Okay people… I’m back. I know I know it’s been a while, but it’s been a very challenging year. First I lost our cat Agatha, then I lost my mom unexpectedly and then I just lost another cat, Edgar. All three were very out of the blue and it’s been an adjustment to say the least. My other cat, Lucy, is also getting old and I’m thinking her time is not far off. If that’s not enough my dog is also not doing so well. Now, I know, pets are not the same as losing your mother, but when they all happen within a short period of time it hits you pretty hard. I guess that’s what we get for having pets that are all the same age. A few years ago I made the joke that our pets would all start dropping like flies one day. Unfortunately I was right. Anyway, I have had some false starts in the past year to get going again and now I’m doing it again. This time I hope to succeed. Please be patient with me. If you can’t do that then you can just bite me and go to hell.
There are times when I wish I lived in New York or at least near it and this is one of those times. Clearly last year was not my best and somehow I missed this little piece of scary news. There is a new, well new as in October of 2010, Off-Broadway thriller called Play Dead. It is co-written and directed by Teller (of Penn & Teller) and co-written & performed by Todd Robbins. I have always been a magic geek. I know dumb, but I love trying to figure out how everything is done. Penn & Teller are great, but Teller is the mastermind in my opinion and Penn is the showman and comedian. Since Teller is one of the minds behind this I just have to find a way to see it. Maybe it’ll go on the road? Judging by reviews and the website it is very difficult to describe what this play is about. Without having seen it yet, I hesitate to try and describe it. Here is a blurb from the site.
“Teller and Todd Robbins invite Death out to play in PLAY DEAD, a new spirit-shaking Off-Broadway show inspired by “Midnight Spook Shows,” an American institution from the 1930s to the 1970s. As the guide for the evening, Robbins draws audiences into an unknown haunted world full of frightful surprises and diabolical laughter. Although very much a theatrical work, it is hardly a typical “play,” but rather a dramatic, unnerving thriller – here and now in an “abandoned” theater, illuminated by a single ghostlight – in which audiences test their nerves and face their fears as they are surrounded by ethereal sights, sounds and even touches of the returning dead – all achieved by wry, suspenseful storytelling and uncanny stage illusions.”
One reviewer said that it’s basically true ghost stories told in a seance setting where things happen to the audience. Apparently the majority of the play/performance happens in complete darkness. It’s gotten rave reviews. Sounds like something right down my dark alley.
A friend of mine sent me the link for this story. Take a look at the house on the right. Does it look scary to you? Looks like a pretty nice house considering it’s in Rexburg, Idaho. Wherever that is. It’s newly remodeled and has 5 bedrooms, 2 baths and sits on 1.75 acres. It’s selling for only $109,200! Great deal if you’re looking for a roomy house, but don’t have much to spend. That all sounds too good to be true, right? So, what’s the downside of such a great little house? It’s crawling with thousands of snakes! Check out the article here.
Could this be a post about Scary Jane? The Scary Jane? Nope, it’s not, but it is about the blog. Are you tired of checking the site every 5 minutes to see if I’ve posted something yet? I get regular emails from some of you idiots complaining that I do not post on a regular schedule. I patiently tell you that my mother died unexpectedly this year which turned my world upside down. I stopped working for a while to concentrate on my family, but I am feeling much better these days. My book business came first, since that’s where the money comes from, and now I’m back at the blogging thing posting regularly. Unfortunately, there is no set time of the day that I do it. Usually it’s late in the day, like now, but it can be anytime really. Well, I have finally solved your problem. Scary Jane now has a Newsletter! Every Friday an email will be automatically sent, to those who subscribe, that will include all of my posts for the week. Don’t worry I won’t sell your email or send you spam. I wouldn’t even know how to. I do reserve the right to sell your soul, however. You can subscribe by entering your email in the box that’s below my image on the top left of your screen. So, if you’ve ever dreamed of being underneath me here’s your chance!
I know it’s been a long time since I last posted and I’m sorry, but it’s been a really bad year. My mom passed away suddenly and it’s taken me quite some time to get back in the groove. I recently took a trip to LA to visit a friend of mine and got to visit some stores on Melrose and Hollywood Blvd. I started getting inspired and excited again and it felt great. It’s been a long road, but I’m finally ready to get back to work and blogging. So let the scaryness begin!
I finally got around to watching the rest of the Oscars. I was out that night and only caught the big awards at the end. I had heard that there was finally a tribute to horror movies and I was anxious to see it. Now that I have seen it I have some complaints. First off why were Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart presenting this? I mean, really, are they today’s only answer to modern horror movies? I liked the movies, but they are pretty tame in the horror department. Why not have the queen of scream, Jamie Leigh Curtis or Mr. Nightmare himself Robert Englund? Heck, why not Bruce Campbell? I know they wanted to pull in the viewers by getting the Twilight kids, but use them for something else. There were much better choices for this presentation. My other big beef with this was the opening statement that the Oscars had not honored a horror movie since The Exorcist, 37 years ago. Really? What about the numerous awards that have been given out since to horror movies for visual effects, sound, makeup, costumes etc. Do these not count? Tell that to the winners. So, if these don’t count, what about all of the awards given to Silence of the Lambs? Best actor, actress, picture, director, screenplay were all awarded to that which is much more than what was awarded to The Exorcist. They only received awards for sound and screenplay. I guess you could argue that Silence of the Lambs was not a full on horror film, but the Academy included it in the montage, so that argument goes out the window. Putting all of that aside, I was thrilled to see the Academy giving horror movies their due. You can’t deny that the general public loves horror movies and it was about time that they paid homage to that.
Today is about advice not a product. Have you ever gone to a new hairdresser to get your hair dyed and come out with the scariest thing you’ve ever seen? Well, I did. My regular hairdresser moved away and I had to find someone new. Never a fun thing to do. I’m very weird with my hair. I like to do funky things with it, so I need someone that’s not afraid of color. I usually have long black hair with colored highlights. This time I just wanted to redo what I had last time which was platinum highlights. I was in a hurry on Tuesday and thought I’d try one of the cheap chains (Fantastic Sams). MISTAKE! The guy could easily see what my hair should look like, he just needed to touch up the roots and freshen up the color. Easy, right? I came out with orange hair and three different shades of blond highlights! It was horrible, to say the least. I would post a picture, but even I don’t want to scare anyone that bad. I then got a recommendation from a friend and went to a professional salon to get it fixed today. It took three hours, but it now looks gorgeous again. You get what you pay for. Lesson learned. If I can get a decent picture of my fixed hair I will add it later.
Well, Christmas is officially over so I thought I’d leave it with one last image. I saw this picture quite a while ago and never got around to using it. It made me crack up when I saw it, so here it is for you as well. Can you imagine these guys showing up at your door to sing Christmas carols? I needed a little laugh today anyway. I was told by the vet today that one of my cats, Agatha, is dying from kidney failure. So forgive me if my posts lack a little something this week, but I’ll do my best.
I came across this wonderfully creepy doll artist, photographer and storyteller the other day and had to share her with you. Her name is Christy Kane and you can see all of her amazing creepy dolls and read their stories on her website. Ms. Kane has a great sense of humor and writes these amazing little stories about each of her creations. She also wrote a book that tells the story of her dolls called Tales of the Sisters Kane. She even produced a short film on one of her dolls called Callalilly which can be seen below. Do yourself a favor a check out this eerily peaceful little film. Scary daughter found it to be pretty scary. Each of her creations are original and one-of-a-kind and can be purchased at etsy.com. She also sells t-shirts and jewelry featuring photographs of her dolls. If you have an odd way of looking at life the way I do you will fall in love with the talent of this woman like I did.
Here is a funny little article I found online from July of 2008 which was featured in the Metro.co.uk. I’m not sure what I would do if this happened to me, but I know I’d be pretty creeped out.
“Superhero fans know about the bat phone and the bat car, but how about the bat bra. That’s the gadget Abbie Hawkins seems to have invented, at least. The 19-year-old was amazed to discover vibrations through her body were caused not by her phone but by a bat in her underwear. The hotel receptionist realised the baby creature had hidden itself in the padding of her bra – and pulled it out for all to see. ‘It looked very snug in there and I thought how mean I was for disturbing it,’ she said. ‘I didn’t notice anything when I put my bra on. It had been on the washing line the day before. ‘When I was driving to work I felt a slight vibration but thought it was my phone.’ Miss Hawkins, from Norwich, plucked up the courage to investigate the unusual disturbance after five hours and pulled out the bat, which flew around the Holiday Inn at Norwich airport before being set free in the grounds. The Bat Conservation Trust said the mammals have been known to hide in coats, bags and umbrellas.”
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Today is about advice not a product. Have you ever gone to a new hairdresser to get your hair dyed and come out with the scariest thing you’ve ever seen? Well, I did. My regular hairdresser moved away and I had to find someone new. Never a fun thing to do. I’m very weird with my hair. I like to do funky things with it, so I need someone that’s not afraid of color. I usually have long black hair with colored highlights. This time I just wanted to redo what I had last time which was platinum highlights. I was in a hurry on Tuesday and thought I’d try one of the cheap chains (Fantastic Sams). MISTAKE! The guy could easily see what my hair should look like, he just needed to touch up the roots and freshen up the color. Easy, right? I came out with orange hair and three different shades of blond highlights! It was horrible, to say the least. I would post a picture, but even I don’t want to scare anyone that bad. I then got a recommendation from a friend and went to a professional salon to get it fixed today. It took three hours, but it now looks gorgeous again. You get what you pay for. Lesson learned. If I can get a decent picture of my fixed hair I will add it later.
Well, Christmas is officially over so I thought I’d leave it with one last image. I saw this picture quite a while ago and never got around to using it. It made me crack up when I saw it, so here it is for you as well. Can you imagine these guys showing up at your door to sing Christmas carols? I needed a little laugh today anyway. I was told by the vet today that one of my cats, Agatha, is dying from kidney failure. So forgive me if my posts lack a little something this week, but I’ll do my best.
I came across this wonderfully creepy doll artist, photographer and storyteller the other day and had to share her with you. Her name is Christy Kane and you can see all of her amazing creepy dolls and read their stories on her 
Here is a funny little article I found online from July of 2008 which was featured in the