Tag: HalloweenCult.com

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Halloween

Nog 30 dagen tot Halloween

Ondertussen is het alweer 1 oktober. Nog dertig dagen voordat het officieel Halloween is.

Normaliter kom ik met de eerste tekenen van de herfst al aardig in de Halloween-mood, maar dit jaar is dat nog niet gebeurd.

Het zal te maken komen omdat ik de afgelopen drie maanden diep in het web van Spider-Man verborgen zat. Nu ik een weekje vrij heb van het schrijven van mijn boek, hoop ik niet alleen mijn innerlijke accu weer op te laden, ook hoop ik het Halloween-vuurtje in mij weer aan te steken…

Nee, Halloween is voor mij toch vooral griezelverhalen lezen bij de open haard. Het liefste in zo’n ouderwetsche luie stoel, kopje thee erbij en een kamerjas aan. Nee, echt.

Helaas, hebben we geen open haard en bezit ik ook al eeuwen geen kamerjas meer. Neemt niet weg dat ik erg benieuwd ben naar Scottish Ghosts, een bundel met spookverhalen die ik een paar jaar geleden in Schotland kocht.

Eigenlijk zou ik wel eens naar Salem in Massachusetts willen afreizen. De architectuur van dit heksendorp en New England spreekt mij aan. En de heksenvervolging is een boeiende en bloedende geschiedenis. Zo’n reis gaat dit jaar niet lukken, maar misschien kan ik wel in Nederland Halloweeneske plekken bezoeken. De komende dagen ga ik daar mijn licht maar eens op schijnen.

Originally published on October 01, 2016 on HalloweenCult.com.

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English Halloween

The Terrifying Bag-Head

This is me dressed up as The Terrifying Bag-Head. Should this be my Halloween-outfit for this year?


Originally published on July 30, 2016 on HalloweenCult.com.

Categorieën
English Halloween

E.T. and Halloween

Leaf blowers are working overtime. Temperature is dropping and nature is making up for it by changing its palette from greens to warm reds, yellows and orange. Fungi pop up everywhere.

There is no mistaking, autumn has returned after a whole year of absence.

With the autumn winds comes the feeling that something’s in the air and it’s not only the scent of decay, it’s the feeling that something is coming, something exciting.

Writing these lines I just remembered my first introduction to Halloween. It must have been the movie E.T. The scene where the streets are flooded with kids dressed up and E.T. being guided by his friends hiding under a sheet pretending to be a kid pretending to be a ghost (and meets Yoda).

Immediately I asked my parents to explain me about this festivity and they said: This is Halloween.

Since then I have seen lots of Halloween movies (good and bad), I hear Danny Elfman compositions all through October but I think the scene E.T. and those kids roaming the streets captures the feeling dead on.

The sun is going down and the air is filled with anticipation, a feeling I get every year when the leaves start to fall.

Mellisa Halley (Text and illustration)

Originally published on October 31, 2015 on HalloweenCult.com.

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English Halloween

Vintage Halloween Witches

Last year, my girlfriend made me a calendar for October filled with vintage photographs of Halloween witches. Here are my favourite pics:


Most pics are playfully sexy. I love the old fashioned look of the pumpkins. Also, I like the clever use of drop shadows on the walls, suggesting ghosts, cats and other creatures.

Veronica Lake

Originally published on October 27, 2015 on HalloweenCult.com.

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English Halloween

Getting into the Halloween groove

It’s almost Halloween, but lately my mind has been thinking about anything but Halloween.


It’s been a very busy October: I’ve written a couple of articles and interviews about comics and animation. And while I was typing away at my home office, summer became autumn and all of a sudden my favourite holiday is only two weeks away.

Well, I did write up a Top 5 of my favourite Halloween-esque comic books for Submarine Channel that will be published any day now. So, Halloween hasn’t been off the map totally.

But slowly, I am getting into the Halloween spirit. Last week, I walked home from the American Book Center after I interviewed comic book artist Marcel Ruijters. He has just published a wonderful graphic novel about medieval painter Hieronymus Bosch and we talked about it at length for a pretty good crowd of people who were nice enough not to boo me off the stage and buy Marcel’s book.

Walking home, I passed a party & costume shop. Taking a moment to revel at the stuff in the shop window, I felt that old familiar happy feeling I always feel this time of year, return.

Last night, I put up some of our pumpkin lights in my office and put the Halloween calendar counting down to October 31 on the shelf next to my monitor. Let autumn begin for real.

Originally published on October 16, 2015 on HalloweenCult.com.

Categorieën
English Halloween

The Making of a Gargoyle

What’s a Halloween party without some great looking creatures lurking in the shadows? Here’s the making of such a creature by the team of Amsterdam Spook.

Since 2006, Canadian-born Amsterdammer Tamar Bosschaart has organised the most incredible annual Halloween parties that over the years have grown in size and popularity to the point that they attract Halloween lovers from all over the planet to celebrate the unholy festivities in Amsterdam. The Spook Amsterdam posse has grown alongside the party and every Sunday, a handful of the most dedicated crafters gather to make the most amazing decorations from scratch. Just look at this Gargoyle!

The body of the Gargoyle was made using chicken wire, expertly shaped to form the body and limbs. Papier-mache was then used to cover it, which often required several layers. The piercing gaze was created by putting two cheap bicycle lights in the eye sockets.
Here you can see the two main gargoyles side by side. The gargoyle on the left is still in his unpainted, unblemished state. The one on the right has already been painted black, though several layers of paint were needed before the next step.

Here is the unholy beast in all its glory. Notice that the details have been touched up, both by lighter paint, as well as by filing away at the extremities to stimulate the toll the elements make on gargoyles. This bad boy was created for the party in 2014, together with his brother and several smaller versions. They proved so popular, one of them was stolen at the party. How someone managed to smuggle it out is another mystery. Stay posted for a sneak peek of what’s being built this year on your favourite blog on all things Halloween soon!

Luuk van Huët

Originally published on September 09, 2015 on HalloweenCult.com.