Halloween 2015

The Sħad ws Ӎagazįne ʘ

Mythical Monsters and mayhem

UNMASKED!

 Minotaur  Ghouls

The story that will make your skin crawl!

 Yeti

And more...

DIY Ideas, recipes and

TIM BURTON The King Of Halloween

some terror stories to enjoy before bed.

Urban Legends and lies.  Candyman  Black Lady of Bradley forest  The Russian sleep experiment October 2015

Editor’s Note Tim Burton: The King of Halloween Apocalyptic Nursery Rhymes DIY your Halloween Unmasked! Crawl into Ed Gein’s Skin

RIP Wes Craven.

Popular Urban Legends and Lies Creepy Pastas of the year Dress up time!

Mythical Monsters Spiders, Really not so scary.

The King of Halloween Timothy Walter Burton "Tim" is an American film director, producer, artist, writer, and animator. He is known for his dark, gothic, macabre, and quirky horror and fantasy films such as the horror comedy Edward Scissorhands (1990), the musical fantasy-thriller The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), the comedy-drama biopic Ed Wood (1994), the fantasy adventure Sleepy Hollow (1999), the animated fantasy Corpse Bride (2005), the musical horror film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), the horror comedy Dark Shadows (2012) and the animated horror comedy Frankenweenie (2012). This Halloween we give tribute to him and his inspiring work.

He is also known for blockbusters such as the adventure comedy Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), the superhero films Batman (1989) and its first sequel Batman Returns (1992), the sci-fi film Planet of the Apes (2001), the musical adventure film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) and the fantasy film Alice in Wonderland (2010).

Even his web page (www.timburton.com) screams creativity!

Burton was born in 1958, in the city of Burbank, California, to Jean Burton (nĂŠe Erickson), the owner of a cat-themed gift shop, and Bill Burton, a former minor league baseball player who would later work for the Burbank Park and Recreation Department. As a preteen, Burton would make short films in his backyard on Evergreen Street using crude stop motion animation techniques or shoot them on 8 mm film without sound (one of his oldest known juvenile films is The Island of Doctor Agor, which he made when he was 13 years old).

Burton studied at Burbank High School, but he was not a particularly good student. He was a very introspective person, and found his pleasure in painting, drawing and watching films. His future work would be heavily influenced by the works of such childhood heroes as Dr. Seuss and Roald Dahl.[4] After graduating from Burbank High School with Jeff Riekenberg, Burton attended the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California, to study character animation. As a student in CalArts, Burton made the shorts Stalk of the Celery Monster and King and Octopus. He graduated in 1979.

Written by Cherise Janse van Rensburg

DIY HALLOWEEN JAR LIGHTS Halloween is usually a holiday that the kids get to enjoy more than the adults, right? After all, our enjoyment of it is sucked out by the financial burden and tiresome duty of supplying the neighbourhood brats with candy!

But who's to say adults can't have a little creative fun this Halloween? Why not throw an adult Halloween party of your own? If you're game, I've got the perfe ct DIY craft project for lighting up your home this holiday (and it won't drain yo ur wallet either)!

Contemporary Insanity recently hosted our official opening function where we served our welcome drinks in mason jars.

It was a great success! However, we now have 30 empty jars taking up

sp

ace. So I did a little googling and came across this really awesome and easy way to decorate your garden or home for an extra eerie effect.

What you will need.

1. Empty clean coffee, honey or mason jars 2. Neon or glow in the dark paint and a soft brush 3. Small pack of glow sticks 4. Black paper or paper and black paint 5. Glue and scissors 6. Tea light candles or battery operated LED lights

First decide on your picture for around or on the jar front. You need only make a silhouette so no need for detail. Zombies, spider webs and scary faces are just a few ideas that are quick and easy to draw and cut out.

Once you have the black silhouette cut out, paint the jar with a thin layer of ne on or glow in the dark paint and allow to dry. For an extra glow effect, snap and cut open the glow sticks and splash the contents over the jar. Allow to dry.

Now just stick on the black cut out with craft glue and place the light inside.

The result is a simple and effective homemade light for the holiday!

Remember to place the lid on if you're using LED lights in case the weather changes!

You can be as creative and elaborate as your artistic talent allows and you ca n make as many as you need for the night.

But hey, if this DIY project stuff is not for you, pop into Contemporary Insanity i n Durban and pick up a few of these fun jar lights (readymade of course) and a few other handmade or crafted goodies we've got in store for 31 October!

You can also order through our Facebook page.

Until then... HAPPY HALLOWEEN from the team of artists at Contemporary In sanity!

Could you ever imagine hearing of the arrest of your neighbour, because someone became suspiciously aware that a couch you’ve sat on several times during brief visits, may have been made of human skin?

As it is in life, anyone you encounter may be a psychopath. You may have walked into serious situations of potential danger without realizing. Edward Thomas Gein was a normal person with a family. He encountered millions of people in his lifetime and effected millions more with fiction inspired by the man who skinned his victims.

Gein was born on 27 August 1906, the youngest of the two boys of George Philip and Augusta (nee Lerhke) Gein. Augusta thought of her husband as a failure for his persistent alcohol abuse and his lack of ambitions.

The family lived very isolated on a farm in Wisconsin and this became Augusta’s best use in manipulating her children by excluding outside influences. Edward left only to attend school, but other than that he was mundanely doing chores and spending most of his time being preached to by his mother, a prolific Lutheran, who told the Gein boys that all woman were naturally prostitutes and instruments of the devil.

Ed began doing odd jobs around town as he reached adulthood. His father had by then died and shook the foundations of the family. Both brothers were considered reliable and honest hard working men by the residents and worked well as handymen. Ed often also babysat as he identified to children easily.

Ed also had some attachment issues to his mother which was noticed by his brother Henry who then spoke ill of her.

On May 16, 1944, Henry and Ed burned the loose marsh on the property and the fire burned out of their control. The fire department extinguished the fire and after their task was completed, Ed reported his brother missing.

A search party found Henry’s body in the woods. There were no burn marks.

The official cause of death was considered asphyxiation and no foul play was suspected. No investigation or autopsy.

After Augusta’s paralysing stroke, Ed was devoted to taking care of her, but her health was deteriorating out of control and she finally died on December 29 1945. Ed was completely alone on an isolated farm surrounded with death.

Ed’s crimes November 16, 1957, Bernice Worden disappears from a Plainfield hardware store. Last receipt was written to Edward Gein. Upon searching the Gein property, police found the decapitated body of Worden hanging upside down.

The torso was dressed out like a deer.

Searching the rest of the house, authorities found:            

whole human bones, a waste basket made of human skin, human hair covering several chair seats, skulls on his bedposts, female skulls with the tops sawn off, Bowls made of human skulls, leggings made from human skin, a face mask in a paper bag, Bernice Worden’s heart at the stove in a plastic bag, nine vulvae in a shoebox A young girl’s dress and a valve of a fifteen your old girl.

A belt made of female nipples, four noses a pair of lips on a window drawstring a lampshade made of human skin

During questioning, Gein stated that between 1947 and 1952 he had exhumed as many as 40 corpses at local cemeteries. Gein said he exhumed bodies of woman who looked a lot like his mother and took them home, tanned the bodies and made various paraphernalia from it. Gein confessed on the murders of Mary Hogan and Bernice Worden, though he claims to have no memory of details after shooting them.

It was also confessed that Gein created a woman suit from his mother’s skin to feel closer to her. To literally crawl into her skin.

14 November 1968 Edward Thomas Gein was found guilty of first degree murder and a second trial was a conflict of his mental health and sanity and was then ruled not guilty by reason of insanity. He was committed to Central State Hospital for the criminally insane where Gein spent the rest of his life. He died of respiratory failure due to cancer at age 78.

H

alloween is just around the corner, and for some of us, this means

getting to dress up as one of our fantasy characters.

Not many people take dressing up seriously anymore, I personally find it fun, as well as an escape from reality at the best of times.

For those of us that want something amazing to wear, I have partnered up with the amazing Vicky Botha, and her Wildchild Xclusive Range to inspire your wardrobe!

Now dressing up is obviously a very personal thing, but here are some ideas that Vicky and I came up with for you: Steampunk and Lolita type outfits, definitely. There is something about vintage that just works. Add a slashed neck, give yourself a regal look, and that is enough to daunt most individuals.

One that I thought was pretty different, was the 'tainted red riding hood'.

Imagine Little Red Riding hood, with an evil side. Corset, thigh high boots and a red cape. Throw in a basket full of Jell-O shots and you're the life of the party!

‘Gone are the days of witches, wizards, and sugarskulls.

People want gruel! A somewhat ironic twist to good girls’ and boys’, says Ms Wildchild.

Some other examples that I love: Batgirl call girl (slutty drugged up Batgirl, with slogan on bat signal 'call me'), if you are so inclined. Ha! Peter pan becomes Peter....file. This one, although somewhat taboo, could be a prize winner if done correctly.

A craze that will never go out of the window is the ‘cross-dressing’ fad.

Girls become pimps, guys become the street workers.

I have attached several images for all of you to draw inspiration from.

Remember, it is Halloween, the time to let your hair down and have some fun! Whilst calling on your ancestors, possibly.

RIP Wes Craven.

“

1,2 Freddy is coming for you..

3,4 better lock your door...

5,6 get your crucifix..

7,8 going to stay up late..

9,10 never sleep again..

�

For the generation that knows this verse off by heart, I'm sure the sleepless nights were worth watching the 'master' of horror at work. I guess I was one of the lucky ones (or not, considering I suffered from night terrors) whose mom taught them this verse before I was old enough to actually watch the film.

Wes Craven, the director of the cult film phenomenon, Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), one of many, who featured Johnny Depp as a rising star! How many of you knew that?

Blood, gore, bone chilling screams and the sound of Freddy's sharp nails along the walls of an alley way, are enough to get any horror freak excited.

Wes was a producer, writer, actor and a director! We all know his talents lay in the horror and slasher films.

What other movies did he direct? Almost 30 in total.

How about The Hills Have Eyes in 1971 and 2005, Swamp Thing in 1982, The People Under The stairs in 1991, all of the Scream films and just to mix things up Acts as himself in the movie Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

In 2012, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the New York City Horror Film Festival. Truly a master of his craft.

It is now understandable to see why so many of his followers were saddened to hear about his passing.

Wes Craven passed on to the next realm on the 30th August 2015, after losing his battle to brain cancer. A great loss to the slasher movie world.

And Lies When it’s late at night and you hear the door creaking open… it’s just a gust of wind perhaps. You choose to ignore it, but now every shadow seems to have a face. You choose not to look at them, but you can feel them staring right t you. You can feel the creature under the bed, maybe the one in the corner of your room. You hear footsteps.

Or are they just the floorboards setting? When you read up on a good urban legend, your imagination becomes overactive, but we are lucky enough to have access to research. Not every legend is built on truth. Most have an interesting story, some have no story available. Here are some incredibly popular urban legends you should know.

Candy Man In 1992 a horror film was released on this little legend. But it goes so far into the past, we don’t really know who experienced it first. Apparently, when you say “candy man” to your reflection in the mirror five times (sometimes three, depending on the story you’ve heard) he will be summoned and will murder you and everyone in the house.

Obviously a simple calling his name won’t summon a dead man, but it is still somewhat scary. Especially because it seemed to have surfaced all on its own.

It must have happened to someone for that logic to make sense in any way.

Same goes for Bloody Mary.

The Candy Man backstory isn’t scary, though. It is tragic, though. Before I tell you what it is, the backstory is a theory formulated from documentation found in Chicago archives. Candy man was a real person. A slave at a local sugar plantation. He was treated well and far better than other slaves on the property, but one day he abused his owner’s kindness and laid with the youngest daughter who became pregnant. Upon the birth of a black child, the daughter was shunned from the estate and she then claimed the slave raped her.

The estate master didn’t believe his daughter, but punished his slave anyway.

The popular punishment in the district was to tie slaves up on the ground where they’d be weakened by the elements. Humidity and bright hot sun would dehydrate the slave and they would later be released from the dehydration only to be locked up for an extended period of time. The estate master, in a dissatisfactory state of poetic justice poured a bucket of honey on the tied up slave and left to his duties. (Not everything that is sweet is good for you) He’d release the slave in the next recommended hour. In that hour, the estate master was killed by the other slaves on the property, rioting about the injustice. The punished slave was never freed and died burning to death by the harsh sun that boiled the honey on his skin for a day.

It is believed that this documented slave’s death is the result of Candy Man. The angry spirit of a sugar-coated slave wanting revenge on someone he can’t have, so takes it out to anyone who calls him.

Black lady of Bradley Woods She wears a flowing black coat with a hood that almost covers her pale mournful face. She is merely an apparition and has been recorded to have appeared to dozens of people exploring the woods in Lincolnshire, England, though nothing harmful or dangerous has been proven to happen from her in recent days. However, back in her glory days, this ghost was accused of many suspicious occurrences in the woods. Family pets slaughtered, kids waking up there without knowing how they got there.

Where did she come from? Well, there are two theories and if my own can be included, we can count it as three. The first theory is that a woman came to a nearby convent to become a nun. She was actually hiding from her obsessed stepfather who eventually found her and killed her. There were some accounts of witnesses claiming that this apparition seemed to be a nun and the convent was at the other end of the woods and would have made an obvious attempted escape for a nun on the run.

Russian Sleep experiment I cannot imagine anyone not having heard of this legend. Shortly after World War II the Russians conducted some very dark experiments. Some of the known experiments are true and can be viewed on YouTube as they documented themselves. (‘Find Russian Dog Experiment’ on YouTube if you can handle it) The Russian sleep experiment was a test of endurance for four war criminals of Russia. They volunteered on the pretence that they’d be set free when the experiment was over. They were to be kept awake with a toxic stimulant gas and other mind altering effects of manipulation. The study was conducted over a period of thirty days and started off very well. At first the patients experience typical exhaustion and serious fatigue, but they could not sleep. Eventually they became delusional and spoke in gibberish. They became obsessed with staying awake, even if they couldn’t sleep. They stopped eating the food that they were given and reduced to eating rats.

One of the patients died and was eaten, another patient was found with his internal organs in working condition placed beside him. The heart was still beating and the lungs were still breathing, and the patient was completely awake.

The scientists tried to sedate the patients to remove the dead and injured patient and apply medical assistance, but the sedatives didn’t work normally and required several injections. The patients were extremely strong and caused the death of one of the scientists.

The Russians did do some very odd experiments, but this one was not one of them. This legend originated as a creepypasta post. Thrilling story and it had me seriously worried about mankind for a bit. Sadly, I did find the Russian Dog experiment and that one is confirmed truth.

Maybe some of these stories have some truth to it. Who invented them and why? Someone with a wild imagination? Or someone screaming for help?

Just some yummy ideas to entertain guests with… Or to eat by yourself if people scare you.

Ingredients: Method:        

4 eggs 2 cups of sugar 1 can of pumpkin 1 tsp Vanilla essence 2 tsp baking powder Pinch of salt 2 tsp cinnamon 1 ½ cups chocolate chips (or more if you prefer)

Directions In large bowl, beat eggs, sugar, vanilla essence and pumpkin with a small amount of oil.

Mix dry ingredients together and then mix into pumpkin mixture.

Pour into a greased muffin tray and bake at 400f for 16-20 minutes.

Cool before removing from pan and enjoy

Mythical Creatures The Kraken The legend of the Kraken According to the Scandinavian mythology, the Kraken is a giant sea creature that attacks ships and is generally described as an octopus or squid. According to some tales, the Kraken was so huge that its body could be mistaken for an island. It is first mentioned in the Ă–rvar-Oddr.

This is a 13th century Icelandic saga involving two sea monsters, the Hafgufa (sea mist) and the Lyngbakr (heather-back). The Hafgufa is supposed to be a reference to the Kraken. Around that time (circa 1250), another report about the Kraken was documented in the Norwegian scientific work Konungs skuggsja work.

The Kraken was also mentioned in the first edition of Systema Naturae [1735], a taxonomic classification of living organisms by the Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist Carolus Linnaeus.

He classified the Kraken as a cephalopod, designating the scientific name Microcosmus marinus. Although any mention to Kraken was omitted in later editions of the Systema Naturae, Linnaeus described it in his later work, Fauna Suecica [1746], as a "unique monster" that "is said to inhabit the seas of Norway, but I have not seen this animal".

Although the Kraken was usually described as a giant octopus or squid, it has also been described as a "crab-like" creature. It was believed to cause large whirlpools. The Swedish author Jacob Wallenberg described the Kraken in the 1781 work Min son pĂĽ galejan ("My son on the galley") as follows: "Gradually, Kraken ascends to the surface, and when he is at ten to twelve fathoms, the boats had better move out of his vicinity, as he will shortly thereafter burst up, like a floating island, spurting water from his dreadful nostrils and making ring waves around him, which can reach many miles. Could one doubt that this is the Leviathan of Job?"

Medusa Medusa was a monster, one of the Gorgon sisters, daughter of Phorkys and Keto, the children of Gaea (Earth) and Oceanus (Ocean).

She had the face of an ugly woman with snakes instead of hair. Anyone who looked into her eyes would immediately be turned into stone.

Her sisters were Sthenno and Euryale, but Medusa was the only mortal of the three.

She was originally a golden-haired, fair maiden, who, as a priestess of Athena, was devoted to a life of celibacy, however, after being wooed by Poseidon and falling for him, she forgot her vows and married him. For this offence, she was punished by the goddess in a most terrible way. Each wavy lock of the beautiful hair that had charmed her husband was changed into a venomous snake; her once gentle, love-inspiring eyes turned into blood-shot, furious orbs, which excited fear and disgust in the mind of the onlooker; whilst her former roseate hue and milk-white skin assumed a loathsome greenish tinge.

Seeing herself transformed into such a repulsive creature, Medusa fled her home, never to return. Wandering about, dreaded, and shunned by the rest of the world, she turned into a character worthy of her outer appearance. In her despair, she fled to Africa, where, while wandering restlessly from place to place, young snakes dropped from her hair and that is how, according to the ancient Greeks, Africa became a hotbed of venomous reptiles.

With the curse of Athena upon her, she turned into stone whomever she gazed upon, till at last, after a life of nameless misery, deliverance came to her in the shape of death, at the hands of Perseus.

Ghouls The earliest documentation of the ghoul comes from the Mesopotamian civilization, where these creatures were originally called “Gallu” and described as some type of demon (The Mythical Ghoul in Arabic Culture by Ahmed Al-Rawi; Cultural Analysis, Volume 8, 2009 hypothesis on the creation of ghouls includes “ghoulism” being a disease (possibly a virus or prion), being transferred from one individual to another through biological fluids, with the most likely candidate being blood.

There are varying hypotheses on how ghouls are created. This subject is obviously open to further research; however, these secretive and elusive creatures would make such studies extremely difficult. The first and most obvious hypothesis it that they breed like most animal species; that is, The Yeti the male and female reproductive sexually to create offspring.

A large hairy creature resembling a human or bear, said to live in the highest part of the Himalayas. Also called Abominable Snowman.

People used to think that abominable came from Latin ab- ‘away from’ and homo ‘human being’, and so literally meant ‘inhuman or beastly’. Consequently, until the 17th century it was frequently spelt abominable, a spelling found in Shakespeare. In fact, the word comes from Latin abominati, meaning ‘to regard something as a bad omen’, and is related to omen (late 16th century) and ominous (late 16th century). Abominable Snowman is another name for the Himalayan Yeti. The name was brought back by the Royal Geographical Society expedition mounted in 1921 to Mount Everest, which found mysterious footprints in the snow.

Abominable Snowman is a translation of Tibetan Meetoh Gangmi, the name the Sherpa porters gave to the animal responsible for the tracks. Yeti is from Tibetan yeh-the ‘little man-like animal’.

Poltergeists Minotaur Over lastmost few hundred more famous Greece cases include the 'Tedworth Drummer' of England One the of the intriguingyears myths of ancient is the myth of the Minotaur on the island inof1661, where a drum which belonged to an imprisoned beggar proceeded to play on its own, Crete. accompanied by various other phenomena such as the hurling about of chairs, beds with King Minos was one of the three sons born to Zeus and Europa. When their step-father, King servants sleeping in them being lifted up, and loud scratching noises. A series of bizarre and Asterion, died, Minos declared himself king and appointed his brother Sarpedon as lawmaker frightening incidents which took place on a Tennessee farm in 1817 has become known as the of all the islands. Sarpedon questioned his brother’s authority, but Minos said that it was the 'Bell Witch Haunting'. The Bell Witch herself was thought by many to be the spirit of Kate Batts, will of the gods for him to become king. As proof, he sacrificed a bull to the god Poseidon one time neighbour of John Bell, owner of the farm where the disturbances took place, and who and then asked the god to send a new bull for the same purpose. Poseidon listened to his had apparently been involved in a dispute with him over land. The phenomena included request and sent a beautiful white bull from the sea. apparitions of strange animals, whistling, disembodied voices, loud laughing and singing and vicious physical assaults on people at the farm, which are claimed by some to have resulted in the death of John King Minos CreteBell. was impressed, and because the bull was so beautiful, Minos set it free and sacrificed a different bull. When Poseidon realized that Minos didn’t sacrifice the white bull, he caused Pasiphae to fall in love with the animal. Pasiphae—desperate from her love for the So what is it that causes the poltergeist phenomenon? According to researchers at the Rhine bull—asked for help from the sculptor and engineer Daedalus. Daedalus built her an empty Research Centre Institute for Parapsychology at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, wooden cow. It was so beautiful that the white bull was tricked and fell in love with it. poltergeist activity is the physical expression of psychological trauma. However, more natural Pasiphae then went inside the wooden cow and loved the white bull. The result of this union explanations are often the cause of what appears to be a poltergeist disturbance. Electromagnetic was the Minotaur, a powerful beast with a human body and the head of a bull.

Interference (EMI) has been found to be behind at least one supposed poltergeist investigated by Midlands (UK) investigation group Paraseach, and there is an increasing amount of evidence to show that it could explain many more cases.

There are also a number of poltergeist cases where the people involved have no psychological problems at all. Other researchers have suggested that 'spirit entities' are responsible for the phenomena, perhaps generating the power by attaching themselves to suitably disturbed teenagers. But the very nature of these hypothetical 'spirits' means that scientifically at least, they cannot be properly investigated, though there are interesting tape recordings of a 'voice' from the Enfield Poltergeist case. However, if accounts of the more extreme unexplained occurrences alleged to be caused by poltergeist activity are themselves exaggerated, or even completely unreliable, which is entirely possible in older cases, then no further explanation is required.

Nevertheless, the inability to find a convincing explanation for the phenomenon, the significant amount of poltergeist cases exhibiting similar characteristics occurring over a long period of time in widely different cultures, and the bizarre but somehow consistentWritten nature of the phenomena,

by Cherise Janse van Rensburg make the poltergeist perhaps the most baffling and enduring of unexplained mysteries.

Eight Legged Freaks

Spiders. These guys have scared the wits out of more than just a few burly men, adventurers and almighty teenagers. Yes, it seems no stereotype is immune! But is it really justified? Why, then, are the biggest, hairiest and scariest of them all – tarantulas – kept as pets by so many people?

Tarantulas are available in a vast array of colours, sizes and temperaments. If you want an eight-legged friend, you are sure to find one to suit your specific taste. From browns to reds to blues to black and from dinner plate sized monsters to some so tiny that the average onlooker will doubt that it’s a tarantula…your ideal pet spider is definitely out there!

We would all do well to remember that all these spiders do possess venom. In many species of tarantula, the venom potency is low and nobody has ever died from a tarantula bite. A person can, however, have an allergic reaction to the venom. Better safe than sorry, so treat these critters with respect. In addition to biting, most species also have urtication hairs on their abdomens. These hairs are flicked into the air using the back legs when the spider perceives a threat.

The hairs will get into the eyes and nose of any would-be attacker and the itching and burning will give the spider a chance to get away. So please, keep your face well away from the pet tarantula and kiss the pet dog instead! These hairs can cause itching, irritation and even a rash when it gets stuck in your skin. I don’t want to be around if someone gets it in his eyes. Ouch.

Something people tend to forget is that a tarantula will be perfectly happy in a suitable enclosure without any human contact. It is a spider after all. Handling causes unneeded stress and most knowledgeable keepers don’t recommend regular handling. These pets should actually be treated as display animals, much like fish. Also keep in mind that a fall is deadly due to their heavy bodies.

All it takes is a second for something to go wrong and the spider to accidentally fall. Overly big enclosures aren’t good for them: a large tarantula’s enclosure shouldn’t be bigger than three times the leg span. If you do use an enclosure that is too large, it can be decorated with large ornaments to decrease the size of the spider’s actual environment. In addition to a properly sized enclosure is the correct substrate. Tarantulas need their humidity kept up and this is best achieved by using appropriate spider peat. Various types are available with slight differences in colour and texture but they all have one important thing in common: they hold in moisture. If the enclosure gets too dry, dehydration and death from getting stuck in molts usually result. Regularly check the enclosure

for any mold: a clean-up and replacing of substrate will be needed if any starts to grow.

Can your dog play dead? So can my spiders. Just not on command… Since they have no internal skeletons and instead have exoskeletons, they shed their whole outer shell in order to grow. When the spider begins its molt, it’ll lie motionless on its back, usually on a bed of silk that it spun beforehand. A molt is a mix of an extreme miracle of nature and a weird alien event. Afterwards you’ll have two spiders. One shell and one soft-bodied critter much bigger than its former self. The fangs and new exoskeleton takes time to harden and the spider should be given a week before it is offered food.

Tarantulas take a wide variety of insect prey. If they prey is of appropriate size and the spider is hungry, consider it eaten. Did you know crickets are evil with voracious appetites? Yes, they are. As such they should never be left unattended with a tarantula, nor should any other prey. If the prey is not eaten, it should be promptly removed. Leaving a live prey in there is asking for trouble. Many a pet spider has been injured and even killed in this way. If there is no time to babysit the feeding process, the prey can be killed and left with the spider overnight. Any leftovers must be removed the next day. This is especially useful with slings – aka spiderlings, tiny babies – as they are more likely to be devoured by their prey. On average, a pet tarantula will require feeding once a week. They fast when a molt is coming on.

How odd is it for someone to brag with a big spider when guests arrive? Not so much if you consider the many years it can take them to reach those monstrous sizes. Depending on the species, it can take over four years to reach adult size.

Patience plays a big part in tarantula keeping. I you prefer to not wait so long, getting an adult is always an option. Careful though, if you want a pet it is best to get a female. Male tarantulas to far less than half the age of their female counterparts. Not long after their maturing molt, when they get their male parts, they die. Females on the other hand can live ten, fifteen, even twenty

years depending on the species. Definite ways to sex a tarantula is to either wait for the maturing molt or to take a look at the molt. This should be done when the molt is at least about 7cm in leg span. Females have a special organ located between the first pair of book lungs, called a spermatheca, where sperm is stored. That’s what we look for in the molt, males obviously lack this. Besides living longer, females also grow much bigger.

The best beginner tarantulas are among the terrestrials. They require deep substrate in which to tunnel and are heavy bodied. The others are arboreal.

These live in trees and are much more slender in build. These species require more height than terrestrials and also some sturdy branches to climb and build a nest in. These tree dwellers are much faster than terrestrials, much more aggressive and boast more potent venom. These are gorgeous tarantulas but, for obvious reasons, it’s safer NOT to carry them around and take selfies with one on your face.

Tarantulas are very interesting pets to keep. You’ll learn a whole lot you never knew and you won’t need to spend hours on end caring for them. Many species are fairly inexpensive and they are readily available at exotic pet stores. In many cases, having tarantulas will make you more tolerant of other spiders in the house. I myself would much rather catch a spider and release it outside rather than killing it. Spider murder is quite unnecessary. Remember, they are NOT out to get you! I certainly prefer a spider to a fly. How about you?

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