Author: Head Candy Corn

On a well-drawn blustery night, some costumed individuals go a haunting! Do you remember trick-or-treating? Do you still go trick-or-treating? The weirdest thing I ever got was a handful of cough drops in Atwater Village. And the saddest thing I ever got was back in the day when I was a wee rabble rouser in my hometown of Forestville. It was probably the BEST TASTING POPCORN BALL EVER that came from a REAL cauldron from a well-meaning couple all dressed up on their well-decorated porch. The candied popcorn was ladled into tinfoil and wrapped just for me right in front of my captivated eyeballs. But you see, the paranoia had already set in, and even though we knew where these people lived, my parents wouldn’t let me have the popcorn ball. They were absolutely convinced that it was packed with hallucinogens or razor blades or.. I dunno… asbestos.

Anyway, the joy of this piece is not just in its care of hand-drawn craft, but the hint of inklings not unlike the residual impressions of a certain Great Pumpkin that will visit us all on October 31st. Not sure if you’re feelin’ it, but if I were to show up with a plate of Dolly Madison frosted Zingers, would you turn me away?

-JP

As a brain traveling a foreign country, the last thing you want to do is stand out like a sore thumb. No brain wants to be sucked into tourist traps or be an obvious target for geting mugged or even kidnapped! That’s why these brains learned the languages of earth and aren’t carrying maps (a sure sign of being an outsider) and are only ordering what the locals order at restaurants. The fair City of Los Angeles has a lot to offer, and you can see that the brains are having the time of their lives as they visit each iconic location. They have even made three postcards of their adventures available to you, so click on day 20 on Gothtober.com to get your FREE printable BRAIN TOURISM POSTCARDS from Oonstein!

 

Stories within stories, vignettes of the unknown, traces of movement, shadows of ambiguity and the sinister shades of this captivating preview await you, dear viewer. There is a rumor that the movie to be released will be shorter than the trailer. Who is Hertie Gertie? What’s to be gained from having bright aqua bluey greeny hair? How does The Laundress fit into all of this? What will happen to the lovers, and what’s up with the kid in the cape with the watering can? Is that timer on the window ever going to go off, or will it simply keep ticking… and ticking… and ticking? Best you take a gander at DAY 19 as we get closer and closer to Halloweeeeeeennnnnn!

You may have wondered where day 28 went last year. That’s because it morphed into day 18 on the calendar THIS year! Coming to you from their very warped and troubling minds are writer, Bill Wolkoff and artist Adriana Yugovitch.

Also featuring fantastic “Christine/Beat” music composed by Josh Fielstra, this “Choose Your Own Adventure” piece will make you think twice about salvaging forgotten electronic equipment found in the outskirts of town.

Check out Gothtober’s DAY 18 to see what we mean…

Barry Morse, (not to be confused with the Canadian American Actor who died in 2008) is a master of the beautiful, interesting and grotesque. When Barry Morse told me he was making 17 felt puppets, I took pause and thought “This is going to be 10 trillion tons of awesome.” Well, I was right. Peek into the gumdrop-colorsode of color that Barry has prepared for us, it truly is a wonderland of gorgeous Mary-Blair-esqueness… except kinda gay and crazy and put through the moebius strip kaleidoscope that is… well … BARRY. Not that I’d want to do this, but I’m convinced if we popped open Barry’s brain, we’d find butterflies, muscle men, cookies, rainbows, lots of catchy songs, perhaps some disturbing plastic baby arms and much much more.  Mr. Barry of Hollywood holds a cornucopia of wild visuals between his ears twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. We are lucky that he’s been sharing his visions with us every Gothtober.

Hungry for some Black Widow Pizza? How about some Plasma Taters? Nothing hits the spot like the ghoulish goodies coming out of Chef LeBron’s kitchen. In Gothtober Day 16 you’ll find nothing less than the most delicious weirdo foods that will simultaneously delight and horrify your guests.

Known at first for her traditional cooking involving only fresh severed heads from her hometown in Southern California, LeBron has developed a vast array of exciting dishes. She has even branched out into serving actual food for live human beings! Keep an eye (of newt) out for the product line coming out soon, which will include a full line of kitchen tools like finger skinners, her patented brain slicer and combination frog fryer!

What makes a good story? It helps if your story is told by Lori Meeker and Grimace Boyer, America’s celebrated artist and writer sweetheart couple living in beautiful Hollywood, California. You might think, from all the stories about Tinseltown, that it is packed with movie stars just walking down Hollywood Boulevard, hobnobbing with everyone that walks by, and you’d be absolutely right. Meeker and Boyer were having a malt (you know, one glass, two striped straws, little puffy hearts above their heads) when they were discovered by a Gothtober Hollywood Agent one haunted neon lit night. They have never looked back, and have been making wonderful spooky treats for us ever since.

This beautifully illustrated yarn is narrated by Lori and Grimace themselves, and is a Halloween classic to be told by the spooky fire while sipping your cocoa. Sit back and relax, press “PLAY” and enter a world with three generations of sassy witches and a village in need of some help.

You know it’s fall when you find yourself in the pumpkin patch, you are munching on a crisp apple, and all the sunflowers are looking down to see if their shoes are untied.
Provided by expert narration from the young Arrow Gump, take a tour of an eerie enchanted landscape rife with sites astounding and unreal.

Equivalent to the sum of six and seven, 13 is Gothtober’s luckiest number, no triskaidekaphobia around these parts!Gothtober would like to send out a very special anniversary to Saida and Eric Staudenmaier who tied the knot some years ago on October 13th. Congratulations, you two! Have fun stormin’ the castle!

Anyway, you should know that ghosts, ghouls, spirits and apparitions of all kinds trust only the Staudenmaiers for professional quality portraits. If you yourself happen to be undead, you should know that there is no better choice than The Staudenmaiers, who will help make your family pictures a special time in your zombie afterlife by finding out what you are truly looking for when it comes to traditional or contemporary photos.
SESSION TIPS
• Please make sure all parties in the family have been well fed before the shoot.
• Bring at least two complete outfits, and it is advised that all limbs be attached for the session.
• Arrive with clean sores and minimal oozing scabs

TESTIMONIAL
“On October 13th, 1983 I turned 347 years old and for my birthday I wanted to have professional pictures taken. I went with the Staudenmaiers, and let me just say, you don’t get that level of service anywhere else. I was a little nervous once we started the shoot, but the staff gave me some brains and a glass of blood and I felt very comfortable right away. I will highly recommend The Staudenmaiers to all my friends and co-workers.”
I. Emma Ghost
Anaheim, CA

A short indulgence of paper dolls INDEED, bordering on totally nutzo technical cleverness and super fabulousness is Christy Chamber’s creepy culinary contribution to Gothtober Day 12. Featuring a very enthusiastic James Beard award winning blue chef and a series of easily available (uh, and not so available) ingredients, you are invited, dear viewer, to enjoy a shared cooking experience geared toward today’s seasonal interests. Just, uh, make sure you don’t lean too far into the pot when he invites you to taste his latest dish. You might become part of the gourmet experience in more ways than you realize.