In honor of Resident Evil: Extinction hitting theatres, I declare today Zombie Friday. Since truly cool zombie news doesn’t happen every week this will probably be a bi-weekly feature, but we’ll see. If you have any zombie goodies to recommend for the next Zombie Friday, shoot me an e-mail (And do aim for the head… Zing!)
So you’ve just watched Extinction and you’re hungering for more zombie viewing? Visit Zombie Cinema and you can watch 70+ zombie movies and shorts. They’re all free and in the public domain so you don’t have to worry about the MPAA knocking on your door. Talk about flesh hungry ghouls…
If you’ve never listened to Pseudopod, an amazing horror fiction podcast, be sure to poke through their archives. Their topics span all corners of the horror genre, but there are a couple great zombie stories. I can’t stress how much you need to listen to Stockholm Syndrome; it’s creepy zombie fiction at its finest. Big Boy is also a good listen.
For more undead aural pleasure, Darker Projects has 2 great offerings. For a quick dose of horror there’s 5 Minute Fears, a collection of horror flash fiction. Several of the uber short stories are pretty unique and will suck you in, with topics ranging from evil clowns to the demon within. There is also an excellent audio version of the first book in David Moody’s zombie series called Autumn. The story itself is a lot of great setup but without much delivery at the end, however the reading at Darker Projects just about makes up for it. If you’d like to spend the weekend with your arm hairs standing at attention, Autumn makes a good companion.
Know of a website that zombie fans would devour? Tell us about your online zombie viewing or listening finds in the comments below.
Halloween is a time for creativity; letting your imagination wander into the unexplored corners of your mind, the birth of new monsters, unleashing of ideas long since bottled… Sometimes the end result is reward enough, but you know what makes it even sweeter? Recognition. When you finally get to wear the costume that took you 8 weeks to make, the cries of “What an amazing costume!” make it so worth it. And when your neighbors do a double take and have to peer closer at your handmade yard prop: that’s one satisfying moment.
So if you haven’t already started, now’s the time to get cracking on your Halloween creations. When you’ve finally finished, enter them into the MAKE/CRAFT DIY Halloween Contest. Just upload your pictures to their DIY HALLOWEEN photo pool at Flickr by November 4th and your homemade masterpiece is in the running. What are the categories, you ask?
- Hack-o’-Lantern contest: Decorate a pumpkin any way you see fit, or unfit.
- Costume contest: Dressing up? Making your own costume? Any costume with homemade elements on it, in it, or used with it is OK.
- Decorations, Haunted house, gadgets, and more contest: Decorations at home, work, wherever, a haunted house, lawn gadgets, anything Halloweeny.
- Food contest: The grosser the better.
If you need some inspiration but don’t plan on entering the contest, the Flickr pool promises to be a nearly endless supply of creative ideas. Last year there were thousands of entries, and if you submit yours, this year will be that much cooler.
There are many milestones that usher in the Halloween season, and depending on your interests, some will be decidedly more exciting than others. The changing colors of the leaves and new flavors of candy corn are nice, but one sure sign that October 31st is nigh is the X-Entertainment Halloween Countdown. Its kickoff means a near daily dose of the unadulterated celebration of our beloved holiday. Every weekday Matt, the Man Behind the Curtain at X-E, writes about “new-for-2007 Halloween stuff and tons of ghoulish goodies from yesteryear.” Some highlights from last year include a review of the new Jones Soda Halloween flavors, The 3D effects of Friday the 13th: Part 3, the tale of his best Halloween costume ever, and a 3 part series on the best new candy of the season. Matt is a huge Halloween fan (obviously) and to set aside enough time to write those hilarious articles is a kind of dedication that few of us know first-hand. Oh, and did I mention that he’s been doing these countdowns for FIVE years now? If there was a Halloween Badass Award, he would certainly deserve one. Needless to say, if you weren’t sufficiently motivated to click away by now, go have fun in the 4 years of Halloween archives on X-E.
Haunters are an ingenious bunch. They’re always thinking of ways to make their props and decorations more realistic, elaborate, and impressive. While their efforts are no doubt scaring the pants off their victims, sometimes simpler is better. How often to do you hear that “gore isn’t scary” and that mood or “hinting at the monster” is what really gave someone the chills?
I stumbled upon this Hand in a Box prop, and could immediately imagine the shock of those who unwittingly pushed the red button. “…the observers are supposed to push the ON button. After a while the lid of the trunk opens, a hand comes out and turns off the machine. The trunk closes – that’s it!”. Normally I try to present project ideas that come with at least a few instructions, but this simplistic prop seemed very worthy of mention anyway. Imagine this chest sitting on a pedestal at your front door. Before knocking to get their candy, Trick-or-Treaters would invariably push the button and scream as the hand shot out and slammed the lid. I am probably far too motivated by the screams of kids, but that thought is inspiring me to try my first pneumatic prop.
For all you other animated prop newbies, here are a few online resources to get you started. If you make a prop like this (or have already made one), please let us know!
It happened quietly, but 365 Halloween celebrated its first birthday this month. As with any labor of love, it’s almost hard to imagine a time when this site hasn’t been a part of our lives. When we’re not actively blogging or posting tutorials then we’re planning new website features, collaborating with other Halloweenies, tweaking code, or designing a new layout. All year long. It may sometimes look a little sleepy around here, but we’re always planning new and awesome things for our fellow Halloween lovers!
If you haven’t visited 365 Halloween in a while then you’ll notice our brand new look. Dig around a little more and you’ll see new features like;
- Listing of the most popular posts (automatically updated)
- RSS feeds for each blog category
- Free Halloween Countdown widgets for your website
- Improved navigation and layout for easier browsing
- RSS feeds for individual tags
Next week we will also debut;
- new RSS feed and blog category that includes just Halloween-related sales and coupons
RSS feeds for individual tags Now working!
From now until Halloween we will be rolling out lots of other goodies, and updates will be daily again. In short, 365 Halloween is going to kick a lot of a$$ and we hope you’ll come by, contribute, and be a part of it. If you’ve got a website, MySpace, HauntSpace, etc. please help spread some Halloween luv and post a banner.
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There are still a few bugs lingering throughout the site, so please bear with us while we sort through them. If you see anything wonky, drop us a comment and let us know. We spent, no joke, the last 2 solid weeks at our laptops from sunup until sundown working on everything, so we’re taking a few days to kind of slow down.
Also, if you e-mailed us at any point in 2007 but didn’t receive a reply, please e-mail us again! It’s quite possible that we didn’t receive your letter.
The Halloween 2007 season is finally upon us, so get out there and have some fun with it!
During a recent search of “handmade Halloween” auctions at eBay, I discovered a seller who is sure to impress and delight my fellow Halloween lovers. Among the pumpkin covered hair clips and collaged Halloween cards, the gory goods from sleepyhallowprops really grab your attention. The store is run by Erik, a high school student trying to make money for the summer up into October. His specialty is butchered limbs, so if you’re planning on Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Saw themed decor this year then you know where to go.
Erik says, “I love Halloween and have been making props and decorating my front yard since I was little. This summer I decided I would take my skills and use them to make some extra money and to make quality homemade props that people can enjoy too. I will be making props to be regularly listed on eBay until the end of October. I am creating and sketching out new plans for more props that I will be making and selling soon. I am hoping soon to open my own Halloween prop website and selling homemade Halloween props.”
PS- Only 60 days until Halloween! And Happy Birthday to our resident 365 Halloween zombie, Sean!
