UPS delivered my camera early! (Unfortunately, I discovered this by reading one of those dreaded yellow tags they left stuck to the door at the front of our apartment building. Fortunately, they left the package in our main rental office and I was able to pick it up. Hooray for things going right!)

The camera arrived just in time for a cosplay photoshoot that I and my friends in the Minnesota Costuming Guild had arranged to do today in Battle Creek Park, St. Paul. There was only 4 of us, but we managed to give it our all (scaring the park-walkers while we were at it. A little girl in one group noticed our Kakashi and began squealing "Naruto!" with delight, which was kind of cute, even if--and most likely because-- she was a little off on the character's name.)

Anyway, here's our photo collection. I'm wearing the black Victorian "Gothic Aristocrat" outfit. This photo will tell you who in our group is wearing what...

I took some of the pictures of me and ran them through various creepifying Photoshop filters There were a lot of bare trees in the forest, which only enhanced the "ooky" factor...

BTW, the Minnesota Costuming Guild is always accepting new members, so if you live in the Twin Cities area, like cosplay, and want to join, just post a message on our Cosplay.com thread.

I love Halloween, if only because there is so much cool costume shit for sale in the stores now. I bought a couple of plastic ninja swords, which I hope to turn into Kadaj from Advent Children's double-katana thing. (I have a camera now so I can post a picture tutorial of the process. Wootness.)

Are you having trouble getting into the Halloween mood? Here are some things that will help you:

The Bloody Circus of Scary Dolls presents: The White, The Black, -a tale of a Chess Match which quickly turns into a Death Match. Eerie, abstract weirdness by Russian Flash Cartoonist Andrei Bakhurin. Click here to see more of his work.

Taken - A short, scary story by Flashmaster (and creator of Bitey of Brackenwood,) Adam Phillips. Do not watch if you don't like "things jumping at you and making you piss yourself" type scares. (However, you are encouraged to put your unsuspecting friends, relatives and coworkers in front of the computer, play the flash and laugh as THEY jump and piss themselves...)

99 Rooms.com A creepy, click and point adventure which can best be described as the Metropolitan Museum of Art meets Silent Hill.

The Hospital - An eerie interactive journey through a decrepit abandoned medical institution. (Don't miss the cameo by Mr. Clean!)

Silent Hill: No Escape - A CG fan-film based on the Silent Hill series of video games. (And not the movie, thankfully, else it would SUCK.) The story is intriguing, the visuals are deeply disturbing, and the CG is..well... it gets much better as it goes along. The movie is free to download, and if you're a Silent Hill fan, (or just like gory stories crammed with nietzschean philosophy,) you should definitely check it out...


I'll try to finish the Velvet Nightmare tutorial soon. Oh, btw, I went out and ordered myself some Wonderflex. I'm going to try and experiment with it and see how well it turns out for a couple of things I want to make. Let you know how it goes...