Zombiegirls Samhain Ramblings

Thoughts on Halloween 2015

Posted by admin in Past Halloweens

Every year around Halloween (my new years)  I’m reminded of my mortality but more so this year because Tony will be turning 48, which is one year closer to the very scary number of 49.  I also realize that this year is the best Halloween month I’ve had in my life, yet my best years are already far behind me.  At the time I didn’t know or realize it to take advantage of it so it feels like many years wasted…. you always say “next year, next year I’ll do this, etc” and then all your best years are gone & what you can do the following years when you’re old are limited because of age.  Maybe that’s just in my head… but I’m too old for many things that I couldn’t done at 26.

The haunted house was a big part of Halloween month & I’m so clear at what I need to achieve in my life now… the priorities just line up perfectly now that I understand how gratifying it is.  Tony helped scare, both at home & at the haunt)  on Halloween night which meant the world to me plus he really really enjoyed it.  Even the night after, he was still laughing at some of the guests reactions in the haunted house.  It’s so interesting to see the psychology behind scaring people & what triggers fear in everyone.  Some people freak the fuck out when they see me, either because the movies the Ring or the Grudge scared them so bad or they’re just terrified of ghosts, like me.  Some people don’t have much reaction at all. Many people have a silent reaction where they pause at first, then prepare themselves to walk past me but avert their eyes from me at all costs. Only once did I lose it while in character & start cracking up cuz someone was losing their shit.  The best is black men… no the BEST is black gay men who are scared of the supernatural & ghosts.   In my nights there… there were at least 3 people who used the emergancy exits & one teen girl who doubled back after the 2nd room & left. LOL. I mean it’s a fucking “haunted house” erected out of painted particle boards filled with plastic body parts & other silly props….  and people lose their shit, lol.  The most interesting part is experimenting with what scares people more & also sharing the stories at the end of the night… since I only see how people react to me for the most part but it’s different for every scare-actor so they have a different story to tell, yet similar.  How they react to me is the funniest because they need to walk so close to me to exit & the corridors are so tight in the spiral section.

I went to the Meadows haunted houses with Will & his son.  They were just ok…. felt long & there were some confusing parts where it was pitch black.  There was a very sexy black guy scaring outside & he kept coming over to chat with our group… shoulda gotten his # dammit.   he would’ve been so sexy in shackles while I pet his nappy hair… ok, enough crossover!!
On the weds before Halloween, the crew from the haunt all went to Fright Dome.  We got there right at 7pm & it took us all night to get through all the haunted houses & we only did like 2 friggin rides…. at least we got to do the new roller coaster.  Most of the houses were much longer than I anticipated & much better done than the last time I went to them… like every year they get a few more props but it accumulates as the years go by, making each area more prop heavy.   The scareactors could use some scare tactic lessons.  We met a couple cute(ish)black dudes that let us scare with them at the exit, which was really cool.  Again… should gotten their number as well. UGHHHH.  The longest wait for the haunts were around 35-40 mins & I guess my favorite haunt would be the Dollhouse one & then the zombie one.

Halloween day, we had take out from my favorite Thai restaurant.  Trick or Treaters didn’t start coming until like almost 7pm and there was a signifigant drop from last year…. there were also less houses on our block that were passing out candy.  Such a stark contrast from last year where D & I both ran out of freakin candy & there were DROVES of kids being trucked in.  I wonder if the other American West complexes beside us that are more “open” had more kids come through. Because our subdivision only has one drive in entrance/exit, that may have something to do with it… plus many of the kids that live here are kinda getting older now.  I’m just glad I didn’t do a haunted house this year cuz not many kids would’ve had the nerve to go through.  So many kids (and adults) were super scared of our characters to even come up & get candy from me…. LOL.  Seriously, kids these days are such wusses & their parents don’t help either.

Our haunt reported that the earlier trick or treating events were insanely packed (so that explains where everyone went!!!) and that at least 100 ppl did the lights on walk through from 4-6pm. Damn!  That’s some decent numbers.  On Halloween night we did 120 at regular price.  That’s pretty cool, even though they were expecting more.  But the 2 nights previous were just as busy which was surprising… especially the Thurs night…  Man, I miss the haunt   I’m super happy that I finally found a bunch of ppl as passionate about the holiday as I am & enjoys horror movies as much as Tony & I.

Haunt Tour 2015 – Immunity & the 17th Door

Posted by admin in Past Halloweens

Thurs Oct 22nd

Knotts Scary farm – Seriously, we left Cat’s house just after  4pm because traffic was so fucked & the 5 wasn’t even moving because of accidents & road work so we got OFF the highway & got Chinese fast food & then took surface roads all the way there. We literally arrived at the gates at 6:55.  Having gone to many haunts in the past I’ve now grown used to the “formula” of many of the theme park haunts. Yes, Knotts started it & many props for that but I didn’t enjoy the Knotts haunts as much for 2 reasons:
1. reliance on jump scares.  Characters that don’t do anything other than ump out, make a loud noise & try to grab you
2. lack of crowd control & the endless conga lines.  Because of this, it amplifies #1 as a problem.   I even tried my usual tactic of slowing down to the point where I can’t see the people ahead of us but this year there’s always some crazy bottleneck.  After a couple haunts, I just wanted to get through them already & go on the roller coasters.

Favorite houses this year were Voodoo (new one I’d never seen) and Tooth Fairy (seen it before but it’s awesomely gory and tells a story)
The other ones weren’t that memorable… ok, maybe the Pinocchio one was ok.  Skipped Paranormal because of the lines.  Most we waited in line was probably 20-25 mins?

The coasters were the big highlight. Cat had never been to Knotts before & never been on many of the newer coasters, like the overhead tracks (feet dangling) ones so she MADE us ride every coaster, even if the lines were long by the time it was 11. lol.  I was just excited to see Cat so giggly and excited on the rides that it was super worth it!!   I’m a coaster junkie so I can do this all night; I was just so cold, lol. We left at closing 1am & didn’t get back to Burbank til 2am. I didn’t home til 2:30 so I was pooped!  This was definately my last time at Knotts Scary Farm because the haunted houses feel too monotonous now. It’s nice for newbies & teenagers that enjoy jump scares but it feels like I’ve evolved and grown out of them.

Friday Oct 23
la.mazerooms.com 12:30PM
Cat, Matt & I got there right at 12:30 & there was a brownout in the area!!! The girl working there said it’s been browned out for 4 hours & she was in the process of calling the other locations to fit us in when miraculously the power turned on again as we were waiting! Halloween miracle peoples!
She suggested doing the JAIL BREAKOUT because it’s harder & funner than the “HOTEL” room I booked.  So we got locked into individual jail cells & the game started!! We had 1 hour to escape from jail which consisted of getting out of our cells, out of the holding area & then out of the wardens office.  We learned that the 3 of us worked together pretty well as a team & the puzzles were pretty neat. I actually didn’t expect them to be technologically advanced but a couple of them were!  We broke out with 5 mins to spare.  I’m definately hooked & want to try the Vegas escape rooms now.  It was kinda hard to understand our hints over the walkie talkie with the lady’s accent & I’m a little dissapointed we had to use our hints.  It was all our first times playing this type of game.  The completion rate for that room is 45% apparently, so we did it!

We drove down to Tustin right after that & it took an hour & half… lol. Thanks Matt for driving!  We went for all you can eat Korean BBQ closeby & checked out Party City until it was ready to stand in line for…

www.17thdoor.com !!! 7pm
We signed our waivers & got in line. We waited maybe 15 mins & we were in! They sell timed tickets & they were already sold out before it even opened. Ours were 7-8pm time slot. VERY smart idea.  I’ve never seen a haunt flow so smoothly ever; it should be the ideal for all haunts.  I’ve learned so much from seeing how this team did their haunt.  So the 17th door is brand new to the scene, created by a hubby & wife team new to doing haunts, period.  They nailed it perfectly.  There’s 17 experiences you have to go through & the storyline was flowing & cohesive for the most part. There was a couple scenes that I wasn’t sure why they were there & how it advanced the story.  There were a lot of innovative things done I’ve never seen before & it set the bar to a very high level.  The scariest part for me was seeing Paula’s ghost appear & then reappear even closer to me!  They’re allowed to touch you & stuff (the waiver). “STUFF” meaning we had water splashed on us, bugs thrown as us, we drowned in a room full of balls, grabbed, tickled, had to walk through a pitch black corridor alone, be locked in a small tight pitch black box.  We also played a weird spin the bottle, guns pointed at us, got threatened to be hit with rotten food, had a stinky fish rubbed on our face, icky smelling gloves in our face, electric shocks on our arms/hand; they really bombarded all our senses including smell.  The whole thing was over 30 mins & traumatized Cat which means it did it’s job!   Many of the issues that fictional character Paula had to go through were issues that mainly only women can identify with so I wonder if it would affect a group of men going through..?   I know everyone has a different triggers to what upsets them emotionally & psychologically & even though I couldn’t identify with many of the issues touched upon here, it was still the pinnacle of my entire haunted attractions experience in my years so far.  I can see why men rated this slightly lower than women on Yelp & it really depends on what your individual experiences were & what scares you.  I’ve learned there’s no one formula in scaring a person & everyone has different triggers depending on what they’ve been through. This haunt hits many issues such as:  bulimia, bullying, claustrophobia, guns, drugs, suicide, being alone & seperated from your group, rape.  That’s a pretty extensive list that would affect a good portion of people going through.  I’ve learned what scares me & what doesn’t scare me, but that’s a whole other post.

Boot Hill – Super cute home haunt 15 mins from the 17th Door. It’s a yard haunt but had a nice facade from the sidewalk & some state of the art projections. Free & worth the drive if you’re already in the area.
Goldenrod, Irvine CA 92614 -FREE HOME HAUNT
Motel 6 http://www.motel6feetunder.org/ (we have the free tickets) Stood in line for about 25 minutes. They only let very small groups through at a time, which is how it’s supposed to be done everyone!!  One of the fun things about doing the LA haunts is that you meet a lot of informed haunt enthusiasts in line which leads to good conversation & sharing of information.  Good times.  We went through as our group of 3 & got confused at the first maze, lol.  We’d never been to an actual maze, where the actor moved a section of the wall before we doubled back, to reaveal the rest of the haunt!  This happened a couple times which confused us, lol. There were some very cool elements I’d never seen & a lot of the maze were animatronics (but good ones, this is not neccessarily a minus).  It wasn’t TOO short but short enough that it left me wanting more.   I felt it lacked a big scary finish at the end… one that would send me running out the door screaming.  It was fun & glad we got free tickets.

Saturday Oct 24
It’s bad that I can’t totally remember what I did in the day times right? LOL Did stuff with Chad & Matt. I got him into AHS Freak Show & we made 2 halloween cakes, one normal for Cat & one sugar free for us. OH YEAH, we went for Shabu Shabu in Pasadena.  I’ve only done shabu shabu a couple times so I like going with them to see how they do it.

7:30 PM Ward 13 – Evil Twin Studios –  We got there later than expected so the line was looooooong… as in 2 hours long, so we paid the extra $10 for the fast pass.   Great new concept, very interactive but not scary at all to me.  I enjoyed the theme a LOT last year & was expecting to be terrified just like last year but this year didn’t have the same effect. It’s NOT because I’m now IMMUNE to haunts because of the 17th Door, it’s because the insane asylum theme & characters didn’t scare me at all. We went with a group of teen boys & they were terrified!  They kept making us go through the doors first because they were scared but I made them go first a few times so they can at least experience it.
Crazy people aren’t scary; I’ve visited inside a real mental hospital (Yes, I’m sure I’m not supposed to say that term) so that didn’t scare me the slightest.  Young kids/teen actors don’t scare me.  Actors who can’t improv shows me they don’t know their character & are kinda boring.  We had to crawl again but this time it wasn’t over a dead body in the floor.  Boooo…. we got strapped to a wheelchair & pushed around the asylum playground, FUN!!!!   The last bit of the haunt had electrically charged walls that would shock you if you touched it with your hands so I just used my elbows to find my way out.  The ending wasn’t scary like last year.  It was fun & interactive enough to keep us entertained through the journey.  The acting was “CUTE.”  Afterwards, we drove in silence for about 5 minutes before Cat said “I was dissapointed that I wasn’t scared” and I’m like “me too!!!”  I think 17th Door has made us immune to most haunts.

Backwoods Maze 1912 N. Pepper St., Burbank CA  FREE – we skipped it this year
Opechee Haunt: 1728 Canada Blvd., Glendale CA 91208 FREE  - turned out to be a kids haunt. we skipped it!
Rotton Apple http://ra907.weebly.com/ 907 N. California St. Burbank CA 91505 FREE  - The line up was insanely long. We stood in line for 10 minutes & it didn’t move at all. We had to skip this because of time restraints. Here’s the walkthrough video. They built all this on their yard/house so it’s pretty badass.  The first old guy is freaking hilarious  http://new.hollywoodgothique.com/rotten-apple-hollow-review-video/

Boney Island  4602 Morse Ave, Sherman Oaks 91423 FREE – If you’re in the area it’s a must do!! I can’t even describe it & pics & video can’t even describe this magic Halloween Wonderland… of magic…. and happiness… and music.  I’m already plotting how to get adopted into this family.  The treehouse is badass & there’s a lot of little hidden comedic treasures but you need to take your time & find them.  It proves you can have lots of Halloween fun without it being scary or gory.  Sometimes, it seems like people resort to simple gore because they don’t have the imagination to do it without the gore.  This place is my magical wonderland for the 20 minutes we were here.

11pm –  http://www.urbandeath.com/ – The last year (first time) Cat & I went through this, it was almost life changingly scary & innovative.  Going through a second time… you kind of know what to expect &  you know the general formula so you mentally prepare yourself.   You want that same 1st time high so bad but because it’s the 2nd go around, you actually HAVE expectations instead of having NO expectations like the 1st time.   I need to learn to let that go.  It was still scary & disorienting during the walkthrough, the only light being a small flashlight in super close quarters.  The vignettes were cool.  The stage show felt shorter than last years & lacked a big final finale.  We are definately a lot more immune than last year & yup… our expectations have changed.  I wish they didn’t & we could have the same unknown wonderment as we do our first time going into a haunt.

This is the best list of all the haunted attractions in the area: http://themeparkadventure.com/socal-haunt-directory-2015/

Now I have to go find a Michael Myers mask the day before frickin Halloween because hubby decides YESTERDAY that that’s who he wants to be.  I’m just excited & grateful every time he expresses interest in participation.

Then it’s the charity haunted house again at 6pm!!! IT was BUSY last night for a Thursday; we barely got a dinner break sometime in between 6:30pm-close, lol.   It sucks that I’m sick with a cold but nothing some Theraflu can’t fix for a few hours.

I’m grateful & forever thankful for my life, my husband, my proximity to Los Angeles & my friends there, people who make an effort to participate in Halloween, the amazing scare actors in every single haunt, the awesome charity haunted house I’m involved with this year, new friendships, food, our health & Halloween love.  And good food.  OMG Halloween is tomorrow & this is the best October of my life so far.  Time goes too fast…. tell the people you love that you love & appreciate them because tomorrow is not gaurenteed

It’s mid june & I’m already planning my haunt schedule

Posted by admin in Past Halloweens

It’s mid june & I’ve done absolutely NOTHING for my home haunt… including planning it. When I even start thinking about doing some pre-liminary sketches I get stressed out when I think about all the work involved and all the materials I’ll have to purchase. I’ve never done anything like this before…. ugh.

I’m also looking at some of the LA haunt schedules. A few places already released tickets & schedules, like Queen Mary & a few other smaller ones. I don’t think I’ll do a repeat of Queen Mary, although it was cheap & quick, I want to see some new stuff with the same time I have.  Hollywood Gothique has some good itinerary ideas based on location so perhaps I’ll focus on making a 3 day itin for ALL smaller haunts based on location.
Maybe one for Northridge/Burbank. One for the OC & one for hmmmmmm I dunno… I really want to check out Reign of Terror, so maybe Thousand Oaks area?  OOOOOH, I’m getting all fuzzy inside just thinking about it!!! I think it’s better for me to go the MIDDLE week of October instead of the weekend before Halloween, as I should be here to work on the haunted house & go to parties. It’ll suck because some of the home haunts won’t be ready til the 25th weekend (sad face).

I’m super stoked about ScareLA though I don’t need to plan for that.

Other Halloween 2014 notes

Posted by admin in Past Halloweens

I did 3 new costumes for myself this year: Mileena Mortal Kombat, Twisty the Clown from American Horror Story season 4 & remade the mask for my Silent Hill Nurse costume a couple years ago!  It’s still super tight on my head but looks much better on the outside. I made Pai Mei for Tony & next year he’s good with a Raiden MK costume if I make it for him… he’ll totally wear it!  OR I can also make the Twisty the Clown costume for him so we can match (how cute is that!?)  So we’ll see what I feel like doing.

I did a lot of reflection this year & am the happiest & most secure at this very moment this Halloween year.  My green card had a lot to do with it so now I feel happy & secure enough in my life that I can really start planning for the future, not just next Halloween but what I plan to achieve the Halloweens AFTER the next one.  I can start working on my dreams of where I want to go for my Haunt Tours knowing that I’ll be here in Vegas, in this house with my wonderful supportive hubby for as long as I can forsee.. I can grow my haunt skills in the quickest amount of time possible & dedicate a part of my life to this.  Never have I had such certainty & clarity for my life & I am very blessed to achieved all that I have so far.  Now to tackle woodworking…. YIKES…. I’ve used a skillsaw only once in my life so this’ll be fun!!!

What Halloween & the month of October means to me has changed a lot over the years and as I get older I’ve changed a lot.  I realised that Halloween 2014 means:
1. FAMILY & CLOSE FRIENDS FIRST & most importantly
2. SEEING THE KIDS enjoying the holiday, whether trick or treating, dressing up & scaring them & entertaining them. that’s what it’s about
3. HORROR & BEING SCARED. Don’t even let me get started on how much I DESPISE those crappy “SEXY” costumes… like sexy firefighter, sexy fucking teacher, sexy accountant.  Those need to get off the shelves ASAP because they’re RIDICULOUS and demeaning for women.  Costumes should be funny, scary, horrifying, cute, ironic… but to slap the word “sexy” before something that clearly isn’t… AND for women to use halloween as an excuse to dress like a fucking slut!?!?! Ugh…. HATE IT.   Dress like a slut EVERY OTHER NIGHT when you hit the clubs… I have no hate on that… dress like a slut when going out to sushi, that’s totally fine. But don’t use Halloween as an excuse to dress sexy because you don’t feel comfortable dressing slutty every other 364 days out of the year….
4. KEEPING TRADITIONS - never will I be without my family on Halloween night & never will I NOT hand out candy & keep that tradition alive in the USA.  Pumpkins will always be outside as well as decorations.  That’s a promise.

On the 25th I got to go to the big annual Halloween party at the local swingers club & I dressed as Mileena which allowed me to be both sexy & accurate plus scary!  I liked wearing something on my face because it gave me some anonymity plus I don’t have to give head that day, LOL.  The party was really packed but I was dissapointed that not everyone dressed up like I thought they would. The costume contest winners were “favored” by the judges that were also regulars at that swing club.  There was a definate lack of hot black guys there
Played a little with the 2 best ones I could find, which were just ok…. but I had a blast meeting nice people & just dancing on the dance floor most of the time.  All the drunk women trying to touch me was kind of annoying but I was nice about it.  I think I really should be more forward in telling them “NO” next time I”m there… seriously…. why do women hit on me!?!  I guess it’s like the challenge of gay men hitting on straight men to try and convert them or something. hahaha.

Halloween 2014 – LA Haunt tour, etc

Posted by admin in Past Halloweens

So on the weekend of the 16-18,  cat & I road tripped to Los Angeles for my second annual LA haunt tour & this time instead of just picking big amusement park haunts, I carefully chose a varied selection of home haunts & haunts done by theater companies & WOW did I luck out on picking ALL WINNERS! Haunts like Big Worms, Urban Death & Evil Twin studios were amoung TPA’s highest rated haunts of the season!! It was just a fluke as I was picking based on location of where my friends were at!

Day 1 – we drove straight to Long Beach from Vegas & went to an awesome beachfront restaurant where they had an amazing pre-fixe dinner special that I couldn’t even finish!  This was after our nap on Long Beach.  We were so close to the Queen Mary that we just walked over after dinner & avoided the $15 parking fee they had. We lined up for about 20 mins before opening & it was SUCH a swarm to get in, I was like “what’s the point of lining up & going early?”  Well, I’m glad we did cuz we skipped the 1st haunted house (Voodoo) and went straight to the 2nd one & were the first ones in! We breezed through all the other haunts (5 out of 6 ain’t bad) super fast & then watched the side show act with all the main characters & it was only 9PM!  2 of the houses were inside the ship itself & one also allowed you to see the old swimming pool which was creepy as heck.  Being inside the ships bowels gave it a very real & spooky element.  The clown haunt was also really good as there was a mirror maze that confused us.  The actors were so lackluster & most did little more than just pop out & make a loud noise… boring.  Many of the haunts also lacked a good finale…. as if you should be running out the exit screaming but none had that. It was nice seeing the inside of the ship as it was the first for both of us.  It was a carnivale theme & was well done for what it is.  My only advise would be for the actors to go to scare school & be into their characters & also understand TIMING to maximize the scares.
That night I had the WORST sleep ever as I was on an air mattress in Cat’s brothers attic & it was FREEZING & hard to sleep on, lol

Day 2 – Got ready for Let’s Make a Deal 1pm taping. Got there so early so we went to Hollywood Forever cemetary to tour around & look at some famous graves.
Got picked for Let’s Make a Deal (my episode airs 3/31/2015) and got to hug & touch Wayne Brady’s hand. I kind of hardcore freaked out so I’m super embaressed about it & do NOT want to watch it .  I really really freaked out.  Later on I kissed some random blk dude that was also picked with me so we had to do our paperwork together after.
It got out so late that we had to drive directly to the Valley & had dinner with Jack the Zipper, Cat’s friend. Then we headed to the opening night (hour) of  Big Worms Sherwood Scare which was super amazing & immersive! You actually forget you’re inside someone’s backyard/house & think you’re in an old hollywood studio!!  They had a 3D projector, actual film footage they shot of a young girl who “died” there & now haunts the studios.  The sets were top notch & area tight enough that you’d feel scared & claustrophobic.  I forgot we weren’t the only ones in there & lost myself in the story.  Cat held onto me & used me as a battering ram against any ghosts. lol.  Ow, my hair!!!  The ending was super scary & I ducked & ran outside as fast as I could. All this for $3!?!
Then we hit Backwoods Maze in burbank. small line up at around 8:30 & it was free.  Super detailed with lots of sets & props & some great scare-actors. Cant’ wait to go again next year.  I’m realizing that haunt enthusiats are a really cool bunch & I’m proud to call myself one!
Then for our last stop of the night we hit Www.hollywoodhaunter.com who was in the show The Great Halloween Fright Fight which I just downloaded but haven’t watched yet. She was the only one repping the Westcoast, the bestcoast, so I’m happy I got to meet & chat with her.

Day 3 – got up fairly early in Altedena & met my friend for breakfast.  Then we walked over to the canyon & hiked up to find a place to play kissyface for a bit. Then Chad & Matt picked me up & they wanted to do test drive some cars in Pasedena. I took a nap before dinner & Carol came over!  We all went down to the opening weekend for Raymond Hill Mortuary  http://www.eviltwinstudios.com/  in South Pasedena & we got there like 1/2 hour after opening so the line was about 25 mins total. IT was a group of 6 of us so it was a good size but we still got seperated at some point inside. This haunt is FULLY interactive & there was a point where someone had to get the bible from a dead guy inside a coffin & usually I expect others to expect ME to do this crap but I am too scared of dead bodies so I pushed Matt at it & he DID IT!!!  OMG I’m so proud of him lol. We had to lie down on mortuary slabs & get pushed into the wall. I basically closed my eyes fully for that part. We had to crawl in this pitch black tight maze that smelled like dirt (no clue how they did that!!!) and crawl over a body in plexiglass which I completely freaked out about…. I didn’t want to go forward & crawl over it but realized I had no choice at that point & just closed my eyes.  That’s how scared of dead bodies I am…. it’s so messed up.  Matt almost took down the fence as we ran screaming from the graveyard at the very end.  Everything happened so fast & the dead bodies were freaking me out so much that I blanked out a good part of it…..

www.urbandeath.com was our last stop & it ROCKED. I can’t even describe it & I read so many reviews on it beforehand too. Walking through the maze with just one little flashlight & being forced to be so close to the monstrosities was too freaking much. The horror vignettes were out of this world & the timing was exceptional.  Bravo to this amazing theater group for giving me nightmares for the next few days!  None of the vignettes were too long & I think that was the key… less is more because it leaves the rest up to your imagination as to what possibilities can happen next. There were too many WTF moments to count.  The walk through the haunted maze back, I let Cat go in front for ONCE & I hid behind her in real fear… that’s how scary it was. Chad needs to do this one next year for sure.

My haunt tour 2014 Rating!
Numero Uno, the most awesome goes to – Raymond Hill Mortuary www.eviltwinstudios.com
#2 – Big Worms Sherwood Scare www.sherwoodscare.com
#3 – www.UrbanDeath.com
#4 – Backwoods Maze in Burbank https://www.facebook.com/TheBackwoodsMaze
#5 – Queen Mary Haunted Harbor, a great deal for only $20. Just come super early!

I’m already making plans for next years Haunt Tour 2015.  What sucked was that a lot of the home haunts weren’t open until the 25th weekend. so I missed out on so many like Boney Island or Rotten Apple’s haunts.

 

Halloween Day/Night 2014

Posted by admin in Past Halloweens

Nov 3, 2014
Where do I start? Let’s just write up Halloween day for now & then do the haunted houses later in another post!

Halloween day – dressed as Lara Croft & worked out at Anthony’s gym, then went to lunch to Gail, saw Salah & then went to Mike’s house to say hi & see the cats too! He was going out to a Lodge dinner so wouldn’t be handing out candy.  I got back to finish touching up decorations outside the house & then do my make up for the Ring.  Tony got off work early since it’s Nevada Day & we walked the dogs as I was dressed as the Ring girl.

The trick or treaters didn’t start coming around 6:20pm.  Daylight savings didn’t happen til Nov 2nd so I was worried it wouldn’t be dark enough & then all anxious about trick or treaters coming.  It’s our first year in our new big “forever” house so I didn’t know how many kids to expect, since it wasn’t even that far from Flower Seeds but that complex barely got ANY kids at all. So they started coming in droves… and I mean they were getting trucked in by groups from who knows where so they can come to the “rich” area!  Yay! We qualify as the fancier area of town now.  I honestly didn’t have time to go see other blocks around the neighbhor hood because it got super busy all of a sudden & ended right at 8:15.  So less than 2 hours of trick or treating but they made it count.  Tony decided to smartly sit outside by the door the entire time which worked out so well because as the kids came up the path, I would suddenly appear either in the doorway OR we waiting on the stairs.  SO many kids got scared of me & a few didn’t even come up to get the candy (which was good since we were several candies close to running out!)  The black girls were the most scared & didn’t want to go near us at all. Some of the littlest kids were the bravest because their minds were too young to comprehend who I was supposed to be. It’s mainly the older kids who’d seen the Ring or the Grudge that get scared. One girl took a selfie with me; a few other parents took pics/video of me so that was neat.  In total about 120?? kids came. Way up from say the 30 that came last year at Flower Seeds.  I was hoping they’d come til 9pm but the other neighbors ran out of candy too & turned off their lights.   I kept the lights on til 8:45 just hoping for more but none came. Then we got ready to hit the strip!

Tony was Pai Mei from Kill Bill & I was the evil clown (Twisty) from the new American Horror Story! Tony got recognised more than I though, because he looked like an ancient Chinese kung fu master which is easily noticed.  Plus he’s real tall & overshadows me.  We hit the Bourbon Room & the MC was weirdly funny.  There were so many drunk MILF’s on stage doing weird things… it was just awkwardly weird so TOny wanted to leave after 1 drink.  we just walked down to the Linq & their huge costume contest was happening.  It was super crazy packed & we just hung around there for awhile soaking in the attention & getting pics taken of us with randoms until his feet started hurting so we walked back & just enjoyed seeing so many cool costumes.  a ton of ppl at the linq dressed up & I was super impressed. I just love seeing effort & the Halloween love… I did see another Twisty the Clown on stage in the contest but he didn’t make the final 15 & then I couldn’t find him for a picture…. sad face. We got back at maybe 1:30 but didn’t sleep til around 3am I think!

The next day I didn’t wake up early or anything but I did do my post halloween sales rounds & it was pretty picked through by the time I hit everything! I hit 2 Spirit Halloweens & the first one in Summerlin was BARE. The second one by Charleston & Arville ( in the poorer area) still had a ton of decor & it was better. Stopped by Mike’s house & he made me a chicken sandwich to fuel me up.  I hit 2 targets, Walmart, party city & NOTHING.  Spent less than $60 and got a ton of stuff at Spirit halloween so it was money well spent!  I decided that spending it on purses (rep or real) is now a waste of money & it’s SO much for gratifying spending it on set stuff & decorations for….

THE HAUNTED HOUSE I’M MAKING IN THE GARAGE/HOUSE NEXT YEAR!! Can’t believe Tony not only OK’d it but is giving me full support!!!! I am the luckiest girl ever. I’m already planning it & I think the theme will be Zombie Outbreak…. trendy yes… but also much easier to do than say killer clowns or whatever.

So I need to be on all the halloween & haunt forums, learn set painting, woodworking & so many skills to pull this off!

Also on Nov 1st we went to a small local haunt set up at the hospital.  it was their first year & it was obvious that the owner/creator hadn’t gone to many haunts in the past.  it was very bare & lackluster, boring.  It didn’t scare or startle me in the least but I do applaud his efforts!  Hopefully next year I can help out with it & come up with some additions or ideas that will make it scarier & suspenseful.  The money goes to charity which is totally baddass of course & was built by this one guy & kids from the school.

 

Halloween 2011

Posted by admin in Past Halloweens

Sooooo I”m writing this post on Halloween DAY, oct 31st, 2014 (eyeroll) & reflecting on all the years past.  I’m pissed off I can’t find some old halloween pictures I have; they’re not on the blog but  I KNOW they’re in the book I made & now I can’t find the book!! argh…. first world problems. I’m annoyed cuz I know there’s some old pics of the Ray Cam haunted houses we did plus the big haunted house we did with the girls scouts in the mansion that one year…. annoyed.

So Halloween 2011 – our (former) friend Chase stayed with us in our house for the entire October which did throw us off a bit since he was in vacation/retirement mode & both Rob & I still had somewhat of schedules to keep. But instead it felt like we had to entertain all the time…

Random memories… going to the UNLV vs. Hawaii football game. Getting mad at Chase for some racist stuff he said. ummmm what else?
So that year we road tripped to Los Angeles for a small haunted house tour. I think we only stayed like 2-3 nights and we hit Knotts Scary farm the first night & actually stayed at the official hotel which we’ve never done before.  That was my first year at Knotts & it was ok. The HH’s weren’t as strong as Busch Gardens but the scare-zones were better.  I wish they would do more with the mine ride in the mountain but they don’t & there’s still a huge line for it because ppl don’t know.  We rode all the coasters & enjoyed all the HH’s.  My tactic ALWAYS is to walk ridiculously slow in the beginning so that way, the people in front of you go forward to the point that you can’t see them at all anymore.  That way it feels like you’re walking through the HH alone & not in a stupid conga line, just don’t look back!  Nothing super memorable at Knotts but it was well done.  I think THIS was the year my expectations for Halloween haunts jumped up like 8 levels.
The next night we did  Universal Studios Halloween Nights with Monica Jean & she had never been to anything this major & I remember she was clinging to Chase the entire time, lol.  Ooooh, I remember we went to visit our friends office & the valet locked Robs car keys in the lock box & left somehow & I didn’t want to be late so I was having a fit.  Anyways, we got the keys & made it just after opening.  We had the fast pass anyways which is a MUST for Universal otherwise you can’t make it through all the haunts in just one night. I can still recall all the haunted houses at Universal like it was yesterda & can’t recall the ones at Knotts!?!?!  I suppose that’s a testament to the quality & memorability of them.
So the American Werewolf was my favorite one & so was La Llorona (which they still have).  I think there was a Ozzy Ozzbourne?? one & that was kinda weird.

The next day we hit Six Flags magic mountain theme park only, not the halloween stuff at night. We did a bunch of big coasters & then left to drive back to vegas.  I remember we took the Palmdale route & it was already dark by that time.
I remember going to a Halloween costume party the day before at Insert coins & there were some pretty amazing cosplay going on ( I was Chun Li). Rob & I were dancing the whole time & Chase was bored because he didn’t like hip hop.
OH!!!! We went to see Steel Panther at Green Valley that weekend & I dressed as Chun Li & found 2 guys there dressed as Ken & whatshisname so we all went on stage together!!

Halloween day…. omg what did I do in the day!?! Damn, there goes my memory officially. I remember dressing up at the Ring at night for trick or treaters & I even went to a few houses in the complex too.  I remember getting props for my costume & make up.  Did we do anything that night??? I can’t remember.

OOOOH! We DID do circus Circus Fright Dome that year! I found like 2 pictures from it.

Thoughts on Halloween 2010

Posted by admin in Past Halloweens

Ok, I’m writing this as it’s almost Halloween 2011… whatever…

So for Halloween 2010, we arrived in the USA on October 27th evening I believe & I was just so relieved to be out of Costa Rica that I barely focussed on getting ready for the big day.  There was a lot of stuff we had to sell & legal stuff to tend to in preperation of our moving from Costa Rica to the USA that we had to deal with so the halloween month basically started once we landed in the country.  We did as much Halloween stuff in Las Vegas as we could, including:

Circus Circus 13th floor- Great concept, excellent effort in terms of acting, decorating & being unique & also a good price for only $13.  This year (2011) they raised it to $20 which I think is a lot.

Fright Dome – I did it once it 2006 already.  It was really good this year.  Riding the rollercoasters at night is always a treat.

Binions Haunted House – it was on the 2nd floor in parts of the casino that weren’t being used at the time… like walking through the “haunted kitchen” was kind of freaky.  It was over too quickly though for the price they charged.

Springs Preserve – Decent concept & nice that they made somewhat of an effort… but it was mainly just for kids.  I got bored within 10 mins.

I wore my Lara Croft outfit for 3 days before Halloween… just cuz it’s cute.  On Halloween day… we went to Changs & ate dim sum. We were staying at Chris’s house at the time.  Halloween night I was the girl from The Ring (again) and I helped hand out candy at Chris’s and then also went trick or treating around his complex.  I think I only did 2 blocks but I got a TON of candy somehow from generous houses & also for the fact that there really weren’t that many kids TTing in the complex.  For me, it’s still a mega treat to peek into strangers houses once a year anonymously.  I don’t remember what we did later on that night though… let me ask Rob.

 

Thoughts on Halloween 2009

Posted by admin in Past Halloweens

I’m once again spared the lack of Samhain celebrations of Costa Rica (thank goodness!) and going to Ft Lauderdale / Miami area this year.  We were thinking about being in Hawaii for the big day but last years experience of being anonymous in a metropolitan area knowing nobody, yet surrounded by millions, left me empty.  Don’t get me wrong, it was an experience of a lifetime but I’m just not really a big city kind of gal and I know that 100% for sure now. 

So instead of the stresses of figuring out what to do on an island both of us have never been to (and only read extensive history about) we decided to pop over to FLL for a few days and then fly straight to HI afterwards.  No Orlando though, just the sofla area.  So I’m keeping my expectations low this year.  If I’m lucky I’ll get to either TT or hand out candy, either one would make me just as content, as long as I get to see lil kids dressed in costume enjoying themselves I’m good.  I’d like to go to at least 2 good sized HH’s … not just yard haunts but like well done ones.  It’ll be hard to expect anything less than stellar now that I’ve been spoiled by Universal Studios and Busch Gardens, but I do understand I have to somewhat lower my expectations about that.  Trust me I’ve been to some bad commercial haunts that were so dissapointing; it’s like I’d rather go to a simple yard haunt made with love & care cuz it definately shows.  So I think i’m going to bring both a scary costume and a sexy costume down… just in case we go to multiple halloween parties, etc.  Even though I went on about how I don’t like sexy Halloween costumes & all… oh well.  I know when to be prepared and when to be flexible.  One thing i have to remember is… stock up on 1/2 price dog costumes at Target the day after.   Man there’s so many dogs to shop for now, fun.

First reflections on Halloween 2008

Posted by admin in Past Halloweens

 

Halloween in New England 2008 – one sentance to sum it up… commercialized and somewhat lacking in true heart, soul and spirit.

Maybe we looked at the wrong places.  Don’t get me wrong; I loved every minute of it… but it wasn’t all that I was expecting.  It’s like when you’ve never been to Hawaii and expect it to be this undisturbed, clean, unpolluted palm tree paradise and if you don’t leave Honululu, you’ll see it as just another American city. New York City is an adult city, there’s not much kids.  And without the innocent kids excitement of Halloween, much is lost and it becomes a bunch of drunken adults thinking they can get away with 176% more shenanigans than without a costume.  Maybe I’m just too immature & innocent to enjoy those to the fullest (ok, basically I don’t understand any of it since I don’t drink)