Young Dracula

 Me and my vampire shows right? I've seen 'em all. Normally, they crash and burn or just get ridiculously boring/disappointing (Anyone seen Moonlight?) This one however, is different. I first saw it when I was probably about 7 years old. We were in Sweden and my cousin was watching TV so I plopped down and joined him. I was completely fascinated by the vampires and ended up watching a couple of episodes. Of course, being so young I forgot all about the show as soon as we got home. About a year ago I had a flashback to that trip and remembered the show. I couldn't remember the name of it, so I set about googling until I finally found it. And thus, my love of Young Dracula reappeared.

First off it's British and played on CBBC so if you're over there you might get reruns every so often. Secondly, it's a kids show. Do I care? Not really. It's so over-the-top cliched and campy that I'm laughing too hard to even be bothered with the fact that it's for "children". Hey, I'm sixteen. I can play that card right? Not to mention, they'd never let us have a kids' show like this down in the good old USA. We might scar our children after all.

So what's it about? Well, the Dracula family has been driven from Transylvania and have decided to start a new life in England. Vlad wants nothing more than to lead a normal life, which is rather difficult to do when your father (Count Dracula himself) is trying to turn you into a "dark creature of the night". The Count spends half his time trying to corrupt Vlad and get him to accept his heritage, and the other half bullying Renfield to find him a 'peasant' to drain.  As you can imagine, they don't really fit in. Throw an evil (No, really) jealous sister, vampire obsessed neighbor, and wanna-be vampire hunters into the mix and you've got an even bigger problem.

Ok, so it's cheesy. Horrendously so. But I love it so much. The Count is my favorite character, he cracks me up. If you want a silly, quirky, vampire-themed show to waste time on then you definitely need to check this out. The second season is even better than the first, it gets rather dark actually. The third season targets an older audience, mostly teenagers. Also, the budget is much bigger so better effects. I believe season 4 is coming out sometime in October and I'm anxiously awaiting it.

In other news I recently discovered that Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston (LOKI. Eep!) are teaming up to do a vampire movie. That high pitched squealing you hear is the sound of my fangirling and will probably stop in a few days...probably. No promises.

Cake and Boots

 It's my BIRTHDAY!

I know it's been a while since I last posted something....sorry! I've been so wrapped up in school work I can't think straight. Today though, I'm pushing my homework to the side to enjoy my birthday properly. I'm turning 16 today! I suppose this is kind of a big deal, but throwing huge parties are not my thing. Instead, we went out shopping and I got a lovely pair of boots on top of my other presents. My expensive present is going to be Halloween Horror Nights as usual so I'll have to wait another 3 weeks for that.

Here's my birthday haul.

There's a giant eyeshadow palette, an Ankh pendant, a black treble clef necklace, two new Batman Comics, The Night Circus, Van Helsing, The Cure pins, and Arkham Asylum for PS3.

Then we went shopping which resulted in this.

I would prefer it if the boots had silver instead of gold buckles, but I liked them too much to pass them up for $10. I'm going to see if I can get them silver somehow though I'm not confident I'll actually be able to.

We also went by the record store, but unfortunately left empty-handed because the prices were too high.

You have no idea how much I wanted this ^^

This was a giant compilation and I just about died when I saw the price...

I really love this album. I can't stand any of the industrial stuff that came afterwards >.<

So that's about it. We're going to go out and eat Thai later which will be awesome because the owner loves us and will probably let us stay after hours. Chances are he'll take out the guitar and I'll get a few special dishes for my birthday.

Two personal posts in a row? Geez, I'm just spamming you with my personal life aren't I? I'll have something else up soon. Who needs essays anyway?  ^^

30 Day Clothing Challenge~Day 6: A Pair of Pants That Aren't Jeans

 Prepare yourself for a personal post!

This one was difficult. I don't really own very many pants that aren't jeans. Since I'm sure the plain black ones I wear to our band recitals/concerts probably won't interest you I'm going to have to re-post my only other option. These were up for Sophistique Noir's Red and Black Week, but oh well.

I did reattach the straps though. It only took me about a half hour to figure out how they wrapped through the other straps, but it's all good ^^

Well, that's it for day six of the challenge, but this post seems rather empty doesn't it? Maybe I should jut ramble on until I feel like I've filled it sufficiently? No, I won't do that to you guys. I have a hodgepodge of little updates for you though. Let's see...I gave myself a bloody manicure. I don't know if there's even anyone out there on the interwebz who hasn't seen this, especially since the delightful Lady of the Manners has mentioned it, but I'll put up a pic just in case. This is kind of my go-to when I'm not in the mood for crazy designs or my typical black. It's adorable in a macabre way.

Also, I ordered my Grell wig for the cosplay my friends and I are doing for Halloween. I'm Grell, and my two friends are Mey-Rin and Ciel. I think her little sister is going to be Finnian. Alas, we don't have a Sebastian at the moment, but I'm hoping one will turn up ;)

Unlikely...

I recently bought and re-watched Se7en, which is a wonderful psychological thriller/horror movie starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. (It's funny because I tend to avoid Brad Pitt yet he's in two of my favorite movies. Interview With a Vampire and this one.) If you haven't see it, give it a shot. Someone is out to send a message and he's patterning his killings after the seven deadly sins.

Finally, I discovered this wonderful creation via Tumblr. If you like Robert Smith and cats I advise you click on that right now.

Halloween Horror Nights Reveals

I think Halloween Horror Nights is a reward for us goths who have to brave the Daystar on such a regular basis. It's one of the only things I constantly look forward to every year. If you ever get the chance to try it out you should. I mean, yes there are problems. Obviously, it's a whole lot more commercialized then when it first started out and more and more people come every year much to my annoyance, but that's to be expected. On the bright side, it means a bigger budget every year. A bigger budget means better stuff. It's kind of a give and take situation.

I'm not saying HHN is the best halloween attraction out there, far from it I'm sure. But it's pretty awesome if I do say so myself and I always have a great time. I don't know if anyone plans on going, but here are a few tips if you ever make the venture down here.

• Go to the Orlando one. I might be a bit biased because I live here, but from everything I've read we do a better job than Hollywood most of the time. I mean, we are theme park central and we kind of thrive on touristy. 
•  Go on a THURSAY or SUNDAY. Those are non-peak nights because everyone has school or work the next day and it won't be as busy(or expensive). Lines are bad enough on those days and if you want to try and hit all the houses you can't go on a Friday or Saturday.
• It's my experience that people always head to the closest houses first. I tend to go the opposite way to the farthest one so by the time we meet the real crowds we've gone through about half of the houses.
• Get there early. As soon as it opens and while it's still light. You'll have plenty of time to see the scarezones in the dark and the houses are dark inside so it doesn't matter. Most people won't show up until one or two hours in so you can get a head start.
• Eat dinner before you go. Food and drinks are beyond expensive and you don't want to waste time eating anyway. You can grab a funnel cake or something later if you're hungry.
• Warning: there will be drunk people. They do sell alcohol and some people aren't very responsible with their intake. Just...you'll know who they are, try to avoid and/or ignore the obnoxious ones. 
• If I were you I wouldn't bother with the rides. It's good that they leave some of them open because it thins the lines to the houses a little, but you can always come back another time during the day to ride those. 
• Ok, this is probably one of the more important ones. Tone your outfit down beyond belief. If you have anything on that even slightly resembles a "costume" you'll have to remove it. If you have chains or spikes they'll take those too. Spare yourself the trouble and wear shorts and a shirt and leave the accessories at home. Plus, you wouldn't want to be wearing anything you really adore there anyway. Last year, I fell over twice, and and had someone spill their drink on me. I was wearing a t-shirt I didn't really care about so it wasn't a big deal. I only wore it because it had some neon print on the front that would glow under blacklight and make the scareactors notice me more ^^
• Last thing, DON'T BRING CHILDREN. PLEASE. I see a bunch of kids as young as five running around. If you read my article on Horror Movies and Desensitization you'll know I really don't approve of little kids seeing things like that. I just don't think it's right to expose developing minds that young to so much blood and gore. I can't make you not take your kids, but I really advise against it.

So that's about all you need to know if you ever plan on going. Now, to let you know what's in store for everyone this year!

Houses

The Walking Dead~ Zombies are a bit overdone in my opinion, but since they normally go for campy instead of terrifying this could be a little different.

 


Penn and Teller~ This is the"cheesy house" that they have every year. The one just for fun and laughs. Last year, it was Holidays of Horror. This year Penn and Teller have accidentally nuked Vegas and you've gotta deal with the consequences.

Alice Cooper~ I'm really excited about this one. HHN often have Rob Zombie or Alice Copper design things for them and they're always pretty good. I mean, you're entering his "nightmare" and if being inside the mind of Alice Cooper isn't scary I don't know what is.

Silent Hill~ Oh. My. God. This makes me so happy. Have you seen the monsters in Silent Hill? They're terrifying. This is going to probably be one of my favorites.

Dead End~ Basically, a cursed house. I don't know much more than that...it's kind of vague.

 Gothic~ Well isn't this ironic? Although really, it's a nod to the architecture of the cathedral the gargoyles are guarding. I have a feeling this will be like the cemetery one last year. Gorgeous background and designs, but not horribly scary.

House of Horrors~ This is the one I'm looking forward to the most. The website says "The original icons of fear in blinding black and white". I've read that at some point you'll have to duck to get somewhere and they'll have the most scareactors in one room in HHN's history. Eep!

Scarezones

They're doing something different this year. Instead of having set scarezones in one place they're going to have wandering "Legions" of vampires, beasts, warriors, prisoners, and traditionals. (ghosts and goblins and such.) This is kind of cool because you won't see them coming until you're surrounded by people, but on the other hand you might not meet them all. So I have sort of mixed feelings.

 And that's that! I'll try to get pictures when we go, but I won't make any promises because last time we tried for about 5 minutes before giving up. It's sort of difficult to focus while being scared half to death ^^

New books! ...Again.

I'm constantly buying books. Seriously, I go through a book a day while I'm in school. I've basically exhausted the library we have. And then of course, I want to own the ones I love so on occasion I'll beg my mom to buy me a few for the sake of my sanity. Recently I received...

*Drumroll*

Frankenstein! Now, I have a confession to make. I've never seen the movies. Not the original nor the numerous sequels and spinoffs. BUT the book happens to be one of my favorites so I thought it was about time to add it to my shelf. I hate how people always assume it's nothing more than a monster book when really the philosophical questions it poses are monumental. The whole book is a question of right and wrong. If people would actually read it they might discover a fantastic piece of literature.

The alchemist is great. I'd suggest it to nearly anyone. It's just one of those books that a lot of different people tend to like. It's a story about discovering one's destiny and facing trials and hardships along the way. If you're in the mood for something inspiring and are prepared to deal with a book where everything's a metaphor then this is the book for you.

I finally got a copy of Dracula! This is definitely worth celebrating. If I had to choose a classic monster book I'd still pick Frankenstein, but I love this one too. The first time I read it I thought it was extremely dry, I'd never read a book written before the 20th century and it was very different. But I gave it a second shot and now it definitely ranks up there in my favorites.

Pride and Prejudice is another instant classic. I don't really have much to say about it other than the fact that it's a really great book. The characters infuriate me on several occasions throughout the novel and that doesn't change no matter how many times I read it, but that's part of the journey. They're learning to get over their...wait for it....pride and prejudice in order to finally get along. Bet you didn't see that one coming right? ;) My AP history teacher makes fun of me if he sees me with this book and starts spouting off in a British accent about tea and Mr. Darcy. It's too girly for him. Pshhh he can go back to his Lovecraft and H. G. Wells and leave my Victorian romance novels alone.

I love the artwork on this version!

The back.

 In other news, my Batman comics showed up! I'm...not actually sure if you guys care about comics, but just in case a Batman fan sees this I'm going to include them. Batman: Dead to Rights is a compilation/graphic novel that collects Batman Confidential #22-25 and 29-30. It's basically set way early in Batman's career when he captures the Joker for the very first time. Ever. Of course, the police have never dealt with him before and no one is taking him seriously so they underestimate him. Underestimating the Joker tends to get people killed so not a great move on their part.

It takes you through his questioning and trial and all that jazz and with his flippant jokes and remarks infuriating everyone left and right it's a really amusing read. It's...comic fluff. Amusing comic fluff. Also, the artwork is great. Nothing bothers me more than a great story with horrible artwork. At least if a story sucks but it's got nice art I have something pretty to look at ^^

The other set of comics I got is Robin II: The Joker's Wild! (1991) (FYI, if I feature a new comic I get it's probably going to have the Joker in it. Just a head's up. I love comic-verse Mr. J so much.) In this one Batman has left Robin (Tim Drake) on his own in the city for the first time. He's excited to patrol on  his own...until he learns that the Joker's escaped Arkham. (Again....)

Hey look, I'm reflected in the silver ^^

The artwork for this one is pretty good too. I love the older feel it has. (which makes sense considering these are 20 years old by now.) I like the story of Batman Confidential better, but this just feels like a real comic to me. I don't know, it's just like the feeling I get when I buy a new record.

Well, that's all for now. I think it's fun to show off the comics I get because honestly, not everything I do all the time is goff stuffz and I'm a major nerd. And hey, it's Bat-man so I'm giving a slight nod to the subculture aren't I? ^^ Anyone else out there like comics? Graphic novels? Manga? I'm curious!