Tag Archives: witches

13 Movies to Watch this Halloween

Carrie-Halloween

I’ve always been one for a good scare. Therefore, Halloween is probably my favorite holiday. While I  love to dress up, decorate pumpkins and watch horror movies this time of year, I’m a hardcore horror movie fan all year round (bet you never guessed that). Slasher films are okay, but most of my favorite horror movies have terrifying concepts behind them, which in my opinion, is what really makes them scary. Anyone can make a gory slasher film and call it horror, but it takes a true artist to put a terrifying concept on film and do it well. That being said, here are 13 of my favorites:

13. House of 1000 Corpses: When I was a sophomore in college, kids in my creative writing class told me that I should see this movie because I laugh just like the character Baby. After my good friend from class leant it to me, I watched it one night while studying and found just how disturbingly similar Baby’s laugh was to mine. This movie is not for the occasional horror movie watcher. Being a Rob Zombie film, it’s pretty hardcore. But, if you’re a fan of Rob Zombie’s unique film style and can handle some grotesque scenes, this is one of his best.

12: The Skeleton Key: This movie explores the inner workings of hoodoo in the south leading you down a dark path of southern tradition and deception. It tells the story of a young nurse who takes a job caring for an elderly couple in their old creepy mansion. While you learn that hoodoo can’t hurt you unless you believe in it, nothing will prepare you for the twist ending.

11: Wolf Creek: While Wolf Creek does have some qualities of a typical slasher film, it’s so much more than that. In typical slasher films, the protagonists tend to make bad decisions that are so stupidly unbelievable that they take away from the movie’s credibility. This is quite the opposite. When a group of American tourists are stranded in a remote part of the Australian outback, they make the same decisions you would have made when they’re offered a ride from a seemingly friendly local.

10: The Craft: The Craft is the definition of a cult classic. It’s also an excellent coming of age story. I must admit that the four high school witches summoning the powers of the watchtowers of the north, east, south and west, totally take me back to my childhood days when I too played ‘light as a feather, stiff as a board’ at sleepovers. The goth fashions of the 90s against oppressing Catholic school uniforms also takes me back to my childhood making The Craft one of my favorite Halloween traditions.

9. Funny Games: This home invasion thriller will either leave you on the edge of your seat or cause you to leave the room. I can best describe Funny Games as A Clockwork Orange on Cape Cod. Shortly after arriving at their lakefront vacation home, a family of three is terrorized by two psychotic prepsters in white. The movie toys just as much with the audience as the killers do with their victims giving it a terrifyingly unique quality.

carrie-bloody-1976-Halloween

8: The Brotherhood: Though this film has all the elements of being a corny scary movie, I absolutely love the concept. Besides, it’s important to have a few movies on this list to watch with friends who can’t stomach a Rob Zombie film. The Brotherhood tells the story of a group of frat brother vampires (yes, you read that correctly) who use their vampirism to stay in college forever. Why didn’t I think of that?

7: The Wicker Man: I’ve always been fascinated by cults and their strange rituals. The Wicker Man is one of the best depictions of their obscure nature. When a patrolman receives a letter from his former fiance, Willow, telling him that their daughter is missing, he goes to look for her on a private island where Willow lives as part of an odd matriarchal community that operates similar to a beehive. Get ready for a great twist at the end.

6: The Ring: Once you watch this movie about a creepy dead girl with a murderous videotape, you’ll cringe every time your phone rings or someone turns on the TV. The Ring does an excellent job of taking everyday objects and making them frightening. Not only is the video itself super scary, but the backstory about the evil girl behind it will stick with you for years to come.

5: The Strangers: If you love a good home invasion film, this is one of the best. When a young couple is stranded in a remote cabin, they are terrorized by three masked strangers. What makes this movie unique is that the killers have little to no lines and wear masks for pretty much the whole movie making them even more mysterious and menacing.

4: Hocus Pocus: Though this movie scared the hell out of me when I was seven, it’s not what any adult would consider a horror movie. However, it’s undisputedly a Halloween classic that I watch over and over again throughout the month of October.

3. The Moth Diaries: The Moth Diaries is one of the most original vampire movies I’ve ever seen in that it tells the story of a vampire that doesn’t live off blood, but off of human suffering. After her father’s suicide, Rebecca’s mother enrolls her in an all girls boarding school where she becomes happy again with the help of her best friend Lucie. When a newcomer arrives on campus and comes between her and Lucie, Rebecca becomes suspicious that there might be something evil about her.

2. American Mary: Unlike most horror movies that focus on killers or vampires, American Mary takes you deep into the taboo world of body modification. Mary is a broke medical student studying to be a surgeon. Against her better judgement, she starts performing freakish body modification surgeries on people looking to do some insane transformations. I’m so excited to see what the Soska sisters of Twisted Twins Productions come out with next.

1. Carrie: I’ve been watching Carrie on Halloween since I was a kid. Back in the days of Blockbuster Video, my Mom would always rent it for me around Halloween and we would watch it together. Though I liked last year’s remake a lot, you just can’t beat the original. No one will ever be able to top the terrifying performance of the mother in the 1976 version. I read an interview with Stephen King  where he revealed that Carrie was based on a girl he went to school with. Her mother was a fanatical gambling addict. As a result of her mother’s crazy gambling habit, she only had one dress to wear to school and was horribly bullied for it. When she wore a new dress to school for the first time, the kids made fun of her even more. She later killed herself, but lives on forever as Carrie.

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Halloween Glam

In case you haven’t noticed, I love everything about Halloween. I love the scary movies, the chill in the fall air, and of course dressing up. It’s a true celebration of fall and the occult. Though Halloween gets the reputation of being scary and it often is, it’s so much more than that. When I saw these mannequins in the storefront of an Upper East Side florist, I realized just how glamorous Halloween can truly be.

So why should Christmas have all the fun?  Here are my picks for some of the most glamorous Halloween accessories:

1.  Jewelry Mask on Sequined Stick: I’ve always wanted to have a masquerade-themed Halloween party like in The Phantom of the Opera filled with sequins dresses and secret identities.

2.  Alexander McQueen Two-Faced Skull Platform Pumps:  They may cost you a month’s rent, but there’s nothing scarier than a shortage of McQueen in your wardrobe.  These skullcandy chic shoes aren’t just Halloween, they’re for everyday.

3.  Scary Script Halloween Party Invitations: Parties are all about the details and that starts with the invitation.

4.  Halloween Steel Wire Cake Stand: This spiderweb cake stand could be the centerpiece of any October gathering.

5.  Purple Flicker Candle with Spooky Halloween Scene: Candles always set a spooky mood making them an All Hallow’s Eve decor essential.

Bewitching

Last Week, Hedi Slimane launched the house of Saint Laurent Paris back into fabulosity at Paris Fashion Week with his couture coven of witches.  While most people got caught up in the collection’s drama with Cathy Horyn, I became absolutely bewitched by the collection and spent hours trying to wrap my head around the fashion house’s mysterious name change.  Inspired by YSL SS13 and witch inspired fashion in general, I headed downtown to Enchantments, my favorite spiritual supply store, on 9th St. between 1st Ave. and Ave A.

I discovered Enchantments three years ago when I first moved the city.  In the mist of searching for a job, I picked up a candle said to bring career success.  I lit it for seven days as directed and by the next week, I had three interviews one of which was at Vogue.  I didn’t end up getting any of those positions, but I was happy to have brought forth a much-needed change in the universe.  When I spoke to the owner, Stacy, about taking pictures at the store for my fashion blog, she mentioned having made custom candles for some of the biggest names in the fashion industry making me feel even more spiritually connected to my favorite fashion designers and editors.  To rediscover your fashionable spiritual side, find Enchantments on Facebook and check out my photo shoot that just may make cauldrons and candles this season’s hottest accessories.

Striking a spellbinding pose

Enchantments isn’t just an awesome place to visit around Halloween, their products are great to everything from purifying a new apartment to enhancing your career to finding true love.

Dark & Glam

Shopping for cauldrons in my Saint Laurent SS13-inspired outfit

More cauldrons!

Obviously, this place is going to have amazing Halloween windows.  I’ll have to stop by again soon because they add to them on a daily basis.

Is Harry Potter a Socialite?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ruled the box office socialite style over the weekend as the biggest movie opening ever. The film brought in $168.6 Million in the U.S. alone. In New York City, being a socialite is like having magical powers. At the drop of a hat, everything at Saks can be yours and the lines in front of the hottest clubs disappear seconds after your approach. Harry Potter may be able to cast a spell upon the box office, but is he socialite? And what other spellbound socialites have disapparated from the mysterious mind of J.K. Rowling?

Harry Potter is famous for being famous. His overnight fame came shortly after he was born. He also has a lot of gold guarded by goblins in Gringotts. Not to mention he went to boarding school in a castle. Like many famous socialites, Harry Potter lives his life in the public eye as the subject of both news and gossip. The paparazzi and crazed reporters such as Rita Skeeter are constantly following him. Though he may not aspire to socialite fame, Harry Potter is a socialite through and through. However, numerous other socialite characters exist in the wizarding world. The Malfoys have a manor and flaunt their socialite status by sitting with the Minster of Magic at the Quidditch World Cup. Bellatrix Lestrange may be one of the most evil witches that ever lived, but shopping with her could be an elegantly bewitching experience, kind of like shopping with Blair Waldorf. Having grown up with Harry Potter, I’m sad that this marks the end of an era, but it was a great way to end it.

My New Address is 666 Park Ave.

Being a socialite can be wicked fun, not to mention a magical experience. But, what happens when the socialites are witches? I intend to uncover the dark world of socialite sorcery by making 666 Park Ave. my next beachside read. This new novel by Gabriella Pierce, is said to be a pure evil mixture of Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diaries666 Park Ave. tells the story of Jane Boyle, a Paris-based architect who falls in love with a rich and handsome Upper East Sider named Malcolm Doran. When she moves to New York to start her fairy tale life with Malcolm, Jane is entrenched into the dark secrets that come with being a part of the esteemed Doran clan, a family with a supernatural hold on New York’s high society.

Those with deep pockets tend to have even deeper secrets. Jane’s newfound magical abilities challenge everything she ever knew about good and evil. Not only must she cope with the pressures of wealth and witchcraft, Jane must also struggle with those who intend to take them from her. Forget everything you knew about Park Ave. princesses because in this fairy tale, it seems that the riches may be going to the witches for a change. 666 Park Ave. is available on Amazon. If this novel turns into a TV show or movie, it would be an honor to make a cameo appearance. In the meantime, I may pay a visit to the actual 666 Park Ave. located between 67th and 68th St.