Mae

Could the photos have been in the lantern? As if someone was either trying to destroy them, or, maybe, give them life? Mae

What's the buzz? Tell me what's happenin'!!! This is the longest day. Still, it would be nice to be right about The Orphanage. I am so rarely correct. Plus, it would be a creepy, disturbing house. A carnival house??? Sounds yummy! I love sleazy carnivals. It's in my blood. Mae

I just had a thought. (SHOCKING! I know) I know we're all 'anti-movie house' this year, but did anyone see The Orphanage? (I know several of us saw Orphan, but that didn't feel like a horror movie to me.) The Orphanage was so striking and so sad, and Del Toro's imagery is so easy to use in that sort of setting (The Hallow and Scary Tales 3 really ran with those sorts of images!) that I am starting to wonder if that hasn't snuck in under the radar. So to speak. Mae

The continuation of a solid storyline is so...X-Files. There are the separate, stand-alone episodes and then there the "mythology" episodes; the ones that tie together to form a complete tale. Replace 'episodes' with 'events' and the concept fits well. I love it! Mae Oh, and Bsquare: Yet another reason why <3 you!

That was the first thing I thought of when I saw Howard. Interesting. Very interesting. M

I noticed that as well. Will this be a battle of angel vs demon, or, if they go all out, Gabriel vs Lucifer? I'm a little leery of the Light Bringer being mentioned by name; there would be too much backlash. A battle of angels is a great playground of ideas, though. So much has already been done on it, lately, but I think it's still fresh enough to use. I'm starting to get a really strong 'Supernatural' vibe. Mmmm....Winchesters.... What? I can dream!!! Mae

I like the conspiracy theory. We've become embroiled in a game of win or lose, life or death.... ...okay, not life or death. Still, I like to think that TPTB (the powers that be = Universal) engage in this little cat and mouse every year because it's fun to try to outwit us. Mae

Yeah, but then the props come to life and start killing people. It's be a total mess. M

As a person who slammed her thumb in a car door (a Dodge Duster!) as a child, I can tell you that the opening and closing of car doors makes me cringe. Still. I can only imagine what would happen if someone managed to get their hand caught in a van door at Universal. (I shudder just thinking about it!) Mae

MAJOR holiday. The entire city shuts down except for the parades and parties. Most locals/natives leave town, in fact, so that they aren't besieged by the Fat Tuesday throng. I am sooooo hoping your speculation is correct! Mae

I was on the Voodoo float from 2000 and I adored the way they integrated the floats into the scarezone during the 2004 event. My heart would swell to bursting with love if they did it again.

The swing set is a little different than 2008, but didn't the schoolhouse have the same sort of shingled roof? Mae

Theatres des Vampires was the name, and they had their own theater in Paris where they would use their 'powers' to perform for an audience. They would murder people onstage as part of their act and the audience would only think it was pretend. Pretty inventive. That would make an interesting house, too, but I doubt that Anne would let that slide. She's old and trying to get into Heaven now. Mae

If Jesse James shows up, I'll leave. (does anyone else remember Monster Garage?) Delphine Lalaurie, now that was a crazy heifer! (At least in legend, but she doesn't sound all that great in truth, either.) She could make a NOLA house scary; not just her victims but she herself. She was so beautiful yet so damned evil. If she came back and was using the skills she learned in that townhouse on Royal Street to fight off the ghosts and vengeful spirits of the slaves that she tortured in the 1800's. Mae Mae

Ah, but Dark Shadows did the moody, emo vampire thing long before Anne did. You should blame Jonathan Frid. At least Anne's vampires actually eat people and have a semi-sexual identidy! Voodoo stuff would be interesting, but I can see it veering into the ridiculousness of what most American's think it is. What I would like to see is the possession by the loas and perhaps a battle for....what? What could they possibly want? I don't know, but I might think of something. It would be brilliant if they did a house about Mardi Gras and voodoo. All anyone ever shows is the parades and Bourbon Street; the more interesting stuff is in the alleys between the St. Louis Cathedral and down towards the end of Decatur Street. I'd love to see the house move from the party down to the darker parts of the French Quarter. A house set in the bayous would be nice, too. I really like the idea of an old plantation manor overrun by zombies under the control of a loa (or two! Papa Legba vs Papa Limba-good vs. evil) or vampires, anything really. Yeah, it's trite, but it's hellafun. I remember a magic and witchcraft supply shop down from my apartment on Magazine St that seemed to never have any business, but always had a couple of elderly black ladies sitting outside fanning themselves. I went in once and the shelves were very empty except for some very basic and harmless herbs, candles, and incenses. There were two curtained doorways behind the counter, and a very tall white man came through one of them. He looked like a hippie and was almost as out of place as I was, but he sold me some incense and was very friendly. As I left, one of the ladies in the front said that I would be allowed back in and that I should come on a new moon....it was kinda cool but very creepy. I think I was working the night of the new moon, but I would have been too chickenshit to go, anyway. Mae