“My Friend Josh.”

The story of a young girl who is left to trick-or-treat on her own. A small detour takes her on a strange and imaginative adventure with a new companion.

Words of Caution: Never permit your children to go trick or treating alone.
Children should be accompanied by an adult when going door to door. Children of all ages should only accept treats at the doorway and never go inside!

PetSmart is gearing up for its highly-anticipated, sixth-annual Halloween photo contest, and this year one lucky pet will win a chance at stardom with an appearance in a national PetSmart television commercial that will air in 2011.

This year’s theme is “Scare Your Way into a PetSmart Commercial,” and the contest kicks off Monday, September 13.

Pet parents can enter by visiting www.facebook.com/PetSmart and uploading a photo of their pet decked out in their Halloween best. Facebook fans, pet parents and their family and friends will vote for the winner, who will be announced on November 1. PetSmart is also giving away more than $3,600 in cash prizes and gift cards to those who participate!

Midnight Syndicate debuts new Halloween Music Video ‘Dark Legacy’
featuring clips from their upcoming ‘The Dead Matter’ movie

Cleveland, Ohio (April 30, 2010)- The Gothic Halloween music group Midnight Syndicate has released their first official music video, ‘Dark Legacy.’ The video showcases the song ‘Dark Legacy’ from their ‘Dead Matter: Cemetery Gates’ CD as well as clips from the upcoming dark fantasy vampire/zombie film, ‘The Dead Matter.’ ‘The Dead Matter’ movie which stars genre favorites Andrew Divoff, Jason Carter, and Tom Savini will be released on DVD July 30,2010.

Produced as a part of Midnight Syndicate’s 13th Anniversary celebration, the video marks the first time band mates Gavin Goszka and Edward Douglas have performed together live. Also featured in the video are fellow Cleveland music icons Jeff Hatrix and Tom ‘Schmotz’ from the heavy metal band Mushroomhead.

The video was directed by David ‘House’ Greathouse whose music videos for Mushroomhead won him MTV2’s ‘Headbangers Ball Best Music Video of 2007’ award and a spot on the new ‘Saw VI’ DVD. Robert Kurtzman (creator of ‘From Dusk Till Dawn,’ ‘Wishmaster’) and his company Precinct 13 Entertainment co-produced the video which will also be included as an extra feature on ‘The Dead Matter’ DVD.

‘Dark Legacy’ was shot at the historic and reputedly haunted Phantasy Theatre in Lakewood Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.

Watch the video now at Midnight Syndicate’s official website: www.MidnightSyndicate.com
‘The Dead Matter’ official website: www.TheDeadMatter.com

About Midnight Syndicate:
Midnight Syndicate has been creating instrumental Halloween music and gothic horror fantasy soundtrack CDs for the past thirteen years. The group’s music has become a staple of the Halloween season as well as a favorite in the haunted house, amusement park, role-playing game, and gothic music industries. From Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights and Hugh Hefner’s Halloween parties to Monday Night Football, X-Box games, the classic ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ roleplaying game, and Barbara Walters specials, the music is designed to take listeners on a musical journey into their imagination.

About ‘The Dead Matter’ movie:
A guilt-ridden young woman desperate to contact her deceased brother discovers a powerful ancient relic that controls the dead. Her dark obsession drags her into the tangled world of two warring vampire lords (Andrew Divoff of ‘Lost,’ ‘Wishmaster’ and Tom Savini of ‘Friday the 13th,’ ‘Dawn of the Dead’) each with his own sinister plans for the artifact and a vampire hunter (Jason Carter of ‘Babylon 5’) who will stop at nothing to destroy it.

Inspired by ‘Tales From the Crypt,’ and classic Universal and Hammer horror films, this chilling dark fantasy co-produced by Robert Kurtzman (creator of ‘From Dusk Till Dawn,’ KNB FX) features a haunting score by gothic Halloween music composers, Midnight Syndicate. It’s a mix of classic horror themes with modern twists that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Avast, Halloweenies! Today indeed be Talk Like A Pirate Day, where beauties and bilge rats alike put some extra swagger in their speech. Why? Tis’ all in good fun, maties!

If September 19th isn’t enough to whet your pirate whistle, pirates make an adventurously fun Halloween theme, too. Since the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie came out in 2003, pirate parties and pirate costumes have become a very familiar part of our culture. It might be the middle of February but you can probably find someone who’s having a pirate themed party. Could be your co-worker or 4 year old niece! The pirate mythology is so full of adventure, romance, mystery, and surprises that it appeals to most of us on some level. It’s not surprising that since 2003, pirates have ranked on Top Costume lists every single Halloween.

If you fancy yourself a swashbuckler this Halloween, check out these customer favorite pirate costumes for some inspiration…

Gory decorations and pet costumes: how’s that for an unusual combination of themes?

The folks at Halloween Forum and Pet Butler recently let us know about the contests they’re running. They’re perfect for Halloween fans and Howl-o-weenies alike, so it’s time to get creative!

The first contest is hosted by Halloween Forum and the objective is simple. Create the scariest scene. All experience levels are encouraged to enter. So far there are simple entries like this yoga skeleton all the way up to a “blood” splattered bathroom like this chilling “Hot Dose” entry. 3 winners will be chosen and will receive prizes from BodyBag.

ENTRIES DUE: August 12, 2008
Full details here

The other contest is hosted by Pet Butler and they’re looking for pictures of your dog in his or her Halloween costume. The categories are;

• Overall Best Costume
• Cutest Costume
• Most Photogenic
• Scariest Dog
• Cutest Group photo

For inspiration you can check out last year’s winners.

ENTRIES DUE: October 15, 2008
Full details in PDF file

If you enter either of these contests, we would love to see your photos. Please leave a link to your entries and photos in the comments!

It’s been a while since the last Zombie Friday, but I’ve got a handful of news that will satiate your hunger for the undead. Spanning film, design, zombie walks and more, it’s been a good week for zombie fans…


First up is an incredibly useful roundup of Photoshop tutorials for those of us with a darker artistic sense. 70 Horror, Blood and Gore Photoshop Effects and Brushes covers everything you’ll need to know to transform even the prettiest of photos into a decaying mess… but in a good way.

If you’ve been following the progress of George A. Romero’s latest zombie movie, you know that a release date for Diary of the Dead was uncertain until January. For a while it looked like it would be a direct to DVD release, but thankfully it will have a wide release on February 15, 2008. W00t! (As if that weren’t enough, Zombie Honeymoon will also be playing on Showtime around the same time. Talk about a bloody Valentine’s Day.)

There’s a new entry into the world of niche social networking websites, and this one’s actually useful. Crawl of the Dead has a section that lists Zombie Walks, allowing the undead hordes to better plan their attack. If you know of a local Walk/Crawl going on, please list it here. If you’ve never attended one, now you know where to look!

And because zombies and bad jokes were made for each other, I have a bit of cheesy humor for you, in Photoshop form: What do vegan zombies eat? LAWLS!!1

Know of a website that zombie fans would devour? Tell us about your online zombie finds in the comments below.