Well I've been very busy lately. I just moved to a new apartment, and I'm working hard at my new job. Because I just moved it will be a while before I can post art again since my desktop (and scanner, and tablet) are still with my parents. *sigh* I can still check DA on my laptop though.

Anyway, with October coming, I'd love to watch some more scary movies, so please recommend some to me! What's your favorite horror movie of all time? Why? Do you like monster movies, ghosts stories, zombies, suspenseful thrillers, blood and gore, or mind fucks? What's the scariest movie you ever saw?

Oh, and in exchange, here are some great horror movies I highly recommend!

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
"The next great psycho horror slasher has given a documentary crew exclusive access to his life as he plans his reign of terror over the sleepy town of Glen Echo, all the while deconstructing the conventions and archetypes of the horror genre for them."

I rented this movie on a whim and ended up loving this low budget indie flick. For those of you who are fans of the horror genre I can't recommend this movie highly enough. It's such an enjoyable movie to watch I couldn't wait to see it again. It spoofs the horror genres wonderfully and it's just so weird and fun to watch the charismatic, friendly Leslie cheerfully explain how he's going to kill a houseful of drunk and horny teens. It's like watching Freddie or Jason hanging out and enjoying a beer with their friends in their off hours. And of course Taylor (the aspiring journalist filming the "documentary") is just adorable. Pay special attention to the relationship between her and Leslie. Of course, the movie has a wonderful twist towards the end which I won't ruin, just do yourself a favor and rent it if you want a fun horror flick.

Infection (Kansen)
"The film takes place in an under-staffed hospital that is quickly losing money. As night begins to fall, an ambulance comes to the hospital bringing a patient with a strange black rash. Dr. Akiba refuses to admit the patient, due to the hospital being low on resources and staff. While arguing with the paramedic, Akiba is alerted to a serious crisis in Room 3 of the hospital. A patient, though unconscious, has somehow fallen to the floor and his vital signs are dropping quickly. They think they have saved him when they realize that the nurse has apparently misused Potassium chloride instead of Calcium chloride and injected the wrong drug into his intravenous drip. The present staff members, Doctors Akiba, Uozumi and four nurses, after a long and harsh argument, decide to cover up the true cause of his death and say that he died naturally. They move the body to an unused room and start heating it to speed up decay to hide the damaged blood chemistry."

This movie is terrifying. It's so fucked up. It covers so many genres, psychological thriller, monster movie, ghost story, and can be interpreted in more than one way. It loves to screw with your head and play on your fears. This movie also pulls a classic horror stunt by never actually showing the monster, and leaving most of the gore off-camera. This is much more frightening than if they had gone ahead and shown everything since it's left up to your imagination. This movie will be remade as an American movie in 2009, and I can almost guarantee you they will ruin it, so I'm bitter.

The Eye (Chinese version, not the crappy American one)
"Blind from the age of two, 20-year-old Hong Kong classical violinist Mun undergoes an eye transplant. At first, she is happy to have her sight restored, but is soon troubled when she starts to see mysterious figures that seem to foretell gruesome deaths. Her first night in the hospital she sees the blurry image of a shadow accompanying a patient out of her hospital room. The next morning she wakes up to find that patient dead."

Man, this movie is creepy! It's an incredibly spooky ghost story with a creepy mystery. Maybe it's not the best Asian horror film out there, but it's my personal favorite.

Cube and Cube 2 (Hypercube)
Cube is a 1997 Canadian psychological thriller/horror/science fiction movie directed by Vincenzo Natali. The film was a very successful product of the Canadian Film Centre's First Feature Project. Despite its low budget, the film achieved moderate commercial success and has acquired cult status as a niche science-fiction title. Much of the film's appeal lies in its surreal, Kafkaesque settings — no extensive attempt is made to explain what the cube in which the characters are confined is, why it is created, or how the "inmates" were selected. Although the world "outside" is referred to, it is presented in an extremely abstract fashion - either a dark void or a bright white light. The film opens with a man named Alderson waking up in a strange, cube-shaped room with glowing, computer circuit-like walls and six doors, one at the center of each wall, including the ceiling and floor. After recovering from his confusion, he opens two of the doors and looks into them to find rooms that differ to the one he is in only by color. He then opens and goes through a third door. He looks around and then takes a step, but is suddenly cut into large cubes. He falls apart and the rack of crosshatched wires which diced him moves into view. It folds up and retracts.

It's death.... by math!!! Well not quite, but close enough. Math plays an important part in this Canadian horror film, which is definitely something new. Cube is amazingly well written, because the set is so minimalistic the movie relies more on character interaction and dialogue than action sequences or special effects. The paranoia is what makes this film so frightening. The characters each wake up in a different cube shaped room, each room has six doors (one on each side) which leads to a different cube shaped room, also with six doors. Some of the rooms are safe, but others contain deadly traps. The movie explains very little about what's happening, just like the people trapped in the cube you don't know why they're there or what the cube is, which makes it even more terrifying.There are a few gory sequences, mostly at the beginning (a guy gets cut to pieces, another gets a face full of acid) and end, but most of is just the prisoners freaking out. It's interesting to see how each character develops over the course of the movie, and how each one reacts to their entrapment. We learn that some are more stable than others, and that the pressure causes them to slowly become unwound. The character interaction is what makes Cube so great. The sequel (Hypercube) is also really good, and plays along the same concept (except this time the characters are trapped in a tesseract), but the "prequel" is God awful and because it was written by someone else kind of goes off in this weird, wacky direction. Just skip it.

BoogiePop Phantom
"The story takes place in an unnamed Japanese city, a month after a pillar of light appeared in the night sky and five years after a string of serial killings. Boogiepop Phantom follows an ensemble cast of characters, mostly high school students, who are witnesses to the incident and its consequences. At the time of the series, high school students have started to disappear again and the blame is placed on Boogiepop, an urban legend who is said to be the personification of Death."

Buggipoppu wa Warawanai: Boogiepop Phantom (Boogiepop Doesn't Laugh: Boogiepop Phantom, or just Boogiepop for short) is one of the few shows that can really and truly scare me. This isn't technically a movie, it's actually an anime series with 12 episodes (based on a light novel). The third episode is the one that scared the crap out of me, and I don't scare easily. I actually had to sleep with the light on after seeing it. I thought if I viewed it again, a few years later I would be less terrified. Nope. Still just as terrifying. The show is dark, and is definitely a psychological thriller, the kind I refer to as a "mind fuck." There's blood, bu I wouldn't call it gorey.

Perfect Blue.
"The film is a psychological thriller about Mima Kirigoe, a member of a Japanese pop-idol group called "CHAM!", who decides to pursue her career as an actress. Some of her fans are displeased with her sudden career change, particularly the stalker named Me-Mania. As her new career proceeds, Mima's world becomes increasingly reminiscent of the works of Alfred Hitchcock and Philip K. Dick: reality and fantasy spiral out of control, and Mima discovers that Me-Mania is the least of her troubles."

Another Japanese mind fuck. The first time I spent the night at my friend Kendra's house we watched this. That was a mistake because we both got scared silly when the dogs started barking at something outside. This movie can be quite gory in parts, including a scene where a guy gets stabbed in the eye with a screw driver. However, I highly recommend it as it's a very beautiful movie (although hard to follow at times, and even at the end it's not entirely clear exactly what happened).

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
"The year: 1983. When Maebara Keiichi and his family move to the sleepy little rural village of Hinamizawa, everything seems peaceful and rustic at first. But Keiichi quickly learns that there is more to the four girls of the school's game club than meets the eye... and more to the town as well. Revelation follows revelation, and brutal murder follows brutal murder in this enigmatic tale told from a variety of viewpoints and scenarios. Just what links the scenarios together?

The first season focuses on the cycles of paranoia and death that plague the main characters. The second season, Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kai, delves deeper into the causes of the repeating scenarios and their inevitable conclusions and the struggle to defy fate. The third installment, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei, is a series of OVAs and, rather than a true third season, is simply a collection of side stories."

I don't know why it freaks me out so badly about this series, I think it's because it superficially appears to be a happy, cutesy, school life anime. It starts out all cute and silly, in fact you'd think you were watching some sort of romantic comedy, and everyone's happy and having fun, and then out of no where horrible, horrible, things happen. In most horror series it's set up from the beginning as being scary, and always has a dark atmosphere, but Higurashi no Naku Koro ni starts out bright and colorful and slowly gets darker and more terrifying. It's so unsettling because you're not expecting it, and I think that's what freaks me out the most. Also the whole aspect of horribly corrupting something pure.

I think the other thing that scares me is that the show relies more on psychological horror than gore, like most horror movies do. Gore has never scared me, and after seeing so many horror movies and watching surgeries being performed I've gotten desensitized to it. Gore is gross, but not scary, and is usually how lazy writers try to get a cheap thrill out of audiences. And movies that rely on the monster jumping out and shouting "boo" aren't really scary either. You're startled, but that's not the same as being scared, it's very hard to create just enough suspense to get a real scare. Psychological thrillers, on the other hand, are really scary to me, which I think Higurashi no Naku Koro ni freaked me out so bad and made me scream when I heard the wind make a door slam. The gore is usually off screen (but there is gore), or implied, or shown briefly, which somehow makes it even more unsettling. The style of story telling is unique as well, the show sort of "resets" itself every four or five episodes. It's the same characters and setting each time, but the events always plays out differently, each time giving you some new information.
I'm quite picky about my anime and I thoroughly enjoyed this. It's also one of the few shows that has ever gotten a real scare out of me. I heard it get compared to Elfen Lied a few times, but I've never seen that show, so I don't know if they're similar or not.


Ginger Snaps
"Ginger Snaps is a 2000 Canadian werewolf film directed by John Fawcett. The film focuses on two close teenage sisters, Ginger and Brigitte Fitzgerald (Katharine Isabelle and Emily Perkins), who are obsessed with death. The title is a pun on the biscuit of the same name. "Snap" also relates to losing one's self-control, or a quick, aggressive bite. During the film's production, the Columbine High School massacre and the W. R. Myers High School shooting took place, causing public controversy over the film's horror themes and the funding it received from Telefilm.

Ginger Snaps was well received by critics, and compared favorably with auteur David Cronenberg's work.Critics also praised the lead actresses performances and the film's use of lycanthropy as a metaphor for puberty. Ginger Snaps won the Special Jury Citation award at the Toronto International Film Festival."

I can't recommend this movie enough. It's one of my favorite movies ever (that just happens to be a great Halloween movie). It's so good. Soooooo good. It's wonderful and dark and beautiful.
There's also a sequel, Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed, and a "prequel", Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning, which is more of a re-imagining of the story that takes place in the early 19th century than an actual prequel.

Suspiria
"Suspiria is a 1977 Italian horror film directed by Dario Argento.... Suspiria is often considered Argento's finest film and a classic of the horror genre. Entertainment Weekly rated it #18 in its top 25 scariest movies of all time, saying it had "the most vicious murder scene ever filmed", and it was rated #24 on the cable channel Bravo's list of the "100 Scariest Movie Moments". The story involves a young American ballet student, Suzy Banyon, who arrives in Germany to attend a prestigious dance academy. On the night of her arrival there is a torrential downpour. When she arrives at the school, she witnesses a student, a young blonde girl named Pat Hingle, flee the building in a panic."

Someone once described Suspiria as a "Disney horror film" and I think that it's a pretty accurate description. The whole movie has a very strong "dark fairy tale" vibe to it, and seems almost fanciful. The colors are bright (especially the blood) and the atmosphere surreal. Everything is beautiful, even the murders. It also managed to surprise me quite a few times, which was impressive since most horror movies are pretty predictable and formulaic. I bought this right after watching it, I loved it so much.

The Orphanage
"The Orphanage (Spanish: El Orfanato) is a 2007 Spanish-language horror film and the debut feature of Spanish filmmaker Juan Antonio Bayona. The film stars Belén Rueda as Laura, Fernando Cayo as Carlos, her husband, and Roger Princep as their adopted son Simón. The plot revolves around Laura, who returns to her childhood home, an orphanage. Laura plans to turn the house into a home for disabled children, but the parents reach a problem when they realize Simón believes he has a masked friend named Tomás whom he will run away with. After an argument with Laura, Simón goes missing.

On its North American release, The Orphanage also received positive acclaim from English speaking critics noting the film as being a breath of fresh air for critics and audiences from a horror remake or a grisly exercise in sadism and it's poignant tale of loss between Laura and Simón.

This was made by the same guy who did Pan's Labyrinth (though there is a lot less blood, only two scenes are truly gory), so if you liked that, you'll probably like this. It's beautiful and bitter sweet, and very, very creepy. I was actually scared while watching this. I hardly ever get scared by horror movies anymore, but I was freaking out all through this, and even jumped up and screamed when my cat startled me. The atmosphere in this is truly frightening. Don't watch it when you're alone. I almost always watch horror movies by myself, but I don't think I could have gotten through this one without my mom there (my mother is also never frightened by movies but this one had her freaking out as well). But don't let it scare you away (literally), this movie is amazing and would be a shame to miss.

Skeleton Key
"Caroline Ellis (played by Kate Hudson) is a New Orleans hospital aide from Hoboken, New Jersey, who, after her latest patient sadly dies much to her disapproval, quits her unsatisfying nursing job in the city and takes a position as a private hospice caregiver at an isolated plantation house deep in the bayous of southern Louisiana's eerie, enchanting Terrebonne Parish. The lady of the house, Violet Deveraux (played by Gena Rowlands) is a diffident, old-fashioned Southern matron in need of help for her husband Ben (played by John Hurt), a severely disabled stroke victim who is expected to die soon."

Okay, so they didn't get Voodoo quite right, but I love it anyway. Normally movies that contain "Voodoo" make me pull out my hair and scream "VooDoo doesn't work that way!!!" but skeleton key is so amazingly awesome I forgive it (mostly). There's almost know gore to speak of (someone breaks their legs, and another person cuts their hand, but that's it), so if you're squeamish this is a nice alternative to bloodier horror movies. It's suspenseful, mysterious, and creepy beyond belief. This movie made me jump quite a few times when I first saw it.

King of the Zombies
"During World War II, a small plane somewhere over the Caribbean runs low on fuel and is blown off course by a storm. Guided by a faint radio signal, they crash-land on an island. The passenger, his manservant and the pilot take refuge in a mansion owned by a doctor. The quick-witted yet easily-frightened manservant (Mantan Moreland) soon becomes convinced the mansion is haunted by zombies, and confirms this with some of the doctor's hired help. Exploring, the three stumble upon a voodoo ritual being conducted in the cellar, where the doctor is trying to acquire war intelligence from a captured US military official. But the interruption causes the zombies to turn on their master."

This movie isn't frightening by any stretch of the imagination, but it is funny as hell. It's wonderfully/horribly racist, sexist and just offensive in general (it was made in 1941), and is one of those MSTK3 type movies that's accidentally hilarious (although many of the scenes are also intentionally hilarious). Oh! And it has lame-ass fake voodoo. King of the Zombies needs to be watched with other people so you can remark on all the stereotypes and stupid (it's not for the easily offended or ultra PC). The movie stars a macho white guy (who is both an arrogant dick and has a bad case of denial), his slightly less macho Irish gay lover friend, and their goofy black butler who is a complete pussy and embarrassingly stereotyped. Although to the butler's credit, he was the one to first realize the obvious, that the island they were on was overrun with zombies. Oh, and for those of you who like to play the gay game (randomly paring male characters in a movie or TV series for hilarious effect), this is the best movie for it. The two white guys are so gay for each other it's kind of hilarious. When they share a bed in one scene and the black butler begs to sleep with them even my father couldn't deny the massive amount of slash. Oh early 1940s!

I got tagged by Kelly. XD

1. Ask me any question/questions about anything you want. It doesn't have to be about art, it could be about anything you want to know about me. Don't feel shy to ask.

2. Tag whoever you want.

I tag
and

Since I've had a few questions about this lately:

Commissions - Yes. You can find info about my prices here: [link] I will also be taking button commission soon.

Requests - No, sorry, I just got started a full time job and as much as I want to please my fans I simply haven't the time or energy. I already owe people art, that I'm behind on, I can't take on any new stuff. You're welcome to give me suggestions about what you'd like to see, but there's no guarantee I'll do it.

Trades - Sometimes. Usually only with close friends and only if I have the time.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to visit me at Anime Boston! And lots of love to everyone who bought buttons!

The long cat buttons were super popular, and I sold out. D: I'll have to order more supplies so I can make more of them to see online. I'll also be making Tacgnol.

I got to see some really cool cosplayers including the 9th and 10th Doctors, Rorschach, and Chewbacca (none of which are from anime, but all of which were awesome), and we very nice to let me take pictures with them. I also got to meet `Damaged927 and ~keevs, which was awesome, as well as a few other people from DA, and the amazing =JesIdres hung out with me on Friday.

All in all I had a great time but now I'm exhausted. x_X

I'll be ordering new button supplies sometime during the week and will be setting up an online button shop sometime in the near future in case anyone is interested.

Oh, and I now have a button account with my sister at ~ButtonMeUp

But right now I'm tired of doing button designs so I'm going to work on gift art for people as well as the new DE comic. The 27th one will have Voldermort in it, but after that I promise all return to Snape and the annoying fan girl (since people keep asking). Also, a lot of people have commented that they hate Serenity. Well, that's the point guys. She's there for you to hate.

OMG! I got my first DD! I was so shocked when I saw all those messages in my inbox this morning.

Here's the deviation I got a DD on:


Thank you so much to `karemelancholia for suggesting me and to ^Hanratty-Stock for featuring me!