Horror Movie Flowchart

One of the many fun things to do as Halloween approaches is to cram in as many horror films as possible! In the days leading up to October, I like to save my actual 'Halloween' based movies, and ease into the season with some of my favorite horror. If you're looking for some inspiration on what to watch, check out this handy flowchart! Based on what sub-genres you're interested in, it'll give you some suggestions.  Oh, and sorry about the chart going off the page...I wanted to make sure you could see all the spooky goodness!

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!