Okay, so recently I’ve been doing a bit of retail therapy. I tried to resist shopping for as long as I could, but my self-control was greatly affected by the “Treat Yo Self” episode of Parks and Recreations so honestly, Donna Meagle and Tom Haverford are to blame.

Let the judgement begin.

Kleaver Klothing top (You can catch them on Vans Warped Tour all summer long)

Secondhand Rob Zombie Top- Etsy

Wicked Mesh top- Dolls Kill

ABH Soft Glam: I told myself I didn’t need this… and then I picked it up and got a good look at it and yes, it’s even more gorgeous in person and yes, I’m obsessed.

KVD Lolita eyeshadow: Again, I told myself I didn’t need it and then the more I looked at it, the more I realized it was me in an eyeshadow. Any rosy shade that makes me look as dead as I feel inside, is a must-have.

Kat Von D x Billie Joe Armstrong Basket Case Eyeliner: As a huge fan of both Green Day and Kat Von D, there’s no way I could pass this up. This anti-precision liner is insanely pigmented, it’s the perfect black eyeliner. You can smudge it to get that perfect dark, smoky eye and then once it sets it’s locked in place and doesn’t budge. It’s the first liner that I’ve been able to tight line with and it not transfer to my waterline. It has a built-in sharpener that lets you keep your liner nice and sharp.

Ipswitch Witch Carrie enamel pin: It’s no surprise that I ordered this while I was actually half-asleep. It doesn’t take much to convince me to order pins, especially when it comes to Carrie White. This pin is absolutely stunning, it’s heavy duty and the company has two additional pressings including a glow-in-the-dark design. I picked up the "Vengeance" style pin while it was on pre-order. It's unfortunately sold out now.

Also, looks like Carrie found herself a home alongside Gerard Way and Jason Voorhees.

If you’re like me and you celebrate Halloween year-round then you’ve probably heard the rumors about Halloween décor showing up on shelves early. Well turns out, the rumors are true. After some digging (and driving around in circles), we lucked up and found the At Home store and y’all…I nearly lost my mind. Clowns, ghosts, and skeletons galore. They have a ton of incredible home décor – both indoor and outdoor – to fulfill your Halloween needs. After chatting with one of the employees, this is only the beginning of what’s going to be in the full seasonal collection so stay tuned and check back as we approach the Halloween season.

I restrained myself and only left with three items. As a lover of wine and creepy things, I picked up this tall wine glass, decorated with bats.

I also grabbed an adorable mesh spiderweb cloth that I draped over my vanity as a nice centerpiece. Right above my vanity is this fantastic piece that I knew I needed as soon as I saw it. What better to hang above my vanity than wall art to always remind me to “stay creepy”?

I cannot wait to pick up more décor as stores begin to release their seasonal collections. Definitely check out At Home if you have one nearby, so far, they have the most in regard to Halloween items. Michaels has also been slowly releasing their fall items as well.

Till next time,

In light of the recent influx of news regarding celebrities committing suicide, I think it’s important to open the floor to discuss mental health. It’s startling to see the number of recent suicides in the news. Even in my personal life, I recently discovered someone close to my family killed themselves. It’s important that we keep the discussion on mental health and suicide prevention alive at all times – not just when a celebrity kills themselves or when the new season of 13 Reasons Why is released.

Why you may ask? Because we need to normalize mental illness in order to lessen the stigma surrounding it. One of the first things you hear someone say after news breaks of, yet another suicide is “they seemed fine! I guess you never really know what someone is going through.” And that’s right, you never truly know what someone is going through unless they tell you and quite often the person in question isn’t going to talk about what they’re going through because mental illness is so stigmatized in society. For example, if someone has a sore throat they have no problem explaining that to people. Same if you have a cold or any other physical aliment. Now say you’re having an off day or you’re experiencing any other number of symptoms resulting from your mental illness, how often do you tell others how you’re feeling? Too often do those suffering put on a brave face or simply give a vague response like “I’m just tired.” Because that’s easier than saying it’s because of your mental illness.

It’s too common for those living with mental illness to suffer in silence because of how society treats mental health. Instead of being met with understanding they’re met with hostility, disbelief, or they’re simply shrugged off. This stigma stems from the general lack of knowledge on mental health and the portrayal of mental health in the media. The portrayal of mental health is often over-saturated images of sad teens and broken hearts, dramatized suicide scenes used for shock value, and characters like Hannah Baker that use suicide as a revenge method. You see someone talking about mental health and the comments range from “what do they have to be depressed about?” “How could they leave behind their family?” “We all get sad sometimes”.

Yeah, that’s not how mental illness works.

Mental illness doesn’t give a shit who you are, what you do, how much money you have, NONE of that matters. Mental illness will still creep into your life, poison your mind, and then act like it didn’t just shit on your entire life. Depression is not just “feeling sad”, it’s feeling so fatigued that you’re too tired to take care of yourself. It’s neglecting your responsibilities and self-care because you just can’t find the motivation or energy and you don’t care about the consequences. Anxiety is more than getting stressed out. It’s dread and panic seeping into your chest and tightening its grip till you can’t breathe. Bipolar Disorder is more than “mood swings.” People can experience Bipolar Disorder in a number of ways. Schizophrenia is not the image that media and entertainment has painted. It’s not people that are “violent”, “unstable”, or constantly have delusions or hallucinations. The media as mentioned before, tries to portray over-saturated depictions of mental health, showing schizophrenics as “insane” and suffering from psychotic episodes instead of showing the other symptoms associated with the disorder.

The more you educate yourself on mental health, the better the discussion can be. Discussing mental health should be as common as telling someone you have the flu. We need to be able to open the floor to these topics so that those living with mental illness feel more comfortable with talking about it. If we keep stigmatizing mental illness, those suffering will continue to fear talking about the things they deal with and as a result, more people will continue to suffer alone in fear of how others will react or treat them. It’s okay to not be okay. It’s okay to admit you need help and to seek help. It’s okay to reach out and go to therapy, counselling, etc. It’s okay to take medication. You are valid, and you should not be shamed for living with mental illness.

We’ve got to do better. We’ve got to end the stigma and start spreading knowledge, compassion, and understanding. We can’t allow those suffering to be ignored, bashed or met with judgement. Suicide prevention starts with us. If someone opens up to you, listen and try to understand what they’re going through. Don’t wait until there’s another headline or hashtag to make an effort.

Reach out to your friends and family. Let them know you hear them, you care about them, and you need them to still be here. Some people find comfort in calling hotlines and talking to strangers because it’s easier for them but there are many others that will not pick up the phone and call a number to talk to someone they don’t know. Let your loved ones know they can trust you to listen and be there for them. For those living with mental illness: please, do not be afraid to tell someone you’re hurting, or you need help. I would rather spend hours listening to someone talk about their problems than for them to feel hopeless and lost.

2018 is set to be an exciting year for horror films. Personally, I don’t think anything will top my love for the horrors of 2017 as I’m still forcing everyone around me to watch the IT remake. However, 2018 definitely looks promising with its long list of horror films that are set to be released. From new concepts to the return of beloved horror icons, we have a lot to get hyped over.

The Strangers: Prey at Night -  The long-awaited sequel of the 2008 film, The Strangers: Prey At Night is about a family road trip gone wrong when three masked strangers show up in the middle of the night. The family, on their way to visit relatives in a secluded trailer park, find it mysteriously deserted and are now in a fight for their lives as the masked trio terrorize them.

The Predator - A revival of the Predator series, the fourth installment is set to take place between Predator 2 (1990) and Predators (2010). The director is Shane Black, who previously directed Iron Man 3 and also had a supporting role in the original 1987 film. The star-studded cast includes: Olivia Munn, Trevante Rhodes, Keegan-Michael Key, Jacob Tremblay, Sterling K. Brown and many others. The supposed plot follows a group of veteran soldiers being transported to a hospital when one of the men on the bus reveals that he’s been targeted by the U.S military because he witnessed one of the Predator ships landing. Of course, that doesn’t go over well with the soldiers but unbeknownst to them, a bigger threat awaits.

Halloween -  The return of horror-icon Michael Myers is set to be released this October. The eleventh installment of the series comes from the minds of filmmakers and long-time fans of the series, David Gordon Green and Danny McBride. It’s set to take place forty years after the original Halloween, with fan favorites Jamie Lee Curtis and Nick Castle reprising their roles as Laurie Strode and Michael Myers. (This is the film I’m the most stoked about!)

A Quiet Place – Real-life couple, John Krasinski and Emily Blunt star in this thrilling attack-of-the-senses flick about a family trying to survive their daily lives by living in silence due to the threat of strange creatures that hunt by sound. The tagline “If they hear you, they hunt you” rings true as you see the family attempting to navigate through their daily lives in complete silence – going to extreme measures to not make any sudden noises that might attract the creatures lurking about. Fun fact: Krasinksi, who also directed and co-wrote the film sought out a deaf actress to play their daughter, explaining he didn’t want someone who’s not deaf pretending to be.

The Nun – Back at it again with another spin-off of from The Conjuring universe. This film is a spin-off of 2016’s The Conjuring 2 and is the backstory for the character, Valek. The plot is set in 1952 Romania when a nun, and Catholic priest, and a novitiate are sent by the Vatican to investigate the suicide of a nun. While there, they come face-to-face with Valek, a demon who has taken the blasphemous form of a nun. The film stars American Horror Story’s Taissa Farmiga, Charlotte Hope, Demian Birchir, and Bonnie Aarons as Valek.

Pumpkinhead – There’s been talk of a Pumpkinhead remake for a couple of years now but apparently, we can expect a release sometime this year. Peter Block, who previously produced Saw is set to produce this film as well.  The original film is a vengeful tale about a father, stricken with grief over the death of his son, who summons a demon called Pumpkinhead to exact his revenge on the teens responsible. It’s also a pretty badass song by The Misfits.

The First Omen – Over 40 years ago, The Omen introduced us to a young boy named Damien, who just so happened to be the Antichrist. Not only did it have an amazing score, but it terrorized audiences everywhere – with scares that still hold up to this day. It sparked two sequels and the 2006 remake and now this year, we will supposedly get a prequel. It’s strange, considering the original film serves as an origin story but seeing as Damien was adopted, I’m only guessing that we will see what led to his birth.

The First Purge – The next installment in the Purge series will be a prequel, alternatively titled The Purge: The Island. The film will focus on the events that led to the U.S deciding that they needed to implement the “Purge Night.” The New Founding Fathers of America, decide to test out the first “purging” for one night on an island community, but when the “violence of the oppressors meets the rage of the marginalized,” the experiment goes haywire and spreads beyond the community borders.

The House That Jack Built – In this upcoming psychological horror-thriller directed and written by Lars von Trier, Matt Dillion stars as a serial killer named Jack. The story spans over the course of 12 years, depicting the murders that took place. Trier explained the film portrays the “idea that life is evil and soulless.” The film also stars Uma Thurman and Riley Keough. Trier is known for other films such as the bleak tale about the stages of grief, Antichrist, and the sexually explicit drama, Nymphomaniac, so there’s no telling what’s in store for us in this flick.

Truth or Dare – A “seemingly harmless” game of truth or dare turns deadly when someone – or something – begins punishing those who tell a lie or refuse a dare. The film stars Lucy Hale, Tyler Posey, Violett Beane, Nolan Gerard Funk, and others in this teen slasher from Blumhouse Productions. Blumhouse is also responsible for producing other horror films such as Get Out, Insidious, The Purge, Paranormal Activity, Sinister, and Happy Death Day so I’m definitely looking forward to this film.

Annihilation – This sci-fi horror film is based on the novel of the same name. Natalie Portman, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Oscar Issac star in this film about a group of military scientists who enter the “Shimmer”, an environmental zone that’s full of mutating landscapes and creatures.

Slice – You gotta love a good horror-comedy. The film was shot in secret in Chicago as a collaboration with A24 and Chance the Rapper and centers around an “enigmatic outlaw” that’s framed for a string of murders involving unsuspecting pizza delivery boys.  The film also stars Zazi Beetz, Paul Scheer, and the love of my life Joe Keery.

Grab your popcorn.