Fluffy The Vampire Slayer - Cats and Horror blog

(Sorry I haven't written in a while. We just started reopening my shop Cats Like Us last month, so it's been taking up a lot of my time. You can always follow me on my Facebook page where I post a little more frequently.)

As usual I'm scrambling to catch up on life. Lol. I watched The Haunting of Hill House (2018) TV show that was made for Netflix. If you recall, I wrote a blog about Shirley Jackson's book of the same name a few years back. It's a great haunted house story and considered one of the best of the 20th century. It's had many incarnations and was due for an update. This new series is loosely based on the book. It has the same character names including one named Shirley, and some similar characteristics, but it's much more modern, slightly depressing, and dark.

The whole series tells the story of the Crain family and it's told in flashbacks revisiting memories of all the family members experiences in Hill House and back to the present. It's nice because you can really feel each perspective for every character and their relationships to each other. The family is made up of five siblings, Steve, Shirley, Theodora, and twins Nellie, and Luke, and a mom and dad. We see that their mom and dad rehab houses for resale, and as children they lived in Hill House. With all the kids and this giant house it definitely gives off Locke and Key vibes, but it's much more sinister.....at least to begin with.

***SPOILER ALERT***(super condensed version)

We find out as a child, Nellie sees "the bent neck lady" in her room that she shares with Luke. As an audience we kind of see her apparition in the dark background behind her. Keep an eye on the backgrounds because they tend show a lot of the ghosts. (Pretty cool.) We know that she sees dead people. If she has these terrible night terrors, why don't the parents let her sleep in their room?! Anyway, the show starts out very creepy a with a strong narrative.

We are introduced to the siblings as adults. Steve is a writer and writes ghost stories. He wrote The Haunting of Hill House, and his sister Shirley DID NOT approve. Shirley runs a funeral home with her husband, and Theodora lives in an adjacent cottage on the grounds, she's a child psychologist. Luke is in drug rehab. We don't know what Nellie does but we know she's married. Their dad lives in Florida and their mom died on the last day they all set foot in Hill House. Now the question is what happened that night?

Nellie frantically calls all her siblings and her dad, and they seem to blow off her calls. Her dad is the one that takes it seriously and comes to town to console her. She says he sees the "bent neck lady" again. We briefly see Nellie as an adult dancing around Hill House. All the siblings have the same dream that she's in mysterious "the red room". A room they could never open the door to when they lived there...only they could.

This is a great set up to suck you into the series and it's only the first episode!

Episode two I find very disturbing. We learn that the mom is an architect and designs houses. She's building a model of her "forever home", she has visions and "feels" things.

We flash back to young Shirley finding kittens in a toolshed at Hill House. She convinces her parents to keep them. They are pretty tiny and kittens need to be fed every few hours and kept warm. Shirley is just a little kid. She brings them into her room and overnight they die. THEY KEEP SHOWING A BOX OF DEAD KITTENS. It's completely awful.

Current day, the dad calls and we find out that Nellie is dead. Shirley decides that she needs to host Nellie's funeral. She begins the autopsy and it's pretty gory. While prepping her for the funeral Shirley is reminded of doing Nellie's makeup for her wedding and making sure Luke doesn't ruin Nellie's day by attending, he's had a long standing drug problem. Shirley has visions too.

Shirley has the forever home model in her house. We see the lights flash in the model at the end of this episode. I was hoping more would happen with this. It reminded me of Nightmare on Elm St. 3: Dream Warriors where the main character makes a replica of Nancy's house and the lights flash in it.

Nancy' house.

In episode three we get to see what Theodora remembers about Hill House. She was gifted with psychic abilities when she touches things and is reminded of the time Luke climbed into the dumb waiter and wanted to go for a ride. She pushes the button it gets stuck (of course) in the down position where there's a hidden basement. He sees a dead person crawling towards him. He's incredibly observant for a small boy and notices a ladder in the basement too. The parents come down, get the dumb waiter working and he tells Theodora about the ladder. She finds a hidden entrance to the secret basement that was used for bootlegging, but doesn't see any of the ghosts down there.

Basement Zombie Ghost.

So little Luke has visions as a kid. He sees the ghosts that haunt Hill House, and an especially creepy one is a tall man with a hat and cane that floats. This reminded me of The Gentlemen from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. We find out that Luke has a connection to his twin sister and even in death she supports him and gives him advice.

Tall Man Ghost (William Hill)

We don't see Nellie alive too often, but there's an episode dedicated to her and her relationship to "the bent neck lady". Nellie suffers from sleep paralysis and goes to therapy. Her therapist is Dr. Jacoby from Twin Peaks...er I mean Dr. Montague. They are both played by Russ Tamblyn! It was fun to see him in a therapist role again. As a result of all her her childhood trauma, she is is drawn back to Hill House right after she voluntarily goes off her meds. We learn that she IS the bent neck lady and she hangs herself in Hill House.

Her death is the impetus to reunite all the family members. While at Shirley's funeral home there's a massive rain storm and the lights go out. (All the blues in episode 6 are very pretty.) It reminds the dad of the storm at Hill House and the night Nellie goes "missing", only she doesn't she just goes silent and invisible, a foreshadowing of the future perhaps? In this episode we also find out that all the kids think the dad his hiding things, and older brother Steve just thinks it's a group psychosis and that mental illness runs in the family. The dad does hide SOME things, but he's incredibly observant and is sensitive to people. He still hallucinates his dead wife is with him.

We learn about the Dudley's that are the caretakers of Hill House. They live off the property in a nearby cottage because they refuse to go to the house at night since they hear the cries of their dead baby girl there. We also learn about some of the ghosts that have died IN Hill House, many of them were insane. The ghosts have followed the Crane a family in a way. They are still in the minds of all of them, whether it's the banging on the walls, bent neck lady, tall man, etc. They are truly haunted by them. Luke decides to take matters into his own hands and go and burn down Hill House.

The second to last episode we find out what happened that last fateful night in Hill House. Their mom was having upsetting visions of the future, saw the ghosts in the house, and decided she needs to go on a vacation and visit her sister, only she doesn't go, and comes back to the house. The red room opens and their mom takes Luke, Nellie, and Luke's friend Abigail ~ also the daughter of the Dudley's~ in there for a poisonous tea party. The dad realizes what's going on but not before Abagail drinks the tea and dies. The ghost of Abagail then lives in the house, and the Dudley's promise to take care of the house to be close to their ghost children and their mom kills herself by jumping off the balcony. Then the dad frantically rushes to get all the kids out of the house. Honestly I was hoping it would be more exciting. Basically the ghosts/ red room got into mom's head and made her want to kill the kids.

The last episode seemed really out of place in my mind, I was waiting for more ghosts or something.

Back to Luke going to burn down the house...the house won't start on fire. Their dad, Shirley, Theo, Steve all get taken over by the house and the red room. (Which becomes like the room of requirement in Harry Potter. Not very well explained.) They all get knocked out and see their worst nightmares, but Nellie brings them all back to reality. They realize that they need fix their strained relationships with each other and loved ones, and they all go back to their lives with their new knowledge and they live happily ever after. Dad ends up sacrificing himself and staying at Hill House to be with his ghost wife. Does he die there? We don't know.

Overall the show starts off slow but strong, the hidden ghosts are fun, but it ends badly for a horror series. It's as if they tried to stretch the story out and added some filler in. I really think it could have been 8 or 9 episodes. Overall I'd say it's a strong 3.5/ 4 marble statues out of 5.

Here's the trailer

There's also going to be a follow up-ish? series called The Haunting of Bly Manor, set to be released this week, October 9 with the same actors. I'll probably watch it.....eventually.

Dear readers, I have a confession to make. I've never seen The Witches (1990) before. Just like I was never really interested in watching Hocus Pocus (1993) it came out at a time in my life, where I felt like I was too old to care about a kids movie like that. I was more interested in blood and guts and special effects. After watching it last week, I can tell you that I enjoyed The Witches more than Hocus Pocus, and let me tell you why...

***Warning Spoilers & Spoiled children!!!***

The movie is derived from a story by Roald Dahl, known for James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or as we know the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory just to name a few, so you know it's going to be a dark fantasy involving precocious children. (Already better than Hocus Pocus!)

It's truly a basic premise. A young boy's parents die and he's then cared for by his grandmother who has been diagnosed with diabetes. She goes for a retreat to a hotel by the seaside (I guess that's what people do in Europe? In the US doctors just put us on drugs and we work until we die.) Little do they know that there's a witch convention going on when they arrive! The Grand High Witch of All the World wants to turn children into mice with Formula 86, a potion hidden in chocolate. She succeeds in turning Luke into a mouse. At one point he's chased by a black cat, but the cat gets distracted ~ as cats do ~ and isn't in much of the movie. He returns the favor by breaking into the kitchen and dosing all the witches food with the potion turning them all into rats, except for one.

By the end you think Luke will be a mouse forever, but the remaining witch turns him back into a boy and gives them the money that was intended for the witches and a list of the witches in the US. So although this is yet another movie that gives witches a bad name, in the end it shows there's some good ones too! This makes me think it leads to a sequel, but alas no.

I do know that there is a remake. It was scheduled to be released this October, but has been pushed to 2021. The special effects that were created by Jim Henson in the original are truly impressive, even 30 years later, it's going to be hard to outdo those, BUT Guillermo del Toro is at the helm of the new one. I image it will be good, just different. (So far there's some things that are problematic with the new one, but I'll come to my own conclusions after I see it.)

The facial prosthetics of the witches and the animated mice with human characteristics in the 1990 version are wonderful. Overall I'd give this 4.5 chocolate bars out of 5. Only because I wanted more information on the children trapped in the paintings, and how grandma lost part of her pinky finger.

Here's the trailer...

The theme for the summer 2020 box is Camp Pusheen and I can say I have a couple experiences with camping and both of them were horrible. Downpours, wood ants, and back pain ~ not really my thing. I grew up a city girl. It's what I know. That's probably why I don't know my animals very well. It's a running joke with friends. Speaking of friends, I really miss unboxing with friends. I apologize in advance that my videos are so boring. I tried to spice it up by dressing in The Shining theme. My hair tie is from Krampus Cuties on Cats Like Us, bracelet Meteor Company, shirt Hot Topic.

Included in this box is...

1. A Camp Pusheen T Shirt. Super cute, unisex small and really big on me. My husband Andrew is taking it. (Cotton/ poly blend so it won't shrink.)

2. Vinyl Camping Figurine. Meh.

3. Plush Pusheen with Marshmallow. Adorable.

Patches. The jean jacket I refer to is this one.

Flag Pennant. I'm not sure what I'll do with this yet.

Silicone Straw with cleaner and holder. Ok so I'm really dumb. I didn't see the straw cleaner in the holder because it was folder down. My husband found it. SEE this is why I need to unbox with someone.

Thermos with Collapsible Spoon. It's pretty big. I'm def going to use this.

Outdoor blanket. I'm going to picnic the heck out of this!

Thanks for reading and be well!

Past unboxings
Fall 2017 Pusheen Box
Winter 2017 Pusheen Box
Spring 2018 Pusheen Box
Summer 2018 Pusheen Box
Fall 2018 Pusheen Box
Winter Pusheen Box 2018
Spring Pusheen Box with Jodee Bowie
Summer 2019 Pusheen Box
Fall 2019 Pusheen Box
Winter 2019 Pusheen Box and Soup

Spring 2020 Pusheen Box

This book The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires: A Novel By Grady Hendrix kept popping up on lists of books I would like. I like reading about vampires, so I gave it a shot! It's an easy read and I think it's less about vampires and more about a late 1980s/ 1990s version of The Stepford Wives but with a satisfying ending.

***Warning Spoilers***

The book focuses on Patricia Campbell, a suburban housewife in Charleston that belongs to a book club. The club is small and they read true crime novels. Over the years, despite differing lives, they come together monthly to talk passionately about murder.

None of them seem to work, I think it's mentioned that one of them helps out at a church. All of their husbands are the breadwinners and they just follow their wifely duties. They are very polite and reserved. Honestly, it was a little hard for me to relate. I have a business that keeps me from home more than 40 hours a week, I don't have kids, and if I don't like something I'll communicate that. These ladies are a little too reserved and passive. Not sure if it's a Southern thing? Maybe a 1980s thing?

Then a new man moves down the street, and Patricia is involved with a violent crime. The crime is committed by his great aunt. She ends up checking in on him and he begins to ingrain himself into her life. In the meantime, kids go missing on the far side of town and she witnesses this new neighbor attacking one of them. I should mention he's not a vampire in the traditional way we know them...fangs...neck. He has a bug-like appendage that comes from his jaw that latches on to the inner thigh of his victim. That's one hell of an UNsexy vampire in my mind.

The first half of the book is the set up, we know he's a monster already. No mystery there. The second half is how is Patricia going to prove it. He's charming to everyone and has become a member of "the boys club" with all the husbands. Speaking of husbands, her's is awful. He has absolutely no redeeming qualities. He's a workaholic, takes her for granted, gaslights her, is a know-it-all, blames everything on her, and is completely useless. So useless that when his mother dies she and her book club friends organize the funeral etc. He contributes his paycheck ~ that's it. Her husband prescribes her Prozac to numb her thoughts because she questions too much. There's a lot of silencing of women in this book that I found much more disturbing than the actual violence.

Flash forward three years later. She drops trying to prove her neighbor is evil because he has brought everyone around him great wealth with an investment in real estate. Construction is booming and money is flowing. Then Patricia has a vision from her dead mother in law. It tells her that the neighbor is going to take her kids and she needs to wake up. This sparks her investigation again.

In the end the book club ladies band together and do the right thing. They are calculated and prepared because it's what they know from life and reading crime novels. Never underestimate the power of a determined group of women.

Overall the book is very timely. It involves race relations, feminism, the popularity of serial killers, and how money can make you blind to all the glaring red flags. Some things that were never cleared up... the cover of the book is misleading because there's are no fangs mentioned. It's described as more of a full-on bite. Some of the supporting characters need a resolution... Grace needs a divorce and there might be a sequel with Slick being raped and having something "growing inside her". Needless to say it should come with a trigger warning. I enjoyed it and found it suspenseful because I wanted to know the ending. I plan to check out the author's other books too.

It's been a little over a year since I wrote about Supernatural, and it's finally on Netflix with season 15, and let's just say it's the beginning of the end ~ literally. They only have the beginning half of season 15 available to view and they have announced that it will be their final season. I'd say 15 years of a TV show is a pretty good run. It aired until the end of March 2020, and then there were production delays due to Covid-19, so we hope to see the finale later this year...or in my case, whenever it becomes available on Netflix.

I'm not sure if it's me or if I've just watched so much Supernatural, that I felt that these 13 episodes didn't have the passion that past seasons had, and they only brought back characters to make it interesting. Ok, I know that sounds harsh, but the story is Chuck/ God is back on earth causing trouble. Another apocalypse. Duh.

I do like some of the characters coming back, and I really hope Crowley makes an appearance in the last part of season 15 because he was always a favorite of mine, but the acting seems off and I should mention that even my cat Ginger who is in love with Sam isn't interested! She didn't watch any of these episodes with me! So let me review...

The Winchesters and Cas are left in a cemetery to fight all the spirits from hell that were released by Chuck/ God. Sam shot God, so there's a piece of Sam's soul in him and vice versa. Chuck/ God is sick of this version of this earth and essentially Chuck/ God becomes the enemy. This is introduced in the first three episodes.

Then we are back to monster of the week, with the underlying story of God's rage. He is on a rampage and takes away Sam and Dean's "luck" and destroys all the other worlds, dimensions, and parallel universes that he's made and will soon destroy earth as we know it.

Sam has visions of the other Sam and Dean's that are out there and how they are fighting.

There were some hints at a relationship between Rowena and Ketch, but they both die and Rowena becomes queen of hell. Sam falls for Eileen another hunter but she ends of leaving to hunt on her own. It's disappointing that none of the characters get any "action" in the sexy sense of the word.

MEH S15 E1 "Back and to the Future" The evil souls look like zombies and it looks like a set from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to the point where Jack even says "it's a Hellmouth thing". Sunnydale in Buffy was on the Hellmouth. We get to see the killers from a previous season John Wayne Gacy, Bloody Mary, Lizzie Borden, Jack the Ripper (also I'm convinced that it real life Jack the Ripper was a woman).

MEH S15 E2 "Raising Hell" Even Kevin Tran is back. We learn that The Darkness/ Amara is in Reno and God is trapped on earth. He needs her to leave.

MEH S15 E3 "The Rupture" Jack's body dies, Ketch dies, Rowena dies, but not before we have this beautiful witch shot of her.

MEH S15 E4 "Atomic Monsters" Chuck/ God finds his ex-girlfriend Becky. Yes, THAT Becky that also married Sam is back and she has a nice family that Chuck/ God makes disappear. This is a monster of the week episode with vampires....and Chuck/ God.

MEH S15 E5 "Proverbs 17:3" Another monster of the week with werewolves. Lilith comes back in a new body.

MEH S15 E6 "Golden Time" Monster of the week, this time it's witches. Eileen the deaf hunter comes to Sam in ghost form and he brings her body back. His spell work is turning out to be really good and he's replacing Rowena in that skill set, so much so that Dean calls him a "Samwitch". (Ok, I might have snort laughed at this in real life.)

MEH S15 E7 "Last Call" Dean's "Eye of the Tiger" karaoke is referenced and it's more like a filler episode.

MEH S15 E8 "Our Father Who Aren't in Heaven" Donatello is back and Jody and Donna are referenced. Lilith is sent to find Michael who's in the form of Sam and Dean's brother Adam. Adam is back.

MEH S15 E9 "The Trap" Now they need a leviathon blossom for a spell, a reference to the big bad from several seasons ago. Claire and Benny are mentioned and Jody and Bobby are seen in a vision.

PLUS S15 E10 "The Heroes Journey" Garth the hunter and werewolf comes back. He was another favorite of mine. He's married with a family and is a werewolf dentist now. Black and white sequence of Garth and Dean tap dancing is fun. Sam and Dean loose their luck, but Garth tells them where they can get it back, The episode ends with Werewolves of London playing. This is a cute episode. It's funny, gory, and I think really showcases that Sam and Dean will get by with help from all the friends they've made along the way.

MEH S15 E11 "The Gamblers" Sam and Dean go to Alaska looking to get their luck back at a pool hall, meanwhile Jack is back and instructed by Death to kill angels and eat hearts to gain strength so he can fight Chuck/ God.

MEH S15 E12 "Galaxy Brain" Chuck/ God begins the destruction of worlds, Jody is in this episode and Alex is referenced. Kaia is back. Both Kaia's switch dimensions so they are back in the right place.

MEH S15 E13 "Destiny's Child" Jack's next quest puts him in the Garden of Eden where he gets his soul back. Sister Jo, Ruby, and Meg are in this episode.

And that's all we get!

Lots of blood draining this season, the music is more contemporary remakes which are terrible, but the addition of honky tonk and country is better and suits the show. All the women working with the Winchesters wear the same thing as the men... a plaid flannel over a shirt and jeans. It's like there was no imagination. I'm hopeful the ending will be epic. They really brought back a lot of characters and if you don't know the history it might be a little confusing this season.

I will always relate to Dean. I often say what he says before he says it and the fact that he was lactose intolerant (like me) for an episode just solidifies that we share the same personality. Lol.

You can see my thoughts on the other seasons 1&2, 3&4, 5&6, 7&8, 9&10, 11& 12 , 13, and 14.

As always thanks for reading. I know I've slowed down blogging. I'm just overwhelmed with the state of the world and I've been working full time this whole time trying to keep my business up and running, so my blogging rhythm is all thrown off. Thanks for sticking with me though. 💗

This past June I had to prepare my storefront ~ Cats Like Us ~ to reopen by appointment, so I've been busy doing just that. Sorry I've been absent. Life is exhausting and changing daily. On the upside, I had my Bday on July 1. Julie...July....my parents were trying to be whitty. ;)

Although not horror related, and only sort of cat related let me share with you my birthday week of new dresses. I own A LOT of dresses, it's my business to own them. My clothing shop sells a lot of dresses. I like that you don't have to match a top and a bottom, it's just one piece to wear. That being said, many of the ones I have are from my shop, bought on sale, given to me, or vintage. I have so many because some of them I've had for 20 years ~ I'm not joking ~ I very rarely get rid of clothing unless it's super worn out or really doesn't fit. So I thought I'd share some of the new ones I bought last year and am finally getting to wearing...

(Note: I haven't been wearing lipstick since no one sees it, or rings/ bracelets since I'm constantly washing my hands, or earrings since I lost one while wearing a mask, or doing my hair because I often wear bandanas as a mask, and they mess up my hair, so fancy dress it is!)

Mondays I work in the back office doing accounting, catching up, and stock type things. So I opted for my new Dear Yesterdays Dress. The owner Jessica had an in-store event in our shop last year and I picked this up. So easy to wear and all my favorite colors, orange, lime green, and turquoise!

(I was eating when the picture was taken.)

Tuesday is my first "real" work day when I see customers and I opted for this re-issued Lilly Pulitzer for Target Dress, I bought it last year on sale and had to wait until this summer to pull it out of hiding. If you don't know Lilly, I blogged about her for my shop Julie Ann's Vintage Closet Tour. I've always loved Lilly's bold prints, and since I'm a slob, the colors hide spills nicely. Although shorter than I would normally wear, this dress is perfect for the hot weather, AND it's lined! Necklace was blogged about before for my birthday.

Wednesday, July 1 was my actual birthday and of course I wore a cat print. This is a vintage 1970s Vested Gentress Cat Print Dress. I found it on ebay and fell in love. I've written about the brand before in this blog. They specialized in animal prints and flowers, but I like the cat prints best. This dress is practical with large pockets, it's lined, and of-the-moment with the flouncy ruffle hem.

Thursday was Isaac Mizrahi for Target day. When this dress came out years ago I really wanted it, then they re-issued it with their 20 year anniversary collection last year and I had to have it! Vintage look and pockets is a winning combination in my book.

It's now Friday and I couldn't believe this cat skirt was still hanging on our sale rack at work, so I decided to give it a home. I like the realistic cats, has pockets, and it's Made in the USA! You can shop our Cats Collection now, but be warned things sell quick. As you can imagine, cats are popular!

Saturday was the 4th of July...or as I like to say the 4th of Jul-ie, and I spent the afternoon in my inflatable kiddie pool. Oh and if you were wondering, Sunday is my day of "rest". I tend to be in my PJs most of the day.

Last but not least ~ for the grand finale ~ I want to include my new caftan...er ...cat-tan with matching headband that was made especially for me by my dear friend Coffin Kitsch. It has cats on it!!!! No you can't have it.

Little Ginger walked over and I don't think she knows what she got herself into!

Thanks for reading and meow.

Well I miss unboxing with my friend Jodee, and with everything going on in the world I'm kinda down in the dumps...but this Pusheen Box was really great. You know how I like useful things, and I plan to use all of it, probably not in the way it was intended. I don't plan to use the vinyl toy, because there is no real use for it...except being a dust collector. I really miss the plush Pusheens, I like them so much better than the vinyls.

Do you miss hearing my voice, or want to see little Ginger sit so close to me she wants to be underneath me? Watch my unboxing video!

So I guess the theme was house plants. I thought it was going to be a tropical/ tiki theme. *shrug*

1. A Wall Hanging. I don't plan to use this as a wall hanging, but I'll use it as a decorative table cloth or possibly a scarf.

2. Glass bottle with a strainer. I plan to use this for hot and cold tea. It's small but, brews about a normal coffee mug size.

3. An incense dish. I plan to use it for holding my tea bags when I'm done seeping them or for a spoon rest. I think Pusheen's a cutie on this dish.

4. Heating Pad. But it can be used for a cold pack too. I already used it. Stays warm for about 20 minutes. It's a great size, perfect for lower back pain or cramps. Not sure I like the picture on it. Looks a little too 1980s, but I'll still use it.

5. Vinyl Figure. Meh.

6. Notepad. I love their notepads, I use them all the time to make lists. I know how I feel, I feel tired...all the time...it's never ending. I do like the little sloth on it though.