Another delightful artist stops by to give her thoughts on Halloween.
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| "I love Instagram! And if you follow me there, you can see sketches of things I'm working on, things I'm eating/drinking & cat pictures!" |
Please pull up a toadstool and tell the folks about you.
Most people will know me as Belle Dee, I have a blog called 'Doo Wacka Doodles' where I post my art & for the month of October, Halloween Countdown related content. My art has appeared in magazines such as Little Shoppe of Horrors, Video Watchdog, Horrorhound & Rue Morgue.
What was Halloween like for you as a kid?
I grew up in western NC, in the mountains, in a small town. Also, we lived way out in the country, so someone (usually my grandmother), would have to drive me from house to house, since they were so far apart. So I never really got the neighborhood trick or treat experience, like you see on tv. I loved dressing up and I was usually more excited about that than anything else. When I was in 6th grade, a classmate had a Halloween costume party. I dressed up like a princess & won first prize! My favorite part of that evening was going out for a hayride in the dark of night. It was so fun.
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| "Since I had no picture of me wearing my beloved cat costume, I had my younger sister put it on a few years ago, so I could take pictures of someone actually wearing it. I used an old photo of myself for the face & got this lovely background from one of the many Ideals magazines that I've been sharing pages from this October." |
My grandmother knew how to sew, so most of my costumes were homemade. My favorite was probably my cat costume. I would put that thing on & play in it year round. Even in the middle of the summer, when it was sweltering out. I still have it. I also still have a witch costume she made.
I'm also a little surprised that since my grandmother did make most of my costumes, that I don't have more photos of me at Halloween. It's seems strange to me.
Any memorable Halloween stories to share?
When I was in 3rd or 4th grade, I had a music teacher who did these presentations for us at Halloween. Sort of like telling us a ghost story, but he had props (evidence), to help support the story he was telling us. One year he told some story about a mummy. He had fake newspapers that had 'Mummy Disappears', etc. on the front and a human finger in a box (that gag where you cut a hole in the bottom of a small box and put your thumb through so it looks like a severed finger in a box). It was the first time I'd ever seen that and at the time I don't think I processed what exactly I was seeing. I just thought it was a finger in a box. The whole thing concluded with a reveal of THE MUMMY! or rather a bandaged-wrapped store mannequin. At the end of the show, he explained that it wasn't real and let us examine the props & things. Each class that came in was asked not to tell the next group what was coming. Now even though he explained away that mummy business and we all had a good laugh, when I went to bed that night and was lying alone in the dark, I started getting really freaked out. There was some light outside & it was casting shadows from a bush on my wall & it looked like a giant bat! I was terrified & I just knew that mummy was going to get me.
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| "This is the costume I wore to a Halloween Party in 6th Grade & took first prize. Although it was made up of different elements, the actual dress was made by my grandmother, for my mother to wear to a dance when she was in school." |
It's really sad, but I don't really do much on the actual night of Halloween. There was a neighborhood on the other side of town here that used decorate and do a big jack o lantern display. But I haven't been in a couple of years, so I might go out to see if they're still doing it.
Do you have any annual rituals?
I have a Halloween playlist, that I load on my iPod come September that I play throughout the season. It's a mix of songs starting from the early 1900's & goes up to the 1960's. But no rock & roll stuff. I actually have a separate playlist for 50's & 60's rock & roll, surf, garage music. I use to make Halloween mixed CDs for friends, but I think I've exhausted all my material.
I get out all my Halloween specials to watch. I have a couple of VHS tapes with things like 'Disney's Halloween Treat', 'The Halloween that Almost Wasn't', 'Halloween is Grinch Night', 'Raggedy Ann & Andy - The Pumpkin who couldn't Smile', and much more. 'Its the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown' & Disney's 'Legend of Sleepy Hollow' are a must. Also I have a bunch of Simpsons Treehouse of Horror on tape. I also watch all the Martha Stewart Halloween related shows. There is a DVD, and if you have Hulu, they have a Martha Halloween section!
This is the time of year that I only watch Halloween related horror. 'Halloween', 'Halloween III'(a personal favorite), 'Trick r Treat', 'Night of the Demons.' I also like 'Kenny & Co.', directed by Don Coscarelli. It's not horror, it's more like the week of the life of a boy in the 1970s & it takes place around Halloween. I love it & surprised more people don't mention it.
I also watch Halloween Wars, carve a pumpkin, visit a corn maze, and seek out all things Pumpkin-Spiced.
In the future I want to incorporate more crafting & decorating into my Halloween.
Inside the Spooksters' Studio
The worst thing to get while trick or treating was that pink gum that was rock hard. Super bubble maybe?
My favorite thing to get was anything chocolate & stickers!
Thanks for joining us! Where can people follow you online?
They can check out my blog, Doo Wacka Doodles, find my on the Facebook, and on Instagram.
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| "I usually sketch ideas out for Halloween pieces, 10 months out of the year. Not all of them make it to a final finished piece. Here's a small sample collage of some sketches I've done over the past two years." |
Before you head off to your next house, swing by Halloween Mixes.
They're posting a themed mix album every day of the month!
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