I Am Stunned

Posted on October 15, 2026 by Dazzling Erin

Unknown Artist

I am stunned right now.

The Brewers are one game away from sweeping the National League Championship Series and keeping the Dodgers from returning to the World Series. I honestly thought the Dodgers would dominate the NLCS as easily as they dominated every other series in the playoffs but they have really been struggling. I never thought I would be hoping for a Brewers victory but I am. They’ve never made a World Series appearance. They’ve struggled to get the sports media to take them seriously as a contender. I hope they do win tonight. It would be a great baseball moment.

I’m still an American League girl and I’m still cheering for the Rays, though. They will be facing Cleveland in Game 3 of the ALCS in about 15 minutes. The series is currently tied up at 1-1. As much as I love Major League, I’m still have to say “Go, Rays, Go!”

Moments #38: Three Dolls

Posted on October 15, 2026 by Dazzling Erin

My mom owned over a thousand dolls, all of which now divided amongst her daughters. These three dolls are from mom’s collection. They’re currently in a little building in our backyard.

By Erin Nicole

That building has several hundred dolls in it, all waiting to greet anyone who steps inside. Some people think that dolls are creepy but I’ve never understood why. Is it just because their eyes follow you wherever you go? Is it just because they’re always smiling? I occasionally go on Ebay to look at the dolls that are being sold and it’s funny how many of them are described as being potentially haunted or moving on their own. Most dolls are harmless, as long as you don’t get on their bad side.

Previous Moments:

The Covers of The Magazine Of Horror

Posted on October 15, 2026 by Dazzling Erin

From 1963 to 1971, 36 issues were published of The Magazine Of Horror. The magazine paid homage to pulp magazines of the 1920s and 30s and each issue mixed new stories with reprints from authors like H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, H.G. Wells, Ambrose Bierce, and others. The magazine was even published on the same type of cheap paper that was used for the original pulps.

Here’s a small selection of covers from The Magazine of Horror! When known, the artist is credited.

by Carl Kidwell

by Garry Marrow

by Virgil Finlay

Artwork of the Day: Friday the 13th — The Final Chapter (Artist Unknown)

Posted on October 15, 2026 by Dazzling Erin

Unknown Artist

It was not the final chapter.

We Watched The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (2012, Dir. by Bill Condon)

Posted on October 14, 2026 by Dazzling Erin

Earlier today, Lis and I finished up the Twilight Saga with Breaking Dawn Part 2.

Bella (Kristen Stewart) is now a vampire and a mother to Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy), who is developing quicker than a normal child because she is half-vampire. Before Edward (Robert Pattinson) even lets Bella see her daughter, he takes her hunting, and he has to stop her from attacking a mountain climber who has scratched his arm on a rock. While Bella adjusts to being a vampire, Jacob (Taylor Lautner) adjusts to being Renesmee’s soul mate, and the Volturi prepare to make their move against the Cullens.

I’m going to get in trouble with my sister for saying this, but I was a little disappointed with the second Breaking Dawn movie. It bothered me that the entire movie was about the Cullens bringing together allies for their inevitable battle with Aro (Michael Sheen) and the Volturi, but then, when the big battle finally happens, it turns out that it was just one of Alice’s visions, and they end up deciding not to fight. After two hours of everyone talking about this huge battle and how everyone had to be prepared to fight for the lives, it was anticlimactic not to have a real one. It seemed like the whole movie could have just been 30 minutes long without really losing anything important. I really didn’t see the point of splitting the book into two movies because hardly anything happened during the second one.

Breaking Dawn Part 2 might not work as a standalone movie, but it does work as an end to the saga. After four movies and the longest senior year on record, Bella and Edward are finally together and they’re happy. And Jacob is happy too. At the end of the movie, when they showed everyone who had appeared over the course of the entire saga, I was really touched.

And that’s it for the story of Bella, Edward, and Jacob.

Artwork of the Day: Detective Fiction Weekly (by Walter DeMaris)

Posted on October 14, 2026 by Dazzling Erin

by Walter DeMaris

This cover is from 1933.

We Watched The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part One (2011, Dir. by Bill Condon)

Posted on October 13, 2026 by Dazzling Erin

Earlier today, Lis and I watched the second-to-last Twilight film, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part One.

The movie starts with Bella (Kristen Stewart) finally marrying Edward (Robert Pattinson). They get married in the woods, and almost everyone from the entire saga is there, including Bella’s mother. Bella’s father (Billy Burke) and Jacob (Taylor Lautner) don’t approve of her marrying Edward, and Jessica (Anna Kendrick) thinks Bella is pregnant—why else would she be getting married at 18? I probably would have thought the same thing if I were at the wedding, but actually, Bella and Edward are virgins when they marry. Even though Jacob warns that a human could die having sex with a vampire because of how strong vampires are, Bella and Edward still consummate their marriage without Edward turning Bella into a vampire. Edward does not want to turn Bella for some reason. Lis and I agreed that Edward probably wants Bella to get old and die so that he can find someone else. There’s also a weird scene when Edward confesses to Bella that he briefly rebelled against his father and drank the blood of men in the 1920s. Bella says that’s fine because all the men were bad. Team Jacob is looking better and better.

Bella ends up getting pregnant with a hybrid baby. The pregnancy progresses at a faster rate than Bella’s body is prepared for. Edward tries to talk Bella into having an abortion, but Bella refuses. Instead, they return to Forks and stay with Edward’s family. Bella starts to drink blood so that the fetus will stop feasting on her. Jacob, meanwhile, tries to keep the wolf pack from killing Bella to prevent her half-vampire baby from harming anyone.

I have to respect that Twilight built an entire movie around one very difficult pregnancy. That’s probably why the acting in Breaking Dawn is considerably better than in the previous Twilight movies—there’s more at stake than just Bella missing her boyfriend or trying to decide between Edward and Jacob. Though I didn’t realize it until I rewatched the movie, Taylor Lautner really poured his heart into Jacob in this film. I also remember that, when I first saw this movie, I wasn’t comfortable with the “imprinting” scene, and watching it again, I still wasn’t comfortable with it. If you’ve seen the movie or read the books, you know what I mean.

After all this time, I don’t know if it’s really a spoiler to say that this movie ends with Bella opening her eyes and revealing that she is now a vampire. She got a husband, a baby, and immortality! Way to go, Bella!

Tomorrow, we’ll be finishing things up with Breaking Dawn: Part Two.

Artwork of the Day: Weird Tales (by Harold Delay)

Posted on October 13, 2026 by Dazzling Erin

by Harold Delay

This cover is from 1939.

A Day Of Upsets

Posted on October 12, 2026 by Dazzling Erin

by B.N. Clark

If you’re a baseball fan, today was an exciting day. Two games were played and both of them ended with an upset victory.

In Game 2 of the NLCS, the Brewers won their second game in a row by a score of 7 to 4. If the Brewers ended up winning the National League pennant over the Dodgers, it’ll be both a huge upset and it will also be the team’s first time to go to the World Series.

Meanwhile, in Game 1 of the ALCS, the Guardians defeated the favor Ray by a score of 7-3. I was cheering for the Rays but I like the Guardians too so this series is almost a win-win for me.

Personally, I’m hoping for a Brewers vs Rays World Series because it would be a first World Series appearance for both teams. I’d love to see some history made!

For now, congratulations to both the Brewers and the Guardians!

We Watched The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010, Dir. by David Slade)

Posted on October 12, 2026 by Dazzling Erin

Lis and I have been rewatching the Twilight movies this October. Yesterday, we watched New Moon and then Eclipse.

In Eclipse, Edward (Robert Pattinson) and the Cullens have returned to Forks because Edward was just so depressed not being near Bella (Kristen Stewart), and Bella somehow flew all the way to Italy to be with him without getting in very much trouble with her father. Edward has asked Bella to marry him, but Bella is upset that Edward won’t “change me,” and she’s also wondering if maybe she and Jacob (Taylor Lautner) are meant to be more than just friends. The first time I saw this movie, I was Team Edward all the way, but now I see Jacob as being the better choice because he could provide her with a stable and protective home without having to transform her into a supernatural creature beforehand.

While Bella is trying to choose between Edward and Jacob, vampire Victoria Sutherland (Bryce Dallas Howard) is gathering an army of “newborn” vampires to attack the Cullens and kill Bella to get revenge for the death of her lover, James, in the first Twilight film. Alice (Ashley Greene) is having visions of the newborns attacking. The Cullens enter an alliance with the werewolves to keep Bella safe.

There’s a lot going on in this movie. I feel bad for anyone who watched Eclipse as their first Twilight movie because they probably had no idea why Dakota Fanning showing up with her red eyes was such a big moment. Even while Bella is trying to pick between Edward and Jacob and get ready for the big battle, life goes on in Forks. She goes to her high school graduation, where Jessica (Anna Kendrick) is the valedictorian. She’s living both the life of a teenager and being vampire-stalked at the same time. Her father even tries to have “the talk” with her, but it’s not necessary. Edward doesn’t want to turn her into a vampire and he doesn’t want to have sex before marriage. He’s a 104-year-old virgin. That’s how strongly he believes in waiting for someone you love. That’s one of those things that seems sweet the first time you hear it and then obsessive the second time.

I liked Eclipse, even if parts of it seem pretty dumb now. My sister and I both agreed that it was foolish of Bella to ask Edward to make her a vampire before she even knew if they were sexually compatible. Becoming a vampire is an even bigger commitment than going exclusive. But it’s a fantasy. The big battle at the end is exciting and it actually happens instead of just being Alice having a vision. Edward proves that he can fight just as well as Jacob. I still think Jacob would be the better provider.

Tomorrow, we will move on to Breaking Dawn!