you speak softly, we are capsules of energy

[20:09] Bad Tempered Skull: If you wake up in the morning with a few less toes don't blame me, unless you want more to come up missing.

Well, okay then. We're now at Haunted Heightened Passion, another Adult haunt. (What is it this year with Adult haunts?)

The floating horned skulls--nice touch. They are all over the entry zone, in all colors a demonic, floating horned skull might be. Some drift close to the ground, some fly, some move up and down vertically. They're fascinating to watch.

This is going to be tricky...There is a way to walk around the saws, and still reach the front door, so that's good.

The haunted mine section is exceptional. I could have made thirty entries with pictures just from the mine tunnels, and I'm still not sure I found everything. Very, very well done.

And here's one case of taking the tried and true--and usually boring--and making it work for your haunt. You have possessed Regan--with her priest. You have Silent Hill's Sharon. You have Sadako climbing out of the well. You have Alma--in a cage, crawling through a wall, standing next to a glowing rocking horse. (Unless that's Sharon again.) What links these young women? Creepy dark hair and mad eyes. And it works. It really works.

All in all? Quite pleased with this one, quite pleased. Well worth a visit, and there's a few more things I didn't even cover, like the haunted gondola ride. (I was a bit rushed, but may go back to see if I can track it down!)

down, down through the branches, through the white waving trees

Tonight's jaunt: Sunset Shadows. Which is again, mysteriously, on Adult land. Why?



The sim was hosting a dance, and I didn't want to interfere, so I took off for a house I glimpsed through the woods. Something of a mistake--the sounds are very repetitive, and, since they feature mostly female screaming, very annoyingly high-pitched.



Where have I seen him before? Oh, right.



Not the standard serial-killer kitchen. That's...good, right?



The condition and position of the young lady notwithstanding, I adore this room. Save for the mutilated corpse in the corner (not shown; from this angle, it's to the right of this image), it's actually rather pretty.



Wait, was this the only reason it was on Adult land? Just these two skeletal lovers? I don't understand that at all.



Mysterious glowing skeleton. Okay.



Ugh, Chucky again. To go along with an 'Ugh, Carol-Ann' sighting, earlier.



And an overview of the entire house from above, punched up slightly because it seemed kind of dark. Overall, I think they did a good job with what they had, but too many overused tropes with no real linkage tends to spoil any haunt.

I'll add one other note: the attic on this one was...unpleasant. If you've seen Hostel, you may understand what they were attempting to achieve. Let's just say it's not for the weak of stomach, and I say that being a hardcore horror (and gore) fan. So keep that in mind if you go.

quiet front seat, then drive around

Tonight, we go to Deadman's Island, which for some reason is on Adult land. It's moody, atmospheric, and confusing because it's on Adult land.



The ghost ship near the cove. This had a lovely soft glow to it with waves washing the shore to the side.



The haunted doll on the stairs. She moves. It's pretty creepy for a mostly-still prop, because even with as much haunted-doll action as we have, the movement was still unexpected.



The skeleton having a tea party. I'm not sure how many invitations he's going to receive...or extend.

Overall, nothing spectacular, but nicely done. What I can't figure out is...why is this one on Adult land?

and rub it in so deep, salt in the wound

Tonight, I went to Reanimated Misfits, another land with no Windlight presets. I set it for Rot, as nicely atmospheric, and walked into the main house.



Of the six pictures seen in the main room of the haunted house, in this corner specifically, three feature dead children, two appear to be actual murder victims in or under cars, and one is the Victorian "hidden mother" photograph trick to get children to behave. Hmm.

But it gets worse on the other walls. Those, I will not show, as I'm fairly sure some of them feature actual cadavers, under autopsy. There's an assortment of circus folk, some creepypasta images, some sideshow performers...and others feature early genital surgeries. Some of the pictures are actually quite disturbing, but not for the reasons the haunt designers may have thought.

Be aware if you go to this haunt, you risk seeing things that may be unsettling, that have nothing to do with ghosts or spooky noises. In all honesty, I'm not sure why a haunt would put together the surgical images, especially genital ones. It seems...extreme.



Downstairs, the typical abandoned, bloodied asylum, complete with overturned furniture and a barred gate.



There's nothing especially noteworthy in the asylum section. It's just...the typical. I suppose it fits--the institution administrative offices and main foyer upstairs, the cells below, but...that's really it for the main building.



I went to the next building, and the lag started in. I could barely move going up to the entrance. There's something in the fog, it's severely overscripted. Inside, I got no further images, because I could barely function. I finally managed to get out, and some of the lag eased...until I went to the next building.



This was the last image I took before I had to go, or crash. Maybe it was just too close to the fog machine; I don't know. What I do know is, unless you have a fairly high-end machine, you're not going to make it far in this haunt. There's also a cave entrance across a small creek; I never made it there.

The whole affair left me thinking "Huh" more than "Aaagh!" so...A for effort? But two skulls out of five?

November smoke, and your toes cold now

I next visited Vivi's Spooky House on Haunted Hill.



And...wau. It's really, really bright here. I think...I'm on the wrong environment settings.



But, this particular sim didn't have Windlight settings listed, in either the drop-down request window, or in the About Land section. Sp...onward we go!



Now, this is new. In the basement of the haunted house, gaming tables. Who would game in a creepy house with drifting ghosts and skeletons in the corners? I don't know, but they may be my kind of people.



This was lovely. The books move.



And this one actually got me. Mainly because I was looking at the opposite wall, and when I came in, there wasn't anyone in the bed, so turning around and seeing a blackened skeleton did startle me a bit.

There's also a 'skeleton hunt' where you get a free HUD with a blank skeleton, and you need to find the bits of bone scattered around the land. They're mostly on the front lawn and in the main haunt, they're not hard to find, but I'm not entirely sure what the point is. After finding everything and going back to the HUD board, and clicking the large skull...I got a pic of the skeleton hunt HUD, and no actual prize. Strange.

bury me under the almond tree

Fallen's Haunting for 2015 is literally a house in a box.



Don't get me wrong, it's atmospheric enough, but...that house better be damned good to remove the skybox effect.



Apparently hair-eating is an option on one of the chairs.



Outside the house, they do give out a fairly nice lantern. Add to attach, touch to click on and off. Doesn't trump with a hold animation, so I never really held it up to see things, but you can't have everything. The only drawback? It comes into your inventory in a folder marked "Object".



Oh, look. Another serial-killer kitchen.



This was a lovely set piece. You can find it at Boudoir directly, I think, or get it on the Marketplace. It retails for L$150.



This was another lovely effect. SL pic in a frame, on virtual wallpaper, candles, yeah, we've seen that before. But this wall bleeds, and it looks really good when it starts.



And then there were rooms like this with the mysterious hooded figure in the ritual circle...the rooms with the scared child in the bloodied bed...the bodies under carpet. We've seen these things. We've all seen these things.



But again, if you can get past the point that you're standing in a giant cube, textured like tall, bleak trees in a haunted forest...it's not bad.

hearts drawn on a dusty window pane, a love note lying in the road

Next we're going to the Silent Scream haunted house.



Apparently they've been having some staff problems? Though this particular fellow seems to be permanently off the rotation schedule.



The kitchen obviously will not pass next quarter's health inspection.



At least in the parlor, everything seems normal...

Now, for the most part, the house is okay. There's some insistence on overused tropes--Carol Ann at the console TV, the whole ax-murderer-kitchen thing--plus whatever was going on with Mr. Slashed and Mangled in the beginning...but overall, there's enough neat little elements that it's at least worth a walkthrough.



Like this one. A window to the outside, that shows a translucent figure, fading in and out. It's well done, and quietly effective.



Here's the weird part, though--past the haunted house? There's a fire. With pillows. And cuddles. Huh?



And, of course, across from the house there's a nicely outfitted cemetary, so it's not just one haunted house then romance.

Overall, they get more wrong than right. There's not a ton here, but it's a good diversion, there are things that have effects when clicked, and of course, the option to just sit and talk next to a warming fire next to the ax-murder house is just amusing as all get-out. But if I was scaling, I'd give them at least three out of five skulls.

you know it used to be mad love

I found a wholly adorbs Sphynx cat here. It's made by Pixicat, but going to her store does not turn up that particular model anywhere.

I did find these cute l'il guys:



but other than the basket they're in confirming that they're also made by Pixicat, I have no idea where they might be found. If I do find out, I'll let you know!

In other news...



Do not click this box. Seriously, don't.



Just don't. You will get stabbed in the butt.

the shade of the sheets and before all the stains

Next up: Sleepy Hollow, which seems to be a year-round thing now?



I'm not sure if it's based on the original story, one of the films, or the series, but it's pretty, isn't it?



There's a large house on the hill, next to...um...perhaps trespassers? The door was open, so I went in. Apparently the old house still has electricity...sort of...

As far as the house itself goes, it obviously hasn't been given much love, of late. Which...on the one hand, is expected, and on the other, is actually somewhat tragic. Autumn lands need to be protected, because transition is an important stage in all lives. Each of us have experienced transitions, from the extreme--the deaths of parents, spouses, friends or lovers--to the mild--a new job, a move, a new car, a new home. Every seven years, our bodies entirely renew, and we literally are no longer the people we were seven years before.



When one arrives, at least for the first time, one is offered a notecard. Highlights from that missive include:

Welcome to Sleepy Hollow, the town where normal is the outcast and nothing is as it seems. Please feel free to visit, roleplay, or take pictures – but please read the following basic sim rules.

1.) Photography is permitted and welcome, we just ask that you tag our SLURL on any sites that you post your pictures. Rez permissions may be granted. To obtain them, please IM either Bennett Ashland or Tabitha Marquez with your intentions.

2.) Visitors: All Welcome with the following exceptions:

1. NO GRIEFERS - please be respectful of others. If someone is role playing, keep your conversations to IM so as not to disrupt their scene.

2. NO NOOB Behaviors, this includes but is not limited to running around naked, using attachable objects which are not Halloween themed such as aircraft, disturbing gestures, or particle weapons. Nobody wants to see your prim penis.

3. COSTUMES OF ALL TYPES WELCOME AND ENCOURAGED!

Apparently the sim is also available for general roleplay, as long as participants are costumed in something appropriate, and the entire sim can be rented for private roleplay events. Feel free to contact Bennett Ashland or Tabitha Marquez for further information.



And, of course, they appreciate donations towards the sim's upkeep. It's only fair.



What I do know is, whether or not the sim is active, it feels like the October Country sim, like the original Innsmouth. Like the original Octoberville. There is a lot of love and care that went into making this, decorating it. That's heartwarming to see, and I'd like to see more of it.