Blue Blood’s Amelia G wrote an article about how October is the freaky person’s December. I usually relate to everything she writes, but I do still enjoy Halloween and I don’t let the stress get to me too much. I think Amelia’s observations are dead accurate. They just don’t apply to me in this instance. A friend of mine gave me the best pumpkin spiced tea and I’m going to a costumed cocktail party as soon as Mr. Case finishes getting dressed. I’m not exactly wearing a costume, but I am wearing a fun outfit which I would not get to wear normally. I’ve got this dress with a huge red ruffled hoop skirt and one of those little masks you hold on a stick. I have no idea how this get-up is going to fit in the car.

The encyclopedia is not generally particularly regionally myopic, but I do not believe Devil’s Night is a primarily Detroit-based phenomenon. That said, this is still a fairly informative explanation.

Devil’s Night is one name associated with October 30, the night before Halloween, particularly in the metropolitan Detroit, Michigan, area, though it is also “celebrated” in other areas in the United States like Camden, New Jersey. It is also known as Mischief night, and in some areas “Cabbage Night”.

Traditionally, kids and teens in the Metro Detroit area play pranks on their neighbors on this night. Some of these pranks include ringing doorbells and running away; soaping or waxing windows; throwing eggs at houses and cars; overturning garbage cans; and draping trees with toilet paper. Devil’s Night is a long-standing Detroit tradition pre-dating World War II, with anecdotal incidents occurring as early as the 1930s.

Beginning in the 1970s the mischief became more destructive, particularly in Detroit’s inner-city neighborhoods, and extended into hundreds of acts of arson and vandalism. The destruction reached a peak in the mid- to late-1980s, with more than 800 fires set in 1984, and 500-800 fires in the three days and nights before Halloween in typical years.

In 1995, Detroit city officials organized and created Angel’s Night on and around October 30. Each year, as many as 40,000 volunteers are gathered to patrol neighborhoods and prevent crime. Additionally youth curfews of as early as 6pm are instituted on the days preceding Halloween. This has resulted in a decline to 50-60 fires per day in the days around Halloween.

Devil’s Night was chronicled in sociologist Ze’ev Chafets’ 1991 book Devil’s Night and Other True Tales of Detroit, and fictionalized in the 1994 movie The Crow. While the term is still well-known by Michigan residents, the news media in Detroit currently refer to the event as Angel’s Night in an effort to boost the efforts of the volunteers.

The name Devil’s Night or Mischief Night is used by various pranksters in the eastern U.S. and Canada, although the acts are far less destructive, criminal or violent. A survey done in the United States graphically shows the comparative popularity of various names for this night around the country. (via Wikipedia)

Two of my favorite talents in the universe make the lead story for Halloween week on Eros Zine. The brilliant Thomas S. Roche introduces and interviews the brilliant Amelia G and the result is both poetic and laugh-out-loud funny. Reading it made me feel both melancholy and happy. Blue Blood Kellie from yesterday’s post makes another appearance here in the accompanying blood-soaked gallery, which is apparently exclusive to Eros Zine.

The new Blue Blood Boutique is putting together a seriously cool clothing line. They just added both classic T-shirts and baby tees. I do believe that is Andy LaPlegua of Combichrist, Icon of Coil, and Panzer AG modeling for the Boutique and feeding some sort of beverage to Blue Blood hottie Kellie. Get your minds out of the gutter. Not that kind of beverage. Not on the Boutique site anyway.

For some reason, Moviefone has the very best Narnia trailer online now. It looks like they managed not to make the talking animals look too stupid. I wanted to go to Narnia so very very badly when I was a child.

The McDonald’s gender bender advertisements reminded me of the best discourse on fast food burgers ever captured on film. I am, of course, speaking of Quentin Tarantino’s Opus Pulp Fiction.

Vincent: And you know what they call a… a… a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?
Jules: They don’t call it a Quarter Pounder with cheese?
Vincent: No man, they got the metric system. They wouldn’t know what the fuck a Quarter Pounder is.
Jules: Then what do they call it?
Vincent: They call it a Royale with cheese.
Jules: A Royale with cheese. What do they call a Big Mac?
Vincent: Well, a Big Mac’s a Big Mac, but they call it le Big-Mac.
Jules: Le Big-Mac. Ha ha ha ha. What do they call a Whopper?
Vincent: I dunno, I didn’t go into Burger King.

Fishnet actually has its own Wikipedia entry. Fishnet is a style of mesh clothing popular with the traditional gothic look.

Don’t know what I would do without that nugget of information. (via Wikipedia)

Looking at the fashion photos of Scar13 modeling the new Blue Blood Boutique hoodies made me feel like posting a Scar 13 free gallery. She is so sultry and sexy and unique.

Anne Rice says her protagonists always reflected her own spiritual unease and she is now ready to give her readers the adventures of the ultimate supernatural hero. Yes, Anne Rice’s newest Lestat is none other than Jesus Christ Superstar. Taking some of her inspiration from the Apocrypha, she chronicles the life of the young messiah at age seven. The name of the new book, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, sounds like the title of an 80’s action film sequel. I suppose, looked at just right i.e. inappropriately, the Christian Lord and Savior is the vampire who has had the profoundest impact on the world. (via Newsweek)

I have clearly been out of it. Boing Boing knew about the Blue Blood Boutique before I did. Boing Boing reports, “Blue Blood, the old-school goth/alternative/punk pinup zine, has launched a cool clothing line with these big, skull-emblazoned hoodies.” Boing Boing also has the inside skinny on crocheted Yoda ears. My dog is lucky she is generally too big for doggie hats. Altporn reports, “Blueblood, the people who brought you great sites like BarelyEvil, GothicSluts and Scar13, have opened their new BlueBlood Boutique. You can get stickers, buttons, and hoodies, all featuring a really cool new BB skull logo.” It is probably on Entertainment Tonight and MSNBC now too, but I read Boing Boing and Altporn.

According to the Media Guardian, a Japanese commercial artist, who answers to the name Kazoo, came up with the idea of translating the Ronald McDonald costume to a ladies party dress. Apparently, this has had quite the impact on the cosplay community in Japan all year. Someone please send me pictures of this.

Low Culture points out that the McDonalds advertising people must be Luc Besson fans. The Fifth Element was a beautiful movie. Now is that Milla or McMilla? Readers of Low Culture claim that Micky D’s Japan is no longer running the flame-tressed beauty in their ads and debate whether the concept was really SF-inspired and whether that is a trannie Ronald or another character. I suddenly feel like having a burger for no reason.