I always say I'm late to the party and in this case, I'm VERY late, but I should have never even wanted an invite! For the first time, I watched Night of the Demons (1988) in its entirety. This movie truly encapsulates all the worst things about 1980s horror movies, so I guess I can understand why it's a cult classic?

The opening animation sequence and retro music is the best part, after that, it goes downhill. The New Retro Wave music trend is based on this exact sound. So I guess it's timely for me to be watching this now?

Where do I begin to describe/ review Night of the Demons (1988)? The plot is pretty common. A group of teenagers spend Halloween night in an abandoned funeral home ~ called Hull House ~ with a tragic history, they perform a seance and most of them get possessed by a demon and kill each other. The end. (I wish.) It reminds me of so many other movies... just to name a few...

They have to stay overnight in a haunted house, similar to Waxworks (1988) where some teens with bad dialog and terrible acting get invited to a wax museum, and end up becoming part of it. At least in Waxworks (1988), there's some nice blood splatter, and it's fun to see what character gets matched with each model. Yes, I think Waxworks (1988) is a better movie.

When the audience first lays eyes on Hull House it looks like a still from Scooby Doo...

The Hull House from Night of the Demons (1988).

Haunted Mansion from The Mystery of the Haunted Island in The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1973).

As far as camera style goes, Night of the Demons (1988) has a similar camera movement to the original Evil Dead (1981) when the camera moves fast to show the perspective of the demon. In reality, it saves money so you don't have to show the demon on film. This technique was perfected by Sam Raimi as shown below.

Also why is the demon in Night of the Demons (1988) only a floating head? They probably couldn't afford much else. The demon looks like a dragon head.

Am I wrong? It looks like a dragon.

As far as dialog in Night of the Demons (1988), an Indian burial ground is mentioned. It sounds a lot like Pet Semetary (1989) or Poltergeist (1982).

All the demons in Night of the Demons (1988) sound the same and the makeup reminds me of the vamps in Fright Night (1985).

Angela in Night of the Demons (1988).

Jerry in Fright Night (1985).

I'm sure there's plenty more, these were just off the top of my head!

The acting and dialog is bad, so bad it's funny. Much of it is sexist, don't get me wrong, that's not funny the funny part. I don't think any of the actors had stand out performances in this except for Linnea Quigley that got typecast for showing her boobs. My question is why did she shove her lipstick into her nipple? This is the part of the movie speaks to me. I have so many questions and should this be considered a "spoiler alert"? She still acts today ~ understandably so ~ who would do a scene like that? She has a ton of horror movies under her belt. I dare say she's a scream queen, and can often be seen on the Horror Convention circuit. Oh and she also did a workout video. No I'm not joking.

Linnea Quigley's Horror Workout (1990). This is only an excerpt.

Even with the inclusion of Stigmata by Bauhaus paired with an overly long dance sequence this movie cannot be saved. That being said Angela's dress is the best part of the movie.

I give Night of the Demons (1988) a solid 2 out of five fudge logs. The movie could have been shortened to an hour.

Here's the trailer, notice they play up the boobs and butts because it's all that it has going for it.

Jodee was so excited to share with me that she ordered the American Horror Story Creeper Crate because she had a full meal plan to go along with it! The box was slated to be shipped in May but it arrived very late, so we are unboxing it in July. Oh well. It's exciting because the weather co-operated enough for us to film outside in Jodee's back yard! The video is quick since we were hungry and I'm very rusty at unboxing and my knowledge of American Horror Story. Lol. Recipes to follow....

Here's everything included...

1. Normal People Scare Me T-shirt.

2. Sister Jude Enamel Pin by Demonic Pinfestation. You can find this pin for sale on their website!

3. All Monsters Are Human Travel Mug. The quote is from the Asylum season. (I told you I'm rusty.)

4. We Are All Freaks collapse-able umbrella.

5. American Horror Story 1984 decal.

6. Hotel Cortez notepad.

7. Final Art print by Ivanshine.

Now for the food. Since Jodee's favorite season is Coven and it takes place in New Orleans we had a menu to go along with it!

Black Magic Margaritas

2 c. Ice
4 oz. Silver Tequila
2 oz. Triple Sec
1/2 c. Lime juice
Red, blue, green food coloring
Lime wedge for garnish

Black salt or sugar optional

Instructions

Rim two glasses with a lime slice and dip them in black sanding salt or sugar.

Mix Ice, Tequila, Triple sec and Lime juice in a shaker. Shake. Pour into two glasses. Add food coloring to both until they turn black. Add some ice if desired, garnish with a lime wedge and serve!

Shrimp Boil Packets

1 lb Shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 ears of Corn on the cob, husked, each ear cut into 3
1/1 lb Andouille Sausage, sliced
1 lb Baby Red Potatoes or Baby White Potatoes, cut in half
3 Tbsp of Old Bay Seasoning
1 Tbsp minced Garlic
Juice of 1/2 a Lemon, (plus lemon wedges for serving)
3 Tbsp melted Butter

Instructions

Boil corn and potatoes for 10 min. Drain and set aside.

In a large bowl combine corn, potatoes, shrimp, sausage, Old Bay, garlic, juice of lemon, and butter. Toss to coat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Divide between 4 12x12 inch sheets of aluminum foil and close them to make closed packets.

Bake packets at 400 degrees for 20 min. until shrimp is pink.

Serve with lemon wedges.

Blistered Shishito Peppers aka Witch Fingers

1 Tbsp Oil
1 bag of Shishito Peppers
Juice of 1/2 lime
A couple splashes of Soy Sauce
A dash of Red Pepper Flakes

Instructions

Heat up oil in a pan until hot, add peppers until they start to blister on the outside. They add the rest of the ingredients. Can be served with lime wedges.

Beans & Rice

2 c. of Rice
3 c. Chicken or Vegetable Stock
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of pepper
1 Tbsp of Old Bay Seasoning
1 tsp of Cumin
1/2 tsp of Celery Salt
1 can of drained and rinsed black beans

Instructions

Cook rice in stock. Put rice in a bowl with a lid. Add all the other ingredients and mix. Let sit for 10 min. Top with chives if desired.

Thanks for watching and reading!!!


Past Creeper Crate unboxings:

Santa Carla

Vincent Price

Puzzle Box

Curry Creeper Crate with Jodee Bowie

MacNeil 

Overlook

Trick R Treat

Coven

Slasher

My love for Vincent Price runs deep ~ just read the blog I wrote about him.  It made sense, while in California a few weeks ago, we took a slight detour to check out the Vincent Price Art Museum. No it's not a museum dedicated to the master of macabre ~ but instead, to the pieces of art that he donated...along with rotating exhibitions.

Located on the campus of East Los Angeles College, it's small with a modern design, and a focus on education. Vincent Price wanted art to be accessible to everyone, and in 1957 he donated 90 pieces from his ancient world art collection to become the first "teaching art collection", it has continued to grow ever since. The museum has collected 9000 objects for it's permanent collection, which is rare for a college gallery.

During our visit one of the floors was closed for a new exhibit being set up, and the others housed modern art ranging from digital media, to paintings, to installation art, but the one gallery I was most interested in was their permanent collection, Form and Function in the Ancient Americas. Not only was it awe inspiring to be surrounded by such old pieces of pottery, but I couldn't help but think, "Vincent Price touched these." The room itself had a great energy and I could have spent hours there taking it all in.

Of course he's holding a cat sculpture.

(The text is referencing the picture above.)

If you're ever out that way I recommend visiting the Vincent Price Art Museum. If you don't like it, not a big loss since it's is free (unless you need to pay a $2 parking fee) and even though it's on a college campus it's open to the public.

It comes as no surprise that I'm a sucker for makeup packaging, especially if there's a cat involved. I was placing an Ulta makeup order and saw they now carry the brand Winky Lux, and even have a Winky Lux Kitty Glam Kit! Winky Lux is known for their Flower Balms. The balms look like clear lipsticks with real flowers set into them, in a pill shaped tube. I admit, I was as curious as a kitty to try them! I ordered the set that included a Pink Flower Balm and Radiant Pink Highlighter.

They come in a tabby kitty pouch.

Both pieces are boxed inside, and look at the ditzy floral liner!

The set.

The compact is pretty and the pill shaped lipstick holder I find hard to hold, 

but I'm sure that's just me.

Inside the compact is a cream. They described it as a "highlighter and blush in one". I have to say it's much too light to be a blush, even for a pale person like me. It works better as a highlighter and is super easy to apply.

You can hardly see them on my skin, 

but the top is the lip balm in Pink and the bottom is Radiant Pink Highlighter.

The balm goes on clear and mixes with your pH to turn into your perfect shade of pink.  It is very smooth to apply and it did turn into a nice shade of pink. I tried to take a picture of the chrysanthemum inside, but I'll just share a picture from their website because you can see it better.

I took a picture of both products on my face, but they are so subtle it's hard to see. Here's an indoor and outside shot. I applied the highlighter to right above my cheek bones, a little on my forehead and the tip of my nose and the lipstick is on without a primer or liner.

Both are super subtle and great for everyday wear. I can understand why Winky Lux is popular. The light colors are perfect if you are buying a gift for someone too. Since the Lip Balms match your pH, you can't go wrong with color! I plan to add these to my everyday makeup routine.

I kept hearing inklings that if you like punk music you'll like the movie Green Room. It's streaming on Netflix, so I decided to give it a go. After all Patrick Stewart is in it, so it can't be THAT bad, right? OR should I say "Alt-right"? Wrong.

***Spoiler Alert***

You get thrown right into the story at the beginning, it follows a poor punk band that's on the road. They are touring and end up booking a gig with some "skins".

One of the band members accidentally walks into a crime scene in the green room and calls the cops. The neo-Nazis find out he's seen too much and the band becomes their next target. They use pit bulls and guns to try and take out each band member over the course of an hour and a half. I was hoping for a slow-motion prepping-for-the-fight survival montage. I didn't get it. OR epic death sequences, but there wasn't any.

The movie is too damn long AND why does Patrick Stewart play the head of the bad guys?! The politics of why they attack is convoluted. I was hoping for a supernatural twist like zombies or vampires. A little disappointed with this one. Not sure why it's rated so high. I give this movie one flight jacket out of five (and it should be black with a giant cat patch on the back.)

Here's the trailer, it looks so much better than the movie...

Andrew ~ the hubs ~ and I haven't taken a real vacation in about two years, so we planned a getaway for the week of July 4. We've never been to California and always wanted to go. We planned a trip to Los Angeles and Anaheim. Then we heard Cat Con was being held not too far away in Pasadena the same weekend we were going to be in town! What is Cat Con you might ask? Exactly what you think it is! A convention for cat lovers. (Hey, that's me!)

(p.s. I'm wearing a Cats Like Us T shirt that can be found here.)

In it's fifth year, they've helped 500+ cats find their forever homes and donated over $190,000 to cat organizations. There's vendors, meet and greets with celebrity cats, an adoption area, free swag, seminars, and new this year an immersive room! Some of the vendors we already work with through my shop Cats Like Us, but it was nice to meet new ones, meet people we've only communicated with via emails, and see old friends.  As for the meet and greets, I already met Lil Bub in Buffalo, and she's the only cat I ever really wanted to meet. We couldn't adopt a cat because we are traveling (and Ginger and Vicktor wouldn't like a new surprise sibling either). Some of the swag we couldn't take because we were traveling. Um wet cat food would have to go in my liquids baggie in my carry-on luggage and that wasn't going to happen. BUT we did take advantage of the interactive room and all the shopping opportunities!!!

Here's me & Kelly (MsFormaldehyde) I had to buy this kitty headband from her!

So many cat pics everywhere!

The walk-through interactive room was called Purradise City and sponsored by Temptations cat treats.  It was divided up into different themed photo spots with some educational history on cats. It was crowded, but we snuck some shots in!

The vendors were a good combination of things. I didn't see many duplicated products, everyone had a little something different for everyone. Products ranged from things for your cat like litter, food, scratching houses to small etsy shops selling cat jewelry, T shirts, and books. It was great to see them all in one place! I think my haul was substantial.

Cat Headband, blood splattered cat ears & an Amazing Acrocats patch for my jacket. 

All from MsFormaldehyde.

Purrl Grey patch from Pink Owlet. I LOVE tea and cats... and horror movies.

We bought a cat card game called Cantankerous Cats along with loose catnip teas for me! AND they threw in a free mousie toy for our cats.

I had to stop at the Cat Coven booth. I bought the leggings to match my T shirt. I've written about them before and have several Ts including last years Halloween limited edition style.

If you're not familiar with Kittees, you should be! I've worked with the owner for years. She made the T on the left and the one on the right is from Arm the Animals. They give back to all kinds of animals and I'm happy to support them. (Also My kitty Ginger has a lot to say about you!)

This event is Purrrfect for any cat lover and I highly recommend it.