The Parthenon in Nashville TN

(Link: http://www.nashville.gov/Parks-and-Recreation/Parthenon.aspx)

While my band Esoterik was on tour with Nachtmahr and Ludovico Technique across the US we had a day off in Nashville TN; 

during lunch we all decided we wanted to check out the Parthenon after being told several times the night before by locals at the venue that we needed to see The Parthenon and experience it. (Which we affectionately renamed the "Panty-Lawn")

Once we arrived at The Parthenon "Panty-Lawn" I was thrilled to get closer and see the detail of the building...

The building itself was amazing and the amount of detail in The Parthenon's creation is breath taking. We were all thrilled to see what was inside this beautiful piece of art.

Myself and my bandmates/friends in front of the giant front gates of the Parthenon.

Below you will find pictures from inside The Parthenon.

To set the mood The Parthenon has monk sounding hums in female voices playing within the giant "prayer shrine". However the building smelt of old cheese which took away from the holy vibe for me.

The statue's size within the building is mind blowing.

The Parthenon also has wings of art galleries inside. Sadly when we were visiting there really wasn't much to look at inside the building besides this beautiful statue. (which is ok of course; but for whatever reason I was expecting to see so much more inside.)

If in Nashville I do recommend checking out this site; but be careful to not build it up in your mind... like I did. 

Because then you will not be as impressed as you honestly should be.

Stay Spooky!

Allison Eckfeldt

Boutique Du Vampire in New Orleans

(Photo above: Myself modeling my new Coffin Purse I got from Boutique Du Vampire)

Website: http://www.feelthebite.com/

Boutique Du Vampire is a store tucked away in the French Quarter and the only sign advertising it is a little plank of wood outside with a Vampire boy's portrait on it.

you know what?

I LOVE that they have tucked themselves out of the tourists site. 

While I was shopping in this wonderful little store I didn't have to deal with giggling tourists making fun of everything they didn't or don't understand including myself. 

The staff inside are incredibly friendly smiling folk who gave off a vibe to me that... they were indeed vampires themselves. ;) 

The store has a wonderful incense smell, it is full of local art (GREAT local art), shrunken heads, vampire items (of course), soaps, body mist, coffin purses, fairy related goodness, and books. LOTS of books.

What even gives this store sky high cool points in my book is the fact that all of their books are signed by the author.

I don't know any stores yet that can say that about their book collection on sale. 

I took some photos of things within the store I found visually pleasing:

I highly recommend going to this store if you are ever in New Orleans and you are a person inclined to finding the beauty in dark odd items.

Pricing was right on the mark. Remember that everything is handmade in this store which means slightly higher prices but not through the roof pricing. 

Stay Spooky!

Allison Eckfeldt

The Eye of the Artist. (The Importance is not in the equipment.)

I have a story from my life that I feel like needs to be shared. 

This story has inspired me constantly as an artist. 

I hope it can do the same for whoever reads this. :)

My college photography professor told me a story about how one of her best students entered a series of photographs taken with an Iphone into a large judged gallery showing. She ended up winning the whole gallery showing. Anytime people in my college class would brag about equipment or tell others they needed better equipment my college professor would remind every one that her best student she had won the gallery judging just off of Iphone Photography and the fact that it's not about having the most current expensive device, but rather about the eye of the artist. 

As I've gotten older it becomes more apparent why my college professor would drill this story into our heads; A lot of people are very concerned about having the best of whatever equipment because "having better equipment equals having a better piece of art"

Well it's not true.

The real source of great art is the artist's mind and their mind's eye.

Not the thousands of dollars or hundreds someone has spent on top of the line supplies. 

Please keep this in mind whenever you're making any form of art; you are an artist, equipment doesn't matter. What does matter is the ability to put emotions onto paper or convey images or sounds properly, your goal is to make the viewer feel an emotion (good or bad) and get them to think.

Stay Spooky!

Allison Eckfeldt

Museum of Weird in Austin Texas (Originally posted in 2013)

(**ATTENTION** This is an old article I posted on my other blog in 2013 but I wanted to move it onto this blog site. So please keep this in mind while reading or looking at photos. Thank you! <3)

Exploring the museum of weird in Austin Texas...how do I put my emotions into words? I felt like I did whenever I was five and would go to toys r us (kid toy store in the USA) for the Saturday Pokemon card tournaments.... Which was to be excited to share my love of something unusual with other unusual and like minded beings....and bask in the rarity of this event.

Walking inside the small building you are immediately greeted by a cute gift shop full of unique little toys, decor and shirts. (not too high on pricing ether)

Beyond the gift shop past the tiny door frame into the back is where the fun really begins.

It's $8 to get in which is worth it the first time (taking into account memories that are made) but I sure as hell wouldn't pay $8 to see it again. 

In general you walk through a very small hallway crammed with 'ripley's believe it or not' type items and move on to a show room (tiny show room) with animal birth oddities and wax life size monster figures... 

Here are some photos of things I really liked within the crammed hallway:

fortune telling machines with a Zoltar type vibe...hell yes. Give me two. One for my living room and the other for the bedroom

The classic Mermaid. I remember seeing a photo of one of these guys in a book fair magazine as a child and thinking, "we'll that's it! Mermaids are defiantly real."  

Haha!

It wasn't until I grew up some more that I realized it was actually a hoax.

-and here are some photos of things i liked from the large room containing wax figures and animal oddities: 

A mummy.... I can't tell you the exact date I fell in love with these wonders but when I did I fell hard. I use to check out books from the library all the time on how and why they were made....mostly to just look at the pictures. Ha! 

The mummy at the museum of weird is very short and small but worth seeing for sure. 

A real Victorian skeleton who is said to haunt the building since they bought her. She is roughly 15 years old and a physic told the staff her name was either Eliza or Elisabeth. I love ghost stories so I was all over this like a fly to sugar water. 

She use to belong to an odd fellows group and was used to scare new members as a part of initiation. 

I find that tragic and I'd be a pissed ghost too if my body or what's left of it was used in such a manner.

Walking through the rest of the rather small building isn't too riveting. Supposedly Johnny depp lived upstairs in 1992 when he was trying to become a musician but I am doubtful of this. 

Upstairs they also do a like 'freak show' which was cute but slightly awkward at the same time. Haha

This is normal for freak shows however and the men performing were very funny and friendly so what more could you ask for?

All in all the experience was great and I look forward to exploring Austin Texas more in the future. 

Stay Spooky! 

Allison Eckfeldt

My Hermit Tarot Card tattoo on my left arm. (Originally posted in 2013)

(**ATTENTION** This is an old article I posted on my other blog in 2013 but I wanted to move it onto this blog site. So please keep this in mind while reading or looking at photos. Thank you! <3)

The Hermit is my card as a Virgo and is also my card to live by.

Here are Some frequent keywords for this card:

• Introspection ----- Silence ----- Guidance ----- Reflection
• Solitude ----- Looking inward ----- Reclusion ----- Being quiet
• Inner search ----- Deep understanding ----- Isolation
• Distance ----- Retreat ----- Philosophical attitude
• Stay Spooky
• Allison Eckfeldt

Oklahoma City's Abandoned Buildings (Originally Posted in 2013)

(**ATTENTION** This is an old article I posted on my other blog in 2013 but I wanted to move it onto this blog site. So please keep this in mind while reading or looking at photos. Thank you! <3)

Brady and I love to ghost hunt and find different evidence towards the paranormal. So the other day while Brady was at work he saw an article on abandoned buildings within our city and decided that we should go check them out. (He already knew I'd be completely down. haha) 

I didn't bring good shoes or my ghost kit sadly but we did see some beautiful buildings.

The first building was a Speak easy in the 1920s. It was completely boarded up with a fence all the way around. The city can't tear it down since it is technically a historic building.

I wanted to get inside badly and explore however its right in the middle of the city and someone driving by would see us jumping the fence or pulling a board off for sure.

It was such a beautiful building. I can only imagine what it looks like inside... or what haunted wonders may fill its halls....

I'll be back to this place at some point I'm sure.

The next building we went to was a place for people living in lower income areas. A place for kids in crime areas to hang out and possibly stay out of crime.

Sadly it didn't work out and the place was shut down due to crime.

This was the only non boarded up entrance we found. We didn't want to stick around for long though because it still is an area of crime.

A bowling pin. The building use to have a bowling alley.

"Danger Zombies  -----> " :) 

I had only moments before this photo said it looked like a resident evil type scene and then we saw this sign. haha

The next building we went to was a hospital for mental illness patients between the ages of 6-8. It was shut down due to a nurse killing quite a few patients simply for her fun. We wanted to ghost hunt here and probably will in the future when we have a group with us and don't have a possibility of being attacked by anyone homeless.

The entrance. 

The front of the building with the cross has totally been pelted with paintballs...

To see more of this building check out my youtube; Kazlovesbats.

I'll keep you guys updated on if we ghost hunt any of these locations.

Stay Spooky!

Allison Eckfeldt

Hex: Old World Witchery Shop in New Orleans

In New Orleans close to the Mississippi River You will find a beautiful little pagan/witch shop called Hex. It's tucked off in the quieter corner of all the shops. The sweet smell of incense is sure to lure you in. 

I was scared the store was going to be over priced and a tourist trap... I was wrong.

The store is amazing inside full of crystals, tarot, books, incense, blessed candles, oils, herbs and etc. with very affordable prices! 

As an insider tip: This has to be the best Witch store in New Orleans. Hands down.

Here's a link to the shop's website: http://www.salemhex.com/

Books upon books upon books... I couldn't focus on just one title with all the excitement I had. However the shop keeper was very kind and pointed out a title she thought would suit me. (I ended up buying it and YES it does suit me completely. Thank you so much love!<3)

These 'Witch Wash' soaps smelt so delicious. One of each please! 

Now this strand of Tarot cards caught my eye instantly. Turns out it's a blessed majick strand that you can hang in your home according to what you need. This one I was looking at was to keep people from talking about you behind your back, or to help rid negative energy from flowing into your life. 

I wanted it terribly. but it was $200. 

That wasn't going to happen but if I could have gotten it I would have.

As a side note I did buy a book by the wonderful witch who made this named Laurie Cabot.

Since coming back home to Oklahoma I have fallen in love with her outlook and facts about and on witch craft. 

Here's a video of her inside her shop located in Salem.

Next on my list of places to travel to is definitely Salem!

A rawhide Voodoo man. :)

Crystals for sale... I ended up buying a couple for myself. <3

Magic Candles

A giant wall of herbs.

The very nice and helpful Shopkeeper. She was so awesome! She even let me leave some gifts and prayers at the store's alter.

Stay Spooky!

Allison Eckfeldt