Did you see that? A slight movement in the photograph…almost as if it were haunted. Don’t be frightened, it’s just a cinemagraph. Cinema..what? Don’t worry, I didn’t know what they were until just recently. “Cinemagraphs are still photographs in which a minor and repeated movement action occurs. The term “cinemagraph” was coined by U.S. photographers Kevin Burg and Jamie Beck, who used the technique to animate their fashion and news photographs beginning in early 2011.” Read more »

Every weekend you can find a classic car show somewhere, but it’s not every day you can see a classic hearse show. Sunday I ventured out to Orange County for the annual OC Trick Or Treat Festival. In a little corner of the marketplace those classic creepy beauties where all lined up. To truly appreciate the restoration you have to check out the details up close including the interior. For example, the hearse above had a church organ inside. (You can see the top of the organ pipes coming out of the car). Here are some of my favorite hearses from the event.

The one above had awesome ghost flames around the hood and really interesting smoked mirrors complete with a graveyard scene.

That’s my mom! Does she know there is a huge angry spider behind her? Look out Mom!

This is truly a ghost hearse. Let me get a look at those passengers.

Wow! Scary…I don’t think I want a ride from these guys!

A coffinmobile! This thing actually worked. Would love to see some auto coffin racing someday!

Another coffinmobile! This one had three handles on the coffin cover, so as kids peered into it, the owner would open a hatch and scare them…Happy Halloween!

What is it about those nostalgic traveling circuses and carnivals of the mid 19th to mid 20th centuries that spark my curiosity and imagination. Perhaps it is the man at the booth that draws attention from the crowd by promising to show the most bizarre biological rarities ever seen. Yes, I’m talking about the freak show. These shows would put a group of people or animals on display that had bizarre and very rare physical conditions. If you want to see for yourself, check out Tod Browning’s iconic horror film from 1928, “Freaks”. Of course in today’s world, it’s offensive to label someone a “freak”. And so as public opinion changed on the topic, these sideshows became an element of the past. However, the freak show has become popular once again. Not with the mainstream, but with a new subculture of people who are carrying on the tradition. For example, in California you can visit the Venice Beach Freakshow. The place is small, but it’s packed with cool stuff to look at. It mostly features animals with more than the usual number of body parts… like lizards with two tales, or a turtle with two heads. There is a guy who can swallow swords, balloons, and I don’t want to know what else. There are also a few traveling sideshows such as The FreakShow Deluxe a carnival style sideshow. These guys have it all…magicians, sword swallowers, knife-throwers, fire-dancers, burlesque performers, and of course human anomalies! The FreakShow Deluxe will be performing at 10am October 30th at the OC Marketplace in California.

Every year, I make big plans to try to attend as many Halloween related events as I can. But after I factor in all the days I work, blog, and attend to normal chores and family responsibilities, it really leaves me little time to do anything else. Notice how I conveniently didn’t mention that I waste most of my free time watching stupid Jersey-Shore-esqe television or playing games on Xbox 360. Okay, I’m guilty! I can certainly spend my time a little bit better. So I’m planning the month out early and creating my Halloween Events Wishlist for 2011. I will try my darndest to get to as many of these events and throw a blog in about how they turned out. That’s if I can put down the Xbox controller, of course!

OCT 8-9 – Big Horse Feed Corn Maze, Pumpkin Patch & Harvest Festival

I got lost in a corn maze once, but I refuse to let those tall veggies get the best of me, so I will try again at what claims to be the largest corn maze in Southern California. More Info

OCT 15-16 – Calabasas Pumpkin Festival

These are a few of the reasons I want to attend this event: food, beer, arts and crafts, beer, pumpkin carving, beer, carnival games, beer, live bands, beer, contests, beer. Did I happen to mention there will be a lot of beer? Pumpkin flavored of course. More Info

OCT 29 – Long Beach Zombie Walk IV

I am so looking forward to this! Not only will be a Zombie Walk in Long Beach attempting to break a world record for the most attendees, but there will be a full day-long street fest, with music, film, food vendors and art. Bonus! An attempt will also be made to break the record for the largest choreographed Thriller Mass Dance in the world. I better start practicing my moves! This event is open to all ages and gates open at 2pm. More Info

OCT 30 – OC Trick Or Treat Festival & Hearse Show

The actual title is the 14th Annual Trick or Treat Festival/Halloween Hearse Show and Procession: “Freak Out”. I think I can freak out on the length of that title. As always the OC Marketplace is full of merchant booths. (Hoping most of these will be Halloween related items). Kids are encouraged to dress up in costume and there will be free face painting. I hear there will be a world renown pumpkin sculptor there and an annual “Hearse Show and Procession which features more than 50 vintage, restored and classic hearses, funeral coaches, ambulances and limousines taking to the streets of Costa Mesa in a two mile cortege at 10 a.m. with FreakShow Deluxe’s Minister of Macabre, Reverend Tommy Gunn, as the Grand Marshal in the lead hearse.” How cool is that! More Info

OPEN NOW – Coffin Creek & Chambers of the Mausoleum

This year I want to try a new haunted house/maze so I bought tickets to Coffin Creek Haunted Village and Hayride in Corona, CA. Story is that after the water subsided from a heavy 14-day rainfall back in 1938, 13 coffins were found in the creek. However most of the remains of the coffins were missing and strange things began to happen ever since. This haunt has 5 haunted attractions including a hayride, scarecrow trail, and goodies at the Dark Shadow Marketplace Midway. More Info

OPEN NOW – Halloween Harvest Festival at Pierce College

This is and will always be a repeat event for me. The Halloween Festival at Pierce College is top-notch. Not only do they have a kick-ass pumpkin patch, but a stellar corn maze to get lost in. And at night, things get scary in the patch, cornfields and haunted house. Last year we were lucky to catch a local grade school performance of various Halloween numbers including an awesome version of Thriller! More Info

OPEN NOW – Reign of Terror Haunted House

I have been meaning to try this haunted house, and this year I might just make it. Located in the Janss MarketPlace in Thousand Oaks, this yearly haunted house is a local favorite. More Info

Brace yourselves! Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights begins this Friday and they are preparing to scare the sh*t out of you. This year, there are 5 new mazes for you to survive.

First, travel to the Arctic research center known as Thule Station. But beware, something has claimed the lives of the scientists who worked there. Try to escape the alien creature in the first maze, The Thing: Assimilation.

Next stop, take a rest at an Eastern European hostel. I hear those that visit may end up on a serving platter of organs. Hope this isn’t your fate as you enter the second maze Eli Roth’s Hostel: Hunting Season.

They always say rockstars have big dreams, but is the same true about their nightmares? Now you can find out for yourself as you take the stage with Alice Cooper through the next maze, Alice Cooper’s Welcome to My Nightmare. Hope it’s not your last performance.

Have you heard of the Mexican legend of La Llorona…the woman who drowned her children and then herself? Some say late at night you may hear her painful screams of guilty anguish. She has been doomed to walk the Earth but will stop at nothing to find the souls of her murdered children. You may find her in the maze La Llorona: Villa de Almas Perdidas As imagined by Diego Luna.

Why not take a break from all the madness and take a leisurely stroll through the countryside. What was that…sounded like a wolf’s howl. Pick up your pace and run to the safety of Talbot Hall. Although I don’t know if you will find safety here for there is a beast that is hunting you through this maze: The Wolfman: The Curse of Talbot Hall.

Back by popular demand is Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses:in 3-D Zombievision. Of course Universal provides other Scare Zones of Fright, the Terror Tram, rides, and the live show Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure. Buy your tickets right away and look for up to $25 dollar savings on certain nights.