Old-Time Radio Halloween Shows

I love listening to old time radio shows and there are plenty of spooky, regularly scheduled programs to choose from. However, I recently stumbled across a YouTube channel that has specially curated a list old time radio's favorite Halloween specials! The channel, OTR HalloweenHolidaze, offers hours and hours of both holiday specific programming from the golden age of radio as well as a sampling of some of those year round mystery and horror favorites.

The channel is still being regularly updated and so far I've listened to shows from the 1930s to the 1970s. Most are less than half an hour long, and some are quite a bit shorter, making these the perfect thing to listen to while doing chores, relaxing, or driving to work. They're also perfect for sneaking in some Halloween cheer when you don't have time to watch a full-length movie. Go check 'em out!  Here's one of the episodes I recently listened to---its a little longer than most:

CBS Radio Mystery Theater Halloween 1976

FREE Halloween Ebook!

If you have a Kindle device or the Kindle app, you can download a copy of Ruth Edna Kelley's 1919 classic, The Book of Halloween, for FREE through Amazon!

Unfortunately, this digital version doesn't include any illustrations or photographs, but its a great historical glimpse at both the history of my personal favorite holiday, and the games, recipes, and traditions that were popular at the time of the book's publication. There are also a TON of poems.

Some of the material about the history of how Halloween evolved into an American favorite can be a little boring and tedious to get through, but I promise it is worth it. A really fun read for a really fun time of year!

*GET YOUR COPY FROM AMAZON HERE*

Haunted House Humor

Ha! I know what it's like growing up in a haunted house, and its not all bad. In fact, its pretty cool most of the time. I still love going to haunted house attractions, though, every Halloween season. Each year, I try to hit at least one or two. While they don't scare me, or even really startle me anymore (which may be a direct consequence of living through an actual haunted house, lol) I love them for their creativity and energy. The people who work/volunteer for these places REALLY enjoy their work! What are some of YOUR favorite haunted house attractions? Let me know below in the comments.

Grim Reaper Cake

For today's Foodie Friday blog, I wanted to share another awesome Halloween cake with you all! Over the years, I've been honing and refining my own personal Halloween decorating aesthetic...and recently I've really begun to embrace the classic black and orange motif. There's just something about black and orange together that evokes a sense of nostalgia. To me, it just screams vintage Halloween.

So, I instantly fell in love with this cake, especially the little haunted house. I'm not a HUGE fan of the Grim Reaper, honestly. I much rather would have seen a classic ghost figure or something, but it is well done, and does look pretty cool.  I wasn't able to find an artist/baker for this cake, so if you know who it belongs to, please let me know and I'll properly credit them.

Hehehe, I actually found this image on Pinterest, which in and of itself isn't that funny, but the fact on what it was classified under IS. I found this image in a collection of ideas for someone's TWO YEAR OLD daughter's Halloween birthday. Yeah, this would make an awesome birthday cake, especially for someone reaching one of those milestone 'over the hill' birthdays, but I'm pretty sure having Death on a two year old's birthday cake sends the wrong message, lol.

Welcome, September!

Wow, is it really September already??? This year is flying by, which is a good thing! It means Halloween will be here that much faster. Since we're starting the official countdown, I thought this photo was quite fitting. For a couple of weeks now, I've already been seeing the pumpkin flavored goodies creeping onto store shelves....and I have a feeling that things are going to definitely pick up. Hehe, last year, I admitted the fact that I am NOT a fan of pumpkin spice anything, let alone any type of pumpkin spice coffee beverage. I was accused of not being a true white girl, which is slightly ironic since my recent AncestryDNA results back that up!

Terrifying Tacos!

Halloween may fall on a Monday this year, but that doesn't mean you can't serve up some spooky tacos for a Taco Tuesday Halloween dinner! In my home, the Halloween celebrations last throughout the month of October, so some version of these will definitely be making their way into our lives in the weeks leading up to the big day. 

Food.com brings us this quite basic example of a basic crunchy shell taco. To achieve the spooky eyes, a few dollops of sour cream garnished with sliced black olives are strategically placed. Even though I personally can't stand sour cream, I think this version is the most likely one I'll try! 

Betty Crocker also has created a spin on the monster taco idea. Instead of the classic shredded cheese, an artfully cut slice of American cheese serves as a the teeth, and a tomato slice acts as the tongue. Cute!

I've seen this next example a few different places on the web, including the site, Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom. Just make your favorite taco, and add a spider made of olives as a garnish for an instant Halloween vibe. Hehehe, I think using the whole olive in this position makes the spider look a little more like an octopus, so I'd probably tweak that a bit myself if choosing to recreate this dish! But how cute is that little spider? He could be added to several different dinners for an instant transition into Halloween dining!

And, that does it for spooky tacos. However, if you a big fan of Mexican food like I am, don't fear! I have several more ideas coming up for you in the coming months!

Movie Review: They Live

I wouldn't call it a Halloween movie, and honestly, I'm not even sure if it would be considered a horror film. But, since it's weird, creepy, and a little bit hilarious, I wanted to share my thoughts on a film I recently saw with you all.

It's a new tradition in our family to kick off the Halloween season with a trip to Lexington, Kentucky to attend ScareFest, the annual horror and paranormal convention hosted by Patti Starr. We've anxiously been watching as the list of celebrity guests grows each week, and we recently noticed that Meg Foster had recently been added. As my boyfriend was reading me the names, I had no idea who she was, so he explained that she was the lead female role in the movie, They Live.

My boyfriend was quite shocked when I told him that I had never seen it. Now, I was familiar with the plot and could definitely recognize the iconic 'Obey' imagery as being from the film, but I had just never sat and watched the whole thing from start to finish. So, we had to fix that and I may now have a new favorite movie. The 1988 film starring Roddy Piper, Meg Foster, and Keith David was, like I said, pretty funny...but pretty darn scary when taken in context of what's going on in today's political world, lol.

SPOILER ALERT

If you aren't familiar with the plot, the basic idea is that Roddy Piper's character is a drifter who comes into the city looking for work. He lucks into a construction job, despite the fact that the economy has apparently taken a turn for the worse in this slightly futuristic? world. A fellow worker takes him to a tent city establishment to stay the night, where he soon notices some strange activity at a church across the street and does some investigating. When the makeshift camp area and church are later raided, he gets away. Returning the next day, he finds that the hidden boxes of what appear to be normal sunglasses are still at the church.

Putting on the glasses, the world takes on a very different appearance. There's an epic fight scene, a chick with the strangest eyes you've ever seen (Meg Foster), and lots of creepy zombie/skeletal looking people with magic watches. I'm not sure if the ending was necessarily a happy, or even resolved ending, but the 'good guys' accomplished what they set out to do and everyone starts to wake up from the manufactured reality created for them.

As I said, I surprisingly really liked this movie. I know its not the greatest movie out there, but there were some scenes in it that were fantastic. The overall message, while presented in a comical way, is actually pretty poignant. While we might not be under alien control, I think its a fair assessment to say that many people today are 'asleep' in some way or another, oblivious to what is going on around them. And, even though she scares me a little bit, I can't wait to meet Meg at this year's ScareFest!