Finally got to see Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant last night. We had meant to see it when it came out, but with a small child in the house it can sometimes be hard to get away. It didn’t help that the movie pretty much disappeared after just a couple of weeks. I had read the bad reviews, but I didn’t care. It looked like the perfect movie for me. I went into it with very low expectations and was very pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed it and the more I think about it I like it even more. I think this movie definitely suffered from much to long of a title. Movies with really long titles don’t usually do as well at the movies. With some exceptions I’m sure. The movie was based on the first book of a series, which I have not read. I plan to now. I liked the feel of the movie right away. It had a sense of humor, but still delivered some scary scenes and even a rather brutal scene. The town that the movie was set in was obviously supposed to be very vanilla and I like the fact that everyone wore pastel colors all of the time. Very “I shop at JCrew” kind of look. I just think they should have played that up a little more because I’m not sure it came across enough. Lots of great stars, too. It was also refreshing to see vampires portrayed in a more ugly way instead of all brooding and sparkly. Not all vampires are handsome. You can tell that they meant this to be the first of many, but unfortunately it did not do well, so I’m thinking it’s not in the cards. Too bad. It’s a world that transferred really well to film. Scary Hubby and I always tend to like the movies/TV shows that no one else does.  I’m looking forward to exploring it more in the books, though.

As I have stated before I am not as crazy about the Twilight series as everyone else seems to be. I mean the books were decent and so far the movies have been fun. I am just not the biggest fan of some of the changes that Stephenie Meyer made to vampire lore. Anyway, I did come across this Vampire Instructions T-Shirt that made me giggle a little and thought I’d pass it on. I wish it wasn’t so Twilight-ish and more general, but it’s still funny. I would assume this t-shirt is meant for the non-vampire person in the relationship (Bella, Buffy, Sookie et al). Obviously some of them need a little more instruction for their newly acquired vampire than others. Maybe if the Cullens had given Bella this t-shirt for her birthday instead she wouldn’t have cut her finger and started that whole mess.

I am a huge fan of chokers. Necklaces are nice, but there’s something about a choker especially a velvet choker that I just love. I am forever in search of the perfect vampire bite choker. In other words a choker that looks like a vampire took a bite out of your neck. I don’t know how or why I got so obsessed with this. Maybe it’s because there’s so many versions available out there, but none of them quite do it for me. It’s not like I have some secret desire to be bitten by a vampire or even become one. If they were real I would have absolutely no desire to be one. I once had a dream when I was much younger that I was just turned into a vampire. I woke up in a cold sweat and it took a few minutes for me to realize it wasn’t true. Up until that point I was just horrified at even the thought. Anyway, there I go rambling on again. I found this really cool Bitten Choker that I really like. Probably the coolest I have seen. Unfortunately I can only seem to find it in a UK store. I swear! They have the best stuff over there. It’s just not fair.

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.

Here it is T-shirt Tuesday again. I have a great little t-shirt for you today. It’s called the Little Scary Doll and I think that’s the perfect name. She’s actually adorable, but very sinister looking. She has an Asian feel to her that I really like. Kind of scary anime which is different. Actually she looks like an anime vampire! It might look strange for a guy to wear, but us girls will find it totally adorable and creepy. The nice thing about this shirt is you can pick from a huge range of t-shirt colors to put her on. I love when they do that. I tend to want everything in black, but I think for her it might have to be a different color.

Are you tired of vampires? Are you sick of hearing about the Twilight stars? Well, I am! So hears more. Actually this one is more interesting. My Mother-in-Law of all people alerted me to this. Just shows how cool she is. Anyway, it’s an iPhone app called Vampire Transformer that was created by Peter Facinelli (Dr. Carlisle Cullen from Twilight) and the 211me.com team. It allows you to transform a photo of someone into a vampire. You can blend your photo with one of over 30 vampires to create your own personal vampire. Then you can send your creations to Twitter, Facebook, and their online Vampire Gallery. It’s all done with layers, so the more layers you use the grosser you get. You do have to have an iPhone to get the app. I downloaded it earlier and I’ve been having a blast with it. Try doing it to pictures of your pets or babies. That’s when it gets really twisted.

Have you heard of Vampira? I’m sure you have unless, of course, you never crawl out from under your rock. She was the original Mistress of the Dark. Elvira was inspired by Vampira. She was the first television horror movie hostess from 1954 to 1955 and then again briefly in 1956. Although the show didn’t last long Maila Nurmi (Vampira) was nominated for an Emmy for the character and has a huge cult following to this day. Maila Nurmi actually passed away just last year. I happened to pick up the latest Gothic Beauty magazine and there was a big article in it about her. I know I claim not to be a Goth, just a lover of all things scary, but lets face it a lot of the stuff I blog about would fall into the Goth catagory. It’s a cool magazine and it gives me great ideas sometimes, so I pick it up now and then. You should check out the magazine so you can read this article, but you can also find out all about Vampira at her website OfficialVampira.com.

Found these creepy Coffin Shaped Eyeglasses. They are beyond creepy cool, but I do wonder how well you can see out of them with the cross design right in front of your eye. I love the tagline too: What would Dracula wear on the Riviera? They’d be great for a Halloween costume, but I’m not sure about the practicality. They are apparently sunglasses so that helps. Maybe you can’t see the cross when you are wearing them. If anybody has these please let me know. I really like them, but feel like I wouldn’t be able to see and be bumbling around in them. A++ for style though.

I’ve always wanted black crystal wine glasses. The ones I usually find are quite boring with black stems or just plain glass with no ornament. I finally came across these great Black Diamond wine glasses. I found them at this really cheesy website called ABC Distributing, but they are really cool and better than anything I’ve seen. Trust me I’ve been looking for a long time.  They are really cheap at $10.95 for 4! Of course they are not crystal and actually just made of glass, but hey for that price who cares? Can’t you just picture me offering one of these glasses filled with blood to a new subject a la David in The Lost Boys?

While I was covering all of the goodies during the month of October I found lots of cool things online to post about. Unfortunately, I had to save them until October was done. Now that November is in full swing I can let loose. First off we have the Blood Powered Lamp. Yup, that’s what I said. A lamp powered by your own blood. Well, you could use anyone’s blood actually, if you have some lying around. What a ghoulish idea, right? I’d like to think it was a spooky idea that some vampire had, but unfortunately no. Mike Thompson, an English designer from The Netherlands had a completely different purpose in mind. “What if, every time you wanted to switch on a light, you had to bleed? Would you think twice before illuminating the room, and in turn, using up energy?” In other words would we think differently about using up energy if it cost us something valuable each time. Interesting idea, huh? The lamp contains luminol. Luminol is the chemical forensic scientists use to check for traces of blood at a crime scene. Luminol reacts with the iron in blood and creates a bright blue glow. To use the lamp, you have to break the glass, cut yourself, and drip blood into the opening along with some activating powder. Unfortunately, each lamp can only be used once. Might make you rethink how much energy you use. Unless, of course, you have a supply of extra blood collected from your victims lying around.