It's the night before Halloween...

... but Vanessa Hudgens and her Halloween Hubby have already assumed their Final Forms and are ready to party!

Halloween is coming...

... and Vanessa Hudgens is undergoing the mysterious transformation she goes through every year, turning from spunky to spooky!

Halloween is coming...

... and actress/singer Vanessa Hudgens wants everyone to know that you need to start preparing for the Big Day and the Bigger Night!

"Halloween is my favorite holiday. I live for Halloween. I literally count down the days," Hudgens once told British comedian James Cordon. "And Halloween is not just a holiday. It is a season! It is a celebratory season to embrace your inner darkness!"

We think this means she might displace Vampirella as the Queen of Halloween this year!

It's a Mohammed Monday (and it's Halloween)!

THIS WEEK WITH JESUS & MO

Friends don't let friends miss Halloween parties!

When Jack Russell heard that his old pal Vampirella had been captured by a mad scientist bent on "curing" her of vampirism, and that she wouldn't be able to make it to his Halloween party, he immediately leapt into action. He fought his way into the villain's lair and liberated her. Because that's what friends do.

 Friends do whatever friends can do for each other to make sure they can't attend Halloween parties. Most of us will just offer to be the designated driver, but sometimes a rescue mission or some other form of intervention might need to be undertaken!

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We're getting the perfect Halloween ready!

At Shades of Gray, we're pulling out all the stops to ensure the perfect staff party for Halloween!

First, we had a staff meeting and gathered input from those working onsite, as well as remotely.

Then, Clara Bow made sure the Halloween Spirits were properly summoned...

... and Elizabeth Montgomery took point in getting the pumpkins carved and ready...

... while Mother Hubbard and Judy Garland made sure the famous Shades of Gray Halloween Punch (because it wouldn't be a party without it) was brewed properly with the right amount of pumpkin spice, almond milk, and spirits!

Finally, as a service to all of our readers, we dispatched Vera-Ellen to visit with rain gods and goddesses Raijin, Tohil, Shala, and Bunzi. We hope she'll get them to make the weather friendly for the trick-or-treaters!

 

Halloween is coming...

 ... and you better watch out: He knows when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good, because he's Batman!

And this year, he's joining forces with Vampirella, so the minions of darkness and evil are in big, BIG trouble!

It's a Mohammed Monday...

... and Halloween is coming!

THIS WEEK WITH JESUS & MO

Halloween is coming...

... and Bessie Love is trying to decide what costume she'll wear to the Shades of Gray party this year!

 

 
 
 

Halloween is here...

 ... and Grace Bradley is regretting that she volunteered to be the host for his year's reunion of the cast for "Minnie the Moocher", "The Skeleton Dance", and "Wot a Night".

But she still thinks she made a smart move when she declined to watch all the scary short films that have been appearing at Terror Titans for all of the "31 Nights of Halloween"!

A Halloween Treat from Richard Sala!

Here's some comic strip poetry from the great Richard Sala, in observation and celebration of the Big Night! (Click on the panels for larger, more readable versions.)

For another bit of rhyming horror humor at Shades of Gray, click here. You can also check out a selection of his color drawings (including several featuring his signature character Peculia, at our sister blog Terror Titans by clicking here.)

Announcing the winners of this year's Halloween Costume Contest at Shades of Gray!

The annual Shades of Gray Halloween Staff Party is over, and the judges have decided the winners of this year's costume contest! Here they are!

Honorable Mention:
Virginia Bruce for "The Latest Batgirl Reboot"

Honorable Mention:
Irish McCalla for "Alec Baldwin"

Third Place:
Janie Doe for "Scary Story"

Second Place:
Oksana Bondareva for "Wallflower"

 

First Place:
Dorothy Lee for "Robert Woolsey"

Grand Prize:
Fenfang and Huan Hong for "Me & My Shadow"

Musical Monday with Strahd von Zarovich

Darkness is falling and the mists are rising. The heroes move up the steep and winding road that leads to the castle of Lord Strahd, the undisputed ruler of Barovia and all who dwell within that land. For they have been invited to dinner... and no one refuses an invitation to visit Castle Ravenloft--if they wish to continue to live.

As they reach the castle's front gates, there is a sound of music drifting through the air. Someone within is playing an organ, and he or she is clearly a master at their craft.

What is the music that's welcoming the heroes to the shadow-draped halls of Castle Ravenloft? Click below to find out!

Bones Coffee's Jacked-O-Lantern

There's a coolness in the air. Groaning ghosts are being carried along on the wind, their passing causing leaves to shrivel and drop from the trees. Halloween is coming, and here's another review of a seasonally appropriate coffee blend for you to drink and possibly offset that chill down your spine.

Ida Lupino is wondering is wondering if the jack-o-lantern is talking to her,
or if she's had so much pumpkin-spiced coffee she's hearing voices.

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: JACKED-O-LANTERN

The Jacked-o-Lantern blend is another offering from Bones Coffee with a great cartoon on the cover. It also attempts to capture an eternal seasonal favorite that sends young and old running to coffee shops and stands--the pumpkin-spiced drink. 

This review is based of coffee brewed from a 4-oz sample pack that I got when I ordered the Fall Favorites bundle from Bones. When you open the bag, you get a hint of what's to come--the spicy goodness wafts deliciously up into your nostrils. While the aroma as the coffee brews isn't particularly strong, that same delightful smell of spices is evident as you pour the coffee.

The bad news when it comes to the actual flavor is that here isn't much of a pumpkin taste in this blend. While this is a great tasting medium-roast blend that goes down smooth and hits the "spice" part of "pumpkin-spice" right on the head with strong allspice and nutmeg flavors, if you are looking for pumpkin, you won't find it here. 

The good news is that when I drank a cup with unsweetened almond milk and then one with sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer, I was treated to taste sensations that put me in mind of a "dirty chai", something that used to be a favorite drink of mine at a (now, sadly, closed) indie coffee stand. Basically, a "dirty chai" is a chai latte with coffee added, and I used to get one of those a week, hot or iced, depending on my mood and the weather. So, in perhaps goes without saying, but I enjoyed the Jacked-O-Lantern blend very much with milk or creamer added.

Another bit of good news is that Jacked-O-Lantern holds up nicely as it cools, with its taste remaining steady. Whether I drank it straight or with almond milk or creamer, this blend was a smooth coffee treat with a spicy kick. At room temperature, the spiciness comes through even stronger when it's mixed with the Sweet Cream creamer. It's perfect for someone like me who often takes a while to finish off a cup of coffee.

Finally, and perhaps not surprisingly, this blend works brilliantly iced. The spicy flavors remain strong, and the coffee flavor is silky smooth when chilled. As before, the unsweetened almond milk and the sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream enhanced rather than subdued the spicy flavors, making this blend even tastier. What I still couldn't detect, though, was any hint of pumpkin flavor.

In a break from my normal protocol when drinking coffee for review rather than pure pleasure, I decided to try this blend with chocolate almond milk, to see how the spice would interact with chocolate flavor, The result was an extremely tasty spiced chocolate coffee drink that I recommend chocolate and coffee lovers should try. (I think it worked well hot, too, but I admit that I had reheat the last cup in the microwave to try it, so the result was suboptimal and even less consistent with the rest of the reviews that just adding the chocolate almond milk.)

Death, a Banjo, and the Unquiet Grave

Death has brought his banjo by for another visit. He hopes to stir the Halloween spirit in everyone within ear-shot!

Today, he is performing "The Unquiet Grave", another American folk tune.

Halloween costume ideas with Julie Newmar

You can dress like hard-rocking mime for Halloween. That's what Julie Newmar will be coming to the Shades of Gray Halloween party as.

Death sings about Death

The Grim Reaper is back to perform another creepy folk song while playing the banjo. (He is mixing things up a bit this time out, as he's got back-up singers.)

We hope this performance helps stir the Halloween spirit within young and old!

Brigitte Bardot is a Little Tramp

In 1965, Orlando Suero, a photographer who worked as a still photographer for film production companies and in taking portraits of actors and other celebrities, did a shoot with Brigette Bardot dressed up like Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp character. Why? Because he could!

Here are some photos from that shoot. Why? Because Halloween is approaching, and if Bardot can dress as Charlie Chaplin's signature character, then maybe you can, too!

Death tells a tale and plays the banjo...

During this month of Halloween, Death will be dropping by to sing us some of his favorite tunes (which also happen to be about him) while playing the banjo. We hope you enjoy these unique, Halloween-flavored treats!

First up, we have "Death and the Lady", a folksong that's been kicking around since at least the early 1700s.

(For more on "Death", Old Leatherstocking, and performances by the man behind the mask, click here.)

'I Go Out at Night' with the Ratboys

The Ratboys is a Chicago-based indie band whose style has been described as "post-Country", but it just sounds like pop-rock to our ears. "I Go Out at Night" was the lead single off their third album, Printer's Devil, which was debuted earlier in 2020.

It's a neat song with pretty vocals and some very nice guitar work, and the video tells the story of some kids trick-or-treating according to a mysterious map on Halloween night. So, of course we had feature it today! (Like of this video turns to "love" because it's set up with fake movie credits to make it feel like one of the many classic horror movies that we've reviewed here.)
We hope you have as happy a Halloween as the characters in the video, and we hope this song helps set the mood!


I Go Out at Night (2020)
Starring: Julia Steiner, Dave Sagan, Sean Nuemann, and Marcus Nuccio
Directors: John TerEick & Jake Nokovic
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars