I'm a sucker for makeup packaging. I've blogged about this problem before:

~Feline Fancy Palette from SugarPill

~Elvira Palette from Lunatick Cosmetics

I saw that Wet & Wild was coming out with a limited edition Goth-O-Graphic Spring Collection and I had to have it ~ there's skulls. I've been using Wet & Wild for years and I rediscovered them when I forgot to pack a red lipstick on a road trip. Their Stoplight Red has saved me on more than one occasion. It's part of the MegaLast Lipstick line and it's no joke, it stays on all day! Bonus they are a Cruelty Free Brand. I feel like their products have improved so much over the years and I can't wait to see what else they come out with.

I marked my calendar and bought the Goth-O-Graphic Collection online the day it came out. It's sold out now, but you can buy the pieces separately online and some friends have found them in their local drug stores. Check out this box design!!!

Included is:

 MegaGlo Loose Highlighting Powder, the hidden skull inside is so cute.

Hell-o Darkness Highlighting Stick, Purple Ashes & White Raven Highlighting Powder. You can hardly see them on me, and I used a primer. That's what I get for being translucent colored. They show up better in the makeup-of-the-day picture near the end of the blog.

MegaLast CatSuit Lipstick: Death to Unicorns, Gunmetal Heart, Pastel Grunge, & Wicked Pink. They are a liquid lipstick with a curved wand that I love. (It's called "CatSuit" tehe.)

Metallic Liquid Gel Liner: Skull Prayer, Pink Coffin, Black Butterfly. This eye liner has a tiny brush that I hate. I have better luck with felt tip pen eye liners, but I like these colors, so I'll try them out. I need to practice more.

Liquid CatSuit Liquid Eye Shadow: Pure Intension, Mystic Dreamer, Goth Tears, & Nyctophilia. I will admit the liquid eye shadow feels weird at first, but once it dries, it gives a great shimmer. These are my fav part of the box. (More "CatSuit"!)

I went to a tiki party the other day and decided to be glam and experiment with my new makeup! 

Here's what I used, most of it is from the Goth-O-Graphic Set. 

The Mega Cushion Foundation from Wet & Wild is just what I've been looking for, it goes on light, works well for layering, has SPF 15, and stays put, the H2O Proof Black Eye Liner is from Wet & Wild too, I used it to even out the black glue/ liner when I wear fake lashes. The mascara is Physicians Formula Ultra Black from their Cat Eye Collection, and I layered the liquid shadow over MAC Deep Truth eye shadow.

Here's what it looked like inside...

I was shining like a diamond! I call this look "galaxy eyes". Lashes are Ardell 105 and I used black Duo glue. Eyebrows are a random brown eye shadow I had.

Here's what it looked like in natural lighting, no filters. It's hard to capture the highlighter because I'm so pale, but it does show up I swear.

And they say old wrinkly gals shouldn't wear highlighter! Damn those people and wear what makes you happy! 

Like I said, I've been catching up with friends by going to the movies, and I heard about The Lodgers coming to The Screening Room and thought this would be a good gothic film to see on the big screen. The Screening Room is a hidden gem in Buffalo, NY that shows foreign, classic, cult, and independent movies in a casual cafe setting. It's really my favorite place to go ~ bonus ~ they serve beer and wine. 

When our small group arrived, we were greeted by a fellow named Chris that was giving out posters for the movie. He was a representative from Dread Central that brought this First Run movie to this particular theater. I had high hopes for The Lodgers, it's rare to have an independent horror movie with a person providing an intro! Sadly, the story was a meh for me, but I did talk to him afterwards and he said he's going to try to get other movies featured at The Screening Room, so that sounds promising.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

When I first saw the trailer all I could think of was it's a combination of The Others (2001) and Crimson Peak (2015), but is wasn't. The story is about eccentric twins, a brother and sister, that live in a decrepit estate where they are cursed to live by rules passed down from their dead parents. Ex. Be in bed by midnight, don't let strangers in the house etc. The house even "talks" to them in creaks and groans.

There's a trap door at the bottom of their entryway stairs in the mansion, that hints at being a sinister wet hole, but it's a reverse dimension that the revenant family members dwell in.  (Think the Upside Down in Stranger Things.) They haunt the house at night enforcing the rules.

We come to find out that their parents, and the parents before them, and before them back through time were all twins living as married couples and having twin kids. So it's about incest. The male twin, Edward, witnessed his parents drowning when he was young. His father drowned his mother because she didn't want to live that way anymore. This really left a stain on his life, he's a recluse that hasn't left the house since. There's a darkness in him (and not in a sexy goth way). In the meantime his sister Rachael, is his caregiver, but she wants to get out of the house and break the cycle. She falls for a man from the village and this suitor tries to free her from the curse. I won't give more away, but there are some uncomfortable scenes where her brother is constantly trying to make out with her.

(Why is that statue facing inwards? that bugged me.)

There is no doubt The Lodgers is atmospheric. The scenes in the woods and surrounding the house are dreamlike. It was filmed in Ireland's "most haunted house" Loftus Hall. Even Rachael's costuming reminds me of Little Red Riding Hood, but in this case her cape is dark green. The incest is represented when the film pans over the empty beds and bedrooms thoughout the movie. The story is where the movie lacks. It needs a better plot, there's a lot going on that's disjointed when it comes to the horror aspect. Overall I give it 3.5 out of 5 dips in the lake.

Here's the trailer...

I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for reading my blog and following the Fluffy Facebook page. Exactly one year ago I started my blog as a hobby because I'm passionate about cats and horror. It's an odd combo, but I figured there were other people like me out in the world. I've challenged myself to write 100 blogs in a year and I've more than surpassed that. (Some are better than others. Haha.) Some friends have asked when I'm going to have Fluffy the Vampire Slayer T shirts made, or start monetizing my blog, I can honestly say at this point I don't know. I'm already a business owner ~ I run Cats Like Us ~ and that takes up a lot of my time. So we'll see what the future brings, but until then how about a pin giveaway?!

Included in the giveaway is....

1. My Pal Monster Wolfman enamel pin from the July Glamour Ghoul Subscription Box. It's made by Lunar Crypt.

2. NEW EXCLUSIVE pin from the March 2017 Horror Block Box. It's from the Leprechaun horror movie and reads "Your Luck Just Ran Out". It's made of Nickel Plated Zinc by Wax Off Design.

3. Creeper Crate EXCLUSIVE pin from Demonic Pinfestation of Myrtle Snow from American Horror Story: Coven.

All you have to do to enter is...

1. Like the Fluffy the Vampire facebook page

2. Comment on the Giveaway post

3. Share the Fluffy the Vampire Slayer facebook page

Good luck! Winner will be picked Thurs, March 1, 2018 and will be contacted via facebook.

I'm a tea junkie and tea is like a warm friendly hug. (Anyone that knows me, knows I am not a hugger, but if tea were a person you can bet I'd hug the dried leaves out of them!) The past couple weeks have been rough. My husband's grandma died last week and I had a Brutaliteas Tasting Party planned for Sunday. I decided not to cancel it because I take comfort in the warmth of tea. When everyone else is cold or you feel alone, tea will be there for you! It's got me this far, so why not include it in my difficult week?

I first heard of BrutaliTeas when a sample was included in the Slasher Creeper Crate this past July. It was a bag of loose tea called NightPear on Elm Street. Tea AND a horror movie reference? I was hooked and ordered a bunch of other flavors. One day while looking at my teas I thought, the BrutaliTeas are too good not to share, so let's have a tea tasting!

With my extra Christmas money, I ordered a fancy electric programmable tea kettle that heats your tea to the proper temperature and some small hour glass tea timers. I may be a tea snob, but I never had such a fancy teapot!

The menu for the party included traditional Afternoon Tea fare, egg salad on wheat (my secret to good egg salad ~ add mustard powder), chicken salad with cranberries and almonds on white, cucumber dill cream cheese on marbled rye, strawberry scones, lemon blueberry scones and vanilla chocolate checkerboard shortbread cookies. It was an impressive spread if I do say so myself!

Everyone picked out the teacup that they were drawn to...

All the tea was from BrutaliTeas. We started with white tea, then green tea ~ ingredients for each tea increasing throughout the tasting. I gave all my guests a questionnaire as they went along. They answered anonymously. Some of my friends are very casual tea drinkers and only have tea a few times a year, others drink tea multiple times a day. We discussed the teas, and to my surprise everyone at the party was a tea purist, no one wanted to add any honey, lemon, sugar, or milk to any of them. They just tasted the teas as they were meant to be enjoyed. Here are some of the results, both good, bad, and funny.

1. The first one we started with was a white tea called DragonFruit Force (White Tea, Rosehips, Dried Dragonfruit, Pineapple, Mango, Cranberry, Rose Petals, Apple and Blueberry).

~ You can definitely see all the flavors in the dry tea.

~ Once brewed it's a light peach, a little rosy in color.

~ This is where it differed a little ~ some thought the smell of the dried tea matched the taste, others thought the dry tea was more fruity than the brewed tea.

~ Most didn't feel there was an after taste, but some said there was a slight taste of fruit and flowers.

~ Here's the fun part ~ I asked if it reminded anyone of anything and the top answers are: tropical fruit cup, a picnic, Tazo Passionfruit Tea, spring, and Anime because of the name.

***Note: There was some disappointment that "Dragon" was not one of the ingredients.

2. The next white tea is the one that made me fall in love with the company, NightPear on Elm Street (White Tea, Natural Pear Flavor, Rooibos Tea, Natural Caramel Flavor and Apple Pieces).

~ Most said you couldn't see all the flavors in the dried tea and that it looked like all tea leaves.

~ Once brewed it's a "lovely golden brown".

~ Most said the caramel flavor and scent was very strong, but you could also taste the apple and pear.

~ There was a rooibos and caramel after taste for most and one person said there was a bitter apple after taste.

~ It reminded my guests of autumn, caramel popcorn, a fireplace (in a good way), Halloween, "Bigelow's Caramel Tea (which sucks)", and happy memories of a Great Grandpa and his caramel candies.

3. Now on to the green teas. Our third tea was Stone Sour Apple (Green Tea, Apple, Rosehips, and Hibiscus).

~ Nearly everyone said that you could see all the ingredients in the dried tea.

~ Once brewed, it's a deep pink color.

~ Most said the smell did not match the taste. It's much less sour apple than it smells but it tastes like apples and hibiscus.

~ No after taste.

~ The best answers of what it reminded people of was: walking through cherry blossoms, Easter tea, summer, and a spring rain.

4. The fourth tea we sampled was Raining Blood Orange (Green Tea, Orange, Apple, Rosehips, and Hibiscus). It sounds more hardcore than it actually is. It has the same ingredients as Stone Sour Apple, but with orange added.

~ Most people saw all the flavors in the dried tea.

~ Once brewed it was a VERY light pink.

~ Half said the smell matched the taste, half disagreed. The ones that said it did match tasted the hibiscus and orange. The others said it was more floral and tangy than expected. I guess it depends on your sniffer!

~ The after taste is hibiscus.

~ Reminded one of my guests of "a Thruway bathroom rest stop", another of scented markers and everyone else came up with nothing. (I guess this one is a little too fake stinky for a tea tasting party).

5. This next one was an unexpected crowd pleaser, Painting the White to Earl Grey (Green Tea, Orange Peels, White Peony, Natural Bergamont Flavor, Blue Cornflowers).

~ Half of my guests saw all the flavors in the tea and half didn't. Some were surprised by the blue flowers in it.

~ Most said it was a light green/ brown color once brewed.

~ Most said the smell did not match the taste. The smell is much more intense. Some said this tea tasted "like traditional tea", "green tea with a flowery taste", like a light Earl Grey. It seems like it's undecided.

~ The after taste is slightly floral-y, almost perfume-y.

~ It reminded some of an outdoor garden party, sitting in a freshly mowed lawn with wild flowers, an afternoon outdoors, or a floral perfume.

6. Our final tea sampling was a Vulgar Display of Flower (Green Tea, Green Rooibos, Jasmine, Lavender, Orange Peels, Marigold, Mango, Apricots, Natural Lemon and Orange Flavors). aka A LOT of ingredients!

~ You can't see all the ingredients in this dried tea.

~ When brewed it becomes a caramel color.

~ Most said the smell does match the taste and it tastes like green tea and lavender.

~ Most said it didn't have an aftertaste, one person said it was lavender soap-y.

~ It reminded almost everyone of the Lavender Festival, being in their lavender garden, or lavender fields. (I'm a lavender addict so this is win-win for me!)

Finally, I asked everyone what their favorite of all the teas they tried was...four out of eight people said NightPear on Elm Street. (I hope I didn't sway any of them), we had two votes for DragonFruit Force, one for Stone Sour Apple, and one for Painting the White to Earl Grey.

Whether you enjoy the ritualistic comfort of tea alone or with friends, Brutaliteas has enough of a variety that you can find one you love. I have to go ~ I hear my teapot calling me!

I once knew a cat that lived to be over 21 years old! Mr. Winkie Kitty was almost blind and had two teeth but he had a rockin 21st birthday party. Guests brought over bottles of wine, because he was old enough to drink now. Lol. Before you ask ~ NO WE drank the wine and he ate the only food he liked...ground up barbeque rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and a certain cake from a local bakery. This was my co-workers cat and a couple times a week she'd stop at the store on her way home to pick up a chicken. I'm convinced that this is what kept him alive so long ~ he ate better than most people. However this diet caused the poor kitty constipation issues. He didn't poop and she would often have to take him in for an enema. In this case we know why he couldn't poop, no fiber and not enough liquid in his diet. But what are some other reasons why cats won't poop?

1. A sedentary lifestyle. Play with your kitty! (You should do this anyway.)

2. Not enough water in their diet. I wrote about how much water your kitty should drink and how to encourage drinking. This may loosen up clogged food, and help them to "go", especially if they only eat dry food.

3. They might not like the litter box or litter, so they avoid using it. Here are some tips on finding the right litter and box.

4. They might have an obstruction of their colon, or even Megacolon ~ This sounds like a villain from the B movie Monsturd, but it's a real thing! If the colon is blocked, your cat may be throwing up and it will smell like poop because they are impacted. It could be caused by them ingesting something foreign, a tumor, gastric inflammation, etc. Megacolon is the result of them not pooping for a long time. The colon expands and fills with old fecal matter. Please take your cat to the vet if this happens.

5. It could be painful to defecate. They could have an infected anal gland etc. Take your cat to the vet.

If it's more than 3 days without pooping talk to your vet! Cats should excrete at least once a day. Good luck and Happy Crapping!

This past month I've been catching up with friends by going out to the movies. So many films are changing the way we interpret stories. Why pigeonhole a movie? It can be more than one genre! I will watch almost anything, but I'm not a fan of comedies...except funny horror. These three movies were all seen with different friends at different theaters and each time I went home afterwards thinking about the movies and how they made me feel, none of them can be grouped into one thing.

Take for example the Phantom Thread. I made sure not to watch any previews, all I knew was that it is about a 1950s fashion designer. In the movie, they hardly mention his designs and focus more on the relationship between him and one of his mannequin/ models. In my mind Phantom Thread is NOT a love story, as pictured, but a horror movie. It's about a misogynistic man and a manipulative woman and their twisted and warped relationship. It has too many silent parts where they just stare at each other. It can be a drama, a horror movie, art house, and to some people an f'd up love story. I left the theater with more questions than answers and it made me angry.

50 Shades Freed: The Final Chapter , it is what it is (Yes, I saw this movie at the theater, don't judge me). It's a movie about rich pretty people having sex all the time with a little suspense thrown in. It's a drama, soft core porn "light" and it still takes itself too seriously. It was cringe worthy, BUT pushes the boundaries of what can be shown on the big screen. The racy scenes open the door for horror movies to expand their gory-ness or nakedness and I hope that someday the horror directors and writers won't be stifled by the censors. I want them to share their complete vision with the audience and maybe someday horror movies will be taken more seriously by everyday people and not just me. It made me wish it was a horror movie. 

Now on to my main topic...Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water. I've been even more fascinated with him since I saw his exhibit in Toronto last year. Shape was playing at our local independent movie theater in their "Oscar Showcase" presentation and I decided to check it out on half-off day since I missed it in it's original run. Unfortunately some people sat behind us with the never ending candy wrapper. That being said, it didn't take away from my impression of the film. It's not a horror movie per se, there were a couple bloody scenes, but more than anything it's a sweet fantastical fairy tale for adults! 

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

This story takes place in the early 1960s in Baltimore. It's about a mute woman named Elisa Esposito that was found as a child near a river. She has scars where her vocal cords were cut. They look like gills that maybe they never developed? Maybe? All of this is foreshadowing. Otherwise she looks very average, but beautiful in her own way. She is styled like the girl Ofelia from Pan's Labyrinth, with her dark brown bobbed hair, headbands, blouses and skirts. 

Pan's Labyrinth and The Shape of Water

Elisa has her daily routine and works an overnight shift as a cleaning lady in a large government facility. She's friends with her gay neighbor, Giles, and they watch black and white musicals together copying the dance steps with each other for fun. He's a wonderful, but failed artist, that's discriminated against for this lifestyle. He has a bunch of beautiful fluffy pet cats too! 

One night when she's at work they bring in an "asset" ~ it's an amphibian man housed in a glass tank. As an outsider, she begins take her lunch break with this creature and brings him hard boiled eggs to eat. They listen to records together, she teaches him some sign language, and she cleans around his pool and tank sometimes dancing to the music. Music really is a universal language. 

The creature itself is a wonder to look at. Del Toro used his design experience from the character Abe Sapien ~ the merman in Hellboy ~ on this one. They are even played by the same actor! This merman stands up like the Creature From the Black Lagoon but his face is expressive. It's by no means a swamp monster, but reptilian, fish like, and human all combined. Even though Elisa and the fish man don't speak you can read their facial expressions. The two end up bonding because of her compassion for him. And the creature sees her as she is, not as a mute woman. The people that appreciate the creature see him as "beautiful", you can presume, just as the creature sees her. One of the head scientists, Dr. Hofstetler spies on their their interaction and realizes this creature is capable of emotions, he's a marvel to behold!

The head of security in the facility, Mr. Strickland, is abusing his power. He punishes the merman or what he calls an "abomination", almost killing him! The facility merely wants to study the creature's two types of breathing and use it against the Soviets. Strickland is a gross disgusting racist character and by the end of the movie his physicality is a reflection of his personality. He gets what he deserves.

Finding out about the abuse, Elisa wants to get the merman out and away from these horrible people. With the help of the scientist who can't stand to have this "intricate beautiful thing destroyed" and friends she smuggles him out to her apartment. She cares for him in her bathtub until he gets out while she's at work. The amphibian man eats her neighbor's cat ~ THEY SHOW HIM WITH THE BEHEADED CAT ~ the cat's name was Pandora. (Let's take a moment of silence for this kitty....You can read about the cat death trend here.  Note: I'm NOT happy about this.) On his way out he slashes her neighbor's arm. Then he runs to the downstairs movie theater where he stands transfixed by the movie on the screen. Elisa finds him and brings him back to her place. The neighbor forgives him for the scratches and KILLING HIS CAT. The merman's skin lights up and heals the cuts on his arm with a touch and reverses some of his aging too. It's hinted that this creature was worshiped in the olden days as a god. Eliza falls for the creature even more.

Eventually the security guard finds them, I won't give away the whole ending, but it's a happy one ~ a visually pretty love story. I could def watch this again to pick up more from the backgrounds and setting. I'm trying not to be pissed about the cat. I give it 4.5 out of 5 gold fish.

The acting is great and if you're a fan of the 1990s cheesy Toronto vampire cop show Forever Knight (like I am) two actors from the show pop up in the movie. Nigel Bennett that played Lacroix and John Kapelos that played Det. Schanke. Keep an eye out for them!

p.s. A novelized adaptation of the film written by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus is being released on Feb 27, 2018.

Here's the trailer...

I've mentioned it before, my Vicktor will eat anything, even if it's not food but smells like food! We think it's because he was abandoned maybe? and his food addiction is psychological. He inhales food, I don't even think he chews half the time. Usually he doesn't barf it up, but sometimes he does. He absolutely hates liver, so there's that, but how do we cope with such a chow hound...er cat?!

That time Vicktor opened the refrigerator & pulled out bread

 to snack on when we weren't home.

Since we have two cats we must feed them in separate rooms otherwise Vicktor would inhale his food, then go for Ginger's. Ginger eats slow and gets fed in the kitchen and Vicktor eats at the top of the basement stairs with the door closed. We stay with Ginger until she's done and then let Vicktor out. He runs for her scraps and basically licks the plate clean. We feed them in the morning and in the evening, sometimes giving them dry food as treats or just treats in between. This has worked for years. I swear we give him enough food, but you'd never know it watching him eat.

Some tips if you have a Vicktor...

1. Set a feeding schedule. Only feed them two or three times a day, and try to evenly disperse the time between meals.

2. Did you change something in their set lifestyle? Did another pet die? Are they missing someone? They could be depressed and over eating.

3. They could have worms. Round worms are intestinal parasites, one type is contagious to people, and you can usually see them in your cat's poop or vomit or if they have a pot belly appearance. If this is the case, take them to the vet right away.

4. If your cat is thin but constantly eating and drinking it might be hyperthyroidism. Take them to the vet.

5. Your cat's food might not be meeting it's nutritional needs and they are craving more. Cats have a protein based diet, usually with lots of meat. Check to make sure they are getting the right kind of cat food.

6. If you have to leave dry food out, don't leave a mountain of it. A "Vicktor" cat will eat all of it. Measure it out or better yet leave toys around with dry food in them so they get rewarded for playing!

7. Buy a Slow Feed Bowl, or put large clean rocks around the dry food, so they don't gobble it up so fast and have to eat around the rocks. Here's a super cute Slow Feed Cat Bowl...

Available here.

If it's a quick change in your kitty and they become ravenous, take them to the vet! And if they are eating things they aren't supposed to all of a sudden i.e. paper, it's a compulsive eating disorder and it could be their way of managing stress. 

If your cat is chubby...

1. You can also use a high fiber, low calorie diet to help them loose weight.

2. Check to make sure your cat isn't eating your other pets food.

3. Could be feline diabetes, take them to the vet.

4. Again. Don't leave a mountain of dry food out. A "Vicktor" cat will eat all of it. Measure it out or better yet leave toys around with dry food in them so they get rewarded for playing!

Never ever drastically change your cats diet. It can cause other health problems, consult your vet before any changes. How much should you feed them? It's usually based on the weight of the cat, so check how much they weigh and read the labels on the cat food. Read the cat treat packages too! Many of the treat instructions say only 1-2 pieces a day.

Don't forget to make sure there's enough water! How do you know if you have enough bowls out? I wrote a blog about it!

Cat NOT eating? You can read about when Ginger went on a hunger strike and the results of that in update 1 & 2!