The Season of the Witch

Maybe it's just all the new supernatural tv shows this Fall, but I'm really into the idea of taking it back a few years (or centuries) and dressing up like a witch for Halloween. 

I'm going to try to avoid the silliness of Hocus Pocus, and the goth-cliché of The Craft and go with something a little more glamourous. I'm thinking long dark skirts, some choice jewelry, sky-high stilettos, and of course a classic pointed hat. Too bad neither of the dogs is well behaved enough to masquerade as my familiar for the evening...

Though, clearly the witchy attitude is the most important part of the equation. 

Bitch is the new black, afterall!

images from Tumblr

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Tumblr

When we’re young we all have things that we’re terrified of: clowns, creepy crawlies, that old lady with the evil eye. But as we grow up, we begin to understand that these fears are irrational; the clowns become more annoying than scary, the creepy crawlies get squished underfoot, and we discover that the old lady just has a case of “bitchy resting face.” But are we capable of conquering our fears as we grow up, or do they just evolve into more complex conditions?

When I was young I had a terrible fear of the darkness. I slept with a nightlight for a really long time, and even when I gave up the nightlight I preferred not to sleep in pitch darkness. My rational mind knew that there wasn’t anything lurking in darkened corner, but I guess reading too many scary stories gave me an over-active imagination. As an adult, a dark room doesn’t bother me, but I often identify this fear of the dark as being a precursor to the more adult condition of a fear of the unknown. The future can’t be predicted, so every grown-up has to face up to their fear of not knowing where their life, careers, or relationships will take them.

I also had some pretty major fears of abandonment as a child, all due to the one time that my mother accidentally left me by the bacon in the Overwaitea (the precursor to Save On Foods). No seriously, she did. Not on purpose, of course, but I still remember the fear of being lost and not knowing where my person had gone. Most children get scared when they get separated from their pack (it’s an tribal instinct), but when the same pattern is repeated by untrustworthy friends, lovers, and authority figures an adult develops a sense of mistrust in their social surroundings. Whether we cling to our groups of friends (guilty) or push people away (even more guilty) we are playing up to the same fears of abandonment that we felt as a child.

Ironically, I was never scared of bugs when I was a kid. I would play with ants, collect pill bugs, and be fascinated by wayward spiders. Of course, most of these were harmless bugs (bar the 2 breeds of poisonous spiders found in Kamloops) – and my youthful mind had no idea that not all bugs were fine and dandy. And then I started watching House. I was drawn in by the sarcastic lead doctor (who doesn’t love a cynical lead character), but my love affair with the show ended abruptly during the episode where a woman got worms in her brain from eating bad pork. Yeah, that’s a deal breaker for me. Maybe it’s just a healthy dose of paranoia that stems from a survival instinct, but there are too many freak stories of parasites for me to ever be friends with most bugs again.

So now that I’ve shared some of my childhood trauma, it’s your turn. Do you see any connections between your childhood fears and your grown-up anxieties? Or are we all still scared of snakes? Actually, I’ll give you that one… Snakes are scary!

Vamp It Up!

The Great Pumpkin has almost arrived, so I hope you all have your costumes ready for however you’re celebrating! I don’t think I’ll end up doing anything spectacular tomorrow night (even though I have Tuesday off from school), because I’m not quite ready to be that social with my classmates yet. Sorry everyone, but drinking and partying is something I only do with my close friends because I have a very low threshold for getting annoyed, and I tend to be even more brutally honest, and I don’t think you’re ready for that yet. Chances are I’ll make myself a nice dinner, and curl up with either Interview with the Vampire on dvd or the Coraline audiobook, and have a quiet night in.

Michael Antonio "Otani" heels

ANYWAYS! I still have a pair of fabulous shoes to share with you all. I chose my most spectacularly vampy pair of shoes, since every time I see them they remind me of vampires. And Rocky Horror Picture Show (according to some), and bondage hookers (according to others). Obviously they’re dress up shoes, and the only time I’ve worn them in public was for a vampire dress up night with my Victoria friends in the middle of the summer. Yes, we’re random like that.

Two other points of (potential) interest: (one) my couch is finally arriving from Ikea on Tuesday, which means that pictures of my adorable apartment will be posted soon, and (two) the entire month of November is going to be along the lines of costumey dress up, just because I feel like it!

Gothic

Obviously I’m featuring the typical Hallowe’en nail polish colour. Black is where it’s at, and it never goes out of style! It’s also the easiest polish to buy, since you can get a cheap dollar store version, and it’ll still look good! This one is called "Black Satin" by Rimmel London. 

my flash was doing weird things...

in the shade

Queen of the Damned

Last night was the new moon, so I hope you all did something Dark and Mysterious to get into the Hallowe’en spirit! I spent the evening listening to the Coraline audiobook, narrated by Neil Gaiman himself (it’s super adorable, but super creepy), and I made you guys this idea board of vampire-inspired fashion! Hope you like!

Marguerite Moreau (Jessie) from Queen of the Damned. Image from here. 

Pumps by Christian Louboutin. Image from here.

Vampire makeup by Sephora. Image from here.

True Blood title image from here.

Studded leather jacket by Burberry. Image from here.

Spiked cuff by Burberry. Image from here.

Layered chain necklace by Dannijo. Image from here.

Biker boots by Jeffrey Campbell (“Wishing” boot). Image from here.

Plaid dress by American Eagle. Image from here.

Lace gloves image from here.

Fur coatlet by Matthew Williamson. Image from here. 

Don't Even Get Me Started

Tis the Hallowe’en season, and what better theme for the week than my favourite spooky costume inspiration: VAMPIRES!

I love vampires, and I always have, but there’s one exception. I’m sure you all know exactly which sparkly douche-bag of a vampire I’m referring to. Seriously you don’t want to get me started on the many reasons why it’s filth and has spoiled the good name of vampire fiction, so I’m not even going to say a word. If you know me, then you’ve probably heard my rant anyways. If you really want to witness my death glare (which I accidentally did in class the other day when it was brought up as a comparison to Romeo and Juliet) then go right ahead, dare speak its name in my presence. But beware, it won’t be pretty, and you might lose a limb or two.

Instead I’m going to give you some suggestions of other vampire fiction, so that maybe you’ll go and read something worthwhile.

First off, read the original Dracula by Bram Stoker. It’s not my favourite vampire book (since I’m a big fan of vampires who aren’t complete jerks), but it’s something that you should experience to compare it to the rest of the books.

this picture might be my computer wallpaper >_>
image from here

Next, go and get your self any of the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. She is the best, and so are her vampires. Lestat is a babe, and totally messed up, and so are all of the other vampires in the books. They’re a bit dense (hellooo writing from the perspective of a 1700s-era vampire is going to be a bit of a disconnect), but highly enjoyable. I personally recommend Blood and Gold, since Marius is my favourite vampire ever. He’s from Ancient Rome, and he’s a scholar and a realist and an artist, so his story is pretty interesting. The Vampire Armand is also pretty good, since Armand is almost as screwed up as Lestat is.

image from here

If you want something a little “lighter” then go for some Christopher Moore. His vampire trilogy includes the books Bloodsucking Fiends, You Suck, and Bite Me is hilarious, and definitely has a more teen-aged bent. The reaction of people seeing you reading a book that’s called You Suck in public is worth it, even if you don’t particularly enjoy Moore comedic stylings.

image from here

One last suggestion before I sign off is the classic German novel Das Parfum (translated it’s called Perfume in English) by Patrick Süskind. It’s eerie, it’s creepy, and definitely horrifying. It may not be a “traditional” blood-sucking vampires book, but it’s one that I feel the list would be incomplete without!

Feel free to add your suggestions to the comments (seriously please do), since I’m all about encouraging people to read other vampire books than the drivel that shall not be named, and I can always use some more books on my reading list!