15 Days till Halloween

16 Days till Halloween

With Halloween quickly approaching, I wanted to share a passage from one of my favorite novels: Halloween II by Jack Martin.  It is a novelization of the 1981 film by the same name; however, it goes further than just rehashing everything we see on film.  It gives us some deeper looks into what is going on around Haddonfield.  It gives us more character development.  Also, the descriptive writing really put you in the world and makes it feel like Halloween no mater the time you read it.  The novel begins with a prologue that isn't really connected to the film per se.  It is used to set the scene of Haddonfield, Illinois (or really any midwestern town), in late October.  I love it because, having grown up in Indiana, I can really relate and it feels like Halloween to me.  So without further ado:

Halloween II
By Jack Martin


Prologue


It was that time of year when the days are short and the shadows are long.  When the earth tilts further on its axis and the seasons hang suspended between autumn and winter; when they very light seems to change and colors deepen mysteriously...

You know what it is like.

The morning sun arcs away across the sky, the afternoon rushes impatiently toward dusk, the cutting edge of darkness like the blade of a sundial pointed and turning under eaves and porches.  A time of dampness and slow, flaking rust, of barking dogs that are never seen, of telephone lines that crackle as if underwater.  Of distant traffic and the laughter of children fading behind you and in front of you all at once; of the broken moon drifting like a gauze-covered face.  Of the dripping condensation in chattering drainpipes, of the clutching of wings in the roof of mouldering garages.  Of frost on glass; of moist, endless coughs.  Of mildewed gloves and too-think socks, of soft newspapers and food that is never hot, of litter dropped in the gutters melting into paste, of laundry wilting before it can be folded away, of labels buckling from jars in the musty cupboard and of your own white breathing, alone at midnight, glazing the window and then slipping out through the screen to meet the cold steam settling in the flowerbeds below...

It was the thirty-fist of October in Haddonfield, Illinois.

It was late.  Very late.

Once again, it was Halloween.

17 Days till Halloween

Oops!  A little late, but hey it happen!  Now, cut me some slack, I'm tracking down my tombstones that blew away in the windstorm!

18 Days till Halloween

Can't get your fill of Halloween?  Check out the Halloween Forums to chat with fellow aficionados!

19 Days till Halloween

Tell me this doesn't look awesome!





PSSST - If you're in the Muncie, Indiana, area, you can see it live at Ball State University in late October/Early November.

20 Days till Halloween

Yay for vintage Halloween advertisements!

21 Days till Halloween

*Le sigh* Midterms are not conducive to blogging.  Anywho, I present to you one of my favorite 1960's horror films...if it were a little more raunchy:

22 Days till Halloween

Another busy day brings another less in-depth post, but hey, it's funny!

23 Days till Halloween

It's been a busy day.  So just sit back and enjoy this rap based on John Carpenter's Halloween theme.

24 Days till Halloween

Folklore has always played a big part in Halloween.  In many cases, these folk tales have inspired other aspects of the Halloween tradition.  Have you ever wondered how the Jack-O-Lantern came to be?  Well, it's story time!  Come along as we recount the tale of Stingy Jack.

25 Days till Halloween

For your viewing pleasure, I present a collection of vintage Halloween postcards after the jump!

26 Days till Halloween

Sisters, I believe this calls for a countdown!

I thought we were overdue for another Top 10!  So here you have it.  We all have those movies that it is just not Halloween without.  Many of them were annual favorites instilled in our childhood.  Come with me on a trip down memory lane as we countdown the Top 10 Kids' Halloween Movies!  This will be a special treat for my fellow 90's kids.

27 Days till Halloween

Unpacking the Halloween decorations is always like a special trip down memory lane for me.  As I began decorating this weekend I felt as though I was being reunited with some old friends.  This is especially true when it comes to my collection of Telco Motion-ettes.  These little animatronic figures have so much character and charm.  They are yet another relic from the Halloweens of yesteryear.  It really is a shame that Telco went out of business as they produced some of the best holiday decorations.

In my house, we have affectionately dubbed these, "Derp Machines."  If you know the meaning of the word "derp" you'll get it.  They have awkward, jerky motions, and let out a bizarre sound when turned on, but that's just part of their charm.  Although remembered from childhood, we didn't really own any.  We did, however, have Gemmy's animated Rocking Chair Witch.  My Aunt Terry had the original Dracula Motion-ette and she would display him in her front window on Halloween.  This was great entertainment for a kid with ADHD, I could just sit and stare for hours.

28 Days till Halloween

So, we've given some focus to decorating on the inside.  Now let's take a look at some of those familiar faces we've seen while trick-or-treating or driving around the neighborhood at night.  I'm talking about illuminated blow molds.  These decorations first started gaining ground in the 1960's but they really hit their apex in the mid-1980s through early 1990's.  For years, Empire Plastic was the master of blow molds - Halloween and otherwise.  Unfortunately, they are now longer in business.  However, their major competitor General Foam Plastics is still going strong and actually acquired most of Empire's molds.  Blow molds are available in a variety of sizes from 12 inch table top sizes to 4-5 feet tall.  Make the jump to see photos of some of my favorite blow molds.

29 Days till Halloween

Die Cuts

This Witch (1980s) is a personal favorite of mine.
She and this reproduction 1930's cat will greet guests at my
front door this Halloween.

I would like to follow up my previous post about decorating by discussing some of my favorite decorations.  When I think about Halloween decorations, one of the first things to come to mind are die cuts, or cardboard cutouts.  These are those paper decorations that were hung up on walls and bulletin boards in elementary schools or in the windows of local business or home.  Over the past century there have been literally hundreds of Halloween die cuts produced from pumpkins to witches, friendly to scary, large to small, colorful to drab.  Since the 1920s, Beistle has been king of this decorating niche.  However, Luhrs, Dennison, and AMSCAN have also produced several memorable paper vignettes of our beloved holiday.  Unfortunately, die cuts are quickly becoming a forgotten art.  In honor of those grinning Jack-O-Lanterns, spooky witches, and ghastly ghosts who have peered at us throughout the decades, I present a die cut retrospective after the jump!

30 Days till Halloween

Well, here it is the First of October.  Better get to decorating!  This one of my favorite aspects of Halloween.  I decorate indoors and outdoors...and, Hell, I even customize my cellphone and computer backgrounds for the month.  Check out some Halloween decorating ideas and tips after the jump!

31 Days till Halloween

And, thus, we begin!  True, we are still a month away but stores are now fully stocked with Halloween goodies.  Speaking of which, as most of you have probably noticed, each year the first reminder of the impending haunting season to appear is nothing else but the candy.  Admit it, you can't help but pick up a bag of candy corn in the checkout of the grocery store in late September.  That's what I thought.  So, without further ado, let's jump right in:

The Top 10 Halloween Candies

A Countdown to Halloween

It's coming folks!  Yes, yes, it's true.  We are but a little over a month away from one of the best days of the year: HALLOWEEN!  In anticipation of the ghoulish celebration, I will be presenting a countdown.  Instead of simply counting down the days, I will also include a look back at the Halloweens of yesteryear and countdowns of some Halloween favorites.  So check back every evening throughout the month of October.  Oh, and, yes, I certainly welcome suggestions and comments!

The 30th Chesterton Wizard of Oz Festival

I would like to make a quick, shameless plug:



THE 30th CHESTERTON WIZARD OF OZ FESTIVAL
September 16-18

Come and celebrate the most beloved film of all time.  Guests include original Munchkins, Oz historian John Fricke, Judy Garland dress collector Michael Siewert, Judy's stand-in Caren Marsh Doll, and more!  Events run the gamut from costume contests to our world-famous parade to a birthday party for Dorothy!

By the way, I am the official Scarecrow; so if you are going to be there, come and say hello!

The 2-Week Glinda Dress

Haley and the Pannier

Two days after I wrote about my scramble to create a new Glinda gown, I come to you with progress!  That night very night, I rushed home after classes to begin trying to figure out where to begin.  After some thought I opted not to buy a pre-made pannier.  Instead, I opted to alter the hoopskirt from our previous Glinda costume.  It actually took about an hour to make the transition thanks to some help from Haley.  Basically, we used ribbon to pull the hoops into a more ovular shape and removed the uppermost hoop altogether and pulled the second tier up.  The hips were then "padded" out with a makeshift bum roll made of tulle netting (not pictured).

Kristen working on the wand.

My next task was to run to Hobby Lobby to pick up some bedazzlement materials.  After some bitch on an intercom reminded me the store was closing (well, I would have been out on time if I hadn't waited for 15 minutes at your cutting table for no one to show), I left the store with about 500 star-shaped sequins, 300 simulated diamonds, 300 pink rhinestones, and 100 rhinestone stars.  Then I was off to good-old JoAnn's, where they know me by name (like Cheers...but without the boozes).  

At JoAnn's I found myself shifting through all the tulle.  They didn't have my color.  Shit.  Now, some of you may be saying, "they didn't have pink."  Well, yes; they did.  The issue is Glinda's outfit isn't pink, per se.  It is actually "sorbet," a soft color that lies on the border between pink and peach.  I went to ask the manager if she could look and see if any neighboring stores had the right color.  Thank God I chose to do this.  Turns out they had a bolt of 11 yards on their Red Tag rack.  I quickly snatched it up and danced at the $1 price tag.  I was even more happy when it rang up 50% off at the register.  

The bodice as of 12:00 last night.

Believe it or not, 11 yards is not enough.  So the next morning found me, Haley, and Mom driving out to the Richmond store to purchase all of their 15 yards of sorbet tulle as well as an entire bolt of matching stretch satin.  I spent a good 45 minutes or so in there making sure I had everything I needed.  This was an ordeal in itself as the store is so out of date, it's not even funny.  I like to say I had to go back to 1991 to get what I needed.  Of course, this was suitable as our GPS attempted to take us directly into the Twilight Zone...long story short, we ended up in the middle of cornfields just over the Ohio border with the GPS saying "You have reached your destination!"  Yeah, right.  

Anywho, let's cut this short.  After almost an all-nighter of sewing, the bodice of the dress is pretty much complete.  I just have to whip in the zipper and attach the collar and then it's ready to go off to the "bedazzlement" department.  The magic is happening, people!

LOOK! It's Glindaaaa...maybe...

This got turned into...

So...as those of you who already know me know, I work for the Chesterton Wizard of Oz Festival.  I am costumed character director, costumer, and the Scarecrow.  I love this job.  I really, really do.  It just turns me into psycho for the months of August and September.  I always find myself scrambling to get stuff done.  Just when I think I'm good on costumes, etc. something happens.  I'm on a constant pursuit to make our costumes the best as possible.  If I don't like something, I fix it, I change it, I do whatever I need to.

This

This year I decided it was time for a new Lion costume.  If you want the detailed reasoning or read about the creation process, check out my costuming blog.  I also needed to make new Scarecrow pants.  After three years of dancing, splitting, falling, rolling, what have you, they have just had it.  OK, now big deal.  Also, I needed to do some detail work on Scarecrow's shirt and make Dorothy a new petticoat; each of which would take me all of like 40 minutes.  Just as I'm wrapping up the Lion, I find out that the new Glinda dress I was promised was not going to happen.  My to-do list just got infinitely longer.  Now, I do have a Glinda dress as is...well, two.  One of them has recently been rendered unusable for the festival.  I allowed it to be used in the production of The Wizard of Oz I did this summer.  She had asked if she may "alter" it.  I said, "yes."  Fast forward, it no longer looks like the film dress nor does it fit our Glinda.  As for the other dress, I really don't want to use it.

It's just so PANK!!!

OK, so maybe it's not as daunting as I'm making it out to be.  In fact, beyond the sleeves, it's pretty simple construction.  Fitted bodice, gathered skirt, bridal sleeves.  It's complex in the fact that everything is layered with tulle, the sleeve tops have to stay fluffed, and there is a crap ton of fabric to work with.  OK, it's expensive as Hell and that scares me too.  Oh, and probably the most time-consuming detail is the bedazzlements.  I'm most likely going to outsource that to my resident glamorizers - Haley and Kristen.  Hey, Haley is the one that gets to wear this gorgeous monstrosity.  Let her do some of the work!  Luckily, I have found a pannier (Marie Antoinette-style hoop skirt) that I can buy.  Praise the sweet, merciful Baby Jesus.

Well, it's time to make magic happen, people.  Say a prayer.

Wilkomen! Bienvenue! Welcome!

Yep, this is me.

Oh, why, hello there.  I guess I should introduce myself.  I am Zachary Ryan Allen.  I am 21 years old and a senior at Ball State University where I am double majoring in Theatre Studies and English Education.  I have a kitty named Sir William Shakespeare...I don't know if you really needed to know that but, well, now you do.

So, you may ask, "why start a blog?"  Why not?  Well, actually, I've had one before, but it was more a journal than anything where I vented my angst and frustration.  Ah, sophomore year.  This time around I have a focus...kind of.  See, I have ADHD and I have a lot of interests.  I had briefly considered opening several blogs, each focusing on an interest.  I quickly realized that would be almost completely unmanageable.  Not to mention I have a blog for my digital literacies course and my costuming company (hey, you know if you click the little linky thing with my picture, you'll see what I'm talking about!).  So, I have opted instead to create an all-purpose blog where I share a little of everything.  For the most part my posts will relate to theatre (if you recognize the title of this post as lyrics from Cabaret you belong here) and my experiences there in.  I will probably also talk about The Wizard of Oz, horror conventions, events I attend, etc. etc.  Heck, my obscure interests like vintage Halloween decorations (love those Motion-ettes!), vintage Nativities (weird thing to collect, huh?), and the culinary arts may show up from time to time.  I'm sure you'll find something you like if you stick around long enough.

And now, I believe it is time to cast off!