It’s Been A While

I haven’t shared a life update with pictures in ages, it seems, so here we go!

I turned 38 back in August. I was spoiled by my BFF and her husband that weekend. They took me to dinner, then I crashed at their place and did nothing but eat junk, watch movies, and swim. (Oh, and indulge in her fantastic cooking!) It was a much needed break from reality and did wonders for my depression. When we went out, I got dolled up and, honestly, I looked cute as hell. So cute, in fact, that we were barely inside the restaurant before a waitress ran over to tell me how cute I was. Lol.

My two work besties showed up, as well, which completed the perfection that weekend was. I spent Sunday with my parents, who bought me a red velvet cake. Then, on Tuesday, one of my older coworkers left a homemade lemon cake for me. I felt very loved.

In early September, I attended the Carbonstone show in Birmingham. They opened for Julien-K, Spineshank, and The Union Underground. Hanging out with Corey and Chrystal again was a balm to my soul. I also got to meet Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh from Julien-K. I almost chickened out, but Chrystal made me say hi to Ryan when he walked past their merch table, then Ryan was like “Come over here” and led me to their merch table. I bought a vinyl of my favorite album, Death to Analog, and we took a couple of selfies. It was an extremely good night, capped by my college football team winning their game.

And now, it’s October. My favorite time of year – spooky season – is here. Which means, of course, that I’ve been living on fall drinks from Starbucks and Dunkin, and my mom and I have been exploring local cemeteries. Our most recent day out was spent at Athens City Cemetery. We actually have family buried there, but we kept our ventures to the older graves.

October, November, and December are my favorite three months of the year, even if Christmas doesn’t excite me the way it did as a child. This year, though, my brother and his wife are back in Alabama, so maybe Christmas will regain some of its magic!

Hope all of you are doing well ❤️

Mostly Music Halloween 2023 Playlist

I think I actually created this playlist last year, but it has undergone some changes since then! So click the link to visit the actual list on Spotify (this is NSFW), or simply read what made the cut below! Happy Halloween, y’all!

  • Type O Negative: “Love You to Death”
  • Type O Negative: “Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)”
  • Small Town Titans: “Monster Mash”
  • Marilyn Manson: “This is Halloween”
  • Ed Ivory, Ken Page: “Oogie Boogie’s Song”
  • Danny Elfman: “Remains of the Day”
  • Bruno Coulais, The Children’s Choir of Nice: “Coraline End Credits”
  • London After Midnight: “The Black Cat”
  • Avenged Sevenfold: “A Little Piece of Heaven”
  • Alice Cooper: “Feed My Frankenstein”
  • Depeche Mode: “Enjoy the Silence – 2006 Remaster”
  • Marilyn Manson, Sneaker Pimps: “Long Hard Road Out of Hell”
  • Sneaker Pimps: “6 Underground”
  • Little Nell, Patricia Quinn, Richard O’Brien: “Time Warp”
  • Lana Del Rey: “Season of the Witch”
  • Eagles: “Witchy Woman – 2013 Remaster”
  • Collide: “White Rabbit”
  • Rob Zombie: “Dragula”
  • Crosses: “Bitches Brew”
  • White Zombie: “Thunder Kiss ’65”
  • Fall Out Boy: “Uma Thurman”
  • Backstreet Boys: “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”
  • The Weeknd: “Blinding Lights”
  • The 69 Eyes: “Lost Boys”
  • Ghost: “Dance Macabre”
  • Keith David: “Friends on the Other Side” (from The Princess and the Frog)
  • The Alan Parsons Project: “The Raven”
  • The Alan Parsons Project: “(The System Of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Feather”
  • Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: “Red Right Hand”
  • Front Line Assembly: “Ghosts”
  • Creature Feature: “The Greatest Show Unearthed”
  • Jyrki 69, Steve Stevens: “White Rabbit”
  • Die Krupps: “The Vampire Strikes Back”
  • Panzer AG: “Monster”
  • Rob Zombie: “House of 1000 Corpses”
  • Rob Zombie: “Pussy Liquor”
  • John 5: “Beat It”
  • Anarchy Club: “Behind the Mask”
  • Graveyard BBQ: “Cheat on the Church”
  • Bobaflex: “I’m Glad You’re Dead”
  • Rammstein: “Mein Teil”
  • Ghost: “Call Me Little Sunshine”
  • Ghost: “Hunter’s Moon”
  • Atlanta Rhythm Section: “Spooky”
  • Alice Cooper: “Welcome To My Nightmare”
  • Tom Petty: “Zombie Zoo”
  • Wednesday 13: “I Walked With a Zombie”
  • Murderdolls: “Love at First Fright”
  • Escape the Fate: “Zombie Dance”
  • Escape the Fate: “Gorgeous Nightmare”
  • Escape the Fate: “Lost in Darkness”
  • Powerman 5000: “Black Lipstick”
  • Deftones: “Change (In the House of Flies)”
  • Muse: “You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween”
  • Strvngers: “Crucifixxx”
  • Strvngers: “Necromancer”
  • Crywolf: “Halloween, 1987”
  • Andrew Gold: “Spooky, Scary Skeletons (Undead Tombstone Remix)”
  • People in Planes: “Vampire”
  • Roxy Lane: “Graveyard”
  • Vampires Everywhere!: “Cry Little Sister”
  • Rob Zombie: “Living Dead Girl”
  • No Resolve, From Ashes To New: “Thriller”
  • The 69 Eyes: “We Own The Night”
  • Powerman 5000: “Horror Show”
  • London After Midnight: “Spider and the Fly”

Fear Friday: Favorite Movie Vampire

I just realized how few Halloween posts I’m likely to do this year, so I decided to write one about a heavily debatable topic among horror fans: who is the best vampire on film? (And if you say any of the Cullens, I absolutely will not take you seriously.)

While there are those who swear the best will always be the originals, Nosferatu and/or Dracula, my personal choice is a little more recent. I am a huge fan of The Lost Boys, and David is deliciously evil, but nor does he have my vote. No, my favorite takes us back to 1985.

Fright Night, featuring the positively wicked Jerry Dandridge, as portrayed by Chris Sarandon. (And no, I don’t accept Colin Farrell in the role.)

He’s sexy, he’s suave, he’s charming, he’s seductive…and he is mean as a snake, emotionless, led by his baser needs. The creepiest, most dangerous thing about Jerry is how seamlessly he fits in with humanity. Sure, he’s a little odd, a bit too formal, but there’s something alluring in that, something that often persuades those around him to lower their guard.

The highlight of Fright Night, in my opinion, and the moment when I myself would be doomed to my fate, is the dance scene.

Sorry, Charlie. My hormones are overpowering my brain cells, and I’m going with the sketchy dude who’s been following us and watching you from next door…

So, in the spirit of spooky season, tell me which movie vampire is your favorite, and why.

Happy Spooktober!