Friday, December 31, 2010

The Best Horror Films of 2010 You DIDN'T See (But Should!)


There is no denying it was a dismal year for horror releases, as it seemed that most flicks released this year were just gawd-awful. Plenty people have cited the Nightmare on Elm Street remake as the WORST horror film of 2010, and while I think it was a wretched atrocity, there are other horror flicks equally deserving to be named the worst...like the jaw-droppingly awful 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams, the boring Human Centipede, the inane Survival of the Dead and countless others which I've (unsuccessfully) tried to block from my memory...

However, 2010 DID offer some hope for the horror genre...mainly in films you probably haven't seen or haven't given a proper chance...which is why instead of drafting a "Best Of" list filled with more mainstream titles I've decided to write a list of independent, lower-budget or unappreciated 2010 releases that were far superior to many theatrical horror releases this year (BTW, my fave "mainstream" releases this year would include Black Swan, Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy...ummm, and I'm not sure what else).

Click on over to Fatally-Yours.com to check out my list of the Best Horror Films of 2010 You Didn't See!

Happy New Year!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

2010 Holiday Gift Guide for Horror Fiends


Christmas is almost here and for all you slackers, that means just a few more days left to shop for your favorite horror fiends (or to use those gift cards you’ve received to get what you REALLY want)!

So I've compiled a handy list of gifts that will warm every horror fan’s heart this holiday season.

Check it out on Fatally-Yours.com!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Film Review: TerrorVision (1986)


TerrorVision is an absolutely hilarious and schlocky Charles Band Production from 1986 that features parents who are swingers, a teenage girl who looks like Cyndi Lauper’s poodle, a grandpa who is a military-survival nut, a dim-witted metalhead and a monster-obsessed kid way ahead of ADD generation.

The Putterman’s are not exactly your everyday American family from the ‘80s. Mom (Mary Woronov!) likes her spandex workout gear, the teenage daughter (Diane Franklin) is obsessed with MTV, Grandpa (Bert Remsen) is a paranoid, weapons-hoarding freak, Dad (Gerrit Graham) is obsessed with his latest gadget, a state-of-the-art satellite dish, and both parents are obsessed with their swingin’ “pleasure palace”. Young Sherman (Chad Allen) is lost in the shuffle of his zany family, but when a monster from outer space is beamed into his world via the family’s snazzy new satellite dish, he must take matters into his own hands to save mankind from destruction.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Holiday Gift Guide for Vegans - 2010 Edition


Wondering what to get your favorite vegan this Christmas? Check out these vegan gift suggestions from yours truly to get you inspired! With everything from makeup to tees to books to kitchen gadgets and beyond, this should put you on the right path to making your vegan gift recipient very happy! But hurry, because with only a few days left until Christmas you'll need to order these soon!



1. Urban Decay Vegan Palette - I loooove Urban Decay's vegan products, and now they have an extra-special eyeshadow palette made specifically for vegans! Extra bonus - the box it comes in is as equally gorgeous as eyeshadow it contains!


2. Tofu Xpress - This handy little gadget will come in handy for any vegan (or otherwise conscious chef) that likes to utilize tofu in their cooking.

 
3. Go Vegan Tee - Cuz who can resist Porky Pig saying "Go Vegan"?!


4. VegNews -The BEST vegan magazine that not only offers tasty recipes, but also articles on vegan travel, products, reviews and lifestyle. A gift that will keep on giving all year long!


5. The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life - A delightful new book from everyone's favorite Urban Housewife, Melisser Elliott, that contains the basics of veganism, DIY craft projects, cruelty-free beauty tips, travel advice, recipes, and much, much more!


6. Vaute Couture's "No Animals Harmed" Tee - Though I lust after Vaute Couture's gorgeous vegan coats, their $500 price tag is a little hefty! Lucky for us, they also make more affordable tees, both for boys and girls, that are just too cute to pass up!


7. Give Compassion - There is no gift better than one that gives back to animals in need, so consider giving a donation to a worthy organization in the name of your favorite vegan! Try these organizations to help out this holiday season: Farm Sanctuary, Compassion Over Killing, ASPCA, Best Friends Animal Society, Fund for Animals, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, PETA, Friends of Animals, your local animal shelter and more.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Lately You Can Find Me...

  • Listening to Dark Noel, my favorite dark ambient/goth Christmas album
  • Enjoying peppermint hot chocolate at Starbucks (made vegan with soy, of course)
  • Reveling in all the Christmas lights and decorations that are now up!
  • Calling my family several times a week cuz I miss them and won't see them for the holidays
  • Updating my wish list
  • Thinking about resolutions for 2011
  • Eating a ton of candy canes!!
  • Burning my Bath and Body Works Fresh Balsam...smells just like a Christmas tree!!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

What I'm Listening To: A Playlist Shuffle Meme

The gorgeous TwiggX

Memes like this are a guilty pleasure for me, so when I stumbled upon a friend who completed this one I just had to take part!

Feel free to post your own list, just follow the rules below:

(1) Turn on your MP3 player or music player on your computer.

(2) Go to SHUFFLE songs mode.

(3) List the first 15 songs that come up (song title and artist) NO editing/cheating, please. Even if you might skip the song when it comes up or be embarrassed for people to know that it's in your collection, you still must list it.


Here are the songs that came up for me during this little experiment:

1. Disarm - Smashing Pumpkins
2. Well I Wonder - The Smiths
3. Untitled - Silverchair
4. Gold - Repo! The Genetic Opera
5. Start Again - Ayria
6. Sanctuary - Midnight Syndicate
7. Sorry - Assemblage 23
8. Shiddin - Glenn Danzig
9. I Feel Loved - Depeche Mode
10. Slasher - Dawn of Ashes
11. Coward as a Slave - Hocico
12. Blut Royale - Combichrist
13. Sklave - Nachtmar
14. A Letter to Elise - The Cure
15. Architect - Aesthetic Perfection

And, for your pleasure, the B-sides:

1. Kill Kitty - Angelspit
2. Self-Made - Otep
3. Dead March - Suicide Commando
4. Voice of the Sun - Ikon
5. St. Vitus Dance - Bauhaus
6. Go Into the Water - Dethklok
7. The Endless Feed - Dark Tranquility
8. Bats in the Belfry - Nox Arcana
9. Dead or Alive (God Mod Rotten Skin Dance Mix) - Amduscia
10. She - Misfits
11. Banboro Koubou - Aural Vampire
12. See You in Hell - Voltaire
13. The Day the World Went Away - Nine Inch Nails
14. Pale - The Birthday Massacre
15. October Skies - Glis

Feel free to participate and make sure to tag me in your post...I love seeing what other people listen to!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

The Birthday Massacre, Black Veil Brides, Dommin and Aural Vampire at the HoB Anaheim - November 14th, 2010

The always amazing TBM!

Last weekend yielded another Sunday night concert, this time with the amazing The Birthday Massacre! I was pretty stoked that the venue was just a short drive from my house, so I figured it would be no big deal getting home late and getting to work the next day adequately rested (this did not go to plan - more on this later).


I pulled on my super-cool skeleton girl shirt I snagged from the last Birthday Massacre show we were at a few months ago, slipped into some purple tights and a puffy Lolita-like skirt, yanked on my boot and was ready to go! Mister Spooky and I headed to the House of Blues Anaheim, located in the stroller-hell that is Downtown Disney. We arrived at the venue, dodging screaming tots and tired parents all the way, picked up our tix and went to find some pre-show grub.

After enjoying a veggie sandwich and some fries at La Brea Bakery (which came back to haunt me later), we headed back to the venue. It was still about an hour to doors, but the line was already snaking around and around the venue, so we decided to jump in and just wait. The supporting band Black Veil Brides, who I had never heard of, brought out quite the assortment of tweens and their moms. Hmmmmm...this did not bode well with me and their annoying chatter put me in a pretty foul mood. Wow, do I act like an old lady or what?! Doors finally opened and we managed to snag some free seats in the VIP section. I DID NOT want to be surrounded by excitable young girls who squealed every time a guitar tech ambled onto the stage.

Exo-Chika of Aural Vampire

Aural Vampire, a Japanese electropop/darkwave act, hit the stage on schedule and were pretty frickin' awesome! I'd been listening to AV's CDs a few weeks prior to the show, and they certainly did not disappoint!! I also loved that super-cute vocalist Exo-Chika made an attempt to talk to the crowd even though her English wasn't that great. She was just so darn cute and her costume was amazing! I just wish their set had been longer. My favorite song of the set was "Economical Animal Superstar".


Next on was Dommin, who were more mellow but still put on a good show. They opened with their best and catchiest song, "My Heart, Your Hands", which has been stuck in my head for DAYS. They have a more straight-up rock sound with gothic influences, though vocalist Kristofer Dommin's deep voice reminds me of Glenn Danzig.Yummy! My favorite song was the previously mentioned "My Heart, Your Hands", but "Tonight" was equally good!

 Black Veil Brides

After Dommin's set was over all the tweens rushed the floor in anticipation of Black Veil Brides. This band looks like they are trying to rip-off both Mötley Crüe and Kiss and their music isn't all that great...correction, it pretty much sucks. I seriously don't understand their appeal, but to each their own. They did put on a very energetic and fun show, though ragging on the metal kid that kept flipping them off was pretty douche-y (that kid was my HERO!). They better get used to people flipping them off because I don't think anyone really likes their music besides twelve-year-old girls and their moms. Ummm...I didn't really have a favorite from their set. Like Twatlight, I'll just never understand the appeal this band has for tweens (and their moms).

The tweens are intent on devouring Black Veil Brides frontman Andy Six/6

The Birthday Massacre

After BVB, it was finally time for one of my favorite bands, The Birthday Massacre, to take the stage!! This was my first time seeing them as a headlining act, so I was pretty stoked that they would have an extra-long set length. I thought they did an excellent job mixing older songs with their newer stuff, though I love it all equally! They are touring to support their new album Pins and Needles (absolutely amazing album, BTW!), so the set list had new songs like "In the Dark" and "Pins and Needles".

Chibi of TBM

Chibi was her usual cute self and had all the boys drooling over her standard schoolgirl outfit! She, and the rest of the band, always put a lot of energy into their stage shows and Sunday's show was no different! They really rocked the house and seemed to play everyone's favorites. I certainly could not pick a favorite song they played because everything was just so darn awesome!

 We love you too!!

So I mentioned earlier in the post how dinner came back to haunt me? Well, after the show I got awful food poisoning and was up all night...so there went my plan for getting a good night's rest! I stayed home sick the next day, and the day after that I still felt awful. Ugh...I can't remember the last time I got food poisoning (on a veggie sandwich with NO DAIRY on it, no less), so thanks a lot for breaking my winning streak, La Brea Bakery...more like La Brea Barfery. Ick.

Besides that (and the tween invasion), it was a good show. I even got to meet a cool cat named Q who Mister Spooky (otherwise known in concert circles as The Bloody Lumberjack - here is his YouTube page) has moshed with at other shows. Q has a cool concert blog you should check out called From Pit to Lawn. See you at the next one, dude!

Here are some videos of the show I shot:



Sunday, November 14, 2010

Tonight's Show: The Birthday Massacre, Black Veil Brides, Dommin and Aural Vampire


I'm getting excited for tonight's concert with headliners The Birthday Massacre, one of my favorite bands!! Support includes Black Veil Brides (meh...), Dommin (yes!) and the Japanese Aural Vampire (love!).

Check out what I'm in store for (and what you're missing out on!) below:




Saturday, November 13, 2010

Combichrist, Aesthetic Perfection, God Module at The Music Box in Hollywood - Nov. 7, 2010

Hello Boils and Ghouls!

Apologies again for not being able to post on a more regular basis, but life is busy busy busy right now and doesn't look like it will be slowing down anytime soon! I'll be trying to post at least once a week as my schedule permits and as I have "blog-worthy" events to post about.

For now, I have some fun concert photos for you to enjoy...Last weekend Mister Spooky and I went to see the aggrotech/electro-industrial band Combichrist with the supporting line-up of Aesthetic Perfection, God Module and iVardensphere. Yes, amazing line-up. This was probably close to our 8th time seeing them and they always put on an AMAZING show. It was our 2nd time seeing Aesthetic Perfection and our first time for God Module (one of my FAVE bands...I interviewed them a while back HERE) and iVardensphere.

 The one, the only...Combichrist

The show was November 7th, 2010 at The Music Box (formerly the Henry Fonda) in Hollywood. We got VFIM (Very F*cking Important Monster) passes which allowed us early entry and a quick meet 'n' greet with the band. They were running a bit late on sound check so not much chit-chatting happened, but it was great to see all the guys!

While waiting around, we got to check out the venue, which was awesome. They had these awesome Hieronymus Bosch-like murals covering the walls, cool chandeliers all over the place and a posh, gothic vibe going on. Surprising since the venue usually consists of hip-hop acts and such. They also had a sweet rooftop balcony with a view of Hollywood Blvd.

 Clint Carney of God Module

Doors opened soon after and the kiddies started pouring in. The show started soon after, and though I wasn't too into the opening band, iVardensphere, they still put on a good show! God Module, with new member Clint Carney taking over for Byron Miller, was phenomenal! Their set was too short in my opinion, and they didn't play my favorite song, "Spooky", but their dark industrial sound really got everyone going. I suspect they had a lot of converts that night!

 Aesthetic Perfection

Next was Aesthetic Perfection, whom I adore. They really tore up the floor with their electro-industrial music and Daniel Graves put on a wild 'n' crazy show, as usual!! I think half the crowd was there just to see them as they have a less heavy sound than Combichrist. My favorite song of the set? "The Great Depression", of course!

 The Andy Show! Combichrist frontman Andy LePlegua

Headliners Combichrist certainly did not disappoint! The Andy Show (aka Andy LePlegua) and members Joe Letz, Trever Friedrich and Z-Marr, plus Wes Borland as a special guest on guitar, put on another skull-crushing show that left the audience bloodied but begging for more. This was the most polished Combichrist show I've seen, as they had fancy-pantsy screens behind them projecting all sorts of mayhem. The light show was intense as well, and I'm surprised no one suffered a seizure from the frickin' annoying strobe lights. Most of the music played was from the new album Making Monsters, which, to tell the truth, I'm not a big fan of, but some old classics were mixed in there as well. Also, Brandon Schieppati from Bleeding Through made a special guest appearance on the song "Follow the Trail of Blood". Favorite song of the night? Hmmmm...that would be tough to pick but I'm always partial to "Blut Royale" and "Scarred".

Combichrist

There was an after-party after the show, but unfortunately we couldn't stay since it was a "school night" and we both had work the next morning. Being tired the next morning was sooooo worth it, because this was truly a kick-ass show!

 We <3 Joey! 
Drummer Joe Letz of Combichrist

See ya next time you come to town, boys!

Combichrist

Want more pics? I have a ton of concert pics on my Facebook page!

Want more info on the bands? Check out their official sites below:




Friday, November 5, 2010

I Promised You Halloween Photos...

...and I'm finally going to post some, but first I feel I owe you dear readers an explanation on why I haven't posted much since the big day of Halloween.

After being so busy the whole month of October with fun Halloween activities, planning a party and blogging every single day in my 31 Days of October spooktacular, I figured I deserved a break! Plus I've been pretty busy in my personal life and just haven't had enough time to devote to blogging.

My posting will continue to be kinda spotty for a while, especially since my favorite holiday is now over (boo!), but I will continue to post reviews, recipes and whatever scraps of tomfoolery wisdom I can dredge up.

Now that I've explained myself a bit, onto the photos!! Halloween this year was a great success and I had a ton of fun planning and hosting our annual Halloween party. The theme was "Unhappily Ever After" and I had a great time decorating and planning menu items to fit the theme. Check out the photos of the party below! To protect the guilty, I've chosen to not include photos with recognizable faces in them (besides my own, of course). If you want to see ALL the photos in their uncensored glory, they are posted on my Facebook. We just gotta be friends before you can view them, ya hear?

 Dressed up as Little Dead Riding Hood

 Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?

 The big hit of the night...severed witches fingers!

 The sinister spread! Menu is below:

 The morbid menu

 Unhappily Ever After

 A view from the outside looking in

And here are two of my fave photos from Halloween:
 Here's a photo from the actual Halloween night. 
Of course I wore my orange and black stockings and we carved pumpkins 
and handed out treats to the few trick 'r treaters that came by.

 I also attended another party the weekend before my own and 
dressed up as Wednesday Addams. This costume was last minute but still a lot of fun! 
I even took home the trophy for Best Costume that night!

I've been reading everyone's posts on their Halloween festivities whenever I have a few spare minutes and it looks like this year everyone had a very Happy Halloween! My Halloween was definitely awesome, but one thing that definitely bugged me was the lack of trick 'r treaters...maybe I need to move to a smaller town, but I miss the days of kids tricked out in costumes and swarming the streets for some treats. It seemed that the streets were deserted on All Hallow's Eve, and that just pissed me off! Who cares if it's a school night? When I was a kid Halloween was worth staying out late for! And another thing -- why don't people decorate for Halloween anymore??? Hardly any houses in my area were decorated...do people suck that bad that they won't even decorate for Halloween? Or is it just the lame-o's in Orange County where I live? And why were stores putting up Christmas displays and playing Christmas music before Halloween was even over?! What has happened to all the Halloween spirit?

GAH! Enough ranting...

How was your Halloween? Did you see less trick 'r treaters this year? Does your city/town/neighborhood decorate for Halloween? If so, can I please move to your magical Halloweentown? I promise to obey all the cardinal rules of Halloween - decorate, give out treats to avoid tricks, dress in costume, and never ever blow out the jack o' lantern before Halloween night is over.
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