Bedfellows

A very effective two minute horror movie.

ALICE- Jan Švankmajer

This macabre and wonderfully dark version of the tale of Alice is available as an instant view on Netflix!    If you haven't seen it yet, do! Here is a bit o' wiki info on it.

Alice (Czech: Něco z Alenky) is a 1988 Czech surrealist fantasy film by Jan Švankmajer. It retells Lewis Carroll's first 'Alice' book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, in Švankmajer's unique style. The film combines live action with stop motion animation. Alice is played by Kristýna Kohoutová, and the English dubbed version features the voice of Camilla Power.

This retelling of the "Alice" story is continually ambiguous about whether or not Alice is in her real world, or when exactly she crosses over to the "Wonderland". Early in the film, Alice appears to be in her bedroom, when a stuffed rabbit display comes to life and breaks out of its cage. Alice follows it up a large, rocky hill and into the drawer of a writing desk. This leads to a cavern where soon after spying the White Rabbit eating sawdust from a bowl with a spoon, she trips and falls through a bucket and seemingly down an elevator. "Wonderland" itself is a strange mix of a household-like areas with very little concern for consistency of space or size. Its inhabitants tend to be strange mixtures of rubbish and dead animals, such as a bed with bird legs, or a stuffed lizard with glass eyes.

Some characters from the original Alice's Adventures in Wonderland appear in similar, but Švankmajerian, forms, such as a wind-up toy rabbit for the March Hare, or a sock with glass eyes for the Caterpillarand a puppet for the Mad Hatter. Similarly, several sequences from the original story, such as Alice's growing and shrinking via the consumption of unusual food and drink, or the scene in which a crying baby changes into a pig, are portrayed in original forms. For example, when Alice shrinks, she is transformed into a doll which looks fairly similar to her regular self.

The movie also contains a number of original sequences not related to the original novel. In one such sequence, Alice is trapped inside a doll-like shell, after being made to walk into a bowl of milk while in her shrunken form, and is locked in a food closet. The Queen's character is also changed somewhat, in that her execution sentences are carried out by the White Rabbit with a pair of scissors.

When the movie ends, it is ambiguous whether everything that happened to Alice was indeed real, or if she is still dreaming. She wakes in her room, but then finds that the white rabbit is still missing from his cage, and finds a secret compartment where he keeps his scissors. She ponders whether or not she will cut his head off.

The visuals are often described as grotesque, perverse, or disturbing, but overall not repulsive. Prominent is the stuffed white rabbit, whose chest is constantly leaking so that he has to keep eating sawdust, various living animal skulls, and a moving slab of meat. There are a number of visual puns. Scissors and knives are also recurring themes. Alice herself narrates the dialogue of all the other characters in the film.

Gothic Computer Accessory

 I want this! I hope it works with a Mac.

Ring around the Rosy

Many Nursery Rhymes have darker origins. Ring around the Rosy as it is more commonly known here in the USA is a great example. In the version most known here in the South/West USA the words are:

Ring around the Rosy

A pocketful of posies

Ashes, Ashes

We all fall down

North/ East USA and Europe more commonly sing

Ring a Ring o'rosies

A pocket full of posies

A-tishoo, A-tishoo

We all fall down

This historical rhyme dates back to approximately the Great Plague/Black Plague of London in 1665 (bubonic plague)  The symptoms of the plague included a rosy red rash in the shape of a ring on the skin (Ring around the rosy). Pockets and pouches were filled with sweet smelling herbs ( or posies) which were carried due to the belief that the disease was transmitted by bad smells. The term "Ashes Ashes" refers to the cremation of the dead. The English version of "Ring around the rosy" replaces Ashes with (A-tishoo, A-tishoo) as violent sneezing was another symptom of the disease. 

15 Things

Sadly however, your body doesn't really make a loud BUZZ noise if someone sticks a pair of tweezers into any open orifice. That would be cool, though...

Ghosts of South Carolina

Happy 4th of July to all! In the spirit of Independence day and Gothic Tea Society, I thought I would mention a few ghost stories that surround Ft. Jackson, South Carolina. I'm not sure as to how true they actually are, but I discovered them in "Ghosts of the South Carolina Midlands."

The first ghost story is that of a young girl that tragically killed herself. She's seen on the artillery range with a hole in her helmet. Strange thing is why would she have head gear on if she were to kill herself? Something to ponder on. Another ghost is seen in the B company 369th AG barracks. He's a shadowy figure who makes sure his soldiers are in bed, goes to the bathroom, closes the door and never returns.

There's also a rich ghost history in Columbia, itself. Of course, we have the story of the Congaree River Bridge being haunted by a young girl who hitchhikes and asks her benefactor who picks her up to take her to her home and disappears in the car on the way there. There's also a very interesting haunting of the Longstreet Theater.

The Longstreet Theater

"The haunting of Longstreet Theatre relates directly to it's history of being used as a military hospital during the Civil War. It has long been rumored the morgue was housed in the basement of this building in a room that now serves as the "Green Room" for the theatre. The "Green Room" actually is three barrelvaulted alcoves made out of brick. Many stories have circulated among the student population of sightings and strange noises, especially late at night. So convinced are some theatre students, that many refuse to be in the building after dark alone and institute a "buddy system." One student relates a story about being in the theatre late at night for a dress rehearsal and going down to the basement to buy a soda from the vending machine located directly opposite the "Green Room." As the student stood facing the machine, a sudden wave of fear overcame her and she looked over her shoulder towards the Green Room. As she did so, the temperature dropped suddenly and she felt a wall cold air hit her even though there are no windows and the entrance doors to the basement remained closed. The student left in a hurry and later described the feeling as being watched by a negative energy."

(info about the Longstreet Theater taken from strangeusa.com)

League of STEAM Commercial

Thanks to Leslie at Alphastamps for finding this.

Vodka Vamps - Part 2

Vodka Vamps

From the book Goth Chic, by Gavin Baddeley.

Old Hearses

The Spider and the Fly

The Spider and the Fly
Mary Howitt

Will you walk into my parlour?" said the Spider to the Fly,
'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I've a many curious things to shew when you are there."
Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "to ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again."


"I'm sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high;
Will you rest upon my little bed?" said the Spider to the Fly.
"There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin,
And if you like to rest awhile, I'll snugly tuck you in!"
Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "for I've often heard it said,
They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed!"


Said the cunning Spider to the Fly, " Dear friend what can I do,
To prove the warm affection I 've always felt for you?
I have within my pantry, good store of all that's nice;
I'm sure you're very welcome -- will you please to take a slice?"
"Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "kind Sir, that cannot be,
I've heard what's in your pantry, and I do not wish to see!"


"Sweet creature!" said the Spider, "you're witty and you're wise,
How handsome are your gauzy wings, how brilliant are your eyes!
I've a little looking-glass upon my parlour shelf,
If you'll step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself."
"I thank you, gentle sir," she said, "for what you 're pleased to say,
And bidding you good morning now, I'll call another day."


The Spider turned him round about, and went into his den,
For well he knew the silly Fly would soon come back again:
So he wove a subtle web, in a little corner sly,
And set his table ready, to dine upon the Fly.
Then he came out to his door again, and merrily did sing,
"Come hither, hither, pretty Fly, with the pearl and silver wing;
Your robes are green and purple -- there's a crest upon your head;
Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead!"

Alas, alas! how very soon this silly little Fly,
Hearing his wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by;
With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer drew,
Thinking only of her brilliant eyes, and green and purple hue --
Thinking only of her crested head -- poor foolish thing! At last,
Up jumped the cunning Spider, and fiercely held her fast.
He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den,
Within his little parlour -- but she ne'er came out again!


And now dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly flattering words, I pray you ne'er give heed:
Unto an evil counsellor, close heart and ear and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale, of the Spider and the Fly.

Treacherous Tea

Morose and Macabre will be 

hosting "Treacherous Tea" a dark Victorian tea party for creeps and malcontents at The HKan in 

the south side of Pittsburgh on Sunday, June 13th from 6-8:30pm. For more ghoulish details click HERE

Bannerman's Castle falling into ruin

POLLEPEL ISLAND, N.Y. – The castle on the Hudson River is crumbling.

One of the stranger sights on the river, Bannerman's island castle is a high-walled ruin topped with turrets that looks like it was built to repel catapult attacks. In reality, the century-old structure off the river's eastern shore was a warehouse for bayonets, pith helmets, rifles and other military relics.

The island has had a second life in recent years as a summer tourist attraction. Visitors — many who know the castle from their daily train commute to New York City — can take a tour boat or a kayak for guided tours of the island. But hard hats must be worn. Big chunks of the castle tumbled down this winter and more could fall at any time.

"Every year, something deteriorates and comes down on us," Neil Caplan of the Bannerman Castle Trust said as he gave a tour of the island recently.

The castle looks both majestic and precarious, and Caplan and the trust are scrambling to raise money for repairs before it's too far gone. This past winter was especially rough: Two walls fell down, including one facing the river bank with "BANNERMAN'S ISLAND ARSENAL" emblazoned across the top. Vegetation sprouts from the walls and the crenelated top is so degraded it looks like it's missing teeth.

The structure is named for Francis Bannerman VI, who bought the rocky, 6 1/2-acre island in 1900 as a place to warehouse items sold in his war relic store in Manhattan, some 50 miles south. (City fathers did not want him to store munitions locally.) Bannerman was an amateur architect with a touch of P.T. Barnum. He modeled his warehouse after castles in his native Scotland, giving it a siege-ready look with a moat and turrets.

Bannerman also built an island residence much smaller than the warehouse but with the same castle motif. It's on a high spot of land and commands the sort of sweeping view of the Hudson Highlands that hedge fund managers pay millions for.

The Bannerman family enjoyed an island retreat that was a world unto itself. They could spend idle days by the gardens, watch the ferries go upriver or sail. Down the hill was the castle and a separate powder house, which blew up spectacularly in 1920.

Family members continued to frequent the island for decades after Francis Bannerman died in 1918. The island was sold to New York state in 1967, two years before a fire gutted the castle. Left standing were the high walls familiar to Metro-North and Amtrak passengers.

Bannerman Castle Trust formed in 1993 to turn the scenic ruin into a proper attraction. Caplan, a local real estate agent and bed-and-breakfast owner, has headed the trust since the beginning. The pay is modest, but he's passionate. During a recent tour of the island for tourism industry officials and the press, he stopped a couple of times to pull weeds from the winding walking paths and actually shouted once: "This is still important to save!"

Visitors can get close-up looks at the castle ruins, but must stay back because of the threat of a fresh collapse. The tour also includes a ramble through island paths that wind through rehabilitated gardens and to the house.

The residence is scheduled for roof, floor and other stabilization work this summer with the help of donations and state and federal grants. More ambitious — and expensive — work on the castle is still in the future.

Though the island is part of nearby Hudson Highlands state park, the trust is responsible for raising money for its rehabilitation. Caplan praises parks officials as wonderful partners, but the state agency has already closed dozens of parks and has little money to spare. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer has applied for $1 million through the "Save America's Treasures" historic preservation program, but that money, if it comes, is not expected until next year.

The castle could face more danger if the Hudson Valley gets another winter with cycles of freezing and warmer weather — which pretty much describes every recent winter here. There are fears the island's signature feature could become a rock pile. That would leave the trust with an even more expensive choice of whether to reconstruct a faux-castle. Caplan hopes to raise enough money before it gets to that point.

"I just get antsy," Caplan said in the shadow of the castle, "because it can come down at any time."