The Ringmaster's Realm

This past weekend, we finished up vending at Monster Fest, in Chesapeake, VA. This was the first of three events for us at the Ringmaster's Realm and it was a great time. Not only were there a ton of cool vendors and costumes, there were some of my favorite Horror Hosts on hand. In fact, the Ringmaster's Realm was able to make a few sales to one of them with a couple items that may eventually make it into the show.  As always in the case, Rob put on a fantastic event and I cannot wait for the details for next year to come out. Hopefully, if you are in the Hampton Roads area, we will be able to see you there. If you are in SW PA, you can still make it out to visit us at one of our two remaining events, Creaturefest 2 on Sunday the 13th in Uniontown and Saturday the 26th at the Too Groovy Toy Show in the West Mifflin area. 

Press  Release A Blind Veteran’s Terrifying Ordeal in  WHY MONA RAE? , Launches Indiegogo Campaign A Cinematic Vision of Carnage Seeks Backers at All Levels NEW YORK, NY - WHY MONA RAE? ,, directed by Lorenzo P. Adams and executive produced by Eric Hales has officially launched its Indiegogo campaign. The indie creeper seeks to raise $30,000 to complete the production budget that is set to start shooting this winter in Essex, NY. Engaging perks and backer opportunities are available at all levels including Producer and Executive Producer opportunities. WHY MONA RAE? , Is a love letter from me to the horror fans of today, yesterday, and some of the masters that helped advance the genre we know today. The vision for WHY MONA RAE? is rooted in the concept of mental and psychical trauma, tragedy, fear of the unknown, and the will to survive. The film’s vision is loosely influenced by the suspense of classic thrillers such as 1967's Wait Until Dark and 1990's

It has been a crazy few days as I have been spending quite a bit of time finding new items for The Ringmaster’s Realm and preparing for the Too Groovy Toy Show in May. I have found some awesome items recently and should have a wide variety of material available at the show. Fortunately, while I am working on things, I can usually find some time to squeeze in a movie or two. The next one up is the 2018 entry Winchester. Plot/ Inspired by true events. On an isolated stretch of land 50 miles outside of San Francisco sits the most haunted house in the world. Built by Sarah Winchester, heiress to the Winchester fortune, it is a house that knows no end. Constructed in an incessant twenty-four hour a day, seven day a week mania for decades, it stands seven stories tall and contains hundreds of rooms. To the outsider it looks like a monstrous monument to a disturbed woman's madness. But Sarah is not building for herself, she is building a prison, an asylum for hundreds of ve

The last few days have been crazy since I recovered from this stomach bug that had me down for a few. Not only did I have a handful of sales at The Ringmaster’s Realm , I was also able to knock out the final installment of The Ridge series for texties.lol . In some ways, I am sad to see that specific story end, but at least, no one died, so there is hope for the future. Now, I have to refocus some to ensure that I have everything in place for my first booth at a toy show in quite a while. Time is counting down to the Too Groovy Toy Show that will take place on May 11, in Munhall, PA. If you’re not busy that day, swing by and see what we have in stock or just say hello!

I know that I keep saying that I am going to make more of a concerted effort in writing reviews of the movies I watch or at least, keep you updated on what is listed on the Ringmaster’s Realm over at ETSY. Unfortunately, between kids and then being sick, I haven’t been able to do everything that I wanted to do. That should all change soon, as I am definitely ready to buckle down and knock some stuff out (it also helps that I brought my Mac back to life). With that, the next movie for review is the 2018 remake (reinterpretation) of Suspiria. Plot/ A darkness swirls at the center of a world-renowned dance company, one that will engulf the artistic director, an ambitious young dancer, and a grieving psychotherapist. Some will succumb to the nightmare. Others will finally wake up. I had mixed feelings about this movie when I originally heard about it. I am a huge Argento fan and next to Deep Red, the original Suspiria were my first forays into his works. Because of

Over the past few weeks as I have spent more time building up the Ringmaster’s Realms vintage toy store, I have found myself watching more movies as I get things ready for either the online store or the Too Groovy Toy Show in May. Of course, as usual, my selections have been uneven. That is definitely the case with this one, the 2018 entry The Meg . Plot/ Five years ago, expert sea diver and Naval Captain Jonas Taylor encountered an unknown danger in the unexplored recesses of the Mariana Trench that forced him to abort his mission and abandon half his crew. Though the tragic incident earned him a dishonorable discharge, what ultimately cost him his career, his marriage and any semblance of honor was his unsupported and incredulous claims of what caused it - an attack on his vessel by a mammoth, 70-foot sea creature, believed to be extinct for more than a million years. After sitting through this one the other day, I can say that my decision to wait on it was c

Now that I have been caught up in building The Ringmaster’s Realm online vintage toy store and preparing for our first toy show, I have found myself spending more time in the super hero universes than horror or even sci-fi in recent weeks. While this is a nice change, it has shown me that not all super hero’s (or their movies) are created equal. That was definitely the case with this entry Justice League from 2017. Plot / Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman's selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his new-found ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. I must admit that this has been my least favorite super hero movie out of all the ones I have watched. There was really nothing in this film that inspired any type of positive reaction. This one lacked emotion on many levels and it didn’t appear that there was much thought put into the overall feel of the film. The soundtrack is bland, the scripting predictable and

While the pickings were slim this weekend in the great vintage toy quest that I am working on and the weather was mostly miserable, I decided that I would spend some time catching up on many of the films I have watched in the past few months and have not reviewed. To get back in the swing of things, I decided that the 1951 classic The Thing from Another World would be my next film for review. Plot/ Scientists at an Arctic research station discover a spacecraft buried in the ice. Upon closer examination, they discover the frozen pilot. All hell breaks loose when they take him back to their station and he is accidentally thawed out! This must be one of the best Sci-Fi films of the 1950s and a movie that I believe every fan of science fiction must see. In many ways, this film laid the foundation for everything we see in the genre today and as one would expect, it holds up quite well after all these years. Produced (and likely directed) by Howard Hawks, this film s

After finishing my latest installment in The Ridge series for Texties, I was hopeful that the weekend would bring in some coll items. Unfortunately, this weekend was kind of a bummer, as I really didn't find much new for the store (which doesn't help my 18 month plan). Even with that, it has been a successful opening/kick-off with 2 Etsy Sales and some positive results on Ebay. Hopefully, those keep trending upward. So what was my major find of the weekend? A vintage Six Million Dollar Man Puzzle (complete - put it together last night).  Until my next update, here are some pics of the puzzle.

It was a night. After dealing with so many issues of ineptitude and working on this mechanism for a 1949 alligator toy last night, I was unable to motivate myself into working on any type of listing for the shop. It sucks, as I was making such good progress on everything. I guess I will have to do double tonight. As background noise, I put on the 1974 post-apocalyptic made for television flick Where Have All the People Gone. Plot/ Earth encounters a massive solar flare that decimates almost all life on Earth. Only people who were underground during the solar event are unharmed while the rest are dead or dying. A band of survivor’s cross country to seek others in a world laid waste. I must admit, the premise of this story even though it is one that has been used quite a bit intrigues me. Ever since I was a kid and watched Night of the Comet for the first time, the whole idea is fascinating. While this one lacks the excitement and action factors of some of the m

What a weird weekend it was and even though it doesn’t feel like it, I was able to get a lot accomplished on my business plan. Incredibly, I got five eBay listings and a few more Etsy Store listings in place for the Ringmaster’s Realm stores. During that process, I was ale to have some solid background entertainment, one of those being the 1973 classic Soylent Green . Plot/ In 2022, Earth is overpopulated and totally polluted; the natural resources have been exhausted and the nourishment of the population is provided by Soylent Industries, a company that makes a food consisting of plankton from the oceans. After called to investigate a murder, Detective Thorn discovers a bizarre and disturbing secret of the ingredient used to manufacture Soylent Green. Soylent Green is such an interesting film and one that takes the viewer into a world that they probably don’t see coming. This one screams 1970s excess during what is a complete nightmare scenario for those that

Vintage Weeble Blimp It took some time this week, but I was finally able to get my new Etsy Shop for The Ringmaster's Realm up and running. While I only listed two items last night, it is definitely a start on what I am sure will be much more to come. Look out for updates, as we move forward with the business plan!  1970s Matchbox Superfast Set

What a crazy week! What I had hoped to be a quiet and relaxing business focused week decided to turn into some craziness featuring a nice broken pipe in the kitchen. That was a watery mess and one that I could have done without. I did need some down time to recover, so I ventured into the world of the Cenobites with 2018s Hellraiser: Judgment. Plot/ Detectives Sean and David Carter are on the case to find a gruesome serial killer terrorizing the city. Joining forces with Detective Christine Egerton, they dig deeper into a spiraling maze of horror that may not be of this world. I honestly was not quite sure how I would feel about this one with the changes to the cast, but I gave it a shot anyway. Having been a fan of Clive Barker for a long time, I had hoped that the film would do the franchise justice. What I found was a flick that took the series back to its roots and allowed fans a glimpse of what made the original such a classic. The imagery was outstanding,

I know, I know, I haven’t been around the blog as much as I had intended, but that is all for a good reason. A few months ago, I got contracted to start a series of stories for an Instagram based app called texties.lol and I have been hard at work bringing my Man of Cloth character and the world of Summit View to life. So far, it has been an extreme success and I signed on for a second installment. I have also been busy working on my pop culture and vintage toy store, something that I hope will take off and allow me more freedom in the future. With that, you will be seeing some changes to The Ringmaster’s Realm, as it will serve as the headquarters for both my movie reviews as well as store announcements with cool finds and item listings, so stay tuned. Well, enough on that, the next movie for review is the 2018 science fiction entry 2036 Origin Unknown. Plot/ After a failed mission to Mars, A.I./ARTI is now used for the 2036 mission with a few human supervisors. A mon