Today Has Been a Vincent Price Kind of Day...

Today has just been one of those days where I had the chance to simply laze about and do nothing of importance. It was rather nice actually. So I decided to have myself a themed movie marathon. Vincent Price themed! He always plays the madman so well and most of the horror movies he's in make me laugh at their absurdity. (In a good way!)  So if you haven't seen any of these movies I'm going to recommend them to you.

1) The Pit and the Pendulum (1962)

One of eight films done using the works of Edgar Allen Poe. This is a horror movie people who aren't normally fans of horror movies can enjoy. The violence/blood/gross things are kept to a very extreme minimum, leaving everything to the imagination. A man receives news of his sister's death and is suspicious of the vague details he receives. He travels to the castle to investigate and discovers the ghost of his sister might be haunting the place. But not everything is as it seems...
The atmosphere is done extremely well for such a low budget production and the Gothic castle is dark and elaborately decorated. Vincent Price plays the meek man wonderfully and then rises to his other part with arresting enthusiasm. (Nearly overacting I'd say, but without seeming ridiculous.)  The movie keeps you in a constant state of suspense and the plot is decent.


2) Theatre of Blood (1973)

A Shakespearean actor (Edward Lionheart) is insulted and overlooked for an award and as a result attempts to commit suicide. Failing, he is discovered by a bunch of meth-addicted tramps (Yes, I'm serious) who he manipulates into helping him exact his revenge on the critics. He makes each murder into a performance and reenacts deaths from Shakespeare's plays. This movie is just so amusing with the frenzied actions of Lionheart and his perverse enjoyment in killing each critic. It's campy and fun with just the right amount of horror thrown in.


3) The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

 This is my second favorite Vincent Price film that I've seen to date. Once again, he's playing an insane man (Can we say typecasting?) but the madness is more subdued. Prince Prospero, a devil-worshiping sadist, mistreats the plagued villages and hides in his castle with his shallow courtiers for entertainment. Francesca is a peasant girl he takes an interest in and brings back to the castle with the intent of corrupting her and making her renounce her faith.  The best part is towards the end, when a stranger crashes the masquerade he's holding and it turns into a danse macabre. Prospero learns that not even his 'master' can protect him from the Red Death he so fears.


 4) The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

This blows Theatre of Blood away in terms of campiness, (it borders on ridiculous at times) but all the same it's my favorite of the lot. Dr. Phibes, hideously scarred from an accident works to get revenge on the nine doctors he feels are responsible for his wife's death. Dr. Phibes is manic in his obsession, completely mad. He bases the deaths around the plagues of Egypt and utilizes 'darkness' in the finale and his own end. And seriously, Phibes had to be the inspiration for Jigsaw. The scene where he places the lead surgeon in a race against time to save his son is a predecessor to the traps in Saw and much more entertaining. (I've never found the Saw movies very good.)  Granted, it's pretty unrealistic (Especially the locusts) but this horror-comedy really is a must see. I personally wouldn't recommend the sequel, it gets too supernatural for me and I think it ruins a perfect end to the first one.

To wrap it all up and break the Vincent Price pattern I decided to go and watch Carrie. Now I remember why I was so freaked out the first time I saw it. Don't denounce old horror movies. I swear all I'll be seeing is her face in my windows tonight. (Note to self: buy curtains). Her fanatical, abusive mother created a monster and both of them creep me out beyond belief. And you almost forget the film is a horror movie until you get to the prom scene.

30 Day Clothing Challenge~Day 3: A Piece of Clothing or Jewelry that was a Gift.

This was actually a bit difficult. I just tore apart my closet trying to find something my parents or I hadn't bought while shopping. Gift-wise I tend to ask for books, movies, video games, etc. Plus, my memory is so horrible I could barely remember where I got half of my closet!

This dress was a present from a friend. she wore it once, but she decided it didn't fit her style and handed it over to the first person that wanted it. Lucky me! It's affectionately referred to as "The Trash Bag Dress" because of the shiny black material it's made out of. I haven't had a chance to wear it yet. As pretty as it is, it sits rather high up and I'm afraid it gives that unfortunate 'I'm pregnant' look. I'm trying to figure out how I can fix that, but it might just be being my paranoid self. Eventually, I'll get some use out of it ^^

Then I have my my converse boots. Years ago, I remember begging my parents to get me these for Christmas. Nowadays I'm more of a 'black leather boots' kind of gal, but I still wear these from time to time.

I think the straps are a nice touch.

By the way, my preview option on Blogger doesn't seem to be working. I just get the spinning gears and have to actually publish the post to view it. This is extremely annoying because I like to see how they look before-hand. Is it happening to anyone else?

Swedish Picspam!

Well I did it! (I'm only a few weeks late after all...) It took me an hour or so to sort through ALL THE PICTURES, but here are the ones that made it through inspection and to this blog. It was extremely difficult to find non-derpy ones only featuring me and the countryside/city (Depending on where we were.) I don't believe my family wants their pictures up here for all to see so don't think I'm a camera hog. I'm not, I swear ^^

Our trip pretty much went like this.

1) Stockholm
2) Goteborg and surrounding area
3) Summer house at Oland
4) Back to Stockholm

I would give you a map but the massive amount of pictures coming your way is going to clog up enough space on this post. So without further ado...

A ferry off of Stockholm.

I love graffiti when it's tastefully done. It's art, despite what other people think.

We got to go sailing!

An old castle.

The view over Marstrand.

An old fort.

Casual me doesn't like shoes.

Pretending to angst over something that looks suspiciously like a gravestone.

Sailboat races!

We found time to mini-golf ^^

Getting off the Subway.

Can I just reiterate how much I love cities. There are so many different kinds of people everywhere and so many places to shop. (And no money to spend...*cough*) Not to mention, I got to break out some uber-goth outfits every time we went in to Stockholm or Goteborg. (With some exasperated looks from my parents) Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of any of them.  Pretty much all the outfits in this photo set were my casual I'm-on-vacation-and-just-don't-care outfits. Of course. *Smacks self*

The last day we went shopping I picked up a few more things. I got a new leather jacket and an unopened, remastered copy of Pornography by The Cure! *Squeels* It's my favorite album and I couldn't be happier. Of course, I'll be in debt to my parents for at least a year, but we'll ignore that until I see something lovely online and realize how screwed I am.

I've also realized my makeup supplies are running a bit low. Recently, I've been eyeing a few shadows over at moiminerals.  I especially like these three.

DIY~ String Dolls

I saw a display of these the other day, but didn't have enough money to buy one. When I got home I raided mom's sewing kit for string, sat down, and got to work. Many, many finger cramps later I finished my first one.

Everyone, meet Snagglefang.

He's a bit sloppy. I had no idea what I was doing after all. But he's pretty cute if I do say so myself. I've just got to go back and fix those awful fangs of his ^^

How I did it

1. Roll string into a small ball. Then start winding in different directions until the head is the size you want it. You'll need a bit of patience, it's difficult in the beginning. It gets much easier as the ball increases in size. I advise putting some music on or the TV to help pass the time.
2. I got a bit lazy here. I suppose you could make the body entirely out of string. I shaped a piece of clay into the body and then started wrapping the string around that until it was covered by a few layers. 
3. For the arms I broke a toothpick into the right length and stuck it through the body. Then I wrapped string around both ends.
4. The legs were done separately around clay like the body.
5. Paint the parts any colors you'd like. This is only if you're unfortunate like me and could only find pink string when you needed white and black.
6. Glue the individual parts together with hot glue.
7. Paint on or stick pins in for the eyes. Paint any other features you'd like.
8. Clothes and accessories! Not to mention, hair.  For this guy I cut a triangle of felt for the widow's peak. The cape is also felt and it was made in two parts. (The collar and bottom part.) I also added a little piece of black fabric around the neck to hide where some hot glue seeped through.

Here are some more I've started. I think I might have a new hobby...

Zombie bride

A Grim Reaper. I need to clean the hot glue off of him...

This one is my favorite. He's like a little deathrocker! ^^

I'm planning on doing a pirate, a cyclops-bat creature, a romantigoth (with a little top hat), Tahno, and The Joker. I'd like to attempt a lil' Robert Smith and a Jareth one but those are a little more difficult what with the hair. What I'd really like to do is an 80s era Dave Vanian doll, but I don't even know where to start with that hair. I mean, what would I use?

30 Day Clothing Challenge~ Day 2: Your Favorite Shirt.

This one puzzled me. Favorite T-shirt? Or can dressy shirts be used too? But then where do you draw the line between a 'shirt' and a top'? Because although I can't really explain it some things are 'shirts' to me and others are 'tops'. Suffice to say, I thought way too hard about this and ended up going with a t-shirt anyway. I think the lack of brain activity caused by summer is starting to get to me.

I got this at last year's Halloween Horror Nights. It's kind of my go-to casual shirt on those days I don't feel like getting all dolled up. Plus, it's great for starting conversations with people. I get all sorts of comments from people that have either been there or are planning on going. Of course, the downside is that I get a little *ahem* overeager when speaking about HHN which tends to get some weird looks thrown my way.

The back of the shirt has the eight houses.

Anyway, I'm off to do my nails. I'm thinking some kind of fishnet design like this. What do you think?