I’m normally not into the mushy stuff, but I’m so proud of my little girl… The video below is dedicated to the best darn cheerleader in the world!
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Author: Root Rot
At some point everyone has passed a particular house that reminds them of one from a movie, looks like a witch may live in it, or simply creeps them out. Every time I drive down my block I pass a house that reminds me of the one from Amityville Horror. As I continue to drive I think about how cool it would be to live in such a home. I imagine if I put forth some effort, I could find houses that resemble those from all the classics. There is one house however, that goes beyond a mere resemblance; Kenny Caperton lives in a life-size replica of the infamous Michael Myer’s house from John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978).
Located in Hillsborough, North Carolina, The Myers House duplicate is not only an interesting attraction for your average tourist, it’s a surreal experience for horror fans, and a must see for Halloween fans. Visitors from across the United States come year round to explore this life size model. Owner, Kenny Caperton’s only request is that visitors email in advance to schedule an appointment.
In an email I asked Kenny why he recreated The Myers house, he offered the following explanation:
“When I returned home from Hollywood after attending theworld premiere of Rob Zombie’s “HALLOWEEN” in August 2007, my girlfriend Emily and I were in the middle of house hunting. I was looking through my pictures from the trip and of course I visited the original Myers House while I was in town (the original house is still standing in South Pasadena, CA). I was looking at this simple little Victorian house on my computer screen and thought to myself, “I wonder how much it would cost to build something like this?” And in the next five minutes I was on the phone with the City of South Pasadena trying to acquire blueprints. So that’s how it all started …a lot of craziness and a DREAM!”
Since the construction of The Myers House in August of 2008, Kenny has generously offered his home to host, the A&E filming of “Halloween: The Inside Story”, Trick-or-Treat in June, and the 1st Annual HALLOWEEN Bash, to name a few events. Coming up on October 31st, 2010, The Myers House will host the 2nd Annual Halloween bash which features screenings of H2O, Trick or Treat, and The Myers House original movie Judith. Like many of Kenny’s other events, the admission price can’t be beat…..well, because there isn’t one; seriously, it’s free.
Kenny and his house have been featured in numerous online publications, podcasts and newspapers. While Kenny’s original intent may have been to simply build his dream home, it has turned into much more. The Myers House sustains a reputation that brings visitors from afar to share in Kenny’s appreciation of the home and offers a unique setting for a plethora of events.
My thoughts? There is no doubt that when I make my way to North Carolina, The Myers House will be a must see.
Links for The Myers House
The Myers House Web Page
The Myers House Facebook
The Myers House Twitter
The Myers House Myspace
The Myers House IMDB
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Posted in Witch's Hat Spotlight
Tagged attractions, Halloween, house, Michael, Myers, spotlight
Author: Root Rot
Today’s post spotlights three particular horror podcast. The horror podcast pool has expanded greatly since 2005; however, longevity tends to be a rare
characteristic of these podcasts. The three podcasts that are spotlighted in today’s post have all been consistently running for at least 4 years.
These are the few (three), the proud (you’d have to ask them), the first generation of horror podcast.
Night of the Living Podcast (Link)
With hosts Amy, Andy, Chiseck, Erica, Freddy and Kelley; Night of the Living Podcast, NotLP, has been banging out casts since forever…… well actually since 2005. With the tagline, “Night of the Living Podcast is a show dedicated to all things horror”, NotLP is one of the very few current horror podcast to be featured in the infamous October 2008 Horror Podcast issue of Rue Morgue. NotPL is noted for their colorful movie reviews, that have been known to include off the cuff subjects like Horror Porn.
Splattercast (Link)
The Splattercast is also no stranger to Rue Morgue, as they were also featured the 2008 Horror Podcast issue of Rue Morgue. With 192 episodes, Splattercast has been covering horror since 2006. In addition to Splattercast, the Nebraska native crew simultaneously run Dead Lantern Films. Splattercast/Dead Lantern Film’s current projects include, ”Outpost Doom” and “The Grand Horror“.
Rotting Flesh Radio (Link)
Up and running since 2005, Rotting Flesh Radio is the third podcast that was featured in the above mentioned Rue Morgue article. Unique to Rotting Flesh is their narrowed focus on Halloween and haunted attractions. As explained by Jonathen, host and owner of Rotting Flesh Radio; ”Rotting Flesh Radio is a show that is made for you Deadites. And because of that we have a crew that digs for all the coverage, attends conventions, entertains you on he show, brings you guests and more”.
Rotting Flesh promises to bring you all things Halloween and attraction related.
Welcome to The Witch’s Hat, I am your host Root Rot. On today’s post The Witch’s Hat spotlight’s the person who molded me into horror junkie that I am, My Mom.
Author: Root Rot
Editor: Keels8
Being a father is great. I have a lot of fun spending time with my daughter; we love creating Ninja Warrior courses in the park, she loves riding her bike with me during my runs and we both enjoy our weekly visits to the library. Like most library’s, the children’s section at our library is filled primarily with books comparable to the stories that Disney would publish. When I watch my daughter migrate toward the Goose Bumps books, I can’t help but 
think it’s a bit cool. Even my daughter’s beloved Twilight films with their shitty portrayal of vampires and werewolves, beats the monotonous “happy ever after” fairy tale. Ultimately my daughter views these forms of the horror genera as I viewed The Ghoul at her age; baby steps to the next layer of horror. While my daughter may not take that step, if she does, Goose Bumps and Twilight will give her nostalgic memories with her dad much like ones I share with my mom. Growing up, most of my friends moms were typical; however, my mom was a bit more unique. While other Moms were reading their kids Mother Goose, my bedtime stories consisted of Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Wolfman. She read them in a way that didn’t scare me but created a genuine appreciation for the stories. She emphasized the romance and irony of life which transformed the themes that would otherwise scare a child; Instead of fear, I found enjoyment and reliability in these stories. As I grew older we would watch The Ghoul and Sir Grave 
Ghastly together. I remember drawing a picture of Sir Graves, which, unbeknownst to me, my mom later mailed to the Sir Grave show. Thanks to her, I now have the awesome memory of seeing my “art work” on TV in Sir Graves hands. Halloween in my family was a bigger production than Christmas. My mom made putting up the Halloween decorations an event that would compare to the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree. My mom would buy me all the coolest monster toys, which remain in my Collection to this day. She introduced me to movies such as An American Werewolf in London, Alien, and Night of the Living Dead, just to name a few. When other families were watching The A Team,
my mom and I were watching The Night Gallery. As an adult, when my life came to mirror a horror movie, mom was again able to emphasize and open my eyes to the romance and irony of life, which made my situation less scary and endurable So mom, thanks for doing what you do and happy birthday. You are the coolest mom and “Ga Ga” a kid could have. Regardless of what my daughter chooses as her interests, I will support her with unconditional love and understanding as my mom did for me. I can only hope that my daughter views me in the light that I view my mom. Oh, and dad, you’re cool too.
Welcome to The Witch’s Hat, I am your host Root Rot. On today’s post The Witch’s Hat spotlight’s my favorite horror host, The Ghoul.
Author: Root Rot
In the early 80′s every Friday night the sounds of “It’s the madman of late night TV, your King your leader, The Ghoul! so Plunk your magic twanger, Froggy because it’s time for GHOUL POWER!!!! Overday!” would blare from my television. From the age of 7 to 11, The Ghoul Show was my Friday nights entertainment. The first time I met The Ghoul aka Ron Sweed was in 2001. I’ve had the pleasure of numerous interaction with Sweed at comic book and 
horror convention. Where most celebrities at those type of conventions are standoffish with fans unless you’re buying their shitty swag or paying $20 for their autograph, Sweed is quite the opposite. I’ve never witnessed The Ghoul turn down a fans request for autographs, picture, or in my case an interview that I did for The Midnight Podcast. Sweed’s loyalty toward his fans may come from his humble horror host roots. As a teen in Cleveland during the mid 60′s, Sweed worked for his mentor Ernie Anderson on the show Shock Theater. Anderson portrayed a character named Ghoulardi hosting B horror movies. On Shock Theater Sweed would sometime dress like a gorilla on the air, but Sweed mostly did task behind the scenes. Ernie Anderson quit the horror host gig to work on other projects. According to Sweed, Anderson gave his blessing allowing Sweed to use the likeness of the Ghoulardi character. Sweed quickly created his vision of a horror host themed show and simply called it The Ghoul Show. Sweed’s wacky show consisted of, blowing stuff up with a M-80′s, fighting with The Ghoul’s nemesis Froggy, making fun of local celebrities and other crazy skits. The Ghoul’s crazy stunts occurred during breaks from the featured horror movie which were usually horrible public domain films. Dressed in long lab coat covered in buttons, sunglasses with a missing lens, a fake Van Dyke style beard and a crazy wig Sweed’s Ghoul character was almost a spitting image of Anderson’s Ghoulardi character. The Ghoul Show was syndicated and was a hit in Detroit until Channel 50
canceled his show in the late 70′s. The Ghoul Show came back to Detroit in the 80′s on channel 61 and then channel 20. Those were the times I remember as a kid. Then just like that, The Ghoul disappeared. Oddly I don’t remember him leaving. In 2001 I saw The Ghoul’s face on the cover of a local paper. The article in the paper stated that The Ghoul Show was on the air in Cleveland and Sweed had ambitions on making a come back in Detroit . After reading the article I was excited and my fascination for The Ghoul was re-sparked. Sweed’s attempt to re-launch The Ghoul Show in Detroit failed. He did a few stand alone episodes , but The Ghoul Show didn’t catch on. The younger viewing demographic that Sweed had capitalized on in the 70′s and yearly 80′s were now desensitized by new mediums such cable television and the internet. The crazy skits performed by Sweed on The Ghoul Show could not compete with likes of MTV’s Jackass. Sadly, fans in the Detroit area are still waiting for the third coming of The Ghoul Show. The most publicized controversy 
surrounding Sweed is the legal action he took against a fellow horror host named Son of Ghoul for character infringement. Sweed eventually lost his case in 1987. Some of Sweed’s peers view him as a poor sport from the stigma of the lawsuit against Son of Ghoul and Sweed’s unfavorable opinions of current horror host. I have spoken to other horror host and asked them their thoughts on The Ghoul. Some host think he’s pioneer and others think he’s a jerk. I think Ron Sweed is a man trying to make a living doing what he loves. I believe Sweed’s only mistake was attempting to enforce an unwritten code of ethics amongst his fellow horror host when Sweed himself capitalized on Ernie Anderson’s popular Ghoulardi character. Whether Sweed’s is in his Ghoul garb or himself, Ron Sweed aka The Ghoul is class act which deserves more recognition in the horror community. So turn blue, stay sick, and climb walls.
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