Author: Head Candy Corn

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Master of Disguises, Michael Gump for DAY 6

Ten years ago, for Gothtober 2005, Michael Gump, the not-s0-secret-agent of wonderful artistic works, showed himself in a plethora of clever disguises. Here’s the original (see above.) Now it’s 10 years later, and Michael decided that for 2015, he’d do a different disguise for 365 days, it’s a work in progress, and you can check out some of his favorites on DAY 6 of Gothtober, and then, to keep up with past and future efforts, follow him on Instagram as Bobbugs. Lucky friends of Michael sometimes get to help him with his project. In one frame, he is covered with “Mom love notes” made by an awesome Mom we know who would give them to her daughter every day. In another daily photo, someone is spilling glitter on him. There is one where Gump is covered in human  hands!

Michael asked me to paint him last month! I’ve always wanted to paint an ear blue, and now I can say that I have. It was a luminous and rewarding experience. – Julianna Parr, Gothtober’s Head Candy Corn 


The piece this year has gathered many fans, a fellow named Jaraveda is working on a coloring book of Michael and his works! Here are two preview images, copies should be available for ordering soon.

 

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All of DAY 5 All the Way from an Island in the Mediterranean

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www.gothtober.com click on DAY 5

Mallorca [maˈʎorka])[2] is the largest island in the Balearic Islands archipelago, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean Sea.

And from the middle of all that arrives a film with creatures, temptation, water, concrete, sand, searching, and singing! The director sent some comments and some behind the scenes photos. The director said that she’s:

… interested in the power of metaphor in the visual arts, thus the mouthless meets the eyeless. How do they communicate?

How does the ignorant and the powerless become the conscious and the active participant. blabla if you want to get into the mind wanking aspect.

Locations for this film include the beaches of Es Trenc, and a mixture of old and new structures in the city of Palma. The big round wheel-like sculptures they filmed in were by Catalan artist Josep Guinovart, dated 1986 and are supposed to represent windmills! Each piece can be seen here.

It took a lot of convincing the french teenagers to get weird…

When asked how the eyes and mouths disappeared in the film, Sisyphus’s twin sister said “I wanted to do silicone but we were rushed and it took too damn long so we just used adhesive stretchy bandages and coverup.”

People in Spain are so used to weird foreigners that not a single person stopped to watch the shoot.

We hope you enjoy today’s film experience, and may your communication impossibilities make a wonderful family.

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DAY 4: Gothtober Coloring Contest!!!

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For ALL AGES, the Gothtober Coloring Contest is HERE! Visit www.gothtober.com click on DAY 4, download and print your pumpkin page. Color it, send it in! DROP DEADLINE IS OCTOBER 25th!!! 

What will your jack’o’lantern look like? Will it have a scene? Will it be the face of an unknown monster, a spirit being, a scary politician?

We have FIVE DIVISIONS and we know you fit into one of them… unless you’re a vampire or some other form of undead, and if that’s the case, contact us. We will make a special division just for you.

AGE GROUPS

  • Kitten Pumpkins – 5 and under 
  • Pumpkin Scouts – 6 to 10 
  • Tweens-n-Teens – 11 to 17 
  • Logan’s Runners – 18 to 30 
  • Bladerunners – 30 to 125 

Each Division will have 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Prize Ribbons, as well as some very special Gothtober Treats! Prepare to win bizarre and inventive gift baskets containing specialty items hand-picked by Gothtober MONSTERS! Coloring Contest Winners will be announced and showcased on this blog on Gothtober 29th!

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DAY 3 is Super Stankee

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Lurch Creaky started Stankee Candle Co. back in 1864 when he stuck a wick into some rendered sheep fat and gave it to his Grandmother on a crisp Autumn day. A corpse smelled the homemade candle and crawled out of their crypt offering to buy it.

This was the beginning of an American tradition of selling horrible smelling candles across the nation. Master fragrance smellers spend hour upon hour in the dank musty lab developing optimal performance in every candle sold.

Our stenches are the standard to which all other home reeks are judged.

Our scents span a range of categories, including specific molds and spores, rotting specimens of what was formerly living, messy and putrid types and festive fetid smells that enhance the holiday season.

Lurch couldn’t be happier to be launching the Fall line of wonderful stenches that will fill your home with authentic and compelling odors. Our cherished legacy of making gross candles is the hallmark of excellence for quality and selection. Buy one for yourself and a friend today.

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Thomas Family Treats! DAY 2

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Usually it’s kids asking Grownups for treats, but today this kid is giving us an art treat! 

Go to www.gothtober.com and click on day 2 for a nice surprise.

Today we present a beautiful collection of FOUR seasonal images for you to download, print and hang in your home, your office, your classroom!  C. Thomas, renowned kid artist gives you this packet of full color images that will give you merry Halloween memories for years to come! Here’s what you get:

  • The Web of Wonders! An orange and black web of varied creatures provide a succulent meal for eight-legged arachnids! 
  • Dimensional presentation of hissing creatures! Look out, they might bite! 
  • The Annual Night Time Food Festival, where they’ve got a very gory farm special for sale! Supernatural savings! 
  • A 13th birthday party for Gothtober, complete with mini ghosts, pumpkins, banners and plenty of other happy guests! 

The Thomas Family worked together to make these tableaus for us to enjoy, they are indeed a family of many talents. This family loves to make stuff, and Heather Thomas, the Mom of the operation, has a food blog with recipes on it like dairy free Mac-n-Cheese, Ginger Snaps, and Mexican Chocolate Brownie cookies!!! Her husband, Russ, is a chef extraordinaire, if you are ever up in San Luis Obispo and they offer to cook you anything… just say yes.

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Gothtober 2015 Debuts with “The Luckiest Woman in the World”

Welcome to Gothtober where every day is Friday the 13th. Today’s film is brought to you by Cristin Pescosolido, it’s called “The Luckiest Woman in the World” or is she? Watch carefully as “Jen” gambles with old-time superstitions.

This film uses SPECIAL EFFECTS! I know for a fact that the cat, Charlie, in the film is a grey cat, but Cristin managed to change his appearance in one of the shots! Here’s a little show and tell that gives you a peek into 21st century movie magic.

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A shot of the render time on Cristin’s poor abused old macintosh.
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Here is the nuke script used to turn the modern HD footage in to something you might see from an old film. Grain, dirt, scratches were taken from old film footage that was scanned. Multiple layers of dirt, lift, scratches were added, camera shake was added, and some blooming on all the hilights as one might see in nitrate film stock.
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Here’s a still frame of the titlecard, showing how all the lovely treatments trash a perfect black and white image.
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WE ARE LIVE!!!!

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Willya look at that? Gothtober’s a TEENAGER now!

It’s our thirteenth year, and it’s off to a good start, we’re HTML-ified! No more Flash! This means you can see us on your phone and your pad and your lap thing and your hologram machine and your blimp and your console! Visit GOTHTOBER 2015, and of course, check here for all Gothtober news!

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Bewitched FOREVER in 10 Minutes!

Make it a double, Sam, it’s time to sit down and celebrate the 51st anniversary of Bewitched!!!

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Gothtober is being built, we’re almost ready to launch, but for your perusal, here’s something fun to distract you, from the TV archives!  Bewitched is about a housewife witch and her family that was filmed on Warner Bros. Ranch starting in 1964. It was about a witch in modern times, but it was also about drinking! A LOT of drinking!  View this drinking guide that lets you know which characters drink in what episodes and how much. Here’s a list of swanky bar names for the following episodes:

  • # 24 – The Diamond Slipper 
  • # 57 – Dundee’s Bar – Darrin refers to it as the best restaurant in town 
  • # 69 – Purple Popsicle night club 
  • # 108 – Joe’s Bar and Grill – Darrin drinks heavy 
  • # 109 – Happy Times Bar 
  • # 126 – Hearthstone Bar/Restaurant 
  • # 159 – Golden Spoon Restaurant 
  • # 217 – Elbow Room Cocktail Lounge

The most drinking-est character is Darrin, followed by Samantha, Larry, Endora, Louise, and then there are a host of other minor characters that take part in cocktail hour. Seems like everyone in 1964 had a cigarette between their fingers and a highball in their hand. Enjoy visiting yesteryear with this marvelous collection of clips, make yourself a strong one, wiggle your nose and press play.

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Pumpkin Advice Vol. 2

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1.) “Perfect Pumpkins” with no dings or warts are BORING. It’s the pumpkins that are shaped really funky with unique features that are the superstars of the pumpkin carving world!

2.) When making a pumpkin pie, don’t add your eggs until your spice mixture is complete. Pay special attention to your salt and sugar ratio, this makes or breaks the recipe. Forgetting salt and sugar well… that’s just blah, so don’t do that!

3.) The mini handheld saw tool is the best one for carving features out of a pumpkin. Use your saw methodically and gently, otherwise the finer aspects of your design may be botched if hastily carved.

4.) Save the fancy stuff for the side. People like pumpkin pie because it’s pumpkin, it’s fall, it’s tradition! If you’re going to have pecans that go with it, or bourbon whipped cream, serve it on the side so that others can have the option to “mess with tradition” or keep it classic. Emotions run high around pumpkin pie.

5.) Use a dry-erase marker to draw your pattern on your pumpkin. You can erase it if you don’t like it, and there won’t be lines around the carved areas because you can wipe those lines away and voila, an eyeliner-free pumpkin!

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Zombie Jamboree with Harry Belafonte

A very catchy zombie song if there ever was one, and toward the end, a little pacifist message! We love Harry!

A lot of world leaders talkin’ ’bout war
And I’m afraid they’re going too far
So it’s up to us you and me
To put an end to catastrophe
We must appeal to their goodness of heart
And ask them to pitch in and please do their part
Cause if this atomic war begin
They won’t even have a part to pitch in
And we’ll be singing

Back to back, belly to belly
I don’t give a damn, I done dead already
Oho back to back, belly to belly
At the Zombie Jamboree