Gripevine

A long time ago, before Christianity, before Christmas, the western world was as pagan as could be. They had hundreds of gods, who sometimes had to be appeased with blood sacrifices no less. Their religion was Druidism, and it held particular sway among the Celts - the people of Ireland, Britain and northern Europe. Though the gods of the Celts have been ignored for centuries now, one particular tradition survived the coming of Christianity and is today one of the most celebrated festivals in Europe and America after Xmas. We call it Halloween and associate it with fun and partying. But in those days, it was a solemn affair honouring the dead. The Celts called it Samhain ( pronounced as Sahween) on October 31 which marked the end of Summer and the beginning of winter on November 1. They believed that during this time, the division between our world and the realm of spirits lie open - enabling the souls of the dead and other supernatural beings to walk the earth. Besides t

When I was a kid, I assumed witching hour means the time when witches left their homes and zoomed about on their broomsticks. The other day I decided to do a little Googling to find out what the term really meant, and it appears I was about half right. Coz witches are not the only ones who come out during that potent time of the night. Popular belief has it that ghosts, demons, and other strange otherworldly creatures also make their appearance after the clock strikes 12 midnight, which officially signifies the start of witching hour. Many people believe that black magic is at its' most powerful during this time. If you have watched many spooky movies like me, I'm sure you'll remember that the demons, zombies, and other creatures of the dark usually make their appearance around this hour to plague their victims. So it is kinda generally accepted that bad things usually happen during this time. In The Exorcism of Emily Rose however, the term witching hou

If you're gonna throw a party this All Hallow's Eve, my suggestion is to go all out! Let there be eyeballs floating in your punch bowl, a generous drizzle of blood atop your caramel pudding, rotting fingers protruding  from your chicken pie........get the picture? Well here's a couple of stomach churning images to get you started. These blogs and websites show you how to dish up a feast worthy of the undead! http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/holidays-and-events/halloween/main.aspx http://familyfun.go.com/halloween/halloween-recipes/ http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/holidays-and-entertaining/holidays/halloweencentre/tophalloweenrecipes.aspx http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/collections/halloween+recipes http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/hal

Whether you're a witch, werewolf or some nocturnal creature or another, your prey will not be convinced that you mean business until they see your nails. Yes folks, it's those claws and talons of yours that will serve to strike terror into the hearts of your victims! Here are some pretty ghoulish looks worth considering this Halloween season.

Hollywood movies provide oodles of style inspiration when it comes to choosing a costume for Halloween. Especially the movies of Tim Burton. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Alice in Wonderland in particular have done much to inspire the fashion world. Here are several fashionable takes from these two movies which can serve as style ideas for this coming Halloween! The Demon with the white streak................ Gothic Helena What Fashion made of it............ Alice in Fashion Depp goes Mad   Red & White........the Queens  

The sun will set on Diwali the festival of lights and bright colours in a couple of hours. And in less than a week it will be time to usher in another festivity. But unlike today which is a celebration of good triumphing over evil, the next big bash of October is all about the darker side of life......... I'm talking about Halloween.........!! That time of the year when one is free to give their dark side full reign. No one's gonna ask you why you're clad in black from head to toe on Halloween, or quiz you on your blue lipstick and chemical green nails. I kinda dress like that on normal days too - so I know what it's like, having to contend with questions from nosey parkers . So as one who loves all things Gothic, I've decided to countdown to Halloween by blogging about it! Beginning tomorrow until October 31, I shall write, write, and write about all things associated with this festival of darkness. There'll be a fashion post, recipes for

The internet is like a force of unmoderated power. It has ushered in progress yes, but every once in a while something happens that gets us thinking. Last week was one of those moments. The topic was plagiarism and the man of the moment was Jonathan Mak, 19, a graphic design student from Hong Kong. In August he posted  a design of an Apple logo on his Tumblr blog  http://jmak.tumblr.com/ as a tribute to Steve Jobs who resigned the same month. Nothing happened, then Jobs died on Oct 5, and suddenly Mak became an instant sensation! His design was shared from one corner of the virtual universe to another, well this is Tumblr after all! - the reblog blog. Instant Fame   Ashton Kutcher posted the design on his Twitter account, it was also printed on commemorative caps and T-shirts sold on eBay, news media reported on it, job offers started rolling in. In short Mak was famous! Then he became infamous. By the very weekend of Jobs death, people started telling him how similar his des