Welcome to a Happy Halloween

 Today was quiet. Once again, not one trick or treaters at my apartment complex, but I could hear them the next street over. That’s okay because I still had a great Halloween.

I started with a pumpkin chocolate muffin with pumpkin butter and finishing my Halloween cross stitch project. I hung them up with care in one of my doorways.

I sent out texts to all of my friends and family I have in my phone’s address book wishing them a Happy Halloween. Most texted back and a few called. Pictures of younger family members were shared and my cousin managed to get her dog into a Harley Quinn outfit.

I had a lunch of pumpkin empanadas and watched The Haunting, then went for a walk to a small lake shopping center.

While enjoying a pretzel and hops tea at the local micro brewery, a man set up some music and his kids (dressed as Michael Jackson) danced to the joy of everyone at each of the restaurants. At about 2:30, a group of witches on paddle boards, kayaks, and a pontoon boat paraded into the docking area. A few of the witches had kids and dogs on their paddle boats. There was even a skeleton with a small graveyard on his board.

I then wandered a bit.

I spotted a fox sunning himself on a neighbor’s yard. I danced among some falling leaves on the wooded trail. I also pet several very fluffy dogs.

I returned home nearly two hours later to carve my first pumpkin in nearly a decade. I chose a sun and moon combo to represent the changing of the seasons. I had Over the Garden Wall on while I scooped the pumpkin’s guts out and drew the design on its face. 

My apartment filled with the scent of cinnamon and nutmeg as my soul cookies baked and I lit some pumpkin spice candles. I ate a silent dinner with the spirits on my balcony and wished a family dressed as black cats a “Happy Halloween”.

I rounded out the night with a pumpkin spice bath (with a bath bomb and haunted scented soap) to get ready for my spell casting. A good witch knows how to harness the wonderful energy of Halloween to work their magic. I built a fire and cast some bay leaves with wishes into the flames. The universe will hear me and guide me.

The cat especially loves the fire.

I plan on ending the night with some spiced hot apple cider and a tarot reading. Overall a simple, relaxing, and my kind of Halloween. 

I hope you all have a fun night, stay safe, and have a spooky time. This season passed by fast (though part of that might have been because I was deeply depressed for part of it). Know that how you celebrate during this time of year is up to you. Go to parties, commune with the dead, or watch some scary movies.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y’all like hearing from me.

Welcome to Pokémon Snap

 So...

I haven't been in a good place mentally for a few months. My mental health went from standard passable to I can barely function as a human being over the span of a month. 

Thankfully, I have loving and supporting people in my life to help me out. I also have a doctor who listened to my concerns and took them seriously. 

Needless to say, I'm getting better, but it's a slow process. 

This weekend, my friend came over and brought her Nintendo Switch. She brought an array of games that were meant to be soothing and relaxing. I picked Pokémon Snap.

Pokémon Snap is a nostalgic game. Though I didn't have a Nintendo 64 growing up, plenty of my friends did. We'd spend hours going head to head in Mario Cart and Smash Bros or trading off playing Mario 64, Golden Eye, and Pokémon Snap. I remember you could go to the local Blockbuster and print out your Pokémon Snap pictures (I was, sadly, never able to).

Pokémon Snap stands out as one of the best games on the Nintendo 64 (definitely in my top 5). It was only in my 20s that I ended up with a copy and a Nintendo 64 of my own. It's a relaxing game where you take pictures of Pokémon. There's some plot and secrets you need to unlock in order to "beat" the game, but for the most part, the objective is to throw "apples" (that's not what they're called, but it's what they look like), play the flute, throw smoke balls, and take pictures. You get points for how "awesome" your pictures are - it's some kind of internal algorithm that can drive you batty if you think too hard about it.

Some of my favorite moments in the original Pokémon Snap include creating a zombie army of charmanders, knocking down metapods to block your path in the river course to extend your time, bopping a bulbasaur on the head with a smoke ball only for it to turn into a ditto, and, of course, surfing pikachu. 

The only downside is that Professor Oak in the game is a total jerk if you don't get the best picture. He won't even finish rating the photo if there's one thing off with it. It's quite infuriating after spending hours trying to get pikachu to pose just right on the surfboard only for the little guy to not be dead center in the frame. Can't have that.

This brings me to the new Pokémon Snap.

It's amazing.

When we first logged on, new places had shown up on the map - so more updates and unlockable items are still coming. Some courses have both a day and night mode or multiple tracks you can take to see different pokémon. Each new unlocked level for a course shows the pokémon doing different things and hanging out in different places. In Level 1 of a course, Koffing might be hiding in one corner of the screen, but by Level 2 he's flying around blowing noxious gas all over the place. New pokémon show up all the time. We even managed to unlock a new season in one course without knowing that that was a possibility.

There's a lot of play back opportunity for this latest Pokémon Snap. Now instead of only taking one photo per pokémon, you need to find four photos based on a star system. You get more stars based on the position and actions of the pokémon you get pictures of. There are also optional requested photos Professor Mirror (the new Oak - don't know why they got rid of the tree names) and his assistants ask for. 

Todd is all grown up. He was the protagonist of the original game. Now, you can create your own avatar to navigate and take pictures. It still takes a little getting used to the controls, but once you do, it's fun to catch pokémon at their craziest!

The picture reviewing mechanic in this game is fantastic!

Gone is Professor Oak's grumpy grumblings about not getting the pokémon in just the right location. Instead we have the overwhelmingly positive Professor Mirror and his young assistants Rita and Phil. Rite, Phil, and Todd all pop up occasionally to tell you how awesome your photography skills are. Professor Mirror is equally positive and encouraging while judging your photos.

Playing this game is a huge kick to the dopamine. It's positive, relaxing, and soothing. I don't stress about not getting a perfect shot and am delightfully surprised by new unlockable places and items. I think my favorite was when I accidently discovered that you could get the season spring in the elsewhere forest level. It was so pretty!

This game is one of the best I've played in a long time. My only question is why Nintendo and the Pokémon creators took so long to make a second game (it's been over two decades!). If you have the Nintendo Switch, I can't recommend this game enough.

I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I have.

Until next week. 

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to Another Haunted Mansion Adaptation

 Dear Disney,

I'd like to lodge a complaint - and no, this isn't about the love-hate relationship I already have with you. This is about your treatment of one of the best and most popular Disney attractions: The Haunted Mansion.

Look, as a kid, I was terrified of the place. My young self shrunk back from the ghouls trying to escape their coffins, covered my eyes when Constance showed up, and nearly jumped out of the doom buggy when the hitchhiking ghosts joined us on our way out. 

I also freaking loved it.

The Haunted Mansion is my favorite attraction at Disney World.

I am aware that this is the Disneyland one.

Sadly, I've only ever ridden the one in Disney World. When I tried to ride the one at Disneyland, Jack Skellington and the cast from Nightmare Before Christmas had taken it over - not that that was a bad thing. I just wish I had had the opportunity to see the original Haunted Mansion in her glory.

But that's not why I'm writing you today. 

I'm deeply disappointed in the number of attempts (and failures) you have made to create an adequate Haunted Mansion adaptation. The closest you have come so far might be the "Haunted Mansion" graphic novel by Joshua Williamson and illustrated by Jorge Coelho. I enjoy that graphic novel and love the little extra details (like a reference to the Matterhorn) that are sprinkled in. I think the ending is lame.

The 2003 film adaptation had a lot of promise. The opening 5 minutes was beautifully done and the scene in the mausoleum with the zombies totally scared pre-teen me. However, the humor is lukewarm, the acting is subpar, and the overall story doesn't gel very well with the ride's canon. What I mean is, the ghosts aren't trapped in the Haunted Mansion - they're perfectly happy to be there! 

Get this detail right Disney!

And now we come to the most disappointing Haunted Mansion adaptation to date. The Muppets have done a lot of great adaptations. My two favorites are Muppet Treasure Island and The Muppet's Christmas Carol. This mashup had the potential to be fantastic.

It wasn't. 

First of all 40 minutes felt both too long and too short for this special. Too long because I just wanted it to end by the half hour mark and too short because a well done story with a fleshed out plot would have been great. 

The next big misstep was having Gonzo go with Pepe. I'm not a huge fan of Pepe the Shrimp. I much prefer Rizzo the Rat (we have the same characteristic of being food obsessed). Rizzo also has a personality that plays off of Gonzo a lot better than Pepe.

Third, there needed to be more time spent with the whole Muppet cast. Not everyone needs a starring role. In fact, I like it when Gonzo is the focus of the story. But Kermit, Miss. Piggy, and the rest of the cast needed a bit more to their roles than passing cameos and a brief show number. I think it would have been way more interesting if the whole cast had either been happy haunts or thrown a party there.

Next, the songs weren't memorable at all. Maybe the first one in the graveyard, but it doesn't compare to "One More Sleep to Christmas" or "Cabin Fever". 

Fifth, too much focus on Constance. There are other ghosts that are way more interesting than her murderous specter. 

Finally, and most importantly, Disney keeps forgetting that the ghosts at the Haunted Mansion are "happy haunts". They are happy to be in the mansion - okay Constance is murderous, I don't know if that makes her happy. They're not trapped. They "retired" there. They enjoy and entertain themselves by giving tours and scaring the pants off of the living.

Why is this a difficult concept?

Disney, you had the potential for a great mashup between the Muppets and one of the most iconic attractions at your parks. Why didn't you get this right?

I guess I'll just keep going back to the awesome (though unofficial) creepypastas "Grad Night at the Haunted Mansion" and "The Man with the Cane". Their author(s) clearly understand and love the two Disney attractions. They're scary stories that are also super entertaining.

So, Disney, get your act together and make an adaptation worthy of the 999 happy haunts at the Haunted Mansion.

Your (reluctant) fan,

AJB

P.S. If you liked this blog post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.

Until next week.

Welcome to my Halloween Music Playlists

 Because I can't just have one Halloween playlist. 

Though it may not seem like it, there are a lot of really good music that might be considered Halloween music. There are of course the classics like "Monster Mash", the theme to the "Addams Family", and "Grim Grinning Ghosts". 

However, I have a lot of fun finding new songs to listen to every year. 

One of the first playlists I found on YouTube was of nightcore remixes of some pretty spooky songs. If you’re unfamiliar with nightcore music, it’s typically a song that has been sped up and played at a higher pitch so the recorded singer’s voice becomes distorted. The list included "Secret” (the Pretty Little Liars opening theme), “You’re So Creepy”, “Creepy Doll”, “Discord” (which I swear was written by a My Little Pony fan band), and other amazingly creepy songs. There are numerous playlists already set up on YouTube.

Continuing with my exploration of fun Halloween music on YouTube, eventually I found playlists of Halloween music spanning multiple decades. Naturally the 80s list included songs like “Ghostbusters” and “Thriller”.

My personal favorite decades lists are the ones that include music from before the 1940s. Since there are so few surviving recorded songs from that era, the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s are typically lumped together. These songs are spooky and creepy. Part of it is that the recordings haven’t been cleaned or restored to perfection, so there’s some static and background noise. Plus there’s the whole thing that everyone who recorded the songs are dead. 

So, I’m listening to music about ghosts sung by people who are no longer alive. It ups the creepy factor.

Then there’s the femme fatale cabaret  playlist I stumbled upon. It’s all songs about murder, death, and ladies being devious. The song about serial killers is particularly chilling. The picture of a silent film actress staring into my soul that the uploader picked, is equally off putting.

I love it all.

However, sometimes I don't want any lyrics in the music I'm listening to. I have a few go to artists and movie soundtracks that I like. Nox Arcana is a fairly popular music group that you might have heard at theme parks or festivals that want a spooky edge. Adrian von Zieler is another artist that has a lot of Epic Halloween or Dark Fantasy music play lists that will put anyone in the Halloween writing mood - or if you just need something in the background that won't cause too many distractions. 

As for the movie soundtrack play lists, my favorites include the Silent Hill movie, Halloween, the VVitch, Dead Silence, The Fog, and Suspiria (the original Goblin soundtrack is on point). There's something to be said about a fantastic movie score to put you into the Halloween spirit.

And I can't forget the video game soundtracks. Silent Hill 1, 2, and 3 are all fantastic musical compositions to listen to during this holiday season. I'm also quite fond of the ending themes to all of the Fatal Frame games, but especially "Chuo", "Koe", and "Zero no Chouritsu". I also really like official sound track to Corpse Party (both the game and anime). 

But it's not just these songs that make for a great Halloween playlist. Sometimes I want something more contemporary and hard rock.

One of my play lists includes songs like the amazing "Welcome to the Black Parade", "Helena", "Wrong Side of Heaven", almost everything the band Evanescence has released, and a lot of Breaking Benjamin. I started this play list on Pandora under my "Nightmare Before Christmas". It also mixes in some music from the movie Coraline and Corpse Bride. 

And naturally, I listen to "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" multiple times during the spookiest season.

Now, these are just the songs and music I like to listen to to get me in the Halloween spirit. You guys might want to check some of them out or recommend some of your own favorite play lists. There's a lot of great music out there and I didn't even cover half the independent artists or all of the Disney villain songs I love to listen to at this time of year.

Let me know in the comments if you have any spooky recommendations.

Until next week. 

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off), please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.