EASY-BAKE COVEN: HALLOWEEN LAYERED FUDGE by Punkin Nightshade

Hey, y'all, this here is Petronella Nightshade, but everbody calls me Punkin, and I am speakin to you through this here computer blog for The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween. Today I am doin the Easy-Bake Coven, and this here is a real easy fudge recipe that you can do with one of them microwave machines, and it's just right for Halloween cause it's that layered fudge, with Halloween colors. Besides, I don't know nobody that don't like chocolate at Halloween.

What's In It:
1 teaspoon butter
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk, divided
8 ounces white candy coating
1/4 teaspoon orange extract
2 to 4 drops orange paste food coloring

What You Got To Do:
Line up an 8-inch square pan with foil and butter it (so's the fudge won't stick) and hold aside.

In a microwave-safe bowl, heat up your chocolate chips and one cup of the milk on high for 30 seconds, then stir it together real good. Repeat this until it's real smooth, then pour it in the pan and chill it up in your icebox (or refrigerator*) for 10 minutes.

While that's chillin up, in another microwavable bowl, melt up the candy coatin with what's left of the milk. Stir in the orange extract and food colorin and spread it over your chocolate layer, then chill it in the icebox for one hour or until it's firmed up. Use the foil to pull the fudge out the pan, and cut it up into 1-inch squares, and that's all there is to it. You can make up a bunch of this and tie it up in treat bags for Halloween, too.

So I hope you are havin fun with all these recipes and such, cause postin recipes ain't somethin we have tried before, but of course it is no harm to try somethin new and be different now and again. I shall see you soon for our next postin on The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween, and many blessings be on you!

Sincerely,
Petronella "Punkin" Nightshade

MAD DOCTOR'S NOTE: When Punkin refers to an 'icebox' she means a refrigerator, as this is how most witches refer to such a device. Just clarifying. --M.D.

ROCKIN' WITH CALABRESE! By Harriet Von Lupin

Hey, dudes! This is Harriet Von Lupin for The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween, and we are reporting on another cool horror-rock band for you to add to your Halloween party playlist--Calabrese!

Calabrese is three actual brothers named Bobby (guitars and vocals), Jimmy (bass and vocals) and Davey (drums) from Phoenix, Arizona, who specialize in red-hot, punk-flavored rock 'n roll with cool B-horror movie lyrics! After forming in 2003 and making a self-released six-song EP called Midnight Spookshow, Calabrese drew rave reviews from fans and critics alike, all over the world. They were approached afterward by several indie labels, but these guys stayed true to themselves and formed their own label, Spookshow Records. So far, they've released two albums, 13 Halloweens and The Traveling Vampire Show, both of which are favorites in the Mad Doctor's Monster Shop!

Right now Calabrese is preparing their third CD, and has an ongoing contest on their website until October 30th that could let you name the new CD! If you want to participate, send any CD titles you come up with to CdContest@CalabreseRock.com. Hey, your title might just be the one they pick! (Check their website for more info and a list of new song titles--just click on the title link to get there!)

Gotta go now, but be sure to come back tomorrow for more of The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween! OW-WOOOOOO!

Harriet Von Lupin

POST-MORTEM: Calabrese currently has a "Double Feature" deal on their website allowing you to get both 13 Halloweens and The Traveling Vampire Show for $15.99. Click here to go to their merch page and order.

EASY-BAKE COVEN: MORTALS' CHOW By Punkin Nightshade

Hey, y'all, this is Petronella Nightshade, what am called Punkin, and welcome back to the Easy-Bake Coven what's here on The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween. Today I am bringin to you a recipe called Mortals' Chow, what's awful popular here in Morlock Heights, and it'll probly be popular amongst all of you too cause this recipe is completely human-safe and humans can actually eat it. Us witches and other monsterkind like servin this as a snack round Halloween and at Solstice Festival too.

What's In It:
1 cup of butter or margarine (just for pref'rence, I like butter best)
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
18 cups of dry cereal (such as a mixup of them wheat, corn and rice squares, or that Cheerios oat cereal)
2 cups of nuts (cashews, peanuts, walnuts, pecans, or any mixed-up nuts)
6 cups of powdered sugar
1 cup miniature marshmallows

What You Got To Do:
Melt up your butter and chocolate chips in a heavy saucepan on low heat (so's it won't burn, mind) and cook and stir it till it's all smooth.

Put your cereal and nuts in a big bowl, then pour the chocolate mixture over it and mix it up till it's all coated up real good with the chocolate. Then sprinkle in your powdered sugar, 2 cups at a time, and keep mixin it up till it's all coated up real good. Then add your marshmallows and serve it up to your comp'ny.

And that's it. Now since all monsters (or humans) has not got a sweet tooth, it's real easy to make up a savory version of Mortals' Chow, and here 'tis:

Instead of meltin the butter and chocolate, just melt up the butter, but spike it real good with cajun seasonin, or some onion and garlic powders (but no garlic if you are Invitin vampires round), or whatever's your favorite spice mix, and maybe put in a little of that Worchestershire sauce. Don't add no powdered sugar, and instead of the marshmallows, add in a cup of pretzel sticks, pretzel pieces (the plain kind), bagel chips, or oyster crackers, or maybe all of them things, and mix it all up real good. Now I'll tell you, this'n will go real real fast at your Halloween party, whether savory or sweet, and it's also right nice for little treat bags since it makes so much.

So there y'all are, and may blessings be on you and yours this Halloween. Y'all come back tomorrow for The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween, and I shall see you then!

Sincerely,
Petronella "Punkin" Nightshade

Review Of THE HAUNTED MANSION: THE MOVIE By Bethany Ruthven

Good evening, darlings, and thank you for reading. We welcome you once again to Haunted Mansion Mondays on The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween, and today we explore an unusual chapter in the history of the Mansion: that of its ill-fated movie.

With the success of Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl, which like the Mansion was both a ghost story and a popular Disney-park theme ride, Disney immediately slated the Haunted Mansion as a possible film. Soon after, comedian Eddie Murphy, who was planning his own haunted house movie, called the Walt Disney Studios and requested a script, and was shortly signed thereafter to the lead role. The resulting film, however, was panned almost universally by critics and disliked by many fans of the Mansion, and today we shall examine why.

The story of the Haunted Mansion film has Murphy starring as Jim Evers, a workaholic real estate agent who is unfortunately neglecting his beautiful wife Sara (Marsha Thomason) and his children, snippy daughter Megan (Aree Davis) and insecure son Michael (Marc John Jeffries) and immersing himself in his work. When Evers tries to appease his family by taking them on a weekend getaway, a mysterious phone call leads them to a huge, sprawling and strangely ominous mansion (complete with private cemetery) deep in the Louisiana swamps. Inside, Evers and his family meet the Mansion's owner, the mysterious Edward Gracey (Nathaniel Parker), his taciturn butler Ramsley (Terence Stamp) and the Mansion staff, consisting of bumbling footman Ezra (Wallace Shawn) and nervous maid Emma (Dina Waters). When a storm traps the Evers family in the Mansion overnight, they gradually discover its secret: the Mansion is under a terrible curse, and haunted by 999 ghosts--some of whom are Ramsley, Ezra, Emma and Edward Gracey, who plans to take Sara for his bride because of her resemblance to his long-lost, long-dead bride Elizabeth (also played by Thomason). With the help of Ezra, Emma, and the disembodied medium Madame Leota (Jennifer Tilly), Jim must find a way to break the curse of the Mansion and save his family from certain doom.

While the effort to create an impressive film based on this much-loved dark ride is certainly obvious, there are a number of glaring flaws in the movie that mar the experience for long-time Mansion fans. First, there is the Mansion itself, which is partially CGI and displayed as a distended, brooding combo of both the Disneyland and Disney World Mansions, ultimately reminding the viewer of neither. The rooms of the Mansion, while visually stunning, seem grossly oversized and dwarf the actors in many scenes. Second, the film tries to base its story around the partially fan-created legend that has haunted the Mansion since its creation: the legend of Gracey and his bride. Though the backstory is well fleshed out--Gracey, a white landowner, becomes betrothed to Elizabeth, a black woman, and loses her due to opposition and prejudice--it does not seem particularly challenging or innovative in the context of the Haunted Mansion, and the interracial theme becomes more of an afterthought. Finally, there is Murphy himself, who appears constrained and repressed in his role of Jim Evers. Murphy has a bent for scatological humor that, of course, does not work within a family film, and though he means well, his performance leaves the viewer feeling that his brand-name appeal in the film is entirely unnecessary in comparison to the popularity of its subject.

While some of the Mansion's happy-haunt spirit does appear within the graveyard scenes, several well-known characters of the Mansion, such as the Opera Singer, the Caretaker (who is established as a live human in the ride but here is presented as another trapped ghost), the Duelists, and in particular the Hitchhikers (who appeared on teaser art for the movie, leading many to believe that their roles would be important to the film) are given short shrift in favor of a noisome tomb filled with spiders and reanimated corpses, thus relegating the Mansion to status of Just Another Spook Movie. The Hitchhikers, who are perhaps the most popular and well-known ghosts of the Mansion, especially suffer because of this. In the end, this movie is neither an addition to the ride nor a suitable substitute; while there are some interesting moments and the film is well put together, The Haunted Mansion unfortunately suffers from too much incorrect story and mishandling. Therefore, we Mansion fans must wait until the right person (or, strangely enough, the right movie studio) comes along to properly tell the story of the Haunted Mansion in cinematic fashion.

Do return next week for more of our Haunted Mansion Mondays, and we hope to see you here tomorrow for more of The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween. After all, we are working hard to assemble all those spirits who have been just dying to meet you...

Regards,
Bethany Ruthven

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS By Harriet Von Lupin

Hi there! This is Harriet Von Lupin reporting for The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween, and our Mad Doc's post on trick-or-treat got me thinking: you know, not everybody celebrates Halloween in the same way. In Mexico, Halloween is just the day before a very special holiday time called Dia De Los Muertos, or Day Of The Dead.

On the Christian calendar, November 1st and 2nd are called All Saints Day and All Souls Day, where people celebrate and remember departed saints and loved ones. On November 1st and 2nd in Mexico, families gather to celebrate, remember and pray for the souls of those who have died. People believe that on these days, it's a lot easier for these souls to communicate with everybody still living, so they go to cemeteries to do just that! They make private altars with all their favorite foods and beverages, pictures, memorabilia, and all kinds of other stuff. They do this to attract the spirits of their dead loved ones, so that they can hear their prayers and all the good stories and things their families and friends have to remember about them. They clean and decorate the graves, and put up ofrendas, which means offerings (like the stuff I described above). They also put marigolds on the graves, which in Mexico is called flor de muerto, or flower of the dead.

A symbol that gets used a lot during these celebrations is the skull, which is called calavera. People wear skull masks, and even have little skulls made out of sugar or chocolate, which are put on the altars and given as gifts. Another thing they do is make a special sweet bread called pan de muerto, which is sometimes shaped like a skull, and sometimes has white frosting on it like bones. They also make altars in their homes with these same offerings, so that when the dead spirits come to visit, they will be refreshed and fed, 'cause they believe that the spirits eat the spiritual essence of the foods the living make for them. Even though the living eat the foods later, they believe it doesn't have any nutritional value, or good stuff, inside it any more.

Now I know this might sound a little weird and scary to some of you, but it's actually a very cool thing to do. Everyone has a deceased family member who really meant a lot to them, so this is a good way for people to remember all the good things about their loved ones and keep them in their hearts. And hey, being a werewolf, I come from a very large family, so I can totally relate!

So that's all for that, but I hope you enjoyed it, and maybe even learned something (unless you were just being really careful!) Gotta go, but I'll see you soon again for The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween! OW-WOOOOOO!!

Harriet Von Lupin

EASY-BAKE COVEN: GARGOYLE TONGUES By Punkin Nightshade

Hey, y'all. This is Petronella Nightshade, what am called Punkin, speakin to you through this computer blog, and today I am doin the Easy-Bake Coven. It's come to my noticin that folks like finger foods at Halloween parties, but Halloween parties for humans ain't the same as some of the ones in Morlock Heights, where you might be served real lady fingers instead of them little cake things. So I got up with our Mad Doctor, and asked him about finger foods what humans was likely to eat. Well, Mad Doc likes salsa and tortilla chips, and I swan he'll eat him a bait of them ever time he gets a chance, so I got to dabblin in the kitchen and come up with today's recipe, called Gargoyle Tongues. This here is real, real simple and don't take no time.

What's In It:4 soft corn or flour tortillas (or more if you are servin a lot of folk)
1/2 teaspoon of chili powder (or cajun seasonin, or cumin, or whatever is your favorite kind of hot spice)
1 cup finely shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (again, use more if you are servin a lot of folk)
1/8 cup chopped black olives
3 tablespoons salsa

What You Got To Do:Preheat the oven up to 450 degrees.

Sprinkle your hot spice evenly over your tortillas and rub it to coat them, then cut them into 4 wedges each.

Coat up a bakin sheet with some cookin spray and arrange your wedges on it, then sprinkle them with the cheese and olives. Bake them about 4 minutes, or until the cheese is melted, then top them off with a little bit of the salsa in the center (about 1/2 teaspoon per wedge). Serve these up on a servin tray or large platter.

Now of course these ain't real gargoyle tongues, as humans would not want to eat somethin made out of stone and bust up all their teeth, but they are right tasty. This here makes about sixteen Tongues, but it can be doubled up or even tripled up to make as many of them as you want.

So I am done here, and hope you are all enjoyin The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween. I shall be back soon with more cookin and such, and may blessings be on you and yours!

Sincerely,
Petronella "Punkin" Nightshade

THE LEGACY OF BOBBY "BORIS" PICKETT By John Rose

Welcome back to The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween, and today's post is about a true icon of Halloween; the man who gave Halloween its own song of the season. That man is Bobby "Boris" Pickett, and the song, of course, is "Monster Mash."

Bobby "Boris" Pickett was born Robert George Pickett in Somerville, Massachusetts on February 11, 1940. Bobby had an idyllic childhood, all things considered; his father managed a movie theatre in Somerville, and the young Bobby received firsthand influences from such iconic actors as Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, whom he idolized after seeing them respectively in Frankenstein and Dracula. At age nine, he began regularly imitating the voice of Karloff.

The monster kid grew up, and following an Army discharge in 1961, Pickett went to Los Angeles to try breaking into show business. Singing in nightclubs with a group called The Cordials, Pickett did impersonations to entertain the audiences between songs, and the Karloff voice naturally crept in. A particular crowd favorite was a version of "Little Darlin'" as done by Karloff, and his friend Lenny Capizzi suggested writing a novelty song around the Karloff voice. "Monster Mash" was written by Pickett and Capizzi in 1962.

The two approached Gary Paxton, who had sung lead on the Hollywood Argyles' hit "Alley Oop," to record and produce the song. Pianist Leon Russell played on the recording (done in one take), and many of the now-famous sound effects in the song were done by Pickett himself: the creaking door that begins the song is simply a nail wrenched from a board, while the bubbling lab effects are Pickett blowing into a cup of water with a straw. Pickett also appeared on chains, though not backed by baying hounds as the song describes, and Paxton styled the record as being by "Bobby 'Boris' Pickett And The Crypt Kickers."

When the record was finished, Paxton shopped it to four major labels, all of whom turned it down. Undaunted, Paxton pressed a thousand copies himself on his own Garpax label and began delivering them to radio stations across California. Eight weeks later, the Mash hit number one on October 20, 1962, and London Records, who had rejected the song, called Paxton to sign a deal.

The Mash re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 in both 1970 and 1973, and has since become the national anthem of Halloween. Pickett himself continued to write monster-themed songs, having a minor hit with a Christmas-themed version of the Mash called "Monster's Holiday," but none could match the success of his original. Nonetheless, Pickett was in demand for both Halloween performances and oldies shows, and even wrote two musicals with television writer Sheldon Allman (who created his own novelty horror album entitled Sing Along With Drac). One of these, entitled Frankenstein Unbound, was eventually made into Monster Mash The Movie in 1995, by the co-writers of the Disney/Pixar hit Toy Story.

Pickett died in 2007 of complications from leukemia, but his gift to Halloween lives on. One might consider him an "oft-sung" hero, since the Monster Mash still receives airplay at Halloween and is now a part of pop culture. Perhaps the largest nod of all came when Jerry Only, after taking the helm of seminal horror-punk band The Misfits, included the song in dynamically supercharged form as part of the 2003 album Project 1950.

Return with us tomorrow for The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween, and when you get to our door, tell 'em Boris sent you...

POST-MORTEM: Bobby "Boris" Pickett's website is still maintained at http://www.themonstermash.com. In pace requiescat.

Review Of THE MONSTER SQUAD: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION By Frankie Franken

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween! Today I'm reviewing something we probably should have let you know about a little earlier, but now is probably even better since it's close to Halloween. After a long, long time unseen and unaired, the NBC cult-classic series The Monster Squad is now out on DVD in a 2-disc collection.

Bethany had reviewed the popular cult movie of the same name a while back, but there were some fans of this series who originally thought that it would be a movie based on this TV series, which ran for one season in 1976 on NBC's Saturday morning lineup. The Monster Squad is the story of Walt (Fred Grandy, who was also on The Love Boat and later became a member of the U.S. House Of Representatives for Iowa--such a checkered career!), a criminology student who works at a local wax museum, specifically in the Chamber Of Horrors. Walt builds a large crime computer in a nearby sarcophagus, which turns out to be a triumph of Mad Science, as the computer's oscillating vibrations bring to life the statues of Frankenstein (Michael Lane), Dracula (Henry Polic II) and the Werewolf (Buck Kartalian). Wanting to make up for being "hated and feared for centuries" due to all their wrongful deeds, the monsters join with Walt to create the Monster Squad, a supernatural crimefighting crew that investigates and defeats various supervillains. The show was created by Stanley Ralph Ross, who had written for the Batman TV series starring Adam West and Burt Ward.

While this show is definitely a product of the 1970's, and very cheaply made (the same storefront set is used over and over again in nearly all the episodes), it retains a certain goofy charm that more than makes up for its shortcomings. It's just fun, and not meant to be taken too seriously at all. Plus, the villains end up being the stars on occasion, as most of the baddies are played by such noted character actors as Avery Schreiber, Alice Ghostley, Vito Scotti, Marty Allen and Julie Newmar (who herself was the villain Catwoman on Batman). The other Grrls and I even found ourselves enjoying the monsters; though I don't really care for Creatures being displayed as dumb (and you can understand why), Michael Lane's version of Frankenstein is so good-natured and sweet that it made up for my usual dislike of such things. And we really liked the monsters being presented as the good guys for once. (Hey, monsters are good guys--and good Grrls, too!)

This show also has the distinction of being a really big influence on our Mad Doctor, who watched it fervently as a monster-kid and is enjoying having it again. Pick up The Monster Squad if you want something a little different for Halloween, and try pairing it with the Monster Squad movie for a cool mix of creeps and silliness!

I have to go now, but don't forget to come back tomorrow for our next post on The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween! See you there!

Sincerely,
Francesca "Frankie" Franken

POST-MORTEM: Get your copy of The Monster Squad at Amazon.com by clicking here.

THE HISTORY OF TRICK OR TREAT By John Rose

Welcome back to The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween, and today I thought we'd investigate some Halloween customs. Probably the best known of these is the custom of trick-or-treat, which is part of what Halloween really is about.

Halloween, or All Hallows' Eve, is the precursor to Hallowmas or All Saints' Day, normally observed on November 1. The custom of trick-or-treating has its roots in a late medieval practice conducted by the poor, known as souling. On Hallowmas, poor people would go from door to door and beg for food in exchange for prayers for the dead on All Souls' Day, which was celebrated on November 2. While this practice originated in Ireland and Britain, similar practices were also found as far south as Italy.

However, though many Celtic peoples such as Scots, Irish and English would eventually emigrate to America, the practice of souling did not become known in North America until many generations later, when a 1911 Kingston, Ontario newspaper noted that it was commonplace for young children to go street guising on Halloween in the early dusk. The children would dress up in a disguise and perform a song or rhyme for rewards of candies, fruit and nuts. Trick-or-treating gradually became more widespread as time went on, and evolved into the practice seen on Halloween today. (The trick, of course, was rarely practiced; it was simply more tradition than threat.) In 1950, five schoolchildren in Pennsylvania collected money during Halloween trick-or-treating to help children in post-World War II Europe, and donated the money to the United Nations' Childrens' Fund. This began the practice of Trick Or Treat For UNICEF, which is still conducted today, and has now raised over $188 million worldwide.

Today, many people trick-or-treat with their children and friends on Halloween. To help you take part in this old tradition, a few basic tips for trick-or-treat safety are as follows: Always be accompanied by an adult, wear a flame-retardant costume, and carry a working flashlight with you. Map out your route (your whole family should know what it is) and travel in neighborhoods you know (preferably your own). Walk instead of running, only trick-or-treat at houses with the lights on, and never trick-or-treat at strangers' houses. Parents should allow their children to use cell phones if possible and remind them to call home or 911 if there is an emergency, and should also check all their children's candy before allowing them to eat it. And stay away from pets, who can be easily frightened by costumes.

If you follow these basic safety tips, you can be assured of having a happy Halloween, with less tricks and more treats. Be sure to come back tomorrow for the next installment of The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween. We'll see you then, children of the candy corn...

POST-MORTEM: If you are interested in helping out with Trick Or Treat For UNICEF this Halloween season, you can find more information here. And don't forget to tell them the MonsterGrrls sent you!

EASY-BAKE COVEN: GRAVEYARD BROWNIES By Punkin Nightshade

Hey, y'all, this here's Petronella Nightshade, but most everbody calls me Punkin, and today I am presentin the Easy-Bake Coven for our 31 Days Of Halloween. Today I was thinkin that brownies would be a nice treat for a Halloween party, and so this here is Graveyard Brownies, which uses a basic brownie recipe but has got a little bit of a Halloween feel to it. This is also a homemade brownie recipe, but of course some folks has not got time to do homemade as everythin nowadays is all fast-paced and whatnot, so I reckon this will work just as fine with your favorite brownie mix if you are pressed for time. Just be sure you follow the package directions.

What's In It:
12 Vienna Fingers Cookies (or other similarly shaped oval cookies)
5 eggs
2 sticks of softened unsalted butter
8 oz. unsweetened chocolate
3 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Optional: tubes of decorating frosting and gel, green cake frosting, crushed chocolate cookie crumbs

What You Got To Do:Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and grease up a 9x13-inch pan. Combine the chocolate and butter in a double boiler and heat it over simmerin water till it’s all melted. Take it off the heat and hold aside.

Beat your eggs and sugar together with an electric mixer at high speed for 10 minutes. Turn your speed down to low and add in the chocolate-butter mix and the vanilla, and blend it all together. Add the flour and salt and mix till everythin is all combined.

Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake it up for 30-35 minutes, or until the edges are dry but the center is still soft.

Now here’s what you need the cookies for: they are goin to be the gravestones. When you take the pan out of the oven, press the Vienna Fingers into the brownies so that they stand up like little gravestones. Space them out evenly, mind, so that when you cut the brownies up for servin, each piece will have one gravestone cookie. Let them cool for 20 minutes before you cut and serve them. If you are feelin artistic and such you can use tubes of decoratin frostin or gel to write R.I.P. on the cookies before stickin them in the brownies, or put some green frostin and chocolate cookie crumbs (for grave dirt) on top of the brownies to make them look more graveyardish.

So I am done here, and hope you all enjoy this recipe from the Easy-Bake Coven. Don’t forget to serve these with tall glasses of cold milk, and I shall see you all next time for the 31 Days Of Halloween cause I am goin to have me a Graveyard Brownie right now. Blessings be on all of you this Halloween!

Sincerely, Petronella "Punkin" Nightshade

THE HAUNTED MANSION: FORTY YEARS OF FRIGHT By Bethany Ruthven

Good evening, darlings, and thank you for reading. Welcome to The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween for 2009 (should you be just joining us) and welcome also to the first of our Haunted Mansion Mondays. This venerable institution is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, so today we shall enlighten you on the history of this fine old place.

When Walt Disney first began conceiving Disneyland, artist Harper Goff sketched an old haunted house on a hill overlooking Main Street as part of the concept drawing. Though this house never became part of the Disneyland that opened in 1955, a New-Orleans-themed area was planned shortly after its opening that contained a thieves' market, a pirate wax museum and a haunted house walkthrough. Imagineer Ken Anderson was assigned to work on the haunted house, and his first concept sketch of a distended antebellum mansion was met with praise by other Disney artists but panned by Walt himself, who did not like the idea of a run-down house within his clean and sparkling wonderworld. (As Walt said, "We'll take care of the outside and let the ghosts take care of the inside.")

The exterior of the Mansion was completed in 1963, but the Mansion would not open for another six years due to several story conflicts and Disney's heavy involvement in the 1963-64 New York World's Fair. With Disney's death in 1966, the Mansion underwent a massive redesign. Designers Marc Davis and Claude Coats were in constant disagreement over whether the Mansion should be scary or funny; in the end, designer X Atencio stepped in and combined both men's work to create a frightening and shadowy old house that nonetheless harbored a company of silly spooks and comical creeps within its aging walls. The walkthrough idea was abandoned when the Omnimover system used in Disney's Adventure Thru Inner Space ride at Tomorrowland was added to the Mansion and renamed the Doom Buggies. Built in such a way that the viewer can only see what is in front of him, and able to rotate a full 360 degrees, the Doom Buggies were a significant evolutionary stage for the Mansion.

On August 12, 1969, the Haunted Mansion was opened to the general public, bringing in record crowds. The attraction was so popular that when Disney expanded to build theme parks in Florida, Tokyo and Paris, the Haunted Mansion was included. It was an opening-day attraction in 1971 at the Magic Kingdom in Florida, and would become the Phantom Manor for Disneyland Paris. Clearly, this stately manse continues to hold much fascination for all its guests (one of which was a certain Mad Scientist of our acquaintance), and we MonsterGrrls are delighted to salute the Haunted Mansion. Cheers to all the Grim Grinning Ghosts within!

Do return next week for our next installment of Haunted Mansion Mondays, and of course, we hope to see you tomorrow for The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween. Why, it's almost as if your cadaverous pallor betrays an aura of foreboding...

Regards,
Bethany Ruthven

NEW GHASTLY ONES EP AVAILABLE OCTOBER 15 By Harriet Von Lupin

Hi there, and Happy Halloween! Welcome back to The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween for 2009! This is Harriet Von Lupin reporting with some news from our favorite haunted-house rockers The Ghastly Ones--they've got a new EP coming out on October 15th!

I had reported last year on these guys, and lately they've been real busy playing lots of shows and even rocking the Blast Off Festival in England last July, but now they're back from their graves and ready to rock! The new EP is called Gears 'N Ghoulfinks, and it's four brand new songs from the Ghastly Ones just in time for Halloween, and two of these songs are a preview of their new album coming out next year! Also, the EP will be available only on vinyl, so get those old turntables out and get 'em ready for your own listening party!

More information on this cool band can be found at their website here, and don't forget to pick up their previous albums Unearthed and Target: Draculon for your Halloween party music!

And that's all for that! See you tomorrow for more of The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween! OW-WOOOOOO!!!!

Harriet Von Lupin

HAPPY HAUNTS MATERIALIZE By Frankie Franken

Hello, everybody! Gosh, can you believe it's time for Halloween again? Welcome to The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween, and today I'm reporting on something special from one of our favorite places--the Walt Disney Haunted Mansion, which has turned 40 years old this year!

When Disneyland opened the Haunted Mansion in 1969, the event was commemorated by the release of a special album from Disneyland Records, The Story And Song From The Haunted Mansion. Featuring Thurl Ravenscroft as the Narrator, the album told the story of two teenagers, Mike (Ron Howard*) and Karen (Robie Lester) who become trapped in the Mansion and are conducted by the Ghost Host (Pete Renoudet) on a spooky tour of the house and grounds, meeting Madame Leota (Eleanor Audley, who also voices Leota in the Mansion itself) and viewing the wild graveyard party where all the happy haunts sing a rousing chorus of the Mansion's theme song, "Grim Grinning Ghosts." This album was intended as a promotion for the Mansion, but it became a cherished childhood memory for many attendees to Disneyland, and was eventually reissued in 1998 on cassette as A Spooky Night In Disney's Haunted Mansion.

Now the original Haunted Mansion album from 1969 has just been reissued in CD form! That's right, Disney has put out a brand-spanking new CD release of The Story And Song From The Haunted Mansion, and just in time for Halloween, too! This cool CD not only has the story booklet painted by Disney artist Colin Campbell (which was included with the original 1969 album), but a special enhanced feature of the CD showcases Campbell's original paintings, and even allows you to print the images from your computer to create your own ghostly gallery! And as a bonus track, the official Disneyland Park version of "Grim Grinning Ghosts" is included too! Wow, what a groovy Halloween treat for all Haunted Mansion fans both past and present!

To celebrate the Haunted Mansion's 40th Anniversary, The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween will showcase the Mansion in Haunted Mansion Mondays! Each Monday we'll do a special feature on this cool attraction, which is a must-see if you go to any Disney theme park. So be here each Monday for Haunted Mansion Mondays, and don't forget to grab yourself a copy of the new Haunted Mansion CD for Halloween!

We'll be back tomorrow with more of The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween, so see you then!

Sincerely,
Francesca "Frankie" Franken

POST-MORTEM: The Story And Song From The Haunted Mansion can be found at Amazon.com, purveyor of all fine things in this world or the Netherworld. To get your copy, click our title link above.

*Yes, that Ron Howard. --F.F.