TALES FROM THE MONSTER SHOP: SHAWN AND LYNNE MITCHELL, PROPRIETORS OF THE MITCHELL CEMETERY By Frankie Franken

Hello, everybody, and welcome to The MonsterGrrls' Thir13en For Halloween! This is Frankie Franken, and this year we're doing something new--Tales From The Monster Shop, in which the other Grrls and I interview some of our favorite Halloween people and find out about what they do for the season!
Our first interview is with Shawn and Lynne Mitchell, professional artists, award-winning home haunters and proprietors of the Mitchell Cemetery in Pensacola, Florida. The Mitchells have just put out their second volume of their How To Haunt Your House series, which details all the cool and creative things they do to create a spooky atmosphere for Halloween.
Hello there, and thanks for joining us on The MonsterGrrls' Thir13en For Halloween! Tell us a little bit about yourselves and your work.

We are Shawn and Lynne Mitchell of Pensacola, Florida, and we are co-authors of How To Haunt Your House, Books 1 And 2. We were married on Halloween almost 20 years ago. Shawn grew up in a house with several real ghosts and I once lived in a house with a poltergeist. Together we watch any and every ghost story we come across and have a fondness for collecting things of the orange-and-black variety. We lean towards old-school horror that was born in the black-and-white era. Sense any theme here?

Oh, definitely. And I can relate to those old-school horror movies--for me it's almost like watching one of those reality shows. But tell me, how did you meet and become husband and wife?
We met on a high school journalism trip to Disney World in which we have only memories of going to the Haunted Mansion. Technically, it was on the bus. He sat in the seat in front of me and annoyed the hell out of me. I was a book worm. He was persistent. Six years later, we decided to join forces and seek out the great mysteries of life... and death. The rest is still being written.
Very cool. So tell me about how you got into home haunting. What inspired your Cemetery?
We were sort of born to it. We didn't hear the term home haunting till six years ago. It never occurred to us that you could haunt your house while still alive! We didn't have to stretch our imaginations too far to create a cemetery and dress up the house as dark and spooky. It was a work of cinematic art. We were imitating our favorite movies, plus Disney had just released The Haunted Mansion with Eddie Murphy. We just had to create some Pepper's Ghosts of our own!

Well, we're all Haunted Mansion fans back at the Monster Shop, so your work definitely has our seal of approval! What gave you the idea for your How To Haunt Your House books? Do you plan to do a third volume?
Shawn and I both have had jobs where we designed books, posters, newsletters and such, so we had some publishing experience already. Self-published print-on-demand books had really gotten a foothold in the book world and we did some research on it. It really was simple to do a book oneself now--we could do the photos, write the text, design the book and print it all ourselves. Why wouldn't we do it? How To Haunt Your House, Book 3, is currently in the works with new projects already started.

Then we'll probably be seeing you next Halloween, too! But you have some different artwork at your other website, Rabbit Hole Productions. What other kinds of art do you do?

Shawn does Disney-style hand-painted animation cels and comic-book-type artwork. I do digital paintings the one month out of the year when I'm not working on Halloween.

You've done the Mitchell Cemetery since 2005. Share with us your favorite memory of the Mitchell Cemetery.
During our first year of the Mitchell Cemetery, there was a woman in the neighborhood who stopped by with her 80-year-old mother. She really wanted her mother to see the Cemetery. We all helped her make the walk from the street through our uneven backyard, holding flashlights to light the way every step. Her eyes lit up and she looked as if we had really shown her something magical. It was a great feeling. It reminded us that kids weren't the only ones who could really get something from what we did.
Very true. What are you planning to do for Halloween this year? (Besides your haunt, of course!)This year we are determined to take it easier--we aren't doing the Cemetery or a party. We did just get finished with some landscaping on the front yard this year and have some great future Halloween plans for it, but this year just might be a pumpkin patch. We need to scale back and refocus. Writing three books in three years has proven to be a challenge. It's been an exciting adventure. We don't need to prove ghosts exist--we already knew they did. We just want a chance to show people what it would be like to see one... to excite the imagination to the possibilities of the unknown... and to keep the Halloween spirit alive in us all.

And that Halloween spirit is something we all definitely need! The Mitchells' books are available at www.howtohauntyourhouse.com, with links to purchasing on Lulu, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. You can also get great downloads for your own spooky projects and see videos of the Mitchell Cemetery at their website. I had a great time talking to the Mitchells, and I hope you get these books for your own Halloween collection--they're fantastic stuff!

I'll be back soon on The MonsterGrrls' Thir13en For Halloween--see you there!

Sincerely,
Francesca "Frankie" Franken

BETTER HAUNTS AND GHOUL-DENS REVISITED: SHAWN AND LYNNE MITCHELL'S HOW TO HAUNT YOUR HOUSE, BOOK TWO By John Rose

Welcome to The MonsterGrrls' Thir13en For Halloween, and guess who's back for their second sitting in our ghastly gallery!  Shawn and Lynne Mitchell got things rolling last year with their fantastic How To Haunt Your House book, which had the somewhat ominous-sounding "Book One" on the cover.  Now, as surely as trick follows treat, Book One has spawned.

How To Haunt Your House, Book Two is the much-awaited sequel to the Mitchells' deliciously dark debut of DIY horror, and it's even better than the first.  More tutorials on the finer points of Monster Mud and Styrofoam techniques are added, and the ante gets majorly upped with how-to's on a tomb cover for your outside electronics, a stunning tomb and cemetery gate (as well as a gatekeeper figure!), a cauldron that stirs by itself, and a witch's pantry full of glowing potions and accoutrements.  Plus, you can also learn to make apothecary jars full of organs, cages with a variety of spooky pets, and how to redress large Halloween animatronic figures so they look about ten times scarier.  As in their first book, the tutorials are clear and precise and the photography is nothing short of stunning.  The Mitchells have got it locked, and no mistake.

So if you need a book (or books, if you don't have Book One) that will show you how to craft everything you need to become "that house" for Halloween, the How To Haunt Your House series is exactly what you are looking for.  Go get 'em now!

POST-MORTEM: The How To Haunt Your House series is available from the Mitchells at their website; click our title link above to reach them.  If you're a dedicated buyer from Barnes And Noble or Amazon.com, the links are there, or just click here and here.


COMING UP:  Our first TALES FROM THE MONSTER SHOP interview from Frankie Franken concerns both proprietors of the Mitchell Cemetery.  Read it to get the skinny on the mad minds of Shawn and Lynne Mitchell... coming soon on The MonsterGrrls' Thir13en For Halloween!

THIS YEAR FOR HALLOWEEN, 31 BECOMES 13! By John Rose

Looks like it's Halloween time again, folks, and this year, the MonsterGrrls will be doing it a little differently.  Rather than feverishly cramming 31 days into your Halloween celebration, this year we'll be winging your way with The MonsterGrrls' Thir13en For Halloween, a series of 13 celebrations of humor, horror and Halloween as presented by the Grrls and their Mad Doctor!

While it'll be decidedly less than last year, don't worry.  We'd much rather bring you a few really tasty treats than a lot of mediocre Halloween candy, and we still plan to share our favorite things (heh) about the season, such as old monster movies, haunted happenings, Halloween history, and so on.  And this year we're bringing you something a little special: Tales From The Monster Shop, a series of interviews featuring some of our favorite Halloween people--some of which have appeared before at our Halloween soirees, and a few newcomers.  Only this time, we'll pick their brains a little bit.  (Mmm, brains.)

It all kicks off tomorrow, with intermittent posts through the month of October, so welcome, foolish mortals and faithful fiends... to our Thir13en For Halloween!!  See you there!

Review Of TRICK 'R TREAT By John Rose

Welcome to the Big Day... Halloween,  and The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween is closing out with a review of one of the best Halloween movies to come along in years: Trick 'r Treat.  Written and directed by Michael Dougherty and based on his short animated film "Season's Greetings,"  Trick 'r Treat is not going to please you if you are a fan of Saw, Hostel, or any of the other grim visages that Hollywood usually attempts to bombard you with around this season.  Trick 'r Treat is something different altogether; it is an unabashed love letter to Halloween, scary movies, and Halloween traditions.

Trick 'r Treat consists of four different narratives, all centered on Halloween night within the town of Warren Valley, Ohio, that are interwoven together.  The common element within these stories is a mysterious little figure named Sam (Quinn Lord) who wears orange pajamas and a burlap mask, and makes several key appearances throughout the film.  Each of the tales is a sort of retelling of a familiar legend of Halloween, from the local school principal (Dylan Baker) who turns out to be that guy you've always heard about who poisons trick-or-treaters, to Kreeg (Brian Cox) the town Halloween curmudgeon trying to scare off trick-or-treaters who gets his comeuppance at the hands of Sam.  Supernatural themes enter the picture with tales of a virginal "good girl" (Anna Paquin) who is attacked by a "vampire" only to reveal that she, her sister and her friends are something quite monstrous themselves, and an urban legend of the "Halloween School Bus Massacre" in which four children attempt to frighten the neighborhood weirdo (Sam Todd) by visiting the site of said massacre, and unfortunately disturbing something.  All of these tales combine at the end, and the film as a whole presents a very old-school, very delightful vision of Halloween and seasonal horror that has roots stretching from early pulp horror comics (which is fitting, due to its nod to Pulp Fiction in style of narrative) all the way to John Carpenter's original Halloween, the Evil Dead series, and Creepshow.  While this film may be quite disappointing to horror fans who love copious amounts of gore and nudity, it's right up the alley of anyone who has ever experienced the simpler pleasures waiting in a late-night creature-feature filmfest.

Strangely enough, this sure-fire winner has never received a theatrical release from Warner Bros, who continuously pushed back its release and finally put it out in a direct-to-DVD release on October 6.  Director Dougherty has suggested that perhaps the film's presentation of violence against children may be the reason, but if people can sit through the first-half all-out orgy and the second-half all-out bloodbath of Hostel, or the irritatingly disjointed aesthetic of such films as Grindhouse and House Of 1000 Corpses, they should not have much problem with the almost-no-gore of Trick 'r Treat.  What gore there is is minimal and, believe it or not, entirely necessary to the plot.

So be told: if you are going to see a film for Halloween this year, skip the latest Saw sequel or Eighties-horror remake, rent (or better yet, buy) this DVD, pop some popcorn at home and settle in for a Treat that has no trick.  This film deserves better press than it's got, and after viewing it you'll see why.

Happy Halloween to all!

AND COMING NEXT YEAR FOR HALLOWEEN... By John Rose

Today is the last day before Halloween, and we have some thrilling news... after years of waiting, fans of Boris Karloff's Thriller TV series can now rejoice, for Thriller is coming to DVD and will be here by next Halloween!

Premiering in 1960, Thriller adapted many tales of famous horror and mystery writers such as Edgar Allan Poe and Robert Bloch for the small screen.  Hosted by none other than Boris Karloff, he of such famed classic horror productions as Frankenstein and Black Sabbath, Thriller is now regarded as a watershed production by horror fans (including no less than Stephen King, who saw fit to mention the series in Danse Macabre, his 1981 overview of horror's influence on film, radio, TV and other media).  Many have waited for this series to hit DVD, and Thriller will now see its DVD debut from Image Entertainment, in a completely remastered collectors' edition with all 67 episodes.  It will be the first time Thriller has been released on DVD anywhere in the world.

Though we have no information on a release date as yet, our info comes to us from the website TVShowsOnDVD.com, which regularly tracks upcoming DVD releases.  Keep an eye out for a release date soon.

Join us tomorrow for the big day on The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween, same bat time, same bat channel!

SPOOKS CUM LAUDE: MONSTER UNIVERSITY By John Rose

 Well, we are winding down on The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween, and today we share one of the coolest, spookiest and kookiest sites on the web--Monster University!

Created by mad monster artist Mike Hoffman, Monster University revels in old-school horror done in a new-school way, with monster-themed comics, art books, prints, and trading card sets (!) all available for sale--and if you have a Paypal account, ordering is super-easy!  Hoffman has also created CDs of original monster music centered around his spooky school for monsters, and these are available as well.  There are definite Jack Davis and Frank Frazetta influences in Hoffman's work, so if you're an old-school-horror fan, these are a great jolt in your electrodes.

Join us tomorrow on The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween as we prepare for the grand day, and we'll see you soon...

EASY-BAKE COVEN: HALLOWEEN PARTY BREWS By Punkin Nightshade

Hey, y'all, we're gettin down to the wire now! Welcome back to The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween, and for them what does not know me I am Petronella Nightshade, what am Punkin to my friends. This here is our last Easy-Bake Coven recipe, and I thought I should give a couple recipes today on some things to drink for a Halloween party--punches and such. Everyone will be preparin to either go to a Halloween party or preparin to give one, so these here is nice for special beverages and so forth.

First up is a nice punch called Bloody Blast, what would be good to serve up if you are havin a vampire-themed party. I know this is good cause Bethany liked it and she don't like nothin.

What's In It:
3 12-ounce cans tomato or vegetable juice (our Mad Doctor sure likes that V-8)
2 tablespoons of Worchestershire sauce (which is pronounced "Wooster-shire" even though it's spelt different)
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
Celery sticks and pimento-stuffed olives (optional)
What You Got To Do:
Combine everythin except the celery sticks and the pimento olives together in a pitcher and stir it up real good, then chill it in your icebox for an hour before your party. Pour it up into ice-filled glasses and garnish them with celery sticks and the pimento olives for "eyes," which is all optional since young ones should not be pretendin that they all down the pub and such, but it is all right for adults. Bethany herself said that she ain't never had no eyes with her blood, but the olives is right tasty with this. This here serves six but doubles right quick.
Next one up is called Boo Brew, and this has some cloves in it for spicin it up like pumpkin pie and such. This here is a heated drink, which is good if you are livin in a place where the fall comes in early and it gets a little chilly round Halloween time.

What's In It:
8 cups cranberry-raspberry juice
5 cups of white grape juice
16 whole cloves
2 small unpeeled oranges, cut up
2 unpeeled lemons, cut up
Multi-colored candy sticks (optional)

What You Got To Do:
Put everythin but the candy sticks in a 4- or 5-quart kettle or Dutch oven (I am sayin kettle cause that is what us witches would use) and bring it all to the boil on a high heat. Turn the fire down and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. Strain this mixture through a sieve (or one of them wire-mesh strainers) into a 4- or 5-quart slow cooker set to warm or low heat, and throw out the cloves and the fruit. Serve this in cups with a candy stick for a garnish. It is also good to stir this around in your brew--right tasty. This here will serve 24 folks. If you cannot find the cranberry-raspberry juice I am sure it will be just fine to substitute your favorite cranberry mixed juice. White grape juice is the kind what's made from seedless green grapes.

Now this last one is almost an ice-cream dessert, called Crypt Coolers, and will be nice for them what has been runnin around trick-or-treatin and chasin each other and wants to cool off.

What's In It:
2 cups vanilla ice cream
2 cups of orange sherbet
2 cups orange juice (get a real nice kind in the carton, not the canned concentrate)
5 drops of yellow food coloring
5 drops of red food coloring
1 cup of lemon-lime soda (such as Sprite or 7-Up, or that Sierra Mist)

What You Got To Do:
Now for this one, a blender is handy. Combine your ice cream, sherbet, juice and food colorings in the blender (makin sure to put on the top or you will have a mess all over the kitchen) and process until it's smooth. Add the soda and process it again until it's just blended, then serve it up quick before it melts.

This here will make you 5 cups' worth, but any of these recipes can be doubled, tripled, and so on to make as much as you need for your guests. If you like, you can make them all and then everbody will have some of what they like best, and can try somethin they ain't tried before, which is a good thing to my mind.

And that's it. I have sure had a lot of fun bringin you all these recipes, and am hopin that all of you have a right fine time this Halloween season. I am also hopin, if you ain't never tried to cook before, that you have learnt a little somethin and maybe feel like you can spread your wings some and get you some more confidence in the kitchen. It don't take nothin but time, and if you make a mess, why, you just clean it up, dust off and start again, cause every mistake will teach you somethin, and no one should be scairt to learn somethin new cause that is how we get a right smart. Blessings be on you and yours!

Sincerely,
Petronella "Punkin" Nightshade

THE MYSTERY OF THE HATBOX GHOST By Bethany Ruthven

Good evening, darlings, and thank you for reading. Welcome to our last Haunted Mansion Mondays for The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween, and today we will talk about a most legendary figure of this hallowed haunt--one who is not a feature of the Mansion but still regarded as its most iconic figure. That's right, it's none other than the Hatbox Ghost!

Depicted as an elderly, Victorian-era-dressed ghost in a cloak and top hat holding a hatbox, the Hatbox Ghost was originally developed for the Attic scene in the Mansion, where one meets the mysterious Bride of the Manse just before escaping through the window to the Graveyard Party below. While our dear old fiend may or may not have been a possible suitor for the ghastly grande-dame, the idea for the Hatbox Ghost was that his head would disappear from his body and reappear in the hatbox in his hand, all in time with the Bride's beating heart. Unfortunately, as noted in a DoomBuggies.com interview with Imagineer Chris Merrit, the effect was unsuccessful due to lighting problems.

"The gag was based purely on lighting. The ghost's head was illuminated by black lighting. A light inside the hatbox he held would rhythmically illuminate and hide the head in the hatbox, while, in tandem, the actual head on the ghost's shoulders would be hidden by extinguishing the black lighting."

Ambient lighting within the scene, plus the character's closeness to the Doom Buggies, prevented the spectre's face from disappearing fully. Though the Hatbox Ghost was removed from the Mansion before its public opening on August 9, 1969, he was present for several park-employee previews on August 7th and 8th, and a number of visitors claim to have seen him within the Attic for several weeks following the Mansion's grand opening, suggesting that attempts were made to make the Hatbox Ghost work properly before being removed permanently.

Shortly after the removal of the figure, the Hatbox Ghost disappeared (as did a second HBG figure produced, but never installed, for the Walt Disney World Mansion). While no one knows what has become of this singular figure (a true mystery in the annals of Disney), the Hatbox Ghost has become something of a legend in the eyes of many Mansion fans, and been prominently featured in the artwork for Disney's Haunted Mansion record albums. Also, Disney has continued to market the Ghost's image, and the Hatbox Ghost has been made the official "spooksperson" for both Disneyland Resorts' O-pin House pin trading event and this year's Haunted Holidays event.

Considering the advances made in special effects since its opening, it's certainly not impossible that the Hatbox Ghost could someday return in glory to the Haunted Mansion. All I can say to that is, hurry back... and be sure to bring your death certificate if you care to join us...

Do return tomorrow for The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween, darlings, as the grand and glorious day is almost upon us.

Warmest regards for the Halloween season,
Bethany Ruthven

POST-MORTEM: More information on the Hatbox Ghost may be found at the delightful and frightful Doombuggies.com website; merely click the link in our post above. I wish all of our readers a wonderful and joyous Halloween.

Also, I agreed to post on Tuesday instead of Monday so our Mad Doctor could promote his bloody book, so I apologize for any confusion you may be undergoing at this point.--B.R, Esq.