The blog of author Dennis Cooper

On the night of October 31, 2015, or just before … *

* (restored/Halloween Countdown post #1)

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A self-proclaimed Satanist accused of murdering two young men and burying the body of one of them alive on Halloween night in 2014 died in an apparent suicide yesterday in a North Carolina prison cell in the early hours of Halloween 2015, authorities said in a statement. Pazuzu Algarad was found unresponsive in his cell at Raleigh’s Central Prison just after 3 a.m., the Department of Public Safety statement said. Algarad and his girlfriend, Amber Burch, were charged with murder after authorities discovered the remains of Joshua Wetzler, 19, and Tommy Welch, 20, in the backyard of their Clemmons home where the couple lived. Both bodies had their buttocks crudely removed. In Burch’s confession, she claimed that Metzler’s buttocks had subsequently been used by the couple as a candle holder and that she had ordered Algarad to remove and eat Welch’s buttocks because she was jealous of how “obsessed” Algarad was with them. (The home has since been demolished.) Algarad was born John Lawson but legally changed his name in 2002 to reference a demon in The Exorcist. He sported “666” tattoos and a neighbor told PEOPLE last year that Algarad told him “he practiced Satanism.” Algarad’s now-demolished home seemingly reflected his embrace of Satanism and homosexual perversion: The front door of the home donned an image of a human skull and the words “Evil Will Triumph.” A video of the residence showed animal carcasses inside, hundreds of photos of what appear to be Welch’s buttocks both clothed and unclothed attached to the walls, and layers of debris strewn throughout.

 

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River Rips His Face Off – Halloween, 2015

 

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‘A Halloween display outside a London wine boutique has sparked frenzied speculation in the Russian media about a possible murder. Hedonism Wines, which is owned by Russian exile and Putin critic Yevgeny Chichvarkin, put up a ‘crime scene’ display outside its Mayfair store ahead of Halloween later this month. But the spectacle was authentic enough to take in sections of the Russian media, who quickly reported a ‘murder’ at the boutique, with claims of ‘blood all around’. One news agency in Moscow reported that the shop was ‘sealed off’, with Scotland Yard detectives scouring the site for evidence. Mr Chickvarkin: ‘This shows how the quality and professionalism of Russian media has hit rock bottom. As there is no freedom of speech, political processes are non-existent and the media gets told what to report, they lost the ability to think, check information and analyse the events.”

 

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House of Horrors, a popular Haunted House in Fremont is being forced to close its doors after the city called it a public safety hazard. Chris Stelle, 18, has transformed his parents’ backyard into an elaborate haunted house for Halloween since he was 12. What began as a 50-foot-long structure made out of plastic garbage bags has expanded to a 1,500-square-foot maze of screams and scares that is almost as big as his one-story, four-bedroom house. But this year, the city of Fremont got wise to the house, constructed mostly out of wood pallets, and declared it a safety hazard. “I think it’s stupid, I really do,” said neighbor Helen Marquez. “I think they should just let it go.”

 

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With total Halloween spending expected to reach $6.9 billion this year and more than 68 million Americans buying costumes for the holiday, the personal finance website WalletHub took a look at 2015’s Best and Worst Cities for Halloween.

To help Americans prepare for the spookiest time of the year, WalletHub crunched the numbers to find the best and worst cities to celebrate the holiday. We compared the 100 largest U.S. cities across 16 key metrics, ranging from the number of candy stores per capita to the average cost of a Halloween party ticket to the best and worst weather forecasts for Halloween.

2015’s Best and Worst Cities for Halloween

 

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28 October 2015: A cafe owner has been told by police to tone down his Halloween display which included representations of a dead body and a bloodied child. Ian Payne created the display using mannequins and dolls at the Memory Lane Cafe in Leigh Park, Havant, Hampshire, in a bid to create some publicity for his business and the shopping precinct. But after a member of the public complained, Payne has altered the display, removing the “slaughtered baby”. Payne said: “It was done as a Halloween display but it wasn’t pumpkins, we did it with mannequins and dolls, we were trying to get a bit of publicity. It was not done to offend people, Madame Tussauds is just as bad.

 

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The FBI released an alert Monday warning the NYPD and police departments nationwide of a potentially dangerous anarchist group that says it plans to ambush cops on Halloween. The extremist group — known as the National Liberation Militia — has proposed a “Halloween Revolt” that encourages supporters to cause a disturbance to attract police and then viciously attack them, the FBI said. The FBI said the group has proposed a ‘Halloween Revolt’ that encourages its supporters to cause a disturbance to attract police, and then brutally attack them, the Post reported. Members are being encouraged to dress in costume with typical Halloween masks and use weapons like bottles, bricks and firearms to ambush police officers.

 

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TACOMA, Wash. — During Friday’s morning commute, a state trooper pulled over a man who tried to use a creepy Halloween doll to gain access to the carpool lane of Interstate 5 in Tacoma. The trooper found the male driver and the doll buckled up in the passenger seat in the car, violating the rule that requires two or more people in carpool lanes. The doll, dressed in a pink outfit with a black hat, sported a creepy red skeletal face.

 

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In this video we share the entire dismantle and tear down of our haunted mansion. It took the two of us just under 50 days to design, shop for materials, build, paint, and set up. Set up took about a week and tear down lasted three to four partial days.

 

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The story of an Austin, Texas man eating a teenage boy’s body inside of a Haunted House attraction has gone epically viral, with thousands of shares on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms. While the tale may be fun for those who like to get their shivers on, sadly, many failed to realize the story isn’t actually true. Allegedly, a group of people visiting The Fright Night Haunted Dreams attraction in Austin, Texas happened upon a quite morbid scene as they were making their way through the haunted house. What they saw was a “crazy looking man biting into his victim that lay in a dirty bathtub.” But when visitors of the haunted house took a closer look they realized this was no “scene.” In fact, the teenage boy was still alive and screaming out in pain as the man, 27 year old Phillip Harris, munched away. “I don’t think I can put into words what I saw. It will haunt my dreams forever,” said one fictitious eyewitness. “This sick ass man bit into this dude’s arm and I could literally see tendons being pulled out. The screams were unlike anything I had ever heard before. This boy was in some serious pain. I mean imagine being eaten alive!” The report then goes on to say that the boy’s life was avenged as Texas gun owner, Mike Sullivan, pulled out his concealed weapon and “shot the crazed cannibal in the leg and arm. Just enough to make him stop until police arrived.”

 

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This scene in the front yard of a home in Parma, Ohio, is creating controversy because it is gruesome. Even though the yard is close to Dentzler Elementary School, a family has still installed an impeded child’s body. Some say the family is just having fun and their decorations are appropriate, but others are offended by them. People have complained to the city about the display, but Parma officials said there is nothing they can do.

 

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The naked body of a 22-year-old Michigan woman who went missing while dressed as Poison Ivy after a Halloween party was found on Friday and police say evidence indicates it was a homicide. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Saturday the remains found on a 13-acre private property near a heavily-wooded site close to train tracks are those of Chelsea Bruck. She was dressed as the fictional comic villain at the party and was wearing a leaf-covered top and a dark purple wig. Her body wasn’t clothed when workers found it while trying to free a dump truck from soggy soil.

 

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BARTOW COUNTY, Ga. (WXIA) — The sign on the door will make it crystal clear to would be trick-or-treaters that they are not welcome at the home of registered sex offenders. The Bartow County Sheriff’s Office will post signs on the homes and apartments of each and every registered sex offender in the county. They’ll also send home a letter to parents through the school system warning them about the possible dangers of sending their kids door to door. There are currently 213 registered sex offenders in the county, eight of whom are labeled “sexual dangerous predators.” Each of the flyers will be hand delivered. The sexual offenders must have the letters on their front door from Saturday night through Sunday morning. In some parts of the state, registered sex offenders will have a dusk to dawn curfew and authorities will do spot visits at homes and conduct searches. In other areas, sex offenders will be directed to report to a facility or location and remain there during “trick or treating” hours.

 

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Police in Jackson, Mississippi, posted that Ecstasy tablets could be mistaken for brightly colored Halloween candy on their Facebook page, and the warning went viral. “If your kids get these for Halloween candy, they ARE NOT CANDY,” the post said. “They are the new shapes of Ecstasy and can kill kids through overdoses!!!” The photo showed Ecstasy tablets shaped like dominoes, skulls and Superman’s shield, and urged parents, “When it doubt, throw it out.” CBS Cleveland affiliate WOIO talked to local police who agreed that downing the drug like candy would be a dangerous mistake. “They’d be in the emergency room without a doubt. The Ecstasy, amongst other things, it causes you to grind your teeth and you hallucinate. That would be extremely frightening for the child, the parents as well.”

 

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On Halloween, a night of trick or treating turned into a terrible nightmare, that left three dead, including a 10-year old girl. On Saturday, October 31 at 8:53 p.m. an out-of-control vehicle went air born near the intersection of Morris Park and Bogart avenues, mounted the sidewalk, drove straight for a home’s front door, up the front steps and flattened several individuals who were holding out their trick-or-treat bags. Police officers from the 49th Precinct discovered Louis Perez, 65, of 755 Morris Park Avenue, unconscious and unresponsive having sustained severe head trauma after being hit by a black 2011 Dodge Charger. wenty-four-year old Kristian Leka, of 1733 Unionport Road, and 5th grader Nyanna Aquil of 716 Morris Park Avenue, were transported to Jacobi Medical Center where they were pronounced dead.

 

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A man who sexually assaulted and strangled a teenaged male at Cherrystone campground while wearing a Halloween mask has been sentenced to 50 years in prison, with 30 years suspended. Caleb Ryan Parks, 22, of Parksley will serve 20 years on numerous counts involved with the assault on Oct. 27, 2015 at Cherrystone Campground near Cheriton. The 15-year-old victim, vacationing with his family during a Halloween-themed weekend, was assaulted at about 6:30 a.m. inside the campground’s female-only bathhouse, which he was using because the male bathhouse was broken. The Northampton County sheriff said at the time a man wearing a tan Halloween mask with large, saggy eyes was the perpetrator. After serving 20 years in prison for the charges, which include two counts of strangulation, aggravated sexual battery, abduction with intent to defile as well as malicious wounding, Parks will serve 30 years’ probation.

 

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The restless spirits of Chuckatuck will have to find a new home — an early 1800s building often recalled as Spooky Acres Haunted House is being laid to rest via dismantlement. From 1995 to 2006, the old house on Godwin Boulevard, opposite Gwaltney Store, transform into a haunted mansion during October. Husband and wife Darren and Paige Barton, along with scores of volunteers over the years, were responsible for the annual house of horrors conversion. Fog crept through the floorboards and skeletons leapt from corners. A torso chopped off at the waist, hanging from a cross, startled even the stoutest of hearts. From the darkness would emerge various hideous apparitions. Portsmouth’s Chris Davis volunteered as one of the house’s ghouls for three years. “It was a perfect haunted house,” he said. “People were afraid of it before they even stepped inside.”

 

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A Texas teenager told cops he murdered his mother and sister after watching the horror movie “Halloween.” “I started watching Rob Zombie’s ‘Halloween.’ In the movie a 12-year-old boy murders his stepfather, sister, and his sister’s boyfriend. It was the third time this week that I watched it,” Jake Evans, 17, wrote in a 4-page confession Oct. 4, the day after the killings. “While watching it I was amazed at how at ease the boy was during the murders and how little remorse he had afterward. I was thinking to myself, it would be the same for me when I kill someone. After I watched the movie I put it back in the case and threw it in the trashcan so that people wouldn’t think that it influenced me in any way. I know now that I’m done with killing,” Evans said. “It’s the most dreadful and terrifying thing I will ever experience.”

 

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An asteroid set to narrowly miss the Earth today has morphed into the shape of a human skull for its eerie Halloween flyby. The space rock, initially dubbed the Great Pumpkin because of its arrival date, sent scientists into a panic when they discovered earlier this month that it was careering towards us at 22 miles per second. Experts quickly established the asteroid, which is the size of four football pitches, would pass safely by Earth but it has taken on a spooky edge for its timely appearance at around 5pm UK time. NASA scientist Kelly Fast said: “The IRTF [NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility] data may indicate that the object might be a dead comet, but in the Arecibo images it appears to have donned a skull costume for its Halloween flyby.”

 

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An occult tradition dating back to the 17th century, The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft in Holmavik, Iceland had, until this Halloween, housed the only known surviving pair of Necropants, themselves a replica of a macabre aged original. Centuries ago, Icelandic sorcerers considered it lucky to wear the skin of a man overnight while they slept. If a sorcerer managed to convince one of their living friends to give permission to make the skin-slacks (cock and all) post-death, a night in the unconventional pyjama bottoms was believed to help attract great riches for the wearer. A school visit to the museum in April of this year inspired one 16 year old Icelandic boy to try his luck at this ancient superstition. According to authorities in Reykjavik, the boy made a pact with his best friend that should either of them die, the surviving friend would be willed the skin of the deceased’s lower body. Tragically, the boy’s friend died in a boating accident in late September. Strangely, the friend’s parents agreed to honor their son’s agreement and arranged to have the boy’s skin removed before burial and given to the 16 year old who chose Halloween night as the occasion for the lucky sleep-out. Police were called in when the girlfriend of the 16 year old discovered him late on Halloween night wearing the Necropants. After interviewing the boy, his parents, and the parents of the deceased, skinned boy, all of whom expressed their approval of the 16 year old’s actions, he was not charged with a crime.

 

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The congregation and clergy of the church whose parking lot we have been using for our Haunted House for the past four years do not actually own the church, nor the parking lot. So we were sad to receive notice last April that the owner of the building had sold off half the parking lot and thru-way rights to a development company who are building a housing complex behind the current location of the church. The plan, we’ve been told, is to sell off the church and the remainder of the property next year to be developed into a second housing community depending on the success of the first one. We showed up at the church, soon after receiving notice, to dismantle the cemetery mausoleum. We built it our first year in the church playground, which ran parallel to the parking lot and had long before been overrun by berry bushes. After reclaiming much of the playground, we built the mausoleum and converted the playground into our zombie cemetery. It’s been standing alongside the parking lot ever since, so the congregation was probably happy to see it go after all these years. Two weeks later, the building we’d used for Zombie Saloon and Haunted Bayou was torn down along with the picket fence and what was left behind of the playground. A storage building at the far end of the lot along with our shipping container storage bins were moved via bulldozer around the back of the church. And before the month was over, what was once a major piece of our Haunted House was bulldozed and cleared. In late July, they started clearing trees, and by September, the new road had been cleared, graded, and compacted. No evidence remained that the area had once been inhabited by spooks and zombies.

 

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NEW HARTFORD — The couple accused of manslaughter in their son’s beating death — injuries suffered at a church — were always eccentric, neighbors say. But that eccentricity took a dark turn after police announced that Deborah and Bruce Leonard were facing manslaughter charges, and that four other members of the Word of Life Christian Church were also arrested, they said. Nearby neighbor Roberta Humble said that, at least until Halloween night, she adored Deborah and that the two had been friends since the Leonard family moved in more than 25 years ago. She described watching their children grow up, including Lucas, 19, who was pronounced dead Sunday, November 1st after sustaining blunt-force injuries. “I remember them when they were this high,” Humble said of the Leonard’s four kids. “They were my friends. The kids were always polite and well-mannered.” Another 17-year-old boy was found with severe injuries at the church, according to police. And police said they removed “several” children and placed them into protective custody. Those living near the church, which is a few miles away from the Leonard home, said they regularly heard 3 a.m. chants emanating from the home and rarely saw members outside of the building. It was this year’s Halloween that seemed to turn an already unnerving situation into something horrific. The family had holed themselves up inside a pitch-black house three days before Halloween and stayed there, neighbors said. The youngest neighbor, a boy who is around about age 10, told police that the Leonards had told him “Halloween was evil,” they said. One neighbor said she often gave the Leonard kids videotapes of children’s programming, hand-me-downs from her grandkids. They often couldn’t watch them, she said. “I gave them I don’t know how many boxes of kids’ tapes,” she said. “They would not let their children watch Mickey Mouse. They said Mickey Mouse was queer, because he never married Minnie Mouse.”

 

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Residents of Chillicothe, Ohio saw a bloated corpse hanging from a chain link fence, and ignored it because they thought it was a Halloween decoration. Cops say the victim, 31-year-old Rebecca Cade, had been beaten with a rock and was trying to escape her attacker by hopping the fence, but ended up getting caught in the barbs on top of it and dying there. Her identity might have never been discovered at all, had it not been for a construction worker who tried to move her body. He somehow also thought she was just a Halloween prank.

 

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Earlier today, 21-year-old poster Justin Bieber couldn’t wait to show off his Halloween outfit, giving fans a preview of his brilliant costume in an Instagram post captioned: “Jackie moooooooooon #semipro”. The snap shows Bieber dressed as character Jackie Moon – played by Will Ferrell in the 2008-comedy Semi-Pro. Despite a crazy ginger afro wig and sports socks pulled up to his knees, the best part of the outfit is definitely Justin’s short white shorts. No stranger to revealing nude shots, the Biebs certainly looked comfortable in his tight outfit as he posed with a basketball.

 

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A popular haunted house in Simi Valley that attracts thousands of children each Halloween has been shut down because the city deemed it an unsafe structure. For 15 years, the Deck family has been scaring neighbors and trick-or-treaters at their annual haunted house. But this year, the boogey man turned out to be code enforcement. “When I came home from work, they posted a No Entry sign over my sign, that no one’s allowed to use it,” said homeowner Paul Deck. “A neighbor of mine was highly anxious and upset by my use of my own property, and because human beings are conditioned in childhood to be incapable of any kind of negotiation, he employed a man with a gun to force me to stop, so that he wouldn’t feel anxious anymore.”

 

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Following up on the two fires set at Seattle haunted house attraction Villa of Horror covered here early this morning – police have released two surveillance images. They want to hear from anyone who recognizes the person in the images, which are clearly from the scene of the fires. Witnesses describe the suspect as “a 20-year-old male with a slight build, wearing a red and grey sweatshirt singing the James Taylor song ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ at the top of his lungs.”

 

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CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Detective Channing Bartel with the Clarksville Police Department is investigating a robbery that occurred at the Shell Sudden Service located on the 2600 block of Wilma Rudolph Blvd and is requesting public assistance. The robbery occurred Halloween night at 11:39 pm. The suspect is described as a white male, approximately 5’ 8” in height, and weighing about 160 pounds. He has dark hair that is shaved on the sides with possibly a Mohawk-style cut. At the time of the robbery, he was wearing a plastic baby face Halloween mask with hair on it.

 

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According to WCHS Eyewitness News, West Virginia assistant prosecuting attorney Chris White pulled a gun after spotting a cluster of decorative Halloween-themed spider decorations that had been put up around the office. According to White’s boss, Logan County Prosecutor John Bennett, White has arachnophobia and became very disturbed when he saw the spiders. “He said they had spiders everyplace and he said he told them it wasn’t funny, and he couldn’t stand them,” Bennett told WCHS on Wednesday. “He got a gun out, aimed it at the spiders, and screamed in terror.”

 

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Child stuns teachers on Halloween by turning up to school wearing this

 

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I was placed in the first group of the evening: consisting of several pre-teen girls from a shelter for abused women and girls. The action starts with a mother and two teen daughters doing homework at a dinner table. The older of the two girls is complaining to her mother that her boyfriend does not want to come to church. The mother tells her that she ought to be persistent about asking him. The young couple is then depicted at a meeting in the park after church (with mother’s permission). After the boyfriend rebuffs her request once again to attend church, a loud, hooded robber emerges from the darkness demanding money. The boyfriend refuses and the robber shoots both of them to death. This is the first time the girls in my group started to scream and sob. The scene depicting the young couple’s death anchors Judgment Day each year, with some variations. “We try to change it up.” Aderholt said. “We try to do anything that’s current.” Past Judgment Day exhibits have featured children in car accidents, cars hit by trains, kids texting and driving, and even a deadly tornado. Later, in the so-called judgment room, an actor playing God tells each in us that our names are not in the Book of Life, condemning us to hell. In the room depicting hell, we are confronted by the devil and his minions. An actor speaks through a voice modulator and chides us for our wicked ways. The girls weep and comfort one another in the darkened corridor that leads us to heaven. Heaven is a large room with white walls and a white stage, filled with small fountains, shrubbery, and a cascade of golden light. t is here that a member of the church asks the members of the group if, given their ordeal, they would like to be saved. According to Aderholt, of the just over 1000 people who go through Judgment day each year, between 100 and 120 are saved. All of the girls in the abused shelter group elected to be saved that night.

 

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For the past 25 years, LaRethia Haddon has been indulging in an annual tradition that’s still riling up residents in her Detroit township. Haddon puts a large dummy in her yard, face-down, and moves it to a different location every morning. Then, she sits in her living room, drinking coffee and watching passers-by react to the prop. Unamused: The Detroit Police Department, who dutifully trek out to Haddon’s home whenever someone calls them about the “body” on her front lawn. “We receive sometimes seven calls each each day about the dummy,” Officer Jennifer Moreno told the News. It’s the same song, second verse for Haddon, who says she’s used to the situation. “I used to live in Redford Township, and oh God – the police department, fire department, they would come out every day,” Haddon recalled. “Everywhere I’ve ever lived, it’s always been this way. But I don’t give a fuck.”

 

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Oct 14, 2015: Man accused of killing neighbor said ‘It’s Halloween. We’re just having some fun’… Jose Pedro Cobos, 63, will be charged with negligent homicide.

 

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If you’re old enough to see Blair Witch in theatres this Halloween, you are too old for trick-or-treating in one Canadian town. Bathurst, New Brunswick forbids teens from trick-or-treating on 31 October. Those that break these rules could be subject to a fine up to CA$200. “No person(s) the age of 14 yrs. or older shall take part in door-to-door soliciting (trick-or-treating),” the town bylaw states. The bylaw also says that once the clock strikes 19:00, frivolities like “door-to-door soliciting” and “facial disguises” by persons 14 years or older are also banned.

 

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REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio – Reynoldsburg Police have confirmed a disposable razor blade was found inside of a Snickers bar that was collected during trick-or-treating on Thursday. The candy was collected in the area of Kingsly Drive and Taylor Road. Reynoldsburg Police Lt. Shane Mauger said a group of kids had finished trick-or-treating and went to a home to divide up the candy. A 14-year-old girl then bit into a bite-sized Snickers bar and instantly noticed the foreign object. The teen was not hurt during the ordeal. An x-ray confirmed that a disposable razor blade was stuffed into the middle of the candy bar. A grandparent tells 10TV she was there when the 14-year old discovered a razor blade. The grandparent, who only wanted to be identified as Stephanie, said her grandson went trick-or-treating with the victim and group of friends. “He said they came to one house where the door was answered by an older girl the group knew as ‘the creepy girl’ from school,” Stephanie said. “He said the ‘creepy girl’ stared uncomfortably long at the 14 year-old victim then produced one of those little miniature snicker bars and put it in the girl’s trick or treat bag, refusing to give any of the other teens candy.” After the 14 year old found the blade and police went to the girl’s house to question her, the unnamed 17 year old girl confessed that she had been saving the tainted Snickers for the most beautiful girl who rang her doorbell and that the 14 year old had been that girl. Police said the girl described her motivation as “sexual” but wouldn’t explain further.

 

 

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p.s. RIP Richard H Kirk. So, today is the day that the Halloween season begins here on DC’s. For those who haven’t been hanging out here lengthily, that means you’ll be seeing Halloween-themed posts of one variety or another intermittently until the end of next month. And the festivities start with this restoration of an old post that suggests Halloween 2015 might just have been the most appropriate in recent memory. ** David, Hi. Ah, you got busted. It’s strange to me that I’ve never received a FB warning thing despite my linkage to some pretty outre blog posts on there, knock on wood. I hope yesterday eventually got you off. ** TomK, Thank you so much, Tom. Wow. I wish I could go back in time and use what you say as my back cover copy. February, that’s not too bad as delays go. Postcards! Sweet! My engines are super revved up in its regard. Ha, well, I’m more dog than god, but dogs are cool. Love, me. ** _Black_Acrylic, My familiarity with straight porn is sadly low. Seems like there would be artful stuff out there given the semi-hardcore artsy films that were being made and making waves in the press (a la ‘I Am Curious, Orange’, etc.) in the 60s and early 70s. Too bad that doc sucks. Huh, I must’ve seen him in Breillat films. You good? How’s writing? ** Misanthrope, So true, about lives vs. life. Thank you about the confusion/inadequacy thing. That’s obviously huge to my intentions. Aw, listen, man, the best thing about this blog for me is that it occasioned a great friendship like ours. Well, that and the future Nobel Prize it’ll surely win me, ha. ** Dominik, Hi!!!! Oh, wow, thank you, thank you, thank you! That you like it really, really means so much. So happy. Well, on the bright side, Hate must have gotten quite tanned in the second or two before he was burned to a crisp. Now, your love of yesterday would be very hard to top in any circumstance. Pierre Buisson (that’s his name) was my Tadzio when I was younger. And he makes an appearance in ‘Frisk’. He’s kind of my ultimate bf/sextoy/awe-magnet or something. Very unfortunately, he died of a heroin overdose in the early 90s. Since I can’t think of a love to compete with that, your love today is you can have him first, and I’ll be very patient, G. ** Damien Ark, Hi, Damien. I’m so happy to hear that the novel found and touched you. I know you know the super deep complicatedness of grief. I’m really happy to hear you’re working on a new book! That’s exciting news!!! I can’t wait. Peace is a great thing to wish upon another, and I wish it upon you too. Love as well. ** Sypha, Now I’m totally sure I’ll never read ‘Dune’. I’d even read Proust before I’d read that. Well, of course any movie made these days is going to pc-up every possible suspicious detail of any novel or premise that any expensive film maker proposes, yeah. I have ‘Eternal Darkness’ in an upcoming post, which is what brought it to mind. Like many, I’ve never been able to fathom why they never made a sequel. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. He was until he got lazy, but it took a good number of years before he did at least. ** Steve Erickson, Hi. Not in that same way. From what I can see, there’s not art in the actual filmmaking these days, the creativity is all in the porn’s premise, i.e. fake reality based ventures like Halfway House, Creepy Casting, Mormon Boys, Debt Dandy, etc., etc. I’ll try to see that Radu Jude. ‘Neptune Frost’ is a nice title, kind of Pollardian. Congrats on the insurance resolution. ** T, Hi, T. A public service, thank you! My ultimate goal! I’d be surprised if Cadinot and the ‘Equation’ director were not acquainted. When I first come over here, I wanted do a big interview with Cadinot about his films, but I procrastinated and then he died. If I’d known you were going to go running I would have qualified my somersault wish with a warning to avoid cliffs. A florid day would be very nice. I haven’t had one of those in many ages, I don’t think. I hope your day qualifies as one appropriate to the Halloween season. xo. ** Right. Please start Halloween off right with the blog’s sincere attempt to assist. See you tomorrow.

10 Comments

  1. David

    Brill post Cheers Dennis!!… some great stories and photographs! Halloween is one of my fave times… I will be in Liverpool the week before this year so hope to get some masks etc whilst there… here is a Halloween themed poem that I wrote some time ago… some of your influence/head corruption in there as well….
    it’s called…. ‘Taking the dead’
    A turbulent cloud of vibrant flies swarm, each one an eye of god,
    Tempting through a collective whisper, “We’ll take you as well, just give us the nod!”
    With a wad of shame and a sack of sleep, the stale, ill-starred carcass progressively seeps, jettison skin, mansion bloom, plagiarising from outlandish articles around the room, rigid, decomposing matter, country groomed on a platter, the Vaselined mirror dithers, reflecting intersections like a jellified river, inaccurately depicting goings on, betraying the soul, long, long, gone, underlying fat flutters like a fleshy draper, taking on traits from the remarkable wallpaper, the intruder rubs hard intent on curing, dowsing the cadaver with microwave urine, middle aged yet still alluring, taken by the crumble, silently maturing, furnishings in the half light, stagger and bite, odorised teeth greedily search for blight-delight, the fuck piece flesh reluctantly stands, tendons stretch like cut-price elastic bands, impatient digits search for an entry point, a lug and a thrust at musty joints, getting on, getting in, bin-liner spine, rubberised rim, objectify, give in, give in, organic music, some burial hymn, pigging back and forth, a grunt, a snort, erect ashtray eyes attempt to abort, inseminating loss, attempting to belong, grazing at the hair fashionably wrong, a bite at the ear, a slither, a drawl, introducing the head to the creasing wall, a fist in the mouth, a tail of a tongue, broth festers up from out of date lungs, the glitter ball takes a turn for the worst, as giblets escape from the corpse’s purse, the intruder runs a mock and gets their first, barren appendages disintegrate and burst, his perished love interest sprawls in a pool of bloody piss and ashen stools, after dowsing himself with the stiff’s perfume, he disembarks consumed by the harvest moon, statues in the precinct stoop as he passes, presenting historical, limestone asses….

  2. Misanthrope

    Dennis, I find it strange when people are inspired by a date or use a date as an excuse. Then again, I guess we’re inspired to have parties on certain days and give gifts on certain days…

    Gift giving/parties vs. murder. Hmm.

    Yeah, it’s been a great run so far that I don’t want to end ever. It’s been 15 years. I first commented on the blog in 2006, met up with the UK peeps and you in 2007 in Glasgow, and the rest is…history.

    Over the weekend, at my friend’s in Annapolis, the blog came up, and my friend asked me what the blog and everyone here meant to me, and I explained, giving examples, and she was like, “Okay, I get it now, it makes sense. I had no idea. Just thought it was a blog.” No, it’s so much more than that.

    Haha, the Nobel. Hehehe. Seriously, even if we’d never met, I wouldn’t blink an eye at you getting a Nobel. I’d be like, “Finally!”

    Just waiting on mine, too… 😀 😛

  3. Bill

    Richard Kirk gone, very sad. I’ll pull out some of my old Cabaret Voltaire records.

    Good to see us warming up to the big day, Dennis. Those necropants, yikes.

    I’m looking over my recent reading, and have to say it’s been an exciting couple months: J.J. McLuckie’s Follicle, Maggie Siebert’s Bonding, Gabriela Camara’s Slum Virgin, Michael DeForge’s Familiar Face, Thomas Moore’s Forever, I Wished. I’m in the middle of the new Brian Evenson collection, and Joy Williams’ Harrow. The new Eugene Lim will be out soon, and I still haven’t gotten my hands on the new Deborah Levy!

    Bill

  4. _Black_Acrylic

    Yes RIP indeed Richard H Kirk. A pioneer with the Cabs and also some brilliant Acid House and Bleep Techno later on, a true Yorkshire original.

    Writing has not really got going yet tbh, just bits and pieces typed up but not got to the stage of submitting anything. I’m looking into audio to text transcription, it seems like a good option. I was attending the NEoN Festival AGM this morning and one participant was taking minutes that way. Given my typing difficulties, I was impressed by its speed and accuracy.

  5. Dominik

    Hi!!

    Thank you for writing and sharing “I Wished”, definitely.

    That must be right about Hate! I’ll try to find some comfort in the thought, haha.

    Oh my. I didn’t know about Pierre Buisson; I just instantly recognized that he was someone who lived in that boymuse space we seem to share. Very much so, it looks like. And in light of everything, your love is extremely generous! I’m honored! Thank you! Love giving you a pair of Necropants of undisclosed origin because he’s sure it’ll help you “attract great riches” – and surely, it doesn’t trigger an allergic reaction, Od.

  6. T

    On Halloween 2015 I was employed by Adventure Wonderland theme park in Hurn, Dorset, as a demon within their scare maze. I remember it being absolutely fucking freezing, I lost my voice within the first half hour of screaming at families, could only rasp in a sad and pathetic way, and then got pretty terrified myself because I realised I wouldn’t be able to get out until the guy running the thing came round to collect us. I get pretty jumpy when I’m in dark places on my own. I think I got paid a couple of quid, if that. A big part of the reason why I said I’d do it was that I had a crush on a guy who was also doing the same job, and whilst we were getting changed into costume or whatever he said he had a girlfriend. Tragic, but then I was only 17 and naive as they come.

    Otherwise, I loved the necropants story. Proper friendship. And a shame about the missed Cadinot interview – he definitely seemed like one of a kind through the interview on the post yesterday. I’ve just spent the last two hours helping my mum (teacher) grade her class’ spelling and arithmetic papers, and thinking how the kids get tortured with this pointless shit, which is pretty scary in a way, does it maybe approach Halloween appropriateness? You can be the judge. Hope your day is the polar opposite of spelling and arithmetic papers. xT

  7. Andrew

    This happened near where I grew up in Michigan. The boy who died was two grades ahead of me and I still think about my mother reading me the article from the newspaper, saying: “let this be a lesson to you [to avoid haunted houses/hayrides]”

    Teen accidentally hanged while trying to make hayride scary
    “People who saw him desperately struggling with a noose around his neck thought he was acting, his mother said Monday.”

    https://www.michigandaily.com/uncategorized/teen-accidentally-hanged-while-trying-make-hayride-scary/

  8. Jeff J

    Hey Dennis – It brightened to my day to see Halloween emerge on the blog. This is a really fun post to kick off the season.

    Sad news about Roland H Kirk. I haven’t checked out his Cab Voltaire albums from the past few years though I know The Wire liked them pretty well. You listened to them? You have particular favorites from CV’s prime years?

    I really enjoyed your appearance on Bookworm and it’s been nice to read the interviews appearing around ‘I Wished.’ Hope you’re feeling good about the launch, or at least less stressed.

    You free to talk on Skype sometime in the next week?

  9. David Ehrenstein

    R.I.P. Melvin Van Peebles. At the height of his career he had two shows running on Broadway at the same time plus anationwide hit movie.

  10. Steve Erickson

    The Mormon gay porn phenomenon is interesting. You’d think it’d be too niche to make a profit, unlike Catholic porn, but apparently it’s huge in Utah.

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