All posts by Ghoulie Guru

Creepy Treats Extraordinaire

Art, Food
Creepy Treats

There are some very creative Halloween desserts out there, but the ones that Los Angeles-based artist Christine McConnell creates take culinary creativity to the highest level. After you see some of here devilishly delicious pastries, you might think being a pastry chef is her day job. On the contrary, she is actually a very talented professional stylist, photographer, model, and artist. Wow save some skills for the rest of us, will ya? If that weren’t enough she uses her never-ending artistic talent in the kitchen to create incredibly creepy treats like the ones pictured below. I especially like the Facehugger alien dessert from the movie Aliens. Hey kitty, look out! Oh, and that is Christine in the last picture. Yeah, in addition to all those talents, she’s beautiful too. Some people have all the luck… Continue reading →

Your Friendly Neighborhood Yard Haunt

Decorations, Events
Boney Island Yard Haunt

So I’ve made it a goal of mine to visit at least one new Halloween event, haunted house, or yard haunt each October. This Sunday I was waiting to order food at Porto’s Bakery in Burbank and decided to do a search for Halloween events in the area. There were several results, but I decided to visit a free yard haunt named Boney Island in Sherman Oaks, only a few minutes drive from where I had been scarfing down Cuban food. I was a little nervous on the drive over thinking that maybe I’d be the only one there gawking at someone’s private residence. Boy was I wrong! The streets were filled with people walking to the most obvious Halloween house on the block. The theme at Boney Island is skeletons which is immediately evident from the giant skull and sign that acts as the entrance to the yard haunt. As I entered the yard, I realized this was much more than a haunt with static props, but a full on show with music, lighting, presentation and ingenious special effects. The pictures below and short video will give you a sense of the level of detail used in the creation of Boney Island, truly one of coolest yard haunts I have seen so far. Continue reading →

Happy Birthday Bela Lugosi

Monsters, Movies,
Bela Lugosi

He is the most iconic actor to ever play the role of Dracula, so today let’s celebrate Bela Lugosi’s 122nd birthday by learning a little more about him. I think it’s safe to say that he is everyone’s favorite Dracula, with those piercing eyes, tightly combed black hair, long cape, and thick Hungarian accent. To watch him onscreen is to witness a person who exudes a suave and debonair style like no one else. Women found him irresistible, with that exotic accent and gentleman like presence. It seemed he had it all, money, fame, women, and yet the very thing which gave him his ticket to the top acted as a catalyst that sent him spirally down in his later years. Let’s learn a little more about him. Continue reading →

Tales Of The Frightened By Boris Karloff

Stories
Tales Of The Frightened When I was a child on lazy afternoons in early autumn my mom would sometimes play for us a special Halloween record. (You know…on a record player long before CD’s, iPods and Spotify existed). The record had two stories, the story of Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The best part of the experience was listening to the soothing voice of Boris Karloff as he narrated these tales. I hope his name rings a bell. It should because he is the iconic actor who played Frankenstein’s monster in the Universal classic monster movies. And did you know he is also the narrator in the Christmas classic “How The Grinch Stole Christmas”? Well he is. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to find out he had participated in a few more horror audio recordings, but I was. While listening to my Halloween playlist on Spotify, I came across a wonderful collection of horror stories narrated by Boris Karloff called Tales of the Frightened. I gave it a listen to on a very similar lazy weekend and was immediately reminded of those childhood afternoons listening to him tell spooky stories on the record player. Apparently this started out as a radio program which were recorded and later put on an album for sale. The stories, written by Michael Avallone are short but fiendishly fun. Boris uses his ghoulishly good charm to set an eerie mood throughout the album. The stories are filled with fun subjects such as fortune tellers, vampires, ghosts, and hauntings. Boris begins each story with the catch phrase, “Are you…one of the frightened?”, and then proceeds to tell a wonderfully creepy story. If your a fan of ghost stories, then give it a listen to…if you dare!

Taking A Voodoo Tour in New Orleans

Travel
Voodoo Dolls

If you’ve ever been to New Orleans then you most certainly have seen voodoo dolls for sale by the bundles in almost every store. They’re hard to miss, right next to the other campy tourist souvenirs like shot glasses, carnival masks and alligator hand keychains. But if you look a little deeper, and take the time to research, you will discover a religion with an interesting history that is very much alive and still being practiced in this area of our country. I’m talking about Voodoo. Now I know the word conjures up images of Hollywood movies or old stories of curses and death, but there is another part of this religion that you may not be aware of. When I was in New Orleans, I took a Voodoo Tour. We visited historic locations, learned about the history of Voodoo in New Orleans and even visited an authentic Voodoo temple. That wasn’t all…we learned all about Marie Laveau, the “Voodoo Queen of New Orleans”. Join me now as I share with you all that I learned on this Voodoo Tour. Continue reading →