Halloween Horrors

beautyandterrordance:

Bela Lugosi in Dracula (1931, dir. Tod Browning) Art direction by Charles D. Hall

“When I am given a new role in a horror film, I have a character to create just as much as if I were playing a straight part. Whether one thinks of films like Dracula as ‘hokum’ or not does not alter the fact; the horror actor must believe in his part. The player who portrays a film monster with his tongue in his cheek is doomed to fail.

In playing Dracula, I have to work myself up into believing that he is real, to ascribe to myself the motives and emotions that such a character would feel. For a time I become Dracula - not merely an actor playing at being a vampire. A good actor will ‘make’ a horror part. He will build up the character until it convinces him and he is carried away by it.

There is another reason why I do not mind being “typed” in eerie thrillers - with few exceptions, there are, among actors, only two types who matter at the box office. They are heroes and villains. The men who play these parts are the only ones whose names you will see in electric lights outside the theater. Obviously you will not find me competing with Clark Gable or Robert Montgomery! Therefore, I have gone to the other extreme in my search for success and public acclaim.”

-Bela Lugosi, Film Weekly, July 1935, via oldhollywood.

(via all-hallows-eve-night)

paranormalbeat:

This is one of the more famous ghost pictures It was taken in 1936. It is said to show the ghost of the Brown Lady who haunts Raynham Hall in England. This ghost picture is believed by many to be one of the best and most convincing of all the known photographs of ghosts. In many cases it is presented as actual proof of the existence of ghosts. This is due in part to the actual age of the picture. Being taken in 1936 eliminates a majority of hoax techniques available today. The Brown Lady of Raynham is the ghost of Lady Townshend who was married to Charles Townshend, When Townshend discovered his wife’s less than faithful habits, he imprisoned her in the family estate at Raynham Hall, in Norfolk, England. He never allowed her to leave, even to see her own children. She remained there until her death.

(via autum-n-bliss)

365daysofhalloween:

Candy Corn Cupcakes

Ingredients
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla, divided
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon orange gel food coloring

Cream Cheese Icing ingredients

2 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup confectioners sugar, sifted
1 to 2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
36 candy corn candies

Cooking Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12 cup) cupcake pans with 16 cupcake liners In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, beat sugar and eggs together until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Add flour, milk, oil, baking powder, and vanilla and beat for another minute, just until the batter is smooth and creamy. Don’t overbeat.

Place 1/3 of the batter into a separate bowl. Add orange gel dye to the reserved batter and mix well. Fill each muffin liner with 2 tablespoons of plain vanilla cake batter. Layer over 1 tablespoon of orange-dyed batter onto each. Using a toothpick, gently drag the orange batter through the plain vanilla batter, creating a streaked look. Do not over do it or batters will blend together. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until the tops are golden and a toothpick poked into the center of the layer comes out clean.

To prepare icing, place cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on low for 30 seconds or until creamy. Add in sugar, milk and vanilla and beat until lightly and creamy, about 1 minute. Use immediately or place in refrigerator until ready to use. For a neat presentation, place frosting into a zipper-type plastic bag with the corner snipped off. Pipe icing onto each cooled cupcake and top with a couple of candy corns for each cupcake.

(via midnightnightmare)

(via giveitupband)

veryoddthings:

If you have ever visited Bull Valley, Illinois you may have noticed a strange looking structure with a unique design. That building is the former residence of spiritualist George Stickney. From the outside the structure is fairly normal looking, but on the inside it is another story.

George had the home built in 1836 for him and his wife Sylvia. At his request the home was to be built with rounded corners. George Stickney followed a form of spiritualism that held to the belief that evil spirits could be attracted to corners or get trapped in them. George and Sylvia held many seances in the home.

According to one legend the home ended up with one corner of a room that had a 90-degree measurement. Oddly enough, George met his demise in the home and reportedly was found dead in one of the corners with a terrified look on his face. He died of apparant heart failure. Sylvia Stickney continued to live in the house and gained fame as a spiritual medium. She held large seances in the home in the upstairs ballroom.

After his death rumors of the supernatural began to surface about the home. Some of the tales include creepy stories from people who have been in the mansion and have reported seeing figures moving about and hearing footsteps. One of the former owners of the house Rodrick Smith also claims to have heard strange noises in the home. He also reported that his dogs never felt comfortable there.

In 1985 the mansion became a police precinct to the Village of Bull Valley. Police Chief Norbert Sauers is reported as having heard footsteps in the building, strange noises, lights turning on and off, door knobs turning, and hearing toilets flush when alone in the house. Another police officer claims to have come face to face with an apparition. The official word from the authorities though, is that the house is not nor has it ever been haunted. Hmmm I wonder which it is?

(via veryoddthings-deactivated201302)