We’ve been busy here, but look at the fruits of our labor! We had some shirts made, we’ll let you know soon where you can pick one up!

On Saturday morning just after 8:50 a.m., only a few hours into the fasting day, a 7.6-magnitude killer earthquake struck regions of Pakistan and Kashmir. Though many regions have not yet been reached officials have already counted 35,000 bodies and estimate that the toll could exceed 65,000 as survivors and rescue effort teams dig through collapsed building, houses and schools. At least 60,000 people are believed to be injured and the United Nations estimate that more then 2.5 million survivors will be in need of shelters as the temperatures reach near-freezing. The worst-affected city was Muzzaffarbad, the capital of Kashmir, where 70 percent of the entire housing was destroyed by the earthquake. President Bush, who counts the Pakistan as a key ally in the US-led war against terrorism, said assistance would be provided as needed. “My thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this horrible tragedy,” he said in a statement. The Queen expressed her heartfelt sympathy and Tony Blair pledged UK assistance. Other nation officials have also expressed their thoughts and prayers out to the people affect by the earthquake. Houston Haunts sends our condolences to the families and people affected by this disaster and urge everyone to contribute to the cause of humanity. To donate to the Asia earthquake (Pakistan and Kashmir) please visit www.islamic-relief.com. To learn more about the earthquakes or to donate to the Red Cross visit www.redcross.org. To make a direct denotation to the Pakistani Red Crescent please visit www.ifrc.org.

Wow. This looks like a blast! We stumbled across this a couple of days ago and have been trying to get this out to you asap. Apparently the Angelika Film Center is putting on their 1st Annual Silver Screams Film Festival this weekend (October 7-8).

“This nonprofit showcase of treasured horror films will return grand old gems to full, big screen glory for the enjoyment of fans that love them and new generations that surely will. More recent thrillers with Houston ties will also be screened, as well as the winner of the Festival’s “Little Shorts of Horror” film competition. To further enhance the festival spirit, horror film actors, historians, directors, screenwriters, art, memorabilia and exhibits will be featured. Films will run from 5:30 PM through a midnight screening of Texas Chain Saw Massacre Friday, October 7th, and from 11:00 AM through the midnight Closing Feature of Dark Night of the Scarecrow on Saturday, October 8th. Tickets may be purchased through this website; $13 for adults, $7 for kids 12 and under. An All Festival Pass is $125. Tickets sold at the door, based on availability, will be first come, first served.”

Being that I am a big fan of the book and 2 films titled “The Shining,” I will most definitely be trying to get tickets to watch the Kubrick version of this film on Friday night. Here is the schedule from the website:

Friday, October 7
5:30 pm - Unspeakable (2002)
7:51 pm - The Wolf Man (1941)
9:34 pm - The Shining (1980)
12:08 am - Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Saturday, October 8
11:00 am - Ghostbusters (1984)
1:00 pm - Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954)
2:59 pm - Dark Water (Japanese Version) (2002)
5:03 pm - Frankenstein (1931)
6:55 pm - Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
9:48 pm - Mr.Hell (2005)
12:05 am - Dark Night of Scarecrow (1981)

Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance

It looks like we are only going to get one chance to meet somebody famous this season. Since we are not wrestling fans, we actually don’t know how famous this person actually is. Judging by the fact that he was a champion at some point (and from Houston), we figure he is at least well known in some circles. WWE Champ Booker T is going to make an appearance over at ScreamWorld this Friday night (October 7) from 8 to 9 pm. At 6 foot 3 and 250 pounds, this guy is more SmackDown monster than man! Yea!

Sorry, the WWE got a hold of me. Thought we would also let you know that we updated the cell phone version of our site. You can find it on your cell by typing in: http://cell.houstonhaunts.com into the address line of your cell phone’s website browser. Our cell site is for those times when you are hanging out with your friends and one haunted house is just not enough…look at the cell site “on the fly” and find another house to go to.

Like we said in our last post, we are Houston Astros fans. We got so excited about the series we went out and got a couple of “standing room only” tickets to give away here on our site. The tickets are for the Astros vs Braves game this Saturday (October 8th)…time has yet to be announced.

So what do you need to do to win these sold-out prized possessions? Go to our forums and upload a picture of your greatest costume creation into our contest board, we’ll have a thread dedicated to this contest. We are judging on 1.creativity, 2.cool factor and 3.quality of picture. Contest ends Thursday at 8 pm, so hurry up and post those pictures.