Month: February 2021

Scrying Into the Future

Scrying (also called crystal gazing, crystal seeing, seeing, or peeping) is the ancient act of divination for the purpose of clairvoyance. It is usually achieved by concentrating on or staring at an object having a shiny surface until a vision appears.

A formerly widespread tradition held that young women, gazing into a mirror in a darkened room (often on Halloween) could catch a glimpse of their future husband’s face in the mirror or a skull personifying Death, if their fate was to die before they married.

Image from America’s Most Haunted

Visit Occult World: Scrying to learn more about this ancient art of divination, including how to do it yourself.

Horror Comedy Trivia: Young Frankenstein

When Mel Brooks was preparing for this film, he discovered that Ken Strickfaden, who had made the elaborate electrical machinery for the lab sequences in the Universal Frankenstein films, was still alive and living in the Los Angeles area. Brooks visited Strickfaden and found that he had stored all the equipment in his garage. Brooks made a deal to rent the equipment and gave Strickfaden the screen credit he did not receive for the original films.

Frankenstein, 1931
Young Frankenstein, 1974

Find more behind-the-scenes facts at IMDb Trivia: Young Frankenstein (1974).

Horror Cinema Trivia: Pet Sematary (1989)

The role of Zelda, Rachel’s terminally ill sister, was played by a man. Director Mary Lambert wanted Zelda and her scenes to frighten the audience but did not believe that a 13-year old girl was scary so she cast Andrew Hubatsek in the role to make something be “off about Zelda.”

Read more about this casting choice at Bloody Disgusting: [It Came From the ’80s] The Traumatic Nightmare of Zelda in ‘Pet Sematary’.

Find more behind-the-scenes facts at IMDb Trivia: Pet Sematary (1989).