'Tis the Season.....

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

I hope the ghoulies, goblins, spooks and spirits helped you all have a wonderfully creepy Halloween season this year. I'm already making plans for next year!

Here are the counts...
Jack-O-lanturns carved: 3
Haunted Houses attended: 5
Octoberfests consumed: too many to count
Paranormal Encounters: none sadly


If you find yourself with little Halloween fun to do this evening, pop yourself open a good Octoberfest lager or a pumpkin ale and head on over to ....

http://www.azcast.net/menu/radio/zangs/zangs100.htm

...where the latest edition of Zangz's Pod of Geekdom Podcast will put you into the spirit as it is the last of a three part series on Halloween and Haunted Attractions!

Enjoy the rest of the holiday! It's one of the few really good ones that we have all year.

Zangz

Crap! It's almost over.

Well folks, were in the last days of my beloved Halloween season. I know, it's sad to say. This fall started out pretty nice with the leaves changing color and the sky being sunny. But, the last few weeks have been unseasonably cold and rainy. This has put a big damper on the season of the dead.

But, there are a few Halloween-esqe things for me to still look forward to.

#1. I'm off tomorrow! Whoo-hoo!
#2. I'm going out tomorrow night to see the psycho-billy band Pychomania play a show.
#3. Though, my friends are completely sick of having to be dragged to local Haunted Attractions, we're still going to celebrate the season on Saturday with a huge inflatable haunted house for youngin's to play around in while we all drink and feast completely ignoring their futile screams of terror as the house deflates on top of them. Good times...good times.
#4. A pumpkin carving party on Sunday night!
#5. Diner at my sisters while watching a good ol' Hammer Horror movie. Can you believe that my sister (who is void of any sense of geekiness) is into the Hammer Horror movies more than I am. Jeeze, I need to catch up!

I also think that I shall indulge in a bit of Halloween movie watching tomorrow. I think Sleepy Hollow and The Others will be on the bill. Perhaps even The Haunting may make it's way to my DVD player if I'm feeling that kitschy tomorrow. We'll see.

After that it's all downhill with the crappy holiday season. Bah Humbug, Bah Humbug and Bah FRACKIN' Humbug!

Oh yes. I'll warn you all now that another wonderful episode of Zangz's Pod of Geekdom should be up this coming Monday evening. It is the last of the Haunted Attraction/Halloween shows and once again features my good friend and fiend, Dr. Roberto Del Amorte! So check it out, won't you?

I finally got to see the video game based movie Silent Hill. I have to give props to the production designers as the first part of the movie really captured the feel of the video games quite wonderfully. It was the plot and story line that went south as the movie ran on. It's not a total waste if you're a fan of the video games and the Horror genre in general. There is some really creepy imagery in this as there is in the video game. It's also cool that Sean Bean has a bit role in this movie.

I'm still a bit peeved that I have yet to see any real excellent and imaginative Halloween displays or yard haunts out there this year. There's a lot of cutesy crap up, but no huge gothic graveyard with rotting corpses rising from the grave. Sigh. I guess my home town is void of any sense of imagination.

What am I listening to right now, you ask? Well, I'm still in the Halloween mood so it's Wednesday 13's "Transylvania 90210, Songs of Death, Dying and the Dead"". A fun little rocker that's sounds like Alice Cooper on acid. It's nice to know that the whole grunge scene didn't kill off the creativity and imagination of Rock'N'Roll like it almost did. Check them out, won't you?

I think that that's about it for this evening. I may pop in once more during the Halloween season. Or, I may not. Who knows at this point.

Until next time, life's a grave... Dig it!

Zangz.

Another Haunting Podcast!

Yep. A new podcast is up at Zangz's Pod of Geekdom, and this one is part 2 in a 3 part Halloween series that focuses on Haunted Attractions. This time around I have my fellow haunt buddy, Roberto DelAmorte, with me as I ramble on about haunts that we've visited in past Halloween seasons. So, by all means, check it out. You can download it either flash, MP3 or iTune. And you can find it right HERE.


In other quick news, a group of us haunt fans traveled over hill and dell to find some killer haunts. First we checked out the return of Terror on Rural Street. In a nutshell, this haunt was pretty good with a really creepy facade, some good art direction and a few good scares. I'm not sure that is was as good as it has been in years past, probably due to the fact that it just overcame a huge legal battle and a last minute "go a head" to proceed. But it was still worth the visit!!!

Then we creepedt our way over to the Meadowbrook Farm's Haunted Cornmaze Adventure. Even though it was really friggin' cold, we still had a great time traversing the huge stalks and constantly running into creepy tableau's during our half our journey. The pirate ship was a highlight. However, some of the set ups our getting a little old. But I still marvel at the amount of hand made props and the length of the attraction.

The next evening we headed up to Green Bay to visit Terror on the Fox. We'd heard quite a few ravings about this place and were excited to finally get to see it. Let me tell you, this was the
most visually intricate haunt we visited this year and in a very long time! From the facade to the cave dwellings inside, the artistry that is put into the sets out rank the mass majority of local haunts I've ever visited. The only major complaint was that it was a little on the short side. I was trying to pace myself so I could see all the incredible sets and props, but it still seemed to be over just as things were getting started.

I'm hoping Roberto and I will get a chance to babble about it in the next Podcast of Geekdom which will be the last of the 3 part Halloween/Haunted Attraction series.


I'm taking a sabbatical this weekend, so sorry kids, no haunts this week. But, I'm hoping to do something Halloweenesqe by the end of this month. So we'll see what we can do and let you know about it.

Until next time, make sure you do something spooky this week!

Zangz.

Flakes of the Dead!

Ungodly, I tell you!!!! A basephemy and a pox upon the season, it is!!!! What I saw and bore witness to as I left work today was the truest of proofs that there is no god and that Mother Nature is a sadistic wench, indeed! Flakes of snow flew around my head at a time where we should still be bathing in the beauty of Autumnal bliss. At the very least we have yet to be cursed with the snow actually accumulating. But, after listening to the local media within the last few days, you'd think that the artic glaciers themselves were moving toward my hometown.

Bleh....

Well there are a few things to look forward to this weekend. I'll be visiting some excellent Haunted Attractions this weekend. First, tomorrow night, a bunch of us will be visiting an old favorite that was shut down last year due to an ugly legal battle that I mentioned here on the Blog of Geekdom. Terror on Rural Street has reopened its doors this season and I'll be fracked if we don't go up and pay the ghouls and spirits there a visit. From there it will either be a visit to the Meadowbrook Haunted Corn Maze, pending we're not in blizzard mode, if so then we head to the Hartford JC's Haunted House.

Saturday is also quite an adventure.... OF THE DEAD! We spook hunters will be making a pilgrimage to one of the 10 best Haunted Attractions of recent years in North America. Not far from the home of the Green Bay (Can we actually lose any more games this season?) Packers is a place filled with so much darkness that few can utter it's name... Terror on the Fox! This baby was voted one of the 10 best haunts to visit during Halloween season and has been featured on Nikolodeon as well as Haunted Attraction Magazine.

Next week, I'll let you all know how it goes down. So keep an eye out.

Last weekend we visited our first haunts of the season. Three in one night, actually. The Lindner pumpkin farm provided us with both The Corn and Scream Reapers. We went through the haunted house (Scream Reapers) first. I was pretty impressed. Though there was no cool facade to the place (it was held in a big white tent), you could tell that there was a lot of work put into the detail of the rooms. A lot of creepy imagery was implemented to give you that feel of being in an old dilapidated house. One room was a huge gallery of spooky old photos that just gave you the creeps. Pretty chilling. The length was pretty decent also, as it felt like a good 20 minutes or so. There were a lot of rooms to go through. The actors were pretty good, though, a few of them were either caught off guard or gave us the slightly empty and flat, "Rarrrr" which scares no one. But, I was pleasantly surprised with what the Scream Reapers attraction delivered.

The Corn was a different ball of wax. The first haunted corn maze I ever went to was the Lindner farm before they dubbed it The Corn. Back then, there was no haunted house, just a huge corn maze that had a simplicity that lent itself to quite a few unexpected scares. Unfortunatley they have since shortened it and have subtracted many actors form it's arrey of spooks and ghouls that would wait in the corn for us hapless victims. Even though there were a few times we jumped when the dead would pop out at us, there was far more corn than there was ghosties. I was hoping for something more like the way it used to be. It was an ok effort though. I guess I liked the Scream Reapers haunted house quite a bit better. The Corn was a bit anti-climatic.

The other Haunt we visited was the Bear Den Haunted Woods. We first visited a couple of years ago and then it was one of our favorite haunts. A real sleeper attraction that got it's popularity through word of mouth. It doesn't rely on huge effects or animatronics, but what it does have is a real rustic feel to it. Kind of a Texas Chainsaw massacre flavor is embibbed into it, whether it's meant to or not. The woods are filled with ramshackle shacks that visitors are forced to crawl, creep or traverse through. Most of these dwellings have dead bodies and the undead to occupy your visit there. Other features are a trip in an actual hearse (where my friend Iris Von Beaverhousen molested me), a creaky rope bridge, something that flew over me that made me nearly wet my pants, many bon fires, ramps, mud, and a disturbed young girl... in a cage... tearing appart stuffed animals. Creeeeeeepy. Another good showing from the people at the Bear Den Zoo. I only wish they could make it a bit different from years past. It tends to get a bit repetitive from year to year.

Me and my good friend Roberto DelAmorte will hopefully go into more detail of our visits to these haunts in the next Zangz's Pod of Geekdom.


I'll be back soon with more musings on the wonderful season of Halloween and it's living dead that wander about and watch you from afar when you think you're alone. Are you alone right now? Take a look around the room you're in. There's something dead in there watching you as you read this. Maybe you can't see it, but it sees you! I shat you not! Don't you feel it? No? Well, maybe it will appear to you when you to go to sleep tonight. Brahahahahaah......

Pleasant dreams, SUCKA'S!!!

Zangz.

Where are all the Undead in the Front Yards?!

Ahhhhh.... The Season of the Dead is kicking off quite splendidly! Just last night I recorded my second Pod of Geekdom, with my special guest, Roberto DelAmorte, on the subject of Haunted Attractions as well as other spooky stuff. Then tonight there are plans to explore a Haunted Corn maze, a Haunted House AND a Haunted Trial! Add to that the fact that moon shall shine brightly this evening! We'll surly be tempting the living dead and lost souls this evening. Bruahahahaha.....


And speaking of the Halloween season, one thing a love to see around this time of year are the wonderful and creative yard haunts that pop up all over the nation. Sadly, within the last few years, good yard decoration sightings have been slim to none around my neck of the woods. Either people are becoming less and less creative and imaginative or perhaps people are afraid of what the neighbors will think. Either way, this town needs a good Halloween filled enema to flush out the mediorcre mentality.

On my ride to and from work, I pass plenty of houses that could do a wonderful job of putting up some undead fun in their front yard to give trick-or-treeters, or passers by, a good laugh or scare. If you're not sure as to what I'm babbling on about, I'll spell it out for you. In years past, during Halloween season, I'd tool around the local neighborhoods and always come across at least two or three front yards where the home owner would put up a fake graveyard with ghosts and ghouls and all sorts of cool spooky stuff. So far this year, I've seen bupkiss, nada, zero, zilch. The coolest thing I've seen so far this year is a circle of ghosts standing around a tree. That's all.

Where are the haunted graveyards with corpses coming out of the ground? Where are the homes with fake facades to look like a castle, or a haunted house? Where are the multitudes of grim grinning Jack-O-Lanterns? Nowhere, I guess. Has something evil come over the neighborhoods of my town and sucked all the imagination out of the brains of the local yard haunters? What's going on?
Perhaps they need to step back in time and remember an era where the yard haunt was a thing of dark beauty to treasure. I can recall a huge yard haunt not too far from where I lived. The front of the house had a fake facade that looked like an old gothic castle. Within it's front door, there was the head of a giant, animatronic dragon that would interact and talk to those that visited at night. That's not all, there was a dangling corpse hung from a tree, a giant spider that would jump out at visitors as well as an undead soul rising from the grave. I haven't seen that set up in a few years.

Then there was an entire street on the southwest side of my town where most of the neighbors put on an entire avenue of terror where nearly every other house had some big Halloween display or yard haunt. I believe it was called something like, Halloween Hollow or something similar. I remember there was one front yard there that had a couple of hearses set up and some "dummies" of ghouls standing in front of them. When spectators would move in for a closer look, the dummy would suddenly reveal itself to be alive and jump forward. This would cause a lot of underwear to be stained. This was over a decade ago and, as memory serves, I believe that salty, soul less neighbors, along with a few corrupt law makers and ignorant local aldermen, put the old "We Hate Everything Good and Fun" keebosh on the whole haunted block party. Sons of beeeeotches!

When I was a young lad, I'd usually do up my family's front yard to look like a small grave yard during the trick-or-treat hours.. The very early incarnations of it were pretty pathetic with cardboard cut out monsters and bright white foam gravestones. But, over the years it got slightly more sophisticated with dummies that had cool corpse masks for heads coming up out of the ground. The gravestones got a decent paint job with spooky inscriptions on them. Spooky music would come out of a hidden boom-box. I'd always try and do a little something. How could I not?

And that's the question running through my mind. There are a lot of creative people out there who love Halloween. Where are they and what are they doing to their front yards this year? C'mon, people! Let's get the undead party started already!!!!!


Hey, expect some reviews of the Haunts I go to tonight being posted here soon. Also listen for the next Zangz's Pod of Geekdom (now with a Flashplayer option!) to be posted within a week or so. It features more on Haunted Attractions PLUS a special guest. One of my Haunt-going friends, Roberto DelAmorte!

Until next time, "There coming to get you, Barbara."

Zangz.

Podcast of the DEAD!

Hey, I nearly forgot to tell you all that my 3rd Pod of Geekdom is up and running. You can download it HERE! This 'cast is the first in a 3 part Halloween inspired series that focuses on Haunted Attractions from the perspective of a fan and patron of many of them.


In other geek-o-rific news, tonight was a great night for TV! First of all, we had the premier of the 3rd season of the wonderful mind-frell of a show, LOST. More answers and more questions. Gotta love it. Then after that I caught a bit of the newest episode of South Park that was soley dedicated to the massive multiplayer on-line role playing game, World of Warcraft!

Though I've never gotten a chance to play the game I've heard many stories about it. It looks as though those South Park people have the game and its players pegged! Quite hilarious! Ok, then. I'll return here later in the week for more stories of Halloween chills and thrills. So stay tuned.

Zangz.