My Netflix Picks this Halloween #streamteam

I love Halloween. All that spooky and scary stuff is right up my street, which is why I enjoy tailoring my TV viewing to suit the season. Netflix has some fantastic films and series that are just perfect for this time of year when you want a bit of horror in your life.

Watching scary movies Inside the Wendy House - by George Fairbairn

Here are my top picks:

Scream - the series

The Scream movie franchise is one of the big horror hits of the late 90s, featuring the horror obsessed killer in a Scream mask. The new Netflix series is a TV adaptation of the slasher genre featuring teens living in Lakewood, a small town with a horrific crime spree in its past.

After a cyber-bullying incident, a popular high school student Nina is brutally murdered, beginning a new wave of violence in Lakewood. A group of teens is drawn into the killer's game, and they use their wits to try and stay alive, unmask the perpetrator and stop him for good.

The cast is full of upcoming young actors with the role of Nina being played by Bella Thorne. It's a great teen drama, fast paced, very modern and infused with iconic slasher horror.

Circle

This movie is not your typical action packed horror film, instead it is shot in real time with just one setting for the majority of the action. Fifty people find themselves in a room standing in a circle around a central glowing device that fires out a bolt of energy every two minutes that kills whoever it hits. The people soon realise they can control who is killed and so enter into a fraught dialogue trying to decide who deserves to live or die. Alliances are made and tempers rage as the group battles to survive, knowing only one person can leave with their life. Who will walk out of the circle? The pregnant lady? The child? The cancer survivor? The soldier? Or someone else?

Circle is a bold film that doesn't rely on conventional thinking to shock and surprise its audience. It is quite slow paced, but very compelling. It doesn't give you any back story nor does it explain why they are in their predicament, instead it is what it is, and you go along with the confusion, frustration and fear of the people in the circle.

American Horror Story

AHS has mastered the art of mashing up horror genres and creating visually stunning, utterly shocking and beautifully crafted masterpieces with incredible storytelling and great acting. The series has been groundbreaking with each season taking the actors into a whole new world of horror. Murder House, Asylum, Coven and Freak Show are all available on Netflix. Each series is completely different and exquisitely enjoyable. I can't praise this series enough and I absolutely adore Evan Peters who stars in all the seasons in various roles.

Ella as Twisty the Clown from AHS Freakshow

For the kids, Netflix has the excellent spooky show Goosebumps to provide the Halloween thrills. My older children used to watch the TV show and read the books when they were younger. Now thanks to Netflix, my younger kids can enjoy the creepy stories too. Other picks for children include Wallace and Gromit - the Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Monsters University, Tweeny Witches and Monster vs Aliens.

Netflix has a huge range of great horror films available to view on Netflix this Halloween including Carrie, World War Z, Saw, Zombieland, The Omen, My Bloody Valentine, Friday the 13th and Babadook which are all worth a watch.

It is easy to find horror films on Netflix by clicking through the genre selection. There are loads to choose from that will let you enjoy a scary movie marathon over Halloween. Have fun and enjoy!!

Halloween's Coming...Ooooooo! A Spooky Round Up!

Halloween or Samhain is one of my favourite times of the year.  It marks the start of the winter and celebrates the Feast of the Dead where the veil between the this world and the Otherworld is at its thinnest. I love some of the Pagan traditions, reflecting on changes that have occurred and remembering lost loved ones. But it is also a day that celebrates all things scary and horror related, my favourite genre of anything ever!  So I am also happy to indulge in the commercial side of the festivities, dressing up, making spooky food and having some frightful fun!

This year we are off to Alton Towers to partake in their annual Scarefest.  We love the horror mazes and the themed decorations and characters that can be seen throughout the park. We are getting the pre-bookable all-you-can-eat wristbands (at £29.50 each) enabling us to enjoy as much food and drink from the restaurants as we want:  unlimited hot chocolates, veggie burgers, fries, cakes and pizza, without worrying about the cost on the day! Given that a cup of coffee alone is over two quid, I'll definitely be getting my money's worth from this investment, enjoying breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner at the park.  Then we are staying at the hotel overnight. I love it when Halloween falls during half term!

Scarefest 2012

We have lots more planned over half term.  Kizzy is having a belated Halloween themed birthday party.  It is nice to make loads of homemade themed Halloween food, but it really lightens the load to use some shop bought goodies too.  Asda have a really great range of sweet treats that will look great on a Halloween party table. They will definitely save a lot of time and effort for me, the party host, and they will delight all the little monsters!

Halloween Treats from Asda

We bought a selection of Asda's  Halloween food range using a gift card we received.

Grusome Gooballs - fuzzy marshmallows with an orange gooey centre.

Perilous Pumpkins - orange marshmallow shapes.

Shocking Shortbread Bats - delicious choc chip shortbread bats.

Weird Witch's Hair - colourful candyfloss.

Exploding Eyeballs - individually wrapped chocolates filled with strawberry ooze!

Scary Skeletons - chunky chocolate shapes.

Graveyard Ginger Ghouls - box of 18 gingerbread biscuits.

Funsize Bags of Maltesers, Twix , Mars and Milky Way perfect for Trick or Treaters

Fiendish Fancies - Mr Kipling's fondant fancies get a Halloween makeover with orange and black icing. 

Witch's Cauldon - A brilliant black, handled witch's cauldron which makes a great container for keeping all the sweets in!

I love the Halloween bakery range which if I'm lucky might be mistaken for homemade gingerbread and shortbread (just don't tell my party guests!!)  It's nice to find such a good range of Halloween goodies available in my local Asda store all priced at £1 - it will definitely help with my Halloween celebrations this year!  (Check out asda.com for more spooky Halloween treats in The Big Shop of Horrors!)

When it comes to dressing up, I have collected a whole box filled with costumes ranging from witches to vampires to the Grim Reaper!  The girls love glamming up the outfits to create a fashion forward scary character!  This year my son's girlfriend Jade has got coloured cosmetic contact lenses in terrifying plain black.  They look really demonic!  She is working an outfit around them - a demon mermaid was one of her ideas!!  They will really make a huge impression this Halloween and take dressing up to a whole new level! Just look at this photo with one black and one blue eye...it's a bit freaky!  But jade is definitely rocking the look. (Thanks to my lovely future D.I.L for the photo!)

Jade wearing her Colour Contacts 

As for Freddy I could not resist this mummified Halloween Bandage Onesie from George.  At £9 it is a real bargain and is thick and warm with a zip up front.  He'll be wearing this to his first school disco tomorrow night!  It's cosier and more practical than flimsy fancy dress costumes so I won't worry about him getting chilly - and he looks so cute in it!

George Mummy Onesie

Ian and I have got World War Z on 3D Blu-Ray to watch on Friday night.  That will start our Halloween half term off with super scary bang.  We'll wear our Evil Dead and Hellraiser t-shirts, crack open a bottle of red wine and let the horror fest begin!

World War Z

So we have got a lot to look forward to this half-term.  Lots of top quality family time and all the spooky fun of Halloween with parties, discos and at Alton Towers' Scarefest.  We'll be eating spooky themed food and baking scary cakes and listening to our Halloween playlist and watching some good old horror films. Perfect.

Happy Halloween to everyone...however you plan to celebrate it!

The Possession

There has been a spate of shockingly bad exorcism films released recently so I wasn't completely confident when we were sent The Possession from Lionsgate, that it would be any different.  But I love horror films and was more than willing to give it a watch.  Thankfully however, I was not disappointed.  In fact I really enjoyed it.

The film is based on a true story (although I always wonder just how much truth is actually in these sort of claims.  Surely if these cases were going on in real life we'd see them on the news...or on a Jeremy Kyle exorcism special perhaps?)

The plot revolves around  Em, who is the youngest daughter of divorced parents who share custody of their two girls.  On her dad's watch, Em finds herself drawn to an old, carved, wooden trunk at a garage sale, which he buys for her.  Very quickly Em becomes strangely attached to it and her behavior starts to change.  Initially blaming it on the divorce, it takes a while for her parents to realise that her sudden terrifying moods and the odd goings on are related to the wooden box that Em is so attached to.  It's her dad who puts two and two together first and seeks help from the Jewish community to try to save his daughter's soul from the demonic presence that has been released from the wooden box where it had been trapped.  The family, assisted by a Jewish rabbi,  enter into a terrifying battle to save Em and return the malevolent spirit to the box, culminating in a very frightening show down against the evil presence.

This film is genuinely very unnerving in parts, aided by the performance from the young actress who plays 10 year old Em.  She was very creepy and made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on several occasions! The effects are pretty good and stay with you long after the film has finished.  There are plenty of jumps and a fair few moments that make you want to peep through your fingers. The pace of the story, the suspense and the amount of scary scenes are enough to keep you gripped and entertained.  It has all the elements of a good supernatural, horror movie that will provide 90 minutes of enjoyable scare time.  As it has a certificate 15, it stops short of being too gory or violent, relying more on being subtly disturbing keeping you on edge.

It may not be groundbreaking, but it is very entertaining, genuinely scary in parts, pretty well acted with likeable characters and has some nice creepy effects putting it above other films I have seen in the exorcism genre.  It was thoroughly enjoyed by myself, Ian and 16 year old Ella who said it was the best new release horror film she had seen in a while.

The Possession DVD from Lionsgate is due for release on January 21st 2013 and will be available from all good stockists.

Halloween Fun for Flashback Friday/Project 52/Country Kids

So Halloween is over for another year!  It remains one of the year's most contentious holidays with many people objecting to it for numerous reasons.  I've seen arguments against it based on the fear of the 'un-Christian' side of things.  Some dislike the whole 'begging' element of Trick or Treating.  Others hate the commercialism of a day that is seen as being very Americanized.  Me, on the other hand, I love it.  I love the Pagan roots of Samhain with its rich history.  I enjoy the traditions.  Horror is one of my favourite genres of film and literature, so I love celebrating that.  I enjoy having an excuse to throw a party for my family with such scope for theming the food, the costumes and the activities.  We have fun together and that to me, is the most important reason for celebrating this special day.  My kids don't go trick or treating (it's too damn cold for one thing!), but we do have a tub full of sweets ready for the neighbouring children who come calling.  They are mostly very polite, friendly and enthusuastic, and generally they have an adult lurking in the shadows keeping an eye on proceedings to keep them safe.  

We really enjoy going to Alton Towers for their annual Scarefest.  With a blend of cute, fun characters and activities for the little ones to enjoy, to the heart-poundingly thrilling scares of the horror mazes, there is something for us all to enjoy.  This year we introduced Kizzy to her first horror maze!  She is truly hardcore. 

The Sanctuary is a live action walkthrough based on a correctional facility run by the Ministry of Joy, whose techniques for 'correcting' patients are questionable.  The patients, doctors and nurses have all become 'broken' by the barbaric goings-on.  Visitors are invited to look around with a view to becoming advocates of their programme.  Scary stuff!

The Carnival of Screams is a travelling fun house that has fallen on hard times.  Guests enter...but never leave.  With twisted terror and disorientating illusions hidden within the maze, you get to brave the experience while grotesque clowns tease and taunt you and jump out from the shadows.  It's the stuff of nightmares!

Freddy got to enjoy a story time and a musical show with Skelvin and his friends.  He wasn't too impressed getting his photo taken with them, but he loved the activities. We also went on a few rides and attractions  including the awesome Nemesis - Sub Terra to finish our frightful day out.  We were blessed with a beautiful, crisp Autumn day. Wrapped up warm and snuggly in our thermals kept us all cosy.  I love this time of year.

A Homemade Halloween Zombie Challenge

How To Make A Zombie Using Everyday Household Items!

I posted yesterday about what Halloween was like when my two eldest children were younger, before the days of the ready-to-wear scary outfits that are now so readily available in shops.  We had to get creative and make our own if we wanted to celebrate Halloween in style.  So feeling nostalgic, I decided that I would try to make a homemade Halloween outfit for my willing volunteer, my daughter's boyfriend Tom, using only stuff that we had around the house and nothing else.  It was a challenge that we had a lot of fun with.

Inspired by some of our favourite horror films ...Day/ Dawn/ Land/ Night/ Shaun of the Dead... we decided to embrace the living dead genre and go down the zombie route!  We decided that a relatively 'fresh' post-apocalyptic zombie would be the easiest look to achieve without having to resort to expensive, bought-in make-up, accessories or clothing.

Creating a Zombie costume starts with finding some old clothes...the kind of clothing hidden in the back of the wardrobe, unworn and unloved.  Tom's old jeans and T-Shirt combo was perfect for ripping, shredding and distressing.  (If you don't want to destroy any of your own clothes, a trip to the local charity shop will provide you with a suitable outfit for a couple of quid...plus you'll be helping raise money for a good cause!)

The real joy of creating a zombie is making the face look as gruesome as possible, without shelling out on expensive special effects kits.  So I used porridge oats and a few drops of green and red food colouring from the store cupboard, a pot of vaseline along with a tube of fake blood I had (£1 from Poundworld) with some of the kids' face paints ( from a Union Jack set left over from the Olympics) and some purple  shadow from an old make-up set.

With a white base on the face, I then built up disgustingly  mouldy scabs using vaseline mixed with the coloured porridge oats.  With an old sponge I daubed on the purple eye shadow.  Fake blood squirted and smeared on the face, clothing and body adds a horrific touch.  Using a new non-stick scourer from my kitchen (originally 20p as part of a multi-pack) I made some textured, conjealed blood mottling to complete the look. (But I had to be gentle so not to exfoliate Tom in the process!!)

The hair was made ghoulish by using a bar of hand soap to spike it as it makes really firm spikes and then sprinkling with some plain flour.  The flour was also liberally patted into the clothes for a dusty look!

We had such fun creating a zombie just from things we had around the house.  We bought nothing especially for the outfit, and enjoyed improvising with things to give the desired effect.  The only purchased item was the £1 tube of fake blood.  It shows what can be done with a bit of imagination, a willing volunteer, limited time, everyday household objects and no budget.  

I love Halloween and I love the fact that it is an excuse to get dressed up and have some good old horror based fun.  It needn't be an expensive time of year.  A few cheap sweets for the trick or treaters, some themed Halloween baking, a pumpkin to carve and cook with and a costume to make you feel the part, is all you need to have a good time with your friends and family.  Of course a good horror film goes down a treat too!!

Happy Halloween...However You Celebrate!

I can't believe how quickly October has flown by.  It seems the children only just started back at school and already we're celebrating Halloween!  It'll be Christmas in a blink of an eye!  Already the shops are playing Christmas tunes...seriously the Disney Store was in full Chrimbo mode on Saturday...they seem to be bypassing Autumn altogether and going straight for the Winter celebrations.  It all goes too fast! 

That is one of the reasons why I like to punctuate the year with celebrations.  It's a chance to pause for thought and have some family fun.  It allows reflection and gives a chance to take stock and regroup before marching onto the next event on the calendar!

Halloween is one of my favourite celebrations.  Not only is it a day that pays homage to one of my favourite things...that is Horror, it is also the Pagan Sabbat celebration of Samhain.  This is a time to remember and honour our ancestors and lost loved ones, when the veil between the living and dead is at its thinnest.  I'll be lighting a candle in my window for those who I have lost.

While the kids are at school, I've decorated the house with ghoulish decorations.  I have a Green Lentil Bake cooking which will be served with baked eggs and lovingly renamed as Eyeballs in Sludge!  We'll be baking some scary goodies using my Aldi Halloween bakeware.

Yesterday the girls designed and carved their pumpkins.  I let them loose to do what they wanted.  I totally loved their finished result...a warning about the dangers of alcohol.  The before/after pumpkin display tells a moral tale of excess!  I love the puking pumpkin after having too much to drink at the Halloween party.  My girls do make me laugh!

We love an excuse to dress up in our Halloween Outfits.  I always buy Halloween stuff in the sales and have a glut of fab things which the kids (and Ian) enjoy dressing up in.

However you choose to enjoy October 31st, I hope you have fun!  We certainly do :)

Everything You Need For a Spooktacular Halloween!

Halloween is fast approaching and our minds are turning to "Ghoulies and Ghosties and Long Legged Beasties, and things that go BUMP in the night!!"  Children love the terrifying fun of Halloween and enjoy nothing more than immersing themselves into the scary fun of the season.

Aldi, have a range of frighteningly good products at scarily good prices so you can enjoy all the fun at a fraction of the price!  Available as Special Buys from October 6th and while stocks last, you have to be quick to snap up these brilliant bargains.  With items including spine-chilling confectionery, blood-curdling kitchen ware, petrifying partyware and creepy costumes, they have all the essentials for a horrific Halloween!

Trick or Treating can be a costly business with mini witches, vampires and ghosts knocking on your door in search of goodies.  Aldi have a great range of scary chocolate shapes including eye balls, pumpkins, ghosts, bats and cockroaches.  Pop them in a bowl by the front door for Halloween Hunters or scatter on your table as a great looking (and tasty) table decoration.

Prices start at just 79p for a 100g bag of solid shapes...they will see the Trick or Treaters coming back for more!  They look great and, like all Aldi chocolate, taste great too!  The wrappers are colourful, bright and eye catching.

The Party ware is fantastic value and looks great too.  Tableclothes, cups and plates are available in three devishly, delightful designs and are priced at just 99p each.  Perfect for parties or just to give the kids a treat at teatime on Halloween.

My favourite products this year are definitely the Kitchen Ware.  With ice cube trays, muffin trays and cake pans, you can cook up some terrifying treats for the family.

The metal cake pans come in a pumpkin or skull design which will make shaped cakes providing a brilliant centre piece to a party table.  The silicone muffin trays make ghosts or pumpkins.  The ice cube trays could also be used to make your own chocolate treats, or fill with fruit juice for yummy mini ices.  Priced from £1.99 these are really great value and will cater to all your baking needs.

Adults can join in the frightening fun this Halloween with super-scary Halloween costumes. 
Men can choose from Dracula or the Grim Reaper, in sizes medium and large, and ladies’ styles offer a choice of Spider Queen or Red Devilina in sizes 10/12 and 14/16.  Look the part for just £7.99!


Aldi kindly sent me a selection of kitchen and party ware from the range and I can confirm that they are excellent.  The fun party ware designs are perfect for younger children with cute, comical Halloween characters.  The quality is great and the value is exceptional.  The muffin and ice cube moulds are made of good quality silicone.  The metal cake tins feel strong and robust and have a non-stick lining.  The designs are impressive and will definitely inspire some fun cooking sessions over Halloween.


Even though Halloween is still a month away, we decided to test out the cake pans to see if they perform as well as other pricier pans I have used before.  Here is a video of my Tiny Tester Kizzy baking up a storm in the kitchen!  She made a Scary Skull Carrot Cake.

I was very impressed that the non-stick pan worked so well after being brushed with Cake Release.  The cake came out cleanly, keeping the features intact.  It cooked through evenly and made a cracking, creepy carrot cake!  The pan washed up easily and looks as good as new.  I look forward to making muffins and more cakes...I'm a big fan of Horror things so this range will keep me happily baking all year round!!

Remember...these Special Buys are available from October 6th!!!  Don't miss out!

Find Me A Gift Review and Giveaway

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love horror! I have written about our Halloween Fun, My Horror Marriage and about Freddy Krueger (the inspiration for my youngest son's name!)  It is definitely a fundamental part of life Inside the Wendy House!

When Find Me A Gift offered to help me celebrate my Blogaversary I was very excited to find some novelty horror T-Shirts on their website.  So I have one to review and one to give away to one of my readers!  This is the first of the many giveaways I am hosting over the month of September!

Find Me A Gift is the perfect website for finding unique and thoughtful gifts for any recipient, regardless of their age, gender or taste!  They stock a terrific range of gifts for all budgets.  They specialise in the whacky and unusual but also stock more traditional, luxurious gifts and personalised items.  They cover every occasion from christenings to birthdays and have great ideas for Secret Santa gifts for co-workers.  The brilliant Personal Shopper Service "Gift Finder" allows you to input details of the gift recipient and receive ideas for the perfect gift for them based on age, gender, budget, hobbies and likes.

The Flipping Frightening range of T-Shirts are chillingly clever items of clothing!  Seemingly innocent at first glance, the black or the white slogan T-Shirt looks harmless enough.  That is until you flip the tee over your head revealing a frightening blood spattered hockey mask or a terrifying werewolf head.

They are perfect for horror fans and lovers of cool T-Shirts and make wicked Halloween outfits.  You will definitely be the centre of attention when you flash your scary mask to surprise your friends and family!

Priced at £14.99 they are available as a white "Are You Scared?"/ Serial Killer Tee and as a black "Full Moon Tonight?"/Werewolf Tee.  Ian tried out the Werewolf Flipping Tee.

Looking smart and rather innocent!

Rawr!!  Made you jump!

It is very much a novelty garment and it is really fun...perfect for the man who has everything!

I have one White Flipping Frightening T-Shirt in Large to give away to one of my readers.  To win simply follow my blog and post a comment below telling me what would give you a fright!  Are you scared of spiders? Rats? Scary Movies? Heights? Rollercoasters? Or do you have an irrational fear of something unusual?!  Just let me know with a way of contacting you.

For a bonus entry tweet:

Win a Flipping Frightening Novelty Tee at http://tinyurl.com/3uk8q2q with @wendymcd83 and @findmeagift     

Leave me a separate comment to let me know you've done it!

UK entrants only please.  A winner will be drawn from all valid entries on September 30th 2011 in plenty of time for Halloween!!  Good Luck!!

Movie Meme...Horror

Hannah has finally unleashed the greatest genre into the Blogosphere with this week's theme for Metal Mummy's Movie Meme....Horror!

I could write pages about my love of horror films.  From the psychological to the supernatural to the slasher to the downright nasty...horror films encompass the same thrills as a scary ass roller coaster.  The increased heart rate, the adrenalin and the gut churning thrills are all very similar!

The film I am choosing isn't necessarily the best in terms of story, effects or acting.  However, it is the film that saw the rise of one of the most iconic horror characters and the subsequent inspiration for the naming of my baby boy.  Yes, predictably maybe, but my choice is "A Nightmare on Elm Street".

Released in 1984, I was 15 and it made such an impression on me.  The character of Freddy Krueger was pure genius...he personified the terror of nightmares with an added dash of comedy, which served to make him all the more sinister!

He stalked the teenagers of Elm Street in their sleep, wreaking revenge on the parents who had burned him alive in his boiler house for being a child killer.

I saw it at the cinema back in 1984.  My friends and I were literally huddled together screaming and laughing and loving every minute of this film.  The part where Freddy's tongue comes out of the telephone had us squirming in disgust at a time in our lives when we were just discovering boys and snogging!!  Wes Craven pitched this film perfectly to the intended audience.  We empathized with Nancy as she tried to make the disbelieving adults help her and her friends who were being picked off one by one by Krueger.  It was just horror gold!

Johnny Depp makes an early appearance as one of the teens who meets a gruesome end at the razor fingered hands of Freddy Krueger.  Robert Englund played the lead brilliantly with the perfect blend of terror and humour.  The iconic gloves, hat and jumper make him instantly recognisable.  The NOES franchise produced a series of excellent sequels.  The third one was my favourite "Dream Warriors" which was released in 1987.  I liked how the story was padded out with more background on Krueger whilst remaining true to the original. The character was embellished allowing a degree of humanity without ruining his horror credentials!

To this day, I still don't like having my wardrobe door open when I go to bed...not even a crack...in case Freddy Krueger decides to come through while I'm asleep!  The spectral killer is certainly the stuff of nightmares...and I for one, love it!!

An Unexpected Gift from a Comment

I'm sure by now, everyone has heard the urban legend of the "Fairy Hob Mother", the mysterious visitor of blogs who reads the comments we leave and who surprises random bloggers with a surprise gift!  Like a modern day virtual Santa, Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny rolled into one!  I was over the moon to be visited by the lovely, hilariously funny Ian from Appliances Online, who wanted to send me a present!  I'd made a comment on Two Become Four's Reasons to be Cheerful post.  Ian saw my comment and then visited my blog and read about my love of horror films and decided that this would be an ideal book for Inside the Wendy House!

What a fantastic choice and 100% totally right up our 'Nightmare on Elm Street'!!  The forward by Wes Craven has me wanting to read the whole book in one sitting.  Packed with tips and advice, I know I'll be a Zombie Holocaust Survivor when the inevitable happens!

I was thrilled to become a part of this phenomena and totally impressed that a company can take such a keen and caring interest in our blogs and the people behind them!  The lovely folk at Appliances Online are obviously enjoying every moment of this, and are choosing such thoughtful presents for everyone.  It gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside :)

If you are ever in the market for new white goods for your home, check out their website.  They have put the customer at the heart of their business, offering free advice, a price match promise, free delivery, 10 day returns guarantee and a connection and recycling service.  They didn't ask me to say any of this by the way...but it sounded too good not to give them a plug!!

If you'd like the chance of maybe becoming the next blogger chosen to receive a special treat leave a comment on this post.  It makes my day when I receive comments on my posts, so not only will it make me happy, it might also make you very happy if you get chosen next!

You never know who might be watching! XXX

My Horror Marriage!

My husband is just one of the most wonderful men you could meet.  He is so family-centred, adores his kids and our homelife.  He cooks, cleans, washes up and always puts down the toliet seat!  He never hogs the remote control.  He works hard to enable me to be a stay at home mum.  He phones me at least twice a day and constantly declares his love for me.  The man is fab!

So when he just rang me to tell me he had me a present, I knew it'd be something perfect!  I was not disappointed.  Jewellery does not excite me...I have metal allergies.  Chocolate's no good because I'm on a diet.  I'm not very material at all...I hardly wear make-up and never covet the latest fashions or shoes.  But his gift is totally brilliant!

He has got me THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE ON BLU-RAY!!

Some might scoff at this choice of gift, but you do not know me like my husband does!  We love all things horror!  When we first met in the 80's it was the era of Halloween films, Friday the 13th's, Poltergeist and my personal favourite the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.  We shared an enjoyment of being scared witless by the latest masked, marauding, murdering character or evil spirit! This love has evolved with us.  We have a sizeable library of DVD's and Blu-Rays, many of which fit this favoured genre.  From the 1932 classic Todd Browning's Freaks to the high tech gore of Saw Franchise...we love them all.

Our love of horror lead us to name our latest born baby Freddy after my horror icon hero Freddy Krueger.  I even got doting Knitting Nana to make him a little dark green and red striped jumper to match his namesake's outfit of choice!

This year was our 13th wedding anniversary.  We celebrated in a style true to ourselves and held a horror film themed fancy dress party.  I was dressed as a blood spattered prom queen and my husband was Dorian Gray.  All our guests entered into the spirit and our house looked like an overspill from a casting of a film paying homage to the scary side of celluloid.  Our food was all themed and we spent many an hour giggling when we devised puns to represent buffet items.   "Dawn of the SPREAD" , "The Evil BREAD", "Jason Vor-CHEESE", "Nightmare on Elm SWEETS", "SHROOMS" (for our delicious veggie mushroom pate) and "The Hills have PIES" are some examples!  I made a graveyard cake and a chocolate fudge bat cake.  My sister brought Mummy Muffins.  We festooned the house with cobwebs, wall decorations and black balloons.  It was perfect for us!



My beautiful children.



                                                                                                                                            

Blood spattered prom queen!



Me, my husband and Freddy!

Scary cakes!

So tonight I have a date with my husband, a take away and The Human Centipede....very romantic!!!