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate on what I’m saying. People are dying. Children are crying. Concentrate. Concentrate.”  Not awkward at all.

Anyway, creepy verses follow that have corresponding hand movements for effect.  You can check out this link for the full thing.  Afterward, the kid not chanting is supposed to open her eyes and find out how she’s going to die according to whatever colored door she sees.  Makes sense, right?

My husband took a bit of convincing because, for some reason, he didn’t want to know how he was going to die.  Go figure.  He didn’t really have to worry about anything.  I couldn’t get through it.  It’s actually really weird to chant something to someone’s back, even  if that person is your spouse.

Ouija Board

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Um…no.  Not touching this one.  The closest I’m getting to these is this tin of mints I bought at Spirit Halloween last year.

If you want to play around with this one again, be my guest.  But fair warning:

Do you want demons?  ‘Cause that’s how you get demons.

Well, it was fun walking down memory lane, but it really made me realize how little boundaries children have…and how dumb they can be.  Like, what were we going to do with Candyman if he showed up?

Television, Throwbacks

Throwback: Tales from the Crypt

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Hello, Boils and Ghouls.  For this edition of Throwback Thursday, I thought I’d talk about one of my favorite shows as a kid: Tales from the Crypt.  I’d always stay up on Saturday nights to make sure I didn’t miss an episode.  I still L-O-V-E this show.  Let’s talk about why you should, too.

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The Opening & Theme Song

From the very beginning, this show captured my attention.  There aren’t many shows I watch that I make a point of also watching the opening sequence every single time (Game of Thrones and Black Sails now also hold that honor).

I’d hear the groan of the wrought iron gate and immediately snap to attention.  I always wanted to visit that house as a kid – creepy decor, secret passageways, and it’s own basement crypt.  What kid wouldn’t love that?

And can I just say how much I love the theme song?  It’s actually been my ringtone for a few years now.  Danny Elfman is one of my favorite composers.  His music style is fun but still dark and perfectly set the tone of the show.

The Cryptkeeper 

The man himself.  The Ghostess with the Mostess.  I loved this guy. Still do, really.  He had just the right amounts of both fright and charm.  Not many people – dead or alive – can get away with the amount of puns that he could, and he was a master of it.  Sure, it was painful at times, but that was what made it so fun.

John Kassir’s voice work made Mr. Keeper an icon.  If the new version of Tales from the Crypt actually gets on the air, I doubt the new host will even come close to measuring up.

The Effects

I’m a fan of gore, and this show had no shortage of it.  Blood, guts, maggots – the special effects team brought it.  So it wasn’t realistic.  So what?  So someone that just died wouldn’t have rotted that much already.  So what?

So what?

The Guest Stars

This is what gives this show the greatest re-watch value.  There were so many great guest stars.  Catherine O’Hara, Demi Moore, Jeffrey Tambor, Steve Buscemi, Tom Hanks, Dan Aykroyd, Daniel Craig, and – my favorite – Tim Curry are just a few of the awesome stars that made an appearance on this show.  It’s so fun to watch serious actors ham it up in these crazy stories.

The Stories

The show itself was based on the comic books by the same name, so there was no shortage of crazy content. Episodes ranged from the comical, like the living comic book in “Korman’s Kalamity,” to the downright terrifying, such as the horrifying haunted house in “Television Terror.”

There were no happy endings in the Tales from the Crypt world. I have such fond memories of Morty the “hand puppet” (Not the meat grinder!).  Even when it almost works out for the main character, it doesn’t.  There’s always the twist at the end.

Whoa.  Maybe that’s why M. Night Shyamalan is rebooting it.  He just can’t get away from the twists.

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So glad I could SCARE up a few memories about one of my most FEAR-vorite shows.  Now, I’m just DYING to watch my collection again.

Man, I’m really bad at that.

Books, Scary Stories

Throwback: Chilling Children’s Stories

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Slumber parties. Sleepovers. Campouts. When a group of children gather, it’s just a matter of time before scary stories are told.

Some of my best memories are of ghost stories told in whispers at sleepovers after all the adults had gone to bed.   So for this Throwback Thursday post, let’s talk about the books and stories that fueled the fire.

In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories

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This book was my first introduction to reading horror stories.  My mom would take my sister and me to the public library for their summer reading program, and we always wanted to check out this book.

Like most children’s books, the stories are short and simple.  But although it’s written for kids, the content is chilling even today.  It’s full of tales taken from folklore of various cultures.  The illustrations set the tone of the book with a little bit of humor and just the right amount of creepiness.

The story that stands out most to me is the one about the girl who wore a ribbon around her neck. Spoiler alert: her husband removes it on her deathbed, and her head falls off. As a kid, I loved that one.

The Scariest Stories You’ve Ever Heard

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I snagged these at book fairs in elementary school and brought them with me to every sleepover.  My love of urban legends came from these books, which were directed at a younger audience but were still full of dark and scary content.

“The call is coming from inside the house!” Yep. The first time I ever heard or read these words was from the first book in this series.  I remember the first time I read about the hook hand and the one about the boyfriend who is hung over his car while his girlfriend waits inside, listening to the scratch, scratch, scratch of his feet above.

Good times.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

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Oooooohhhhh, man.  Lets talk about the big daddy of them all.  If you’re in your mid-20s to mid-30s and had even a slight interest in scary stories as a kid, you KNOW these books.  They’re still favorites of mine today.  Quirky, creepy, gross, and sometimes funny – how could you not love this stuff?

And let’s talk about the thing that elevated this from just another scary book to an unforgettable experience – Stephen Gammell’s horrifying illustrations.  Even if you can’t remember a specific story, I know you can remember the pictures. The one with the rotting ghost woman is the lock screen on my phone.  If my husband wouldn’t object, I’d display his art in my house.  Just sayin’. I LOVE IT.   The books are still around today, but the drawings have been replaced by those that are considered “kid friendly” instead.  I feel sorry for children today that won’t have the opportunity to get freaked out by these things.

So what about you? Are there any creepy books from your childhood that you miss?

Books, Creepy Crafts, Halloween, List, Movie Reviews, Props, Scary Stories, Television

It Begins

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I am a horror fan.  If you’re reading this, I’m guessing you are, too.

FreeImages.com/AnnaGrist
FreeImages.com/AnnaGrist

I started this blog because I love to write, and as the saying goes, write what you know.  I love scary movies, scary books, creepy history, horror survival video games, urban legends, cryptozoology, haunted houses, creepy crafts, and – most importantly (to me anyway) – Halloween.  I also collect anything with a skull on it and keep a skeleton in my backseat.  No, it’s not a statement on the importance of wearing seatbelts.  It just makes me smile.  And it gives me someone to talk to when I’m driving alone.

So, basically, I live and breathe horror. It’s what I love. It’s what I know.

I plan on posting at least twice a week to start. But who knows?  Mr. Muse could attack at any moment.  My topics will include:

Movie Reviews: Um, yeah.  It’s a horror blog.  What did you expect?

Halloween: So I’m a little obsessed with Halloween.  I plan for it all year long.  I’ll review local haunted houses, Halloween merchandise, special events, and any other Halloween-related topics that might pop up.

Lists: I’m pretty OCD (self-diagnosed), so lists are one of my favorite things. What kinds of lists, you may ask?  One day I might rank my favorite zombie movies and then post a list of my favorite creepy video game villains the next.

DIY Creepy Crafts:  I love being creative, and because my love of all things horror-related is pretty severe, I do a lot of creepy little crafts.  One of my biggest projects is a haunted dollhouse (that used to have its own blog – very short-lived).  I’ll post updates and pictures of the dollhouse as well as Halloween projects I’m working on.

Other Topics: I’ll also discuss creepy history, scary websites, video games, books, cryptozoology, urban legends, etc…  I get distracted easily, so I don’t want to limit myself to one subject.

I’m excited to get started.  I hope you enjoy my blog!