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Day 8: Nyssa Oru


Vampires, zombies and… headphones? Oh My! Today’s treat is six new drawings by Nyssa Oru, Gothtober’s youngest independent artist, accompanied by the sticky black goth tunes of Josh Fielstra.

Nyssa’s been drawing most of her life, and we’re thrilled that she offered to make 6 brand new never before seen pieces for the calendar. They are of a romantic/musical nature, in keeping with this year’s loose theme.

Nyssa is a high school art student, and wishes she owned a tarantula named Bob. Her Mom’s not really into gigantic hairy arachnid-type creatures, however, so it’ll have to wait for now.

You can see more of Nyssa’s work here.

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Day 7: Vigilante Halloweenification

Gothtober pumpkin faceGothtober Kenefick collage

In Big Loud ‘n’ Orange, two men embark on a little transit improvement project they call “Bustober.” Alex Kenefick and Eric Potter—respectively armed with a clipboard and a boom mic—await the arrival of Metro buses ripe for Halloweenification. Viewers are also treated to entrancing, interstitial montages of Christina Aguilera, David Allen Grier and Angel‘s David Boreanaz moving through a pumpkin patch.

Though it may at first seem like a surreal and even disconcerting melange of imagery, this project has all the makings of a successful urban redevelopment venture: mass transit, grassroots activism, star power, kids and farm-fresh produce. It should come as no surprise that the video’s creator, Alex Kenefick, is in fact a seasoned urban planner and transportation activist.

We had a chance to interview Mr. Kenefick, who says that a total of 15 to 20 Metro buses were “improved” in Operation Bustober. He equates Metro buses to the ultimate Haunted Boombox: “They’re big, they’re loud, and they’re orange.”

We also inquired about the meaning of the gourd-navigating stars. “It’s Halloween in L.A.,” said Kenefick. “I could have put normal people in the pumpkin patch, but I figured celebrities were just better.”

See it now!

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Day 6: Something completely different

Gothtober XKiller Gothtober XKiller

Well, it wouldn’t be HUMP DAY without some proper scantily-clad, gender-bending, boundary-crossing, experimental fashion! Today’s piece by Xkiller showcases a most unusual fashion show from a few years back, and yet the motifs are unimpeachably timeless: pin stripes, golf plaids, torn shirts and bloody fist fights. Does the devil wear Prada? No, I think she dons an Xkiller tee and a fresh black eye.

Go to Gothtober now!

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Day 5: Cocktails, anyone?

Gothtober Ben LingGothtober Ben Ling

You know it’s October when you’re drinking cocktails involving candycorn-infused vodka. You heard me. And that’s just one of THREE amazing, haunted cocktail recipes offered by restaurateur Ben Ling. He also provides a handy guide to making an en-GROSS-ing cocktail garnish that very closely resembles an eyeball, but much more delicious. How many recipes do you have that include the instruction, “stuff eyeball into socket”? Hmmm? Well, now you have exactly one. Bottoms up!

Go to Gothtober now!

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Day 4: Stuff for your brain! Mmmm, brains…

Gothtober-puppet-craft-ghostIf you’re on a diet, or 3D gives you a headache, then Day 4 is for you! Need some choice material for your next book report, or just looking to curl up by the fire with a good read? Check out Xochitl Oliva’s “Scary Stories for Monsters Large and Small,” a comprehensive reading list compiled by an ACTUAL LIBRARIAN. Yes, this one’s professionally certified! From spooky picture books for your tiny tots, to chilling tomes for the grownups (including a certain popular zombie book), Xochitl’s got your literary needs covered.

But wait, there’s more! You can also download cut+color Monster Mash Puppet Crafts designed by Juliana Sankaran-Felix. You get TWO features in ONE day! Now, that’s the value-added service you’ve come to expect from Gothtober. Enjoy!

Go to Gothtober now!

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DAY 2: Gothtober’s FIRST ANAGLYPH FILM!!!

Today’s film is a technological tour de force in countdown calendar films. You can watch Cristin Pescosolido’s film “Swifty and the Atomo-Flora” in 3-D! All you need are a pair of the classic red and greenish/bluish glasses, and you can see the eye-popping action fly out at you!

Shot with an HD 3-D camcorder, observe what happens when a visitor from another planet decides to visit our earth!

The bright, pumpkin-colored costume is off of Tom Swift and His Subocean Geotron. To create “Swifty,” Cristin used orange kite fabric and an excel spreadsheet to help calculate the roundness of each piece of fabric to make an inflatable sphere. Cristin sewed the costume together. Air intakes at the bottom of the suit help fans that sit in mesh pockets within the geotron.

You also might notice that the film has only ONE actor, and that’s not a typo. Using her mad digital-compositing skills, Cristin duplicated Jennifer Howard (in the white hazmat suit) running out of the tunnel approximately 7 – 8 times to get the desired effect of a gang of people running. Jen Howard plays Swifty as well.

Chris Morgan, composer, says “I just started playing around with ideas for fun, and ended up with the following, which incorporates elements such as an homage to the dire straits “money for nothing” drum fill, cyber-stripper doo-wop music, police radios and the swiss-made hang drum.”

Gothtober Fun Fact: You can find Swifty’s earlier adventures behind DOOR 2 of both Gothtober 2005 and 2006 in the archives.

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Jessica Hlavac’s “The Pumpkin” Messes with your MIND…

Gothtober Day 1

The Pumpkin

Ice Cream in a spoon
Ice Cream

Jessica Hlavac is DAY 1 of this year’s Gothtober, and I’ll tell you why:

One day, Jessica told me she was having an art opening, so I decided to check it out, and GEE WHIZ, I had no idea that Jessica makes TINY SCULPTURES!

I mean tiny. I mean, like… did she sculpt that with her eyelashes?!? Tiny.

Look at that ice cream cone, it is sitting in a spoon. The spoon has room to spare.And then, check out this sushi plate: it’s sitting on a QUARTER. This fish will not satiate your hunger, but it will be a feast for your eyes… get out the magnifying glass!

Jessica’s piece celebrates Gothtober in a cheerful and unexpected way, she even had a few squashed specimens in trying to make her movie. Squash… har-de-har. “The Pumpkin” is perfectly expertly magically weirdly fun, and we’re extremely proud to have Jessica start this year’s Gothtober.

If you’d like to find out more, you can visit Jessica’s site I’m so Tiny and also visit her Etsy Store where she sells limited edition prints of her work, and if you don’t see that perfect food you love in miniature form, you can request custom items!

Sashimi on a Quarter
Mini Sashimi

Gothtober artist fun fact: Jessica made a cameo appearance as a pumpkin patch tour guide in Sebastian Johnson’s DAY 22 of Gothtober 2004.

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Gothtober’s Music: Maestro Josh Fielstra

Gothtober always has great music, because we always have AMAZING musicians that come out of the woodwork for the Halloween Holiday. This year is no exception, we’ve got two fellows on board this year by the name of Josh Fielstra and Chris Morgan. While they may appear to look like normal people.. they are anything but. These guys make their keyboards freak out on a regular basis with 10,000 tons of flaming awesome, and they are spoiling us rotten with their expert synth-piano-musiciany-supernatural-dark-muzik-skillz.

Here are shots of Josh calmly composing Gothtober hits such as “Spooky Love”, “Gothtendo Quest” and the 1-minute breakdancing hit “Gothtober Electra-Boogaloo.” that will be the featured tunes on the Gothtober Boom Box. I don’t really know how he stays so calm, when I was hearing this music, my brain was whirling around in its skull with extreme happiness.

Look for Chris Morgan’s Gothtober debut on DAY 2, he is scoring the music for Cristin Pescosolido’s exciting alien visitor film. More news later, but I gotta tell you, it’s getting VERY EXCITING as it’s almost time for launch! Eeeeeeeee!