To the Phantom, a phavor.

Welcome, S&P-brains!

I'm taking a tiny break from all my torturing tinkering in the dungeon laboratory to come up to the pub and share a round with everyone. Making monsters is thirsty work!

I see the ol' place has acquired a few more cobwebs and a blanket of dust since I've been away... and it feels just right.

Hey listen, while we're up here relaxing, maybe you can help me out with a little biznizz for a buddy of mine. I sure hope so.

My friend Cortlandt Hull is a legend in the Monster Making world, and probably needs no introduction to most of you loyal S&Pers. You've probably seen him here once or twice -- he doesn't drink much, but he's got some of the best pub-time tales about our favorite monsters (and movie monster makers!) you've ever heard.

The amazing Joe Moe (L), your pubkeep and Cortlandt Hull (R) goofing for the 

camera in front of the always gorgeous Witch's Dungeon display at

Monsterpalooza '11.

Cortlandt is a real ar-teest -- a fantastic painter, makeup artist, graphic designer, illustrator, and most famously to Monster and Hallowe'en Kid fandom, a writer, producer, director and the wonderful horror figure maker and creator of the historic Witch's Dungeon Classic Movie Museum, a Bristol CT monster museum that just this past Fall celebrated its 45TH year delighting and thrilling Monster Kids (and their kids!) every Hallowe'en season.

Well, Cortlandt's latest horror-iffic homage is in the works, and needs the help of all us Kooky Monster Kids.

Just watch this, please. He'll explain everything...



If you would please shamble over to Cortlandt's Kickstarter page for The Phantom of the Opera: Unmasking The Masterpiece and consider any donation you can handle. There are many levels of funding and each comes with its own perks and Phantom-ish swag.

It is more than a worthy project to fund -- it's a chance to help preserve one of the most iconic films in cinema history, and of our Hallowe'en and Monster Kid heritage.

There are only 27 days left to raise the needed funds, and the planned DVD set is going to be such an awesome addition to every avid Horror Lover's movie library that you will be very, very glad you had a part in making it happen.

Please tell your friends, and refer them to the Kickstarter link above.

A toast -- to Cortlandt, the Witch's Dungeon, and getting full funding for Unmasking The Masterpiece...

DUMDUMSHREKPOP!

Before we get to November...

Well, November's already here, yes.

But before I get to any new jukebox tunage or waxing poetic about the end of Autumn and all that, I wanted to pass around a few pics of our 2011 yardhaunt, the 'Greatest Hits' display I was able to put together.

Yes, I was going to do a big tribute to the anti-genius of Edward D. Wood, Jr. But time... time not only slipped away, it was fairly torn from my daily schedule with alarming regularity all through September and October.

No complaints. I love working.

But I decided I had backlogged so many great props, figures, routines, music and decor that a greatest hits display would be perfect -- a kind of Hallowe'en version of a cheap TV clip show.

It worked just fine.

Now don't get up, I'll just pass a few around:

 Our 'graveyard' just before adding the animatronic characters.

 The lovely 'V' helping set up 'Boo Corner' (for littler spooks and scared grown-ups!).

 'Uncle Bill' setting up the stupendous 'De Witch Woman' display he built 

last year in honor of the family-favorite James Lewicki illustration 

(story and pictures from this post and this post, remember?)

Our cat Hallowe'en ('Halli') always helps us move the leaves around.

 She also spent a lot of time hanging out with Cap'n Lantern an Ficketts.

 The graveyard ready to go, seen through the web of a spider

that decided she had to set up shop here. 

(Sorry Frog Queen!)

 An angle I only get to see once a year: the business end of my

graveyard attraction.

 Cap'n Lantern, First Mate Ficketts, a tombstone-perched raven named Nevermore...

 ... and the Lean Bros & Ghoul, ready for spooky swingin' songs!

My one and only Ed Wood tribute piece.

 The completed Boo Corner...

... and guests.

'De Witch Woman' took the place of the usual Treat Room we have on

that side of the porch. That foot pumped, that spindle spun, and de ol' witch woman

sang  (in my Aunt Gail's voice) 'Turn an' spin, come off skin!' all night long.

The decade-old Great Pumpkin animatronic character, in his perfectly

glowy, perfectly plasticky pumpkin patch!

A blurry but colorful shot of the display from across the street. 

Of course, the Skull & Pumpkin has always been a Post-Hallowe'en Blues-Free Zone, as you well know. There is nothing about cleanup that saddens me -- not really -- and in fact it has grown to become a rather Zen-like ritual, at once cleansing and inspiring.

Besides, there simply isn't a reason for sadness.

For one, we had a grand time.

For another, it's still Autumn. I mean, look at the view I get to and from work every day...

Still very, very Fall.

I'll be back soon with new musical diversions for a new month.

In the meantime, I'll gather up the pictures and let you all get back to whatever you were doing. I hope you're all discussing your own amazing Hallowe'en 2011 stories!

Until next time!

DDSP!

Making Hallowe'en.

DDSProgress...

Nine points of the law.

Whew! It's been stormy out there -- I wonder what's headed our way?

Don't get up, I've got everything alright. I just need to set things down and get a quick drop of warmth.

AH! Butterbeer. Perfect.

All this junk I brought in with me? Oh, just more 'horror-kid-in-the-'70s' nostalgia. Pics of something that used to terrify me as a kid; something I'd assumed had vacated the Realm Of Things That Scare The %^& Out Of Me long years ago.

But recently I had this goofy nightmare, and for a split second (that's as long as I'll admit) I was in my room bolt upright in bed and as sweaty-scared as I used to be when I was a child. (It was rather exhilarating, actually! Laughter and grown-up embarrassment followed swiftly. So did turning on the lights but honestly I thought I'd heard someone breaking into the car *ahem*).

But I immediately began exploring this age old fear, in books, comics, movies.

Yes, S&P'ers, I have always been utterly creeped out by Possessed Girl.

Of course, we all know the icon, the archetype, of Possessed Girl. I don't really need to show you pictures of Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil, do I?

Alright, fine.

Isn't she adorable? One of my brothers used to date a girl who looked just like this. 

I made sure to keep all Ouija boards at a distance.

The Exorcist hit theatres (and its trailers television screens) when I was 5. I didn't at all understand any of it just yet, so no big deal... yet.

But a re-release when I was 8 made, shall we say, an impact. Having spent some years in Catholic school by then, my little brain was perfectly molded and shaped to accept this big block, this hellish set of horrific ideas and images.

It didn't help that we had, in the house, the paperback with that cover-

-- and that if I went to clergy at school wondering if people could really be taken by Satan the answer was a resounding "Well, yes, but not children, usually." With a smile, those words.

No, I hadn't seen the movie (and wouldn't until many years later; my parents would have sooner died than let me see it then), but the very idea of a Possessed Girl, especially as filtered and enhanced by the equally-childish speculations of my fellow classmates, was at once terrifying and irresistible.

You know how it is -- something scares you, you can't help but seek it out (while the sun is up, that is). Even if the depicted being wasn't actually possessed but a vampire girl, or nameless monster hag -- if it fits a certain slimy, slack-haired, evil-eyed, fang-toothed set of criteria, I always felt Possessed Girl tugging at my gut.

 For example, this is Grimm -- a guy -- who 'hosted' a series of ghost story comics in the '60s and '70s.

But he looked like Possessed Girl to me. The eyes, fangs.

 Oh yes, Jack Chick's famously ridiculous tracts are full of (among other things) Satanically possessed people.

 Look at her ferpetessake! High forehead, fangs, dark eyes, all the trademarks!

A similarly tormented being who really might be a witch rather than actually possessed showed

up on the cover of this Horror Tales mag from 1971:

 Her pupil-less look of horror and disgust, her fangs and her forehead-pasted hair signify her

as a perfect Mike C. Possessed Girl. (Plus, Satan is a Demon. Remember that.)

 In the '80s a set of eighty or so cheap-but-amazing monster cards were released in Spain --

Monstruos Diabolicos -- which featured these two lady creeps.

  Then comes a face I saw on TV and lobby posters many times in the mid-'70s:

 Juliet Mills' hideousness from Beyond The Door! The eyes are what did it for me!

 Total Possessed Girl, right? Nope.

A classic Topstone 'Vampire Girl' mask from the '60s, but the fangs, eyes 

and high forehead/pasted hair just equal demonic torment to me.

 Another Topstone ad, but she seems to have settled down quite a bit; her

eyes are more normal, her fangs have all but disappeared 

and in fact she reminds me a little of Vonnetta. Hhmmm...

... and this beautifully painted pull from original Topstone molds is actually quite fetching!

Possessed Girl -- something I think only Catholic kids from the '70s can truly understand. You don't truly grasp your vulnerability until you've read the Baltimore Catechism, and you don't really know the Devil until you've gone to Mass every Sunday (and most Fridays) for years.

After all that, she seems so much more attractive and interesting.


The power of
DUMDUMSHREKPOP!
compels you!

300 Posts and One Special 'Geist.

Guest. I meant GUEST.

I am so happy to note the S&P's 300TH post (to now well over 30,000 visitors!) with a special guest.

Let's move these stools over there -- right, closer to the fire, it's gettin' chilly! -- and let's make comfortable painter, sculptor, seamster, illustrator, artist extraordinaire and loyal patron of the Skull & Pumpkin, Adam Chiet!

 Who is this guy? In his own words:

"I'm a self taught sculptor with a BFA in Illustration/Design from the Massachusetts College of Art (93'). My professional artistic career has spanned over 15 years and I have been lucky enough to work as a sculptor for Universal Studios, FL., Walt Disney World, FL., several museums, casinos and themed restaurants. I've also worked in the video game industry, and as a digital photo-retoucher in NYC. I'm also proud to have taught art on the elementary and college level. Besides my sculpture work, I've recently worked for a major company designing light/sound/animated Christmas and Halloween villages for the retail market."

Adam's been kind enough to allow me to dig into his twisted brain and explore the creative clutter there!

S&P: Adam, can you remember when you first discovered your love and talent for creating things with paint, clay, and pencil?

AC: I think I was about 3 and I was drawing the family pets, dogs, cats, fish. Then my parents and brother, my family took notice because it wasn't your usual stick figures but actual shapes and faces. When I turned 4, I started sculpting animals and dinosaurs with my Play-Doh. Dinos would eventually lead me to Godzilla and then the classic monster films!

S&P: Does artistic talent run in the family?

AC: Yes, my mother could paint and draw and still is into many different types of crafts. My dad can build anything and although it's not his profession, he is a very capable carpenter. My brother however is just a pharmacist, haha!

S&P: Were you always a Classic Monster lovin' kid?

AC: Absolutely! The Creature Double Feature and having a brother 3 years older than me, helped introduce the classic monsters to me at the age of 5 or 6.

A fantastic bust of our good friend, actor Daniel Roebuck, as horror host Dr. Shocker!

S&P: You began Chiet Design in 1999. What compelled you to jump into business this way, and how has the ride been?

AC: I wanted to have a small voice in the creation of monster figures. I was a big fan of the Telco Halloween motionettes, and based a series of large Monster figures off of these whimsical electronic display figures. It's been over 10 years and I've had very busy times, and down times, but I've made many one of a kind figures. The challenge now is to make more elaborate and detailed figures with each passing year.

S&P: What, if any, are your criteria for choosing a subject for your next incredible piece?

AC: Mostly it's up to the collector. I have my personal favorites and have covered them in the past. I'm thinking about a line of Super-Hero and TV personalities next!

S&P: Is there an average length of time for finishing a piece?

AC: It really varies. It can range from 13 hours to 25 hours. Each figure is hand made, painted, and clothed. Also, commissioned figures may also have a custom sculpted head as well!

S&P: You've had to become a fine seamster in order to really complete and bring your figures to life. Was this something you'd done before?

AC: No, in the early days I actually hand sewed everything, but the more involved costumes were sewn by a seamstress for me. All of that was very time consuming. It was only a few years ago I finally was taught how to use a sewing machine, haha!

S&P: Do you have a favorite character/subject in horror? Sci-fi? Fantasy?

AC: Yes, I love the classic Monsters, and I also love fantasy and classic sci-fi too. My favorite character is the Wolfman, but I also love vampires, and mummies... okay there are too many and not enough space to list all them, haha!

S&P: Do you have a favorite piece from your own creations?

AC: I'm very partial to two figures -- the (Glenn Strange) Frankenstein and The (Lon Chaney Jr.) Mummy with shades of the Aurora model kit -- but honestly I like them all.

S&P: Any hints about future projects you're particularly excited about?


AC: Yes, I'm very keen on doing some vintage Batman & Batman Villains, The Three Stooges, Abbott & Costello, Karloff, Price & Lorre from the "Raven" and definitely more Hammer monsters!


S&P: Any advice for aspiring artists?

AC: Draw, paint, sculpt, design -- try to do it all -- and then in all that chaos you find your voice, your style, and what your trying to say with your work. If you have the time, create, create, create!

 One of my favorite Chiet wonders is this fabulous bust of Uncle Forry!

S&P: All Halloween loving guests of the S&P must eventually answer Question 13! Would you care to share a story or memory of any particularly fond Halloween experiences? You're free to ramble... this is what the S&P is for!

AC:  I love this question! Halloween for me is New England -- crisp, dark nights; the rustling of dead leaves on the ground as you walk; the beginnings of a slight chill to the night air; window decorating that begins on Oct 1st... and lawn decorating that begins on Oct. 2nd! It's finding the perfect pumpkin, or pumpkins; taking old clothes and stuffing them with fallen leaves after raking the front lawn; passing my Halloween excitement onto a new generation each year, while still honoring the child in me -- I remember all my Halloween costumes from age 5 to 43 -- and I'm looking to add new memories to the Halloween of my 44th year!

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adam, thank you very much for indulging us and passing along some of your monster-makin' wisdom! Most of the Skull & Pumpkin's patrons are artists of one stripe or other (usually more than one!), and your incredible work inspires us all!

Folks, you REALLY need to go to his website and peruse his insanely cool portfolio of big scale pieces. The Scrooge and Marley figures alone are worth the trip... but there's so much more!

One of these days when I have the funds to make it worth his while, I'm going to commission a piece from Mr. Chiet just for the Skull & Pumpkin... can't wait!


A hearty S&P toast to Adam Chiet... raise 'em high, everyone --


"DUMDUMSHREKPOP!"

De' Witch Poster.

Hello again, loyal S&P-brains!

Busy-busy-busy time, as you all know, and as most of you are yourselves experiencing while building all of your incredible haunts and displays!

Last night I got a fair amount of work done, and will post that and tonight's work later this evening, but this post is just a few images from yesterday I thought you'd enjoy looking over.

No need to get up, just pass 'em around the bar.

Yesterday was Grandparent's Day at Kiara's kindergarten class, and 'Pa' wasn't going to miss it for the world.

 

 She's the light of my life, even as I check her scalp for those three little sixes.

I had a great time, but only wanted to mention it here because:

1.) I am a proud 'Pa' and 

2.) Because I got to see this:

Yes, it's blurry (I snapped it quickly while passing it on the way to Keek's classroom), and for most of you, it's no big deal. It's a cheap plastic sheet Hallowe'en door hanger.

But it really made me happy because where we live, most folks tend to be skittish-to-fearful about witches and some of them are just outright anti-Hallowe'en. To see a Happy Hallowe'en poster, with a witch on it no less, in the commons at the primary school does this old All Hallow's heart a lot of good!

I like to think it's Kiara's own spirit (what we've called the Keek Mojo for years) that brought it about.

But really it's just the great faculty and staff at that school. Way to go, Branson Primary, and Happy Hallowe'en.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh, another thing.

Here's how you transport a prop skeleton from the shop to your basement laboratory:

The cheapest, lightest weight, relatively realistic (*relatively*) skeleton I've ever seen in the decorations market, and I couldn't pass it up. Yeah, I'll have to alter a lot of it, and the skull will be replaced with the Red Death, but after last night's work it looks like I'm on the right track.

I got a lot of funny stares driving it home, but I got a lot of thumbs up and horn-honking smiles too. Yesterday really seemed to reinvigorate my sense of this area's Hallowe'en love. It may be spare, but where it exists it thrives.

Nice to remember.

Well, there's so much more to do today. 

Those of you who are also in the middle of your haunt work, be sure to come by on your breaks. For the rest of the month, all haunters get snacks, drinks and jukebox plays on the house! ;-)

I got such a great response over it last time that I shall use it again:

MELTYBOOHAGS!

De' Witch Woman.

Hello, Sunday guests of the ol' S&P.

I imagine the pub talk has recently turned to all things Octobery-sweet and spooky!

I hop in and out of the place, of course, especially during the Hallowe'en makin' time, but you all know that by now.

I wanted to show you something my uncle is building for his own haunted display (and hopefully he and I will combine displays for Hallowe'en 2011, stay tuned!).

As I mentioned in a very early post, Uncle Bill has been a Hallowe'en fanatic and haunter for a long, long time, and he and I have for decades been kindred spirits when it comes to our favorite time of year.

Okay, go back to this post and recall James Lewicki's incredible 'Witch Woman' painting that scared and delighted us kids...

Well...

Uncle Bill's bringing it to life.

Not nearly finished and it's already stunning. The spinning wheel's whirling colors, the ol' boo hag herself cackling and creaking, even the man's foot on the bed to the lower right honor the details of Lewicki's amazing image. Compare the two; as ever, clicking will bring up a larger version of the image.

Sensational. Can't wait to see it finished.

Bet you can't either.

"Turn and spin, come off skin..."

MELTYBOOHAGS!

The 'She's there!' Witch Project II

Hi pubgoers!

I've had a busy couple of days and nights. Happy to say speaking like James Mason for 24 hours kept things from getting too burdensome.

I have more to do this weekend, but I wanted to submit this for your consideration.

Do you remember that post about the series of postcards telling the story of the witch and the goofy-eyed cat?

If not, you will need to read it before moving on.

Go ahead, we can wait.




-- whistle-hum-whistle-whistle-hum-hum --




Good? Good.

I think I've found another bit of evidence to fill in a few blanks.

Recall that at one point there were two Veggie Men, the 'Stalksquash', but then some time later we find that one of them was killed and turned into a car, and the other was forced to be the driver of that vehicle of gourdly death.

Recall also that we didn't know exactly what happened to precipitate such a tragic and cruel turn of events. Now, we still don't know exactly what transpired, but I've recently unearthed an image which at least chronicles some moment in the midst of that sudden conflict:

It appears as if Witch and Kitty are very angry at our two Veggie Men for something they did. 

It also looks like one of our Veggie Men, the one smiling and looking at his comrade, is happy about it.

Is it possible that Smiling Stalksquash framed Scared Stalksquash for some infraction of the rules of their once-happy circle? If so, Smiling Stalksquash surely didn't foresee the consequences, for all of them, of his little joke.

Then again, the Moon looks fairly pleased about all this as well, yet no one's suspecting the Moon.

Heaven knows the Moon has certainly been complicit in all sorts of silly nighttime behavior since time immemorial...

As ever, the more we discover, the more questions are raised!

Still, it's nice to have another bit of information to add to the case file of this little mystery.

If anyone can find more data, don't hesitate to bring it with you next time you come to the S&P.

Oh, MELTYBEADS!

Maxfield Scare-ish.

I had to show you this.

The haphazard gallery that is the wonderful artwork adorning the walls of the Skull & Pumpkin has grown by one today.

An incredible poster -- a belated birthday gift from my brother and his wife:

This brilliant piece was created by one Madame Talbot. Her amazing works and other odd, dark, gothicky things can be found by clicking her name.

A beaut. And much needed in this humid heat... Fall, save us!

Thanks so much, Cathcarts.

DDSPoster!

The 'She's there!' Witch Project.

Welcome, welcome.

I'm glad to see the usual suspects hanging around... and a few new faces! Suzie and John C., you two get drinks and snacks all night long.

I'll put it on Fester's tab.

In fact, let me get myself a glass... there.

So... how many of you have read Stephen King's IT? Not just seen the movie, but really read the book?

Oh, we're not about to discuss IT or King's other works all night long (though we certainly could!).

No, I was just recently reminded of a very cool, spooky part of that book -- the way Pennywise the Clown (when it's evil, you spell it with big uppercase C) kept showing up over the years at horrific events in Derry, and especially in those pictures Mike Hanlon's dad had collected in that dusty old photo album.

What reminded me?

Vintage Hallowe'en postcards.

I know, there's nothing as inherently evil and outright screw-you-up-for-life scary in vintage Hallowe'en postcards as Pennywise certainly is. I was just reminded of it (and IT).

Let me get them from the shelf... okay, see this postcard here?

By the way, that's NOT a one-eyed owl. He's just turned sideways. Creeped me out too.  

This witch, name unknown, keeps popping up in other postcards. The same black hat with red ribbon lacing, the combination black dress and red capelet (the colors alternate but they're ever present), the cat familiar, and so on.

I think, like Mikey Hanlon, I've figured out a bit of her history, or at least a kind of chronology of her witchy, witchy life, in these remarkable cards.

This seems to be the oldest image -- at any rate it's the earliest picture I can find. She seems like a happy child, actually. Having an enormous pumpkin and a very cute little black kitty would give any young witch that smile.

It does look, though, as if Kitty's life is starting out a little painfully.

Now, we have to jump forward a bit in her age, because I couldn't find any postcards of her at any intervening age; besides, no one knows how old witches really are anyway. 

Her hair is quite white but she's beginning to experiment and create her spells, so it must be earlier in her life than later. She's traded the long ribbon ends of the young witch's hat for a more grown up bow atop the cone.

Also, you'll notice her kitty, now a full-grown Familiar, likes candles. Apparently he used to have a girlfriend kitty... yet she doesn't show up in later images, just this one, and I think this may explain Black Kitty's progressively odd look and behaviour as time goes on.

Okay, a few years later (at most). She's old enough now to need spectacles, and this is causing her no end of age anxiety. To compensate, she returns to the youthful long ribbons on her hat, and adds ribbons to her shoes.

Black Kitty has been drowning his lamentation for Lost Grey Kitty in steroids and aggressive body building -- that he's carrying the broom shows his 'roid rage/need for control, and his eyes are just whacked. Even the Moon is like 'Dude, what is your deal?'

This image is the first I've found displaying her friendship with the feared Vegetable Man of the Forbidden Forest, known to the natives only as 'Sasquash'.

Regardless of what ritual dance or simple lark this image shows, they all seem happy.

Some years later still, and she's lost the long ribbons on her hat and shoes, and is no longer wearing her specs. Perhaps she only needs them for reading now.

Also, we see another Sasquash has become part of her circle. If this has caused any hard feelings for the first Veggie Man it does not show; they both seem pleased as punch here. 

Also, Black Kitty appears to have calmed down and stopped working out as much (though he apparently still pays inordinate attention to his glutes).

Now apparently living in Salem, Massachusetts, our nameless witch has cruelly ended whatever happiness her Veggie friends had enjoyed by turning one of them into her personal conveyance.

She appears stern-faced and bitter, and not ready for any more nonsense. The ribbons are back, but now seem merely like a desperate attempt to appear normal -- it only adds to the absurdity, like a tux on a monkey.

Or maybe her look is only because she's sitting on fresh watermelon and it's seeping into her skirt.

It is not clear if the driver is the first or second Sasquash, but the nervous 'what me worry?' look on his face tells us all we need to know about how things are now.

Black Kitty has returned to normal kitty-like shape, but his eyes are damaged, possibly permanently, by his emotional ennui.

A slightly damaged print, but it's clear that her days of Veggie love are long over.

The spectacles are back (though this might be just for safe flight), and there's a softer smile on her face, and whatever events ended her relationship with Sasquash, she's over it now.

Black Kitty is quite back to old Familiar status, but an injury to his spine seems to have caused an unnatural arcing.

The damage to the print around his face precludes any speculation about his mood here.

I was given this picture from the granddaughter of the youngest girl shown.

At first glance, it appears to be another view of the same midnight ride from the previous image, but the lunar cycle is not the same, though it's possible that the steeple below is the same church in both images.

From this distance, Black Kitty's feelings cannot be ascertained, though his spinal injury is just as apparent.

Another image from the same girl... though who 'took' this picture she could not recall. My guess is an adventurous brother.

It seems our witch has landed, and is checking in on the girls (and a friend?) as they bob for apples.

The Moon seems pleased enough that nothing terrible is happening.

Black Kitty, bad spine, so it goes.

A peaceful moment. Here, she's thinking about fixing a run in her support hose. Black Kitty seems to have gotten over his back injury, but only for a moment, because in the very next image from the same night:

... it is tragically clear that Black Kitty's finally lost it.

His broken back and wonky eyes are proof of his utter madness.

Also, it is not at all clear if our witch is happy or sad about it. Either way, she's completely absorbed, and seems totally oblivious to the spirit of her old Sasquash friend being chased by the freaking Devil in the smoke from her cauldron.

This is the last known (so far) image of our nameless witch.

It would seem that Black Kitty has either left the picture or aged dramatically -- a white kitty, with the same broken back and wonky eyes, has taken his place on the straws of her broom.

She seems happy at this point in her life, but I wonder if it's the smile of the lunatic -- does she know that she rides a broom bearing the head of the Easter Bunny?

Does she even care?

We may never have the answers.

-------------------------

Well, I told you.

It's a weird thing to see all these images of the same witch and think that they're not somehow related, the merits of my speculations notwithstanding.

I mean, it's not like there are more images of her flying about --

What? There are? You have?

Show me!

SHOW ME!

And DDSPIDERED!