Everyone gets mice now and then. It has nothing to do with cleanliness and everything to do with where you live and what time of the year it is. I speak from experience. Our old house had the problem every winter. The fact that the house was more than 100 years old made it super easy for them to get in. The house we live in now is brand new and in a new area. Mice love it when you build where they live. Anyway, I’m always looking for a new way to get rid of mice. Or should I say Scary Hubby is. I try to stay out of it. It really creeps me out. I would love to use these however. Unfortunately these were designed by Sarah Déry as a student project and not actually available for sale. I think it’s genius and somebody should totally produce these for sale. I’d buy ‘em.

A while back I saw a house with two of these climbing gargoyles climbing up the side of their house. I thought it was pretty cool at the time. I have never gotten around to getting a couple of them myself, but I think about it a lot. I’m really not sure why I havn’t done it, because it really is rather creepy. I think it may have to do with all of those movies about bugs that I used to watch on Saturday afternoons as a kid. You know the ones — Empire of the Ants, The Food of the Gods, The Swarm, and so on. The idea of things crawling up my walls is especially creepy to me. I’m thinking that putting a couple of climbing gargoyles on my walls is probably not the best idea. Especially when I tend to subscribe to the philosophy: why buy just one when you could buy 50.

Right about now you are probably starting to give the pumpkins you bought a look. You know the look, right? The one that shows you are speculating how you plan on cutting the thing up. This can be a daunting task for anyone. I spend a lot of time on this very thing every year. I just get so bored with the standard jack-o-lantern even though it can be quite scary. You know the one they show during the credits at the beginning of the original Halloween? That one is so simple, yet so scary. Maybe it’s because I know what’s coming in the movie. Anyway, someone gave me the book Extreme Pumpkins last year and it has opened up a whole new world to me. This book is based on the website www.extremepumpkins.com created by Tom Nardon. If you’ve never heard of the site or the book you need to check it out immediately. He will get you so excited about carving your pumpkin!

It is officially October, so that means Halloween is here! Halloween is a month long celebration for me and to get it going I am showing you the first decoration that I can’t be without. Now this Zombie Lawn Statue is quite expensive, but I wouldn’t be adverse to leaving it out all year long. Then it would be worth it. I would probably hide a small green light behind it to give it that really special eeriness. That pissy old lady that lives next to me might just run for the hills when she sees this or just move away which would be even better. I might just have to invest in it just for that. It was designed by the artist Alan Dickinson in resin and sells for $89.95. Don’t you have a neighbor that you’ve been looking to give a good scare to?

Need a new doormat? Like to scare off those pesky neighbors that insist on knocking on your door? This might do. This obviously conjures up memories of a certain butler that we all know and love named Lurch. I am a huge fan of The Addams Family and love everything related to it. Mentioning Lurch though, brings up a beef of mine. Loved the TV show and loved the movies. Well the first two anyway. I thought their casting was incredible except the character of Lurch. The original TV version played by Ted Cassidy was phenomenal. I felt that the movie version played by Carel Struycken just didn’t do Lurch justice. I realize this is a very difficult character to cast and I don’t know who could have done better, but I thought it was the weak link in the movie version. Anyway, buy the doormat. Maybe people won’t dare to ring your doorbell for fear of Lurch answering.

Someone pointed out these Alien Gnome Bandits to me a while back and I just love them. The only problem is they remind me of something and I just can’t put my finger on it. It’s probably a movie, but could be a TV show. All I can remember is that there are some little people or trolls or tiny monsters taking away a gnome from someones yard and they are carrying it exactly like these guys. They are laughing and snickering while they run away with it. This is driving me crazy! I know a short ride…yada yada yada. I know it’s something I have seen recently, though. If anyone has an idea of what I am remembering please, I beg you, let me know. Regardless they are just hilarious. They were designed by Utah artist Fred Conlon. He uses recycled and found metal that will rust over time to make these weather safe guys. The regular one for $49.95 is 8″ tall, but there is also a large one at 15″ tall available for $149.95. A little steep, I admit, but so worth it for the laugh you’ll get every time you leave your house.

I think I’ve made it pretty clear by now that I am a scary girl and by that I mean I like scary things. I love a skull as much as the next person. I can’t get enough of them actually. I do think, however, that just because you slap a skull on something does not make it creepy or scary. There is room for that in this world, though. Skulls have become cute lately. You see them on pink purses, pink t-shirts etc. That’s not what I am talking about. I’m referring to a skull wind chime. Wind chimes are usually happy sounds. Some people are irritated by them, which is fine. In general, though, scary things do not make a tinkle sound. In some parts of Asia they are even thought to bring good luck. Back in the 2nd century however they were used to ward off evil spirits. Maybe in that case a skull would fit. Don’t get me wrong I like chimes. I just don’t think they are scary and deserve a skull on them. Now if you are just a collector of all things that have skulls on them then go for it, but I think I’ll skip this one.

You must know by now that I love vampires. Of course, according to this article the rest of the female population does too. I found this Vampire Welcome Mat and it started me thinking. If vampires really existed would you really want this mat outside your door? Would this be accepted as the invitation that vampires are required to have to enter your home? I notice it says Tall, Dark & Handsome vampires welcome. Does that mean vampires that are short, blond and ugly can’t enter your home? Isn’t who is considered handsome and who is considered ugly different for each person or in the vampire world is that decided for us? So this must all mean that the vampire that does enter your home will be at least a pleasure to look at while he’s sucking you dry.

Being a lover of all things tacky and especially all things scary I found the perfect item that makes my heart sing and my wallet quiver in anticipation: Skeleton Flamingos. They are fantastic for putting up during Halloween or if you’re like me having them up all year round. Now be prepared you may not make some of your neighbors happy when they see these two guys standing up in your garden on Easter Sunday, but who cares. They are made of heavy duty plastic and stand about 22″ tall so there is no way they will miss them. At $17.95 a pair how about buying lots of them and covering your lawn with a whole bony flock?