Author Archives: Dazzling Erin

So, I Watched Head Cheerleader Dead Cheerleader (2000, Dir. by Jeff Miller)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Heather Connelly (Tasha Biering) is the head cheerleader at her high school.  The football team is struggling and some people think that it is because they have been jinxed by their terrible cheer squad.  One night, while she is at home alone, Heather keeps getting calls from a stalker while someone kills the cheer coach and all of the other cheerleaders.  The budget is low and the acting is terrible but the killer carries a sharp blade and every kill features a close-up of a body part getting cut off so if you’re into that, I guess this movie is for you.

There were two things that stood out about this movie.  Blaming the cheer squad for your football team sucking is not cool but it is something that happens.  I cheered in high school and we always took more blame for our team losing than the team itself did.  It was weird because we really weren’t even a big sports school.  We didn’t even have our own athletic field.  Our football team had to go over to our rival high school to practice!  But somehow, it was the cheerleaders who got all the dirty looks whenever the team went o-10.

Secondly, the movie opens with a voice mail to the director for a cheer mom threatening to sue him if “your movie Head Cheerleader Dead Cheerleader” led to any trouble for her daughter’s cheer squad.  I have no doubt that the voice mail was real because I met a lot of crazy cheer moms when I was in high school.  You know those stories you hear about mothers who get so invested in their daughter’s cheerleader career that they tribe to bribe the cheer coach or hire a hitman to take out their rival?  We invented that in Texas!  Taking a director to court is actually one of the less extreme things that I’ve heard about a cheer mom threatening to do.  I think the mom was worrying over nothing, though.  No one would mistake anyone in this movie for an actual cheerleader.

 

Moments #25: That Doll

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

This Doll is Going To Kill You

by Erin Nicole

Our mom was a doll collector.  Especially after she got divorced, she would spend her weekends hitting the estate sales and the thrift stores and searching for dolls.  Eventually, she owned over a thousand dolls, many of which were very valuable.

I don’t know if this doll was valuable but I know it used to scare crap out of me whenever I would wake up to get a drink of water in the middle of the night and I would see it sitting in the kitchen.  I think I was 13 when my mom found this doll and, even as she was buying it, I said, “Mom, that doll’s scary!”

No, my mom told me, this doll was beautiful.

Beauty’s in the eye of the beholder.  All I know is that I always gave it the side eye whenever I was in the same room.  I’m not superstitious.  I know the doll wasn’t possessed but sometimes, it’s arms would be in a different position than they were the last time I had seen it and I would wonder why.  Was the doll haunted?  Or was my little sister just playing a trick on me?

A few years ago, I joined my sisters in going through mom’s doll collection.  Mom not only kept the dolls in perfect shape but she also kept detailed records of where she had bought each doll, how old each doll was, and how much they were selling for on Ebay.  When Lisa came across this doll, she announced that we were taking it home with us.

“No, we definitely are not,” I replied.

Lisa nodded and then said she wouldn’t bring the doll into our house.  I made her promise.  I should have noticed she had her hands behind her back when she did.

The next morning, I woke up and I walked into the kitchen and I screamed at the sight of that doll sitting at the kitchen table.

The doll is still in our house.  It sits in one of the dining room chairs and it greets anyone who visits.  As the years have passed, I’ve actually come to appreciate seeing the doll sitting there every day.  It’s a link to my mom.  Now, when I look at the doll, I think about how much my mom loved collecting and how happy she would be that her daughters have continued to take care of her collection.  I collect cameras and baseball memorabilia.  Lisa collects political campaign buttons and books.  My mom collected haunted dolls.  It’s a family tradition.

Previous Moments:

  1. My Dolphin by Case Wright
  2. His Name Was Zac by Lisa Marie Bowman
  3. The Neighborhood, This Morning by Erin Nicole
  4. The Neighborhood, This Afternoon by Erin Nicole
  5. Walking In The Rain by Erin Nicole
  6. The Abandoned RV by Erin Nicole
  7. A Visit To The Cemetery by Erin Nicole
  8. The Woman In The Hallway by Lisa Marie Bowman
  9. Visiting Another Cemetery by Erin Nicole
  10. The Alley Series by Erin Nicole
  11. Exploring The Red House by Erin Nicole
  12. The Halloween That Nearly Wasn’t by Erin Nicole
  13. Watchers and Followers by Erin Nicole
  14. Visitors by Erin Nicole
  15. Fighting by Case Wright
  16. Walking In The Fog by Erin Nicole
  17. A Spider Does What It Can by Erin Nicole
  18. Downtown Richardson, In The Rain by Erin Nicole
  19. Me, our kids, and ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD! by Bradley Crain
  20. The Statues of SMU by Erin Nicole
  21. Exploring the Back Yard Of An Abandoned House by Erin Nicole
  22. The Ugly Old Swing by Erin Nicole
  23. The Fourth of July In My Town by Erin Nicole
  24. A 4th of July Tradition: Blurry Firework Pictures! by Erin Nicole

Get Ready For The Horror Season With The Help Of Some Old Friends

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

It’s October and with my Rangers not in the MLB playoffs this year, I’ll have even more time than usual to help out with  this site’s annual Horrorthon!

Are you having trouble getting into the October spirit?  Don’t worry!  The pulps and the comics are here to help!  Here are a few covers that should get anyone into the Halloween mood!

By Earle Bergey

by Harold W. McCauley

Artist Unknown

by Norman Saunders

by Modest Stein

by J.C. Lyendecker

Artist Unknown

Artist Unknown

Artist Unknown

Artist Unknown

Happy horror season!

Welcome to October On The Shattered Lens

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

by Erin Nicole

Welcome to October on the Shattered Lens!

Here’s hoping this month finds you with joy, family, friends, fiends, ghouls, and ghosts!

Today is also the start of the Shattered Lens’s annual horrorthon!  Sit back, enjoy the reviews, the art, and the music videos, and have a great month of ghoulish fun!

by Erin Nicole

Who Can A Southern Girl Cheer For In The MLB Play-Offs?

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

It’s a sad time to be a Southern baseball fan.

The regular season is over.  The playoffs begin tomorrow.  Despite giving me a brief moment of hope in the final weeks, the Rangers did not make the playoffs.  Usually, when the Rangers don’t make it, I cheer for the Astros but they didn’t make it either.

Instead, the following teams will be contending for a spot in the World Series:

For the American League:

  1. Toronto Blue Jays
  2. New York Yankees
  3. Boston Red Sox
  4. Cleveland Guardians
  5. Detroit Tigers
  6. Seattle Mariners

For the National League:

  1. Philadelphia Phillies
  2. Milwaukee Brewers
  3. Chicago Cubs
  4. Cincinnati Reds
  5. Los Angles Dodgers
  6. San Diego Padres

In other words, a bunch of yankees and I don’t just mean New York.

Who will I cheer for out of that collection of teams?  I know who I don’t want to win.  If the World Series comes down to the Blue Jays and the Phillies, I might just stop watching baseball all together.  (I’d have to cheer for the Blue Jays in that matchup but I wouldn’t be happy about it.)

The Guardians are tempting, even if they did clinch their spot by beating the Rangers.  They were the last team to make it to the playoffs and I love a good underdog story.  They may have beat the Rangers but they’re not the team that I blame for keeping the Rangers out of the playoffs.  (I’m looking at you, Astros.)  Ohio may be up north but it’s not that much up north so I guess I can support the Guardians or even the Reds!

Go Guardians!