Sunday 29 July 2012

Horror Events UK

Just a list I decided to make for horror fans in the UK. I might have missed some but hopefully not!


FRIGHT FEST want to see awesome new horror movies with loads of other horror fans? then this is the place for you.
LONDON - Aug 23rd to 27th

DAY OF THE UNDEAD UK zombie festival!
LONDON - Nov

ZOMBIE SHOPPING MALL EXPERIENCE Live action zombie escaping game in a real abandoned mall.
READING - All year

ZOMBIE SURVIVAL EXPERIENCE DAYS Come and train for a zombie take over!
All over UK - dates varied

WORLD ZOMBIE DAY  Zombie Walk
LONDON October 13th

2.8 HOURS LATER More zombie live action fun!
BRISTOL - Dates varied

DIE ZOMBIES DIE! A UK 'The Walking Dead' Convention
BIRMINGHAM - 26th to 28th of October

BITTEN   'True Blood' convention
NORTHAMPTON - 17th to 19th August

HALLOWHEDON  Convention to all the works of Joss Whedon.
LONDON - 26th to 28th of October

That's all I know about but hopefully I will be adding some!

XJigsawX

Wednesday 25 July 2012

Horror Cupcakes - A Zombie Ate My Cupcake Review

So I bought that horror related cake book called 'A Zombie Ate My Cupcake!' and my friend really wanted to make some for her blog and I thought.. yeah it'll be fun! oh my god can I not follow directions well and so much 'nah we don't REALLY need that...' yeah they turned out.. normal cupcakes.


So we decided to make the glass ones which are very basically any base of cupcake you like. She lists all her cake bases and how to make them in the back. Frosting that she also tells you how to make and then the fake glass that you stab in the top.

I'm telling you now that you won't find everything you need in your local ASDAs or TESCOs some stuff is a little more up market and you will have to put thought into where to get your things before you start this cupcake journey or do what we did and ignore it and make very nice but foul tasting cupcakes haha

We picked 'Red Velvet' and I think the things we missed out on like 'Buttercream Milk' were very much needed for the batter as ours turned out like very awkward plop that tasted very dry. Her step by steps in making the cakes themselves and all icing is very easy to follow and helpful.

Plop.

Cupcakes are very fun to make at least even if you are hoping to god they turn out alright at the end of it.


Oh god.. the 'glass' we used about 3/4 of a medium bag of freaking sugar and alot of hot water for this I even splashed out on a new baking tray for it! [98p I will never see again, sob] We must have waited a good hour and a half for this shit to settle and become hard... NOPE not working I guess the lack of liquid glucose might have had something to do with it..

I'm a man I don't follow directions -flex- but maybe when it comes to these things.. I really, really should.

So we spooned in the awkward life of it's own cake mix..


They looked good in the oven... came out more browny then red but I think you need to invest in some good quality and pricey food dye to make it work not 55p junk from TESCO's.

So the end result was dryish cupcakes with VERY VERY sweet but lovely tasting icing [I'm rather boss at this icing crap, never done it before] but hey.. they look great but sadly not very'horror' as the glass never worked and we didn't make/remember the fake blood 'cherry sauce'

So yes, if you want the perfect horror cupcakes don't be a numbnuts and not follow the list of needed things or half of it won't work.

Now back to the book itself. I find alot of her cupcake designs pretty cop out and not very creative, as cute as the 'Mummy' cakes are they are just any old cupcake with frosting or icing to look like bandages and eyes on them. Not hard, and some aren't very horror-y at all.

There are some like the 'Fallen Angel' cupcakes that look like kids made them for Easter.  Just cupcakes with a few gold eggs plopped on the top. But again there are some really awesome designs like these ones.

Day Of The Dead Skulls

In the future I think we will follow a easy normal cupcake guide like I'm used to [I backed 60 freaking cupcakes for a Team Fortress cosplay group one year] and go with the decorations.

Retails brand new for £6.99

Would make a great gift to the horror minded baker.

But hey.. someone enjoyed the cakes.

XJigsawX










Saturday 21 July 2012

Silly Saturday

Well me and the face hugger are enjoying a morning coffee before a long day of baking horror cupcakes [and knowing my skills.. horrible cupcakes] and drinking booze oh and.. a good few bad horror movies.


Have a good weekend guys!

XJigsawX
&
Facehugger

Thursday 19 July 2012

The Horror Mansion

While bored and having a look around online for something else to have a read of while my partner spends all night playing Saints Row the third I came across this manga. It's a collection of short horror stories. It's kinda like 'Are you afraid of the dark?' or 'Goosebumps'

1987
By Ochazukenori


About a woman who is driven crazy by stalker like phone calls.


A brother and sister who are awkwardly close, he gets a girlfriend who happens to be his sister's best friend and there is jealousy to be had as well as human spiders and a very strange sex scene.


A couple go to the beach together and the girl is confronted by a mother who has lost her child.. Another tragic water themed horror story, I sense a theme in Japanese horror.


A good old fashion cannibal story.

This is a very short story, follows on from the last panels of the story before it. A one way love story with grim endings.

A really wtf and gory story of the evil COUNT KEVIN! [I hope that was a translation mistake..]

A three part story about two sisters cursed by a lake.


Horror Mansion Manga 2

Much longer then the last few, about a father and his girl who soon finds out the sick measures he has gone to keep her close and what happened to her mother. My fav story so far, it's sick and grim.

A bitter sweet story about two lovers who make the ultimate promise but there is betrayal. Also LESBIANS.

Oh yes there's two more parts to the adventures of COUNT KEVIN!

And now for some crazy Japan. A jealous lover catches her love sleeping with another woman and kills her. A witch then decides she will be reborn as her lover and the other woman's child...

I don't really know what to say about this one other then odd family affairs and bitches be crazy.

No girls with long hair trying to kill you in this. A short story to go out with, a tape that tells the future.

These manga's and all the short stories are pretty good reads, some are far too short like maybe 5 pages long? The art style has it's own arty style and it's nice to see manga as old as this and seeing how far it has come since 25 years ago in leaps and bounds.

Some old school style horror stories with not too much of Japan's whackyness. If you want to read something gory, short and fast paced this is good but if your someone who likes length and real plot then give this a miss as you can sometimes find yourself really getting into it and then it just comes to an end.

Art: 3/5
Gore: 5/5
Plots: 4.5/5
Scares: 1/5

Overall enjoyment 4.5/5

Wish some had been longer.


XJigsawX



















Monday 16 July 2012

WIN! Signed STORAGE 24 poster!

Yes I am giving away a signed poster by Noel Clarke for the movie STORAGE 24! All you have to do is retweet or reblog and every time you do so you have entered for the prize. Winner will be contacted after prize draw!

Open to UK and USA. You do not have to pay anything, I provide shipping and the winner will be announced on AUGUST 18th!! good luck!







XJigsawX


The Enigma Of Amigara Fault

This is a short story by the man who did Uzamaka/Sprial [ Junji Ito]and it's part of a horror collection called GYO. It's an odd short story but it's a creepy one.

There is an earthquake in Japan and a huge fault down the mountain is made, people rush over to it to see more about it. A really odd thing has happened, they all find human shaped holes in the side and no one not even a wired camera can see the other side.

Our main guy goes to have a look and bumps into a girl who claims one of the holes is 'her hole' and looks just like her but he refuses to believe such a thing.


He walks with the girl and stays by her side while everyone is trying to work out what this all means, how did those human holes get there? why are they there? They soon meet a man who has found 'his hole' and without a second thought takes off his clothes and decides it's a good idea to walk down the hole.


They send out a rescue team to try and save him but no one else can fit into this mans own personal hole and so they give up. Our main man starts to have nightmares about the hole, how there is something not right, something evil about the holes.

People start to freak out and get almost hypnotised by their holes when they see them and soon others join in. Including our guys new rather nutty girlfriend.

In despair of having his new girl vanish down the hole he stumbles upon his own one, and taken over by some sort of force he also enters..


And soon the research crew find the other side...


Short story so short review. I found this by accident by seeing loads of online things about Drrrrr drrrrr and 'This is my hole it was made for me' so I googled and found this story. I was already a huge fan of Junji Ito's dark and creepy work and this was good. I wish it had been longer though.

Scares: 2/5
Plot: 4/5
Art: 4/5
Overall enjoyment: 4.5/5

If you wish to read GO HERE


XJigsawX

Thursday 12 July 2012

London Film & Comic Convention

Not many photos or much to say compared to other cons as I only went on the Sunday and Sunday is always the slow day but regardless of this I had an ace time as did my friends. Met some awesome cosplayers and had some nice conversations with them. So onwards!

Rick from The Walking Dead

Elvira

Shaun from Shaun Of The Dead

Great horror make-up!

Zombie hunter

All the cosplayers I was able to snap, like I said I missed out on Sat.

There was an awesome horror table with some props and merch, I really want the Hellraiser cube so badly.. but I didn't have a £50 spare ha.




And there was a large Alien and Predator stand.

A relative of my guy!





I like the more comic book and sci-fi based things are even MORE horror stalls!




Sadly Norman Reedus of Walking Dead fame bailed as they moved the filming for the show around and we missed him sadly.. But a huge Norman Reedus fan decided to get a book, take photos and let us all put messages for him and it'll get sent away so that's pretty cool.


Little Norman!

Oh and I got to meet Tom Skerritt but I don't know if it's the fella's age or what but he wasn't very up for chatting, didn't seem friendly and I really don't think he knew where he was..


My signed pic : D

All in all it was fun enough, bit boring but least didn't have to line up very long. Got to meet Short Round from Indy, The Todd from Scrubs and other people and a day in London was fun anyway.

XJigsawX




















Saturday 7 July 2012

See you there!!

Last update about this, if anyone see's this bag.. come say hello!
 
 
 
London Film and Comic Con

This event will be held from Friday 6th of July to Sunday 8th of July held in Olympia grand hall in London and it has some horror guests! [they seem pretty rare here in the UK to be honest]

Norman Reedus
Who plays Daryl in 'The Walking Dead'
Shepard in Pandorum

Tom Skerritt
Dallas from 'Alien'


Danielle Harris
Who has been in such horror franchise's as 'Halloween' 'Hatchet' and 'Fear Clinic'

Elise & Electra Avellan
From movies such as 'Machet' 'Planet Terror' 'Grindhouse' and 'Death Proff'


Me and my facehugger will hopefully see you there.

X6XJigsawX6X