Nightmares & DayScreams

Haunting Virginia

September 19 2022 -It is about this time of year every year so far that I have been spending alot of time in Virginia. I spent one weekend in Norfolk checking out the expanded  Tidewater Horror convention  and then just this pat weekend I was back at Hampton Roads for  the 2022 Haunted Screams Expo. True to form I brought costumes and did a little shopping amongst my merchant friends. I was unable to be part of the Monster On Makeup Wars challenge this year as my  makeup artist was away on assignment, but I did manage to bring home second place in the Adult Costume Contest. < Many thanks to Charles A Townsend for the amazing images he captured while at Haunted Screams.>This gives me just a few weeks to get together all the pieces I am making for Culling Innovations Halloween Mini Photo Shoot in Salisbury MD on October15th. But First...I have the distinct honor of having been asked to help with makeups for Farragut Forward a local ongoing Star Trek tribute  You Tube Film short being done locally. So Time to clean up my kit and polish up on my beauty skills. 

"Oh Look Another Glorious Morning. It Makes Me sick."- Winifred Sanderson Hocus Pocus
#HauntedSreamsExpo2022 #halloweencostume Angel of Death 2nd Place winner Adult Costume Contest winner

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

August 2022- So fall is finally here. That means I am kicked into high gear once again. Maryland Renaissance festival last weekend. This week I am on the road again to Norfolk VA for TideWater Horrorcon with a quick side trip to  check out this years Howl-O-Scream at BuschGardens Williamsburg. Still working on costumes for next weeks Haunted Screams in Hampton VA as well.  So busy but things keep squeezing into my jam packed schedule with a new special event I just got asked to help out on in Fredrick MD in October...Shh...mums the word for now..must not Jinx it. I have been getting some amazing conversations with a few local independent film makers and discussing their projects.  All this leading up to  my first trip to  FaerieCon in Baltimore in October and as quick trip to World Oddities..all before Halloween. Then there is the HUGE project I have been working on for my return to Ocean City Comicon once again in December. Never fear dear friends things are very active here @ Nightmares & Dayscreams. Can't forget to mention my true new collaborations with David Insley of Culling Innovations coming up in just a few weeks.  Time to get Spooky!! Many thanks to the one and only Father Evil for this stunning photo from our reunion at  Scares That Cares Charity Weekend 2022. 
 **I was So Thrilled to see that FatherEvil recieved a special recognition Award at the New Jersey Horror Film Festival  on September 17th and I truly wish I could have been there to celebrate his special moment with him. Well done my friend. You deserve it.** -xoxo

#FatherEvil #Scaresthatcarescharityweekend2022 Father Evil dance with his favorite Succubus Temptation at the final Scares That Cares Charity Event

Best Laid Plans

Once in a great while even the best made plans fall apart. So it was that I am not where I had hoped to be this weekend before St Patrick's Day 2022. It seems that the combined one two punch of both an ill timed sinus infection and an unexpected jump in gas prices due to the Russian Oil embargos has forced me to cancel my plans to be at the Cherry Hill New Jersey Monster Mania 49 this weekend. 
I did however make it back from a very interesting and enlightening weekend at my first Farpoint Convention. Lets just say that going in blind I was very happy I decided to go in relaxed and not enter any competitions. As always science fiction fans are amongst the  most advanced in the ways of the newest science gizmos and  gadgets. I learned there is an entire realm of Cosplay that is scrutinized on a level I know now to be better prepared for next time. I talked to a few of the vendors at length, attended some educational and informative panels and  just joined my fellow fantasy fans. These people are a very unique flavor of fandom totally different from the Horror variety, but I think they might also appreciate some of my more fantastical creations...next year.

For now I am home resting and helping my child complete her first handcrafts cosplay of SunDrop from  FNAF Security Breach. It is not perfect ,but it is a familyfun project and I tell her not to worry about exactness- after all she is not getting in front of judges who look for perfection.

Seems I was very busy

Even with Covid-19 still rampant me fall got crowded with conventions and makeups. SO I am a bit late here but  I thought 2022 would be a good time for me to update things. December was my first ever panel appearance at the Ocean City MD Comicon. After that came the long organization and packing away of everything for the Holidays. Now January is here and February brings new trips to North Carolina for my first Mad Monster Convention followed a week later by a trip to my first FarPoint Convention. So I get to do both horror and Science fiction/Fantasy looks next month. My partner in crime and model Tony Jones will be along with me and we are already discussing what characters to bring to the shows. I think we have a plan and it will be great to get an early start on both Conventions and more Monsters and Makeup.
Here is hoping your Winter was Merry and Bright and that your new year is full of promise. Stay safe and well until we meet again.

Fall Flings and Thrills & Chills

This fall has been far busier than most even with Covid still canceling many of my usual haunts. I spent September on the road networking at several regional Horror Conventions with a fan filled time at Monster Mania 47 in Hunt Valley MD where I got to meet Kane Hodder, Richard Dreyfuss and  Robert Englund. I also made special plans to see Zach Galligan. Then I made the hard choice to sit out on the Chesapeake VA MonsterFest this year.  After a short break it was back to work and an week unlike any other. I was asked to return to Trimper's Amusements in Ocean City MD once again to do face painting which is always a creative stretch, but this year the weekend face paint bracketed a whirlwind of photoshoot sessions. One in Philadelphia PA working in tandem with Indulge Images Photography & Tim Warburton of Healing Hands Mobile Massages for a very special and highly secret project that we are all dying to show you. I left there where I was the artist to travel to Norfolk VA for another shoot where I was the model working with the talented ladies at Exxalted Boudoir- but those images are for me & them. But rest assured with me, they were halloweeny .
So here I am just weeks away from Halloween 2021 and faced with the knowledge that I may very well be sitting at home and watching Horror movies from my bed this year rather than venturing out once again. I am bone tired but this is my crazy time of year. Perhaps I will be busier next year or perhaps I may spread things out a bit.
We all know Grinch-mas is coming soon. Even with the store shelves bare and ship cargo sitting on the docks waiting to be delivered. The zombies have shambled on so Sandy Claws nd Krampus can't be far behind. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

And Now for something completely different

After nearly a month on the road on the Eastern Seaboard I have had a very busy September. I have had the chance to be the model for a Makeup Challenge like SyFy Channels Face- Off at the Haunted Screams Expo in Hampton Road VA and the look took first place with all the honors due to  Jeffrey of Infected-FX. With little more than 3 hours to apply and paint he came ready to wow the audience and they stood and watched him work. Even the great actor Michael Berryman was impressed. The next day my own makeup skills and character creation took top honors in the Adult Costume Challenge contest . I had fun doing an on the spot makeup creation for the lovely Wendy Roache of Just a Little Hocus Pocus fame.  This was all after we took top prize for costume at Tidewater Horror con the week before which was great and I will be returning next year. I finished my convention tours with Monster Mania 47 in Hunt Valley Maryland where I got to meet the amazing  Robert Englund and  Kane Hodder is always fun, but photo opps meant not much time for makeup and costumes.
I really enjoyed the NJ Horror Convention and Film Fest too. I made lots of new friends and  was asked back in November but like the Chesapeake VA Monsterfest I will have to pass this year due to needing a break as there are so many new projects in the works and my time is limited now that Halloween has started. Wait and see what is coming next.

Spooky Season Begins

So this year post Covid-19 brings with it the chance to once more get out and be among my people. I love meeting and mingling with my fellow Horror Convention fans and vendors. I love to network and enjoy the chance to showcase the products from so many great creative folks. Every time I post a character I do my very best to credit all of the folks who helped me create the final look. This persons awesome teeth and that ones wicked horns. I credit the people whose contacts I wear ( when I can recall where I got them) and the people who crafters the amazing prosthetic appliances I use. Heck I even credit the people who design my outfit and take the pictures when I can. Collaboration is key right now. We all support one another and by doing so we open the doors to exposure of our work and how it has been showcased to a greater range of people. This year was special because I am hitting new conventions in new places. August was Scares that Care and Dover DE Comicon. So far I have just returned from NJ Horrorcon& filmfest in Atlantic City New Jersey. Next weekend I will be in Norfolk VA for Tidewater Horrorcon and then in Hampton for the  Haunted Screams. I still have Monster Mania the final week this month and October is just as busy. Look for updates and new photos as they become available. Stay Spooky!!