Halloween Guide: Dracula's Ball Philadelphia

So what are YOU doing for Halloween?  If you're looking for sexy, vampy fun, check out the Dracula Ball in Philadelphia.  The chic band Psyche Corporation and The Last Dance are headlining.  The organizers have wickedly themed parties every few months, but Halloween is their big one.  As you can see from past event photos, the dress code ranges from fetish, to Goth, to inventive costumes. 

Besides the performers, expect music ranging from 1980's to New Wave, metal to world music.  All genres of vampire are welcome (Bela Lugosi or True Blood?).  Costumes and Gothic garb is not required, but it just wouldn't be as fun!  

 People from all over the country and overseas make the journey to this event.  Philadelphia in general is a great city for wicked fun. If you want some good scares at one of the most spookiest places in the U.S. check out the (truly) haunted house held at the historic Eastern State Penitentiary.  Admire the wall of Dia de los Muertos dioramas with a strong margarita and great food at one of my Philly faves, El Vez.  

Are you ready? Get dressed and go!

(photos  by Dracula's Ball and Psyche Corporation)

Southern Gothic Festival - New Orleans

It's a hot, hot summer... What would it take to draw your pale, porcelain complexion into the sun? The Southern Gothic Festival is a celebration of Gothic and Industrial culture. It's a city where there are no curfews, so you can walk around with a drink in your hand as you rock out to your favorite band. Looking for something darker? It's one of the few places in the U.S. where you might find some authentic voodoo..

July 16th and 17th, New Orleans, LA.

Gothic Festival Belgium

Want to get dark and dirty with Skinny Puppy, Alien Sex Fiend and Skeletal Family? Head over to Belgium for the Gothic Festival. It is virtually guaranteed to have a wild and scary time. The band lineup is extensive, the talent plentiful.

If you need some retail therapy in between, you can peruse the goods of the Gothic market. On offer will be everything from unique jewelery, fetish wear to rare albums.

photo by Janicks

National Halloween Convention

Think you're a Halloween Geek? Test your enthusiasm at the Halloween Convention April 29th - May 2nd, 2010 in Valley Forge, PA. Enjoy professional level seminars on everything from makeup to Monster Mud techniques. The practicalities of running your own haunted attractions, mold making, Styrofoam, using magic to scare and entertain. Need to unwind? There's a costume ball. Show off or shop for your monster collectibles.

Macabre Travel: Steampunk Clockwork Ball in North Carolina

Looking for a Steampunk party in North Carolina? Take yourself down to Chapel Hill for a night of dancing and music for "Pilots of Airships and their Crews, Mad Scientists, Explorers of the Unknown, Admirers of Verbosity, Respecters of the Strange, Those Lost in the Throes of Opium or Absinthe, Teetotalers, Scallywags, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dandies, Fops, and Urchins..."
The event is produced by the dandies of the Clockwork Cabaret and takes place March 6, 2010.

Doors at 8pm; Music begins at 9pm
Admission: 18+, 21+ to Drink; $5/$7
Appropriate Attire is Encouraged

MANSION 462
462 West Franklin Street
Chapel Hill, NC 27514

Anti-Valentine's Guide: NYC Vampire's Ball

Single or coupled (or tripled?) for this 14th of February? It doesn't matter my loves. Dress in your best romantic Goth finery and head to Gotham, New York City. The Vampire's Ball is in its 14th year and being held in a gorgeous old bank vault-turned-nightclub.

Dance the night away, compete in costume affairs, or even make an appointment for your custom fangs with Father Sebastiaan.

Steampunk Cruise Down Under

I always thought it was strange that my cousins in Australia spent their Christmas holidays in the summer. After this year however, I have come to appreciate those advantages. On a warm December night of 2009, the vintage 1902 steamship Waratah hosted a fabulous Steampunk Cruise.

The voyage took its stylish crew around Sydney Harbor and returned with some gorgeous photos. (Click for the full slideshow) . The women looked sexy and feisty, the gentlemen, well some of them truly put a flutter in Ms. Macabre's corsets and heart...

Hmm, I think the famed Goth Cruise in the Carribean has some competition now...

Thanks to the Steampunk Workshop and Patrick's Flickr gallery for the news and photos. Patrick thanks John Dunne aka Lieutenant Ruprecht Carruthers-Ivanovich of the Imperial Zeppelin Marines for making the event happen.

Tim Burton Exhibit at MOMA NYC

Did you miss Harper Bazaar's fabulous fashion spread last month? If you did, naughty one, at least you can catch the inspiration at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. If you find yourself in GOTHam, you will be treated to an exhibition of art made by Tim Burton. The collection is of more than 700 “drawings, paintings, photographs, storyboards, moving-image works, puppets, maquettes, costumes, and cinematic ephemera” Some 550 of those pieces come from the visionary film director's personal collection, meaning that most of them have never before been seen by the general public, let alone any public.

The exhibit runs from November 22, 2009 to April 26, 2010. I'm sure you can get to the city sometime in the next six months darling?

If you simply cannot wait until the 22nd, you can also enjoy this exhibit earlier and party with the city's biggest Tim Burton's fans at the museum's benefit gala November 17. If you have truly deep pockets, there is the presentation and banquet starting at $2500/ticket. Late night party-goer? Go for the (more fun) after party for $100/ticket. Tickets available here.

Zombie Walk Around the World!

This weekend marks Toronto's big Zombie Walk. Whether you're old-school (George Romero) or new-school (Zombieland) you will find your peeps. If you are not in Toronto this weekend, Zombie Walks are a new movement doing events around the world. Find your peers at the big central forum on zombiewalk.com. It's kind of a heavily-made up 'Flash Mob' of dead people. The forums post notices by country, by state, and urgent notices for those who just need to get their creep on ASAP.
A few countries: Germany, United States, France, Canada, Thailand, Brazil...

How to tell the Old-school from the New-school zombies? Old-school ones a la 'Night of the Living Dead,' crawled slowly from the grave, stumbling and walking at a more snail-like pace due to their status as re-animated corpses, possibly with some ancient voodoo history thrown in. New school, a la "28 Days Later" or " Zombieland" can run and attack victims aggressively.

The anticipated trend for this season's monsters? Expect lots of Thriller tributes to Michael Jackson.

Dracula's Cabaret in Australia

Looking for a campy, tasty dinner and a show? If you travel to the Gold Coast area of Australia, check out the Dracula's Cabaret.
Elaborate costumes, musical numbers, tongue-in-cheek humor are joined by themed cuisine.
The menu lists dishes like Silence of the Lamb, Entombed Beef and of course, Death by Chocolate. Your ticket price also includes a Ghost-train ride.
They also have a haunted house, if you need to take a leisurely stroll before or after the show. Can't make the trip? Have a gander at their online Horror Shop.

Kutna Hora Bone Church

In the suburb town of Kutna Hora in the Czech Republic, you will find the unique "Bone Church", or the Sedlec Ossuary. This Gothic church was was built in the middle of the cemetery around 1400. After 1511 the task of exhuming skeletons and stacking their bones in the chapel was, according to legend, given to a half-blind monk of the order.

In 1870, František Rint, a woodcarver, was employed by the Schwarzenberg family to organize the massive bone heaps. The darkly decorative result is now a popular attraction for followers of the macabre. Four enormous bell-shaped mounds occupy the corners of the chapel. An elaborate chandelier of bones, which contains at least one of every bone in the human body, hangs from the center of the nave with garlands of skulls draping the vaults. Other arrangements include piers and monstrances flanking the altar, a large Schwarzenberg coat-of-arms, and the signature of Rint, also executed in bone, on the wall near the entrance.

This site had some recent exposure on Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman's series "Long Way Round".

Macabre Travel: The Darkside Store in Toronto, Canada

I'm so sorry for not writing sooner darlings. I was paying a visit to my friends in the North. The lovely city of Toronto is a rich source for Gothic style and lusciously brooding lovers. On a quick stroll of Queen Street West, always a hotbed of fashionable dark frocks I discovered delightful boutique. The Darkside Store is a wonderful shop dedicated to horror. A beautiful collection of books, cards and artwork is for sale by a talented artist calling herself Creepy Christine. Apparel with graphics from your favorite spooky cinematic moments are here as are a myriad of other collectibles. The facade on the street is lovingly created to resemble a haunted house. The store's website isn't quite up to date with all of the merchandise yet, but it lists many of the horror scene's great events around town.