Image source, click here.

Testing out the new Nikon D3000. Can’t wait to be able to take more Halloween photos and post them up for everyone. I may have to just start taking some Halloween decorations out a little early this year.

On the Que Vive

An Angel’s Lament

More on Flickr, click here.

Mmmmmm… What better way is there to spice up a serving of brains or skeleton bones? Well, with Haunted Hot Sauce of course!

I came across this insanely cool hot sauce through Twitter, yes - please be sure to follow me @LoveManor for even more cool Halloween updates, and became instantly intrigued! With names like Mortician’s Mold® and Fleshfeast®, how could you not add a collection of these to your spice cupboard? Oh, did I mention they arrive in handmade cedar coffins and packed in mausoleum moss with a toe tag and some novelty maggots?

It’s the perfect gift for any Halloween enthusiast. I’ll certainly be ordering a few when I can. Checkout their wickedly cool website and Drag-n-Drop section.

Visit the creator Victor Ives’s website @ http://www.hauntedhotsauce.com

Well, it’s officially upon us! The year 2010 is here! I hope everyone had a safe and exciting New Year’s Eve.

Now, of course, with a new year and new decade, plans for the Manor’s annual Halloween festivities are underway. I can surely say that this year will be very exciting. I’ll be announcing the theme shortly, which should hopefully interest you all!

Of course this post wouldn’t be complete without a photo, so here’s one of Disney’s Cinderella Castle during a very spooky fireworks display. It almost looks like a scene out of a Tim Burton movie.

Photo source, click here.

During my quest to find cool and interesting light bulbs and fixtures for my 2010 display, I came across this website which offers scented light bulbs. One of the scented bulbs in the collection is pumpkin spice.

View the complete collection, here.

There’s nothing quite like waking up to a beautiful Christmas morning and seeing the base of the tree trimmed with presents. I found these beautifully wrapped presents on Flickr.

View on Flickr.

I can certainly say that I got the gift I wanted this year! Lets just say get ready for a whole new perspective of Love Manor in 2010. Snap snap!

What’d Santy Claws get you?

Halloween and Christmas have always been two very magical times of the year for me. The sense of magic fills the air wherever you go. You feel as if anything is possible, if you truly just believe. From witches riding across the full moon on an All Hallows Eve night, to St. Nick flying in his sleigh across the northern sky guided by his team of reindeer. Both times of year, especially Christmas, have also brought our family closer together and created such everlasting memories.

So take a moment this season, to step outside and believe in the magic. Take joy in the little things, whether it be the glow from the Christmas lights lining the street, the crunch of the snow beneath your feet, the distance music from the wolves in the forest or the faint sound of sleigh bells, imagination or not, drifting through the crisp cool air. For it truly is the little things that help make any holiday grand.

I’d like to wish everyone a truly merry Christmas, may your holiday season be filled with love and joy, and of course a little spookiness.

The Polar Express

Image source, click here.

Skulls from a crypt beneath a church in northern Italy. Light source is a single bare bulb within the crypt. Buried skeletons in the cemetary behind the church are dug up after a certain period of time and stacked neatly beneath the church to make room for fresh corpses.

Image source, click here.

I hope everyone had both a magical and happy Halloween! It truly is the one night of the year where you feel as if anything is possible. We will be uploading photos soon of our own display but in the meantime, we would love to see some of your photos! So please, comment this post with a link to your own spooktacular photos.

Image source, click here.

The ghosts of all things past parade,
Emerging from the mist and shade
That hid them from our gaze,
And, full of song and ringing mirth,
In one glad moment of rebirth,
And again they walk the ways of earth
As in the ancient days.

The beacon light shines on the hill,
The will-o’-wisps the forests fill
With flashes filched from noon;
And witches on their broomsticks spry
Speed here and yonder in the sky,
And lift their strident voices high
Unto the Hunter’s Moon.

The air resounds with tuneful notes
From myriads of straining throats,
All hailing Folly Queen;
So join the swelling choral throng,
Forget your sorrow and your wrong,
In one glad hour of joyous song
To honor Hallowe’en!

John Kendrick Bangs

I’d like to wish everyone a Happy Halloween. I hope you’ve all have your decorations up, if not at lead a jack o’lantern or two. For tonight the moon shines, the feeling of magic and wonder fills the air and the feeling that anything is possible fills our minds. I hope your day and night is full of fright!