I love Halloween. Always have. Always will.

I get to dress up and be someone completely different. I get to eat candy and drink smoking liquid from a cauldron. Talk of ghost and goblins is nothing out of the ordinary. And it's completely acceptable to act like a child again.

This year I'm in Texas visiting Liza for Halloween and I'm not sure I could have picked a better spot. The weather is perfect, even for the skimpiest costume. The people are friendly and in good spirits(no pun intended). And with a touch of Dia de Los Muertos, it's an amazing backdrop. We wandered the grave yards from the Mexico-American and Civil War.

I dressed in my best Mortisha dress and hooded cloak and wandered the cemetery and chatted quietly, nodding hello to the random passerby. It was peaceful, yet cheerful but still dignified.

Tonight there will no doubt be more festivities and I'll be there. Candle in hand. Candy in the other.


Next year? Salem. I feel the need for fancy dress and masquerades.

Happy Halloween everyone!

The Devil's Night

Devil's Night.

I had never heard of such a things until 1994. I somehow snuck into a rated R movie in the small town I was living in at the time. We sat down in the very back and for the first time I watched The Crow.

I'm sure you have seen it. If you love movies, you have seen this movie. It's incredible dark and violent and not meant for kids but even as a child, I fell in love. (I was an odd child.)

Among those who love it, it's a hot debate to this day. I won't try to analyze it. I won't pick it apart until there is nothing left. I only wish to share this with you. (so no angry emails please...)

Our movie begins with Eric and Shelly are to be wed the following day (Halloween) when a band of evil bastards break into their place, rape and pummel Shelly and kill Eric by shooting him and tossing him out the window. (and all to get the apartment they were living in they could tear the building down. McGuffin anyone?) On the anniversary of their death, Erik is brought back to revenge the injustice with the help of his "spirit guide", a crow.

It was shot with such vision. The design and cinematography was so different for the time. It was nothing like I had ever seen before. Toss in an amazing soundtrack and some damn fine acting, you got yourself something special.

As I'm sure you know, The Crow was Brandon Lee's last film. He had been in 3 other films previously, kinda crappy films, but this was to be his big hit. And it was. His performance was everything the film needed. He was perfect.

Michael Massee who played Funboy, as well many other character you are sure to know, fired the fatal shot. Can you imagine the guilt of something so big yet is not your fault? All the things that had to happen in order for Brandon to be shot fatally was so great is was almost as if it was meant to be.

The barrel of the gun was accidentally plugged with a blank cartridge from the previous shot. The arms master would usually check this, but he had left for the day. (jerk) Instead of shooting in the direction slightly past Brandon (which is customary if shooting blanks as they can still cause harm), Michael was off balance and accidentally shot him right in the chest. It was a minute or two before anyone knew he was seriously hurt because everyone was still doing the scene.

Stranger than all that, everything I just wrote is contradicted in many other writings. With so many people on the set, so many different factors involved, people can't seem to get the story straight. The only thing anyone can be sure of is that there was a shot and Brandon went down and died.

Much like the lovers in the film, Brandon and his finance Eliza were due to be married two weeks after the film wrapped. The film is dedicated to them. The pain she must have felt and still feels...

So as I lay here on All Hallow's Eve, Devil's Night, I think about Brandon, Eliza, Bruce, and I think of Eric and Shelly and how it can't rain all the time.


Massee talks about the accident here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjn3WqsvE_Q

Related articles about stuff I was talking about

• "Devil's Night" Fires Doused In Detroit
• Would You Want a Remake of 'The Crow'? ...with Jason Statham

All souls to the front

Halloween is fast approaching and this year I find that I have an invite to several parties. And these parties are not any kind of namby pamby lameness; we are talking huge expensive shindigs thrown by people who love Halloween. A simple toga costume made from a bed sheet simply will not do.

I usually make my costumes. I am a pretty good seamstress and love to create. But this year I am smack dab in the middle of moving to my beautiful new house and i can't even tell you where my sewing machine is. So I hopped online to find something to buy. I come away from this experience shaken and disturbed.

I am a woman. I have breasts and long legs and a vagina. That doesn't mean that I am a slut. "But oh contraire!" says the costume makers! Slutty nurse, slutty bumble bee, slutty nun! Really? Oye.

I refuse to give in. I'm not saying that I won't show a bit more skin that I might on a normal day, but I will not become a characture of myself. I will be able to bend over without showing my Va-jay-jay. I will be able to lean forward without my breasts falling out. I will be able to dance without my dress splitting open.

Now I just have to figure what that will be. I like the idea of a pirate queen but are pirates played out completely? Maybe the Queen of Hearts? (I think the irony is too much to bear.) The Wicked Witch? Too close to the real thing, I think. Circus ringmaster? I got nothing.

I better think fast. The spirits tell me their hour is approaching and I must be in attendance. Any clever ideas?

Related articles that are really scary

• Ideas for Unique Halloween Costumes for Pets
• Watermelon Costume