It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Regular readers of Mighty Distractible are well aware of our love of Halloween (and all things creepy, if truth be told). So, today, as the hallowed day approaches, I thought I'd do two things: 

1. Post links to some of our previous Halloween-themed posts (because, honestly, there's some good reading there!) and...

2. Steal Reprint this amazing article from mashable.com

Vintage MD Halloween-themed posts include lists of awesome scary movies, scary books, a couple of recipes, and even a "how to throw a Rosemary's Baby party". Here are the best ones:

• Spooky podcasts
• Alex's starter list of spooky movies
• Cassandra's all-time favorite spooky audiobooks
• A magical Halloween recipe
• Cassandra's favorite spooky films
• How to throw a Rosemary's Baby party
• Baked rat recipe (perfect for Halloween!)

And now, the best Halloween article I've seen this season... a great list of mostly current, very scary books from contributor Molly Horan at mashable.com called "9 Books Scarier Than Any Horror Movie". Enjoy!

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9 Books Scarier Than Any Horror Movie

by Molly Horan, published October 14, 2013

There is nothing better than a good ghost story.

It might be tempting to pop in one of your scarier movies when you want to get into the Halloween spirit, but there are plenty of novels sure to keep you up for just as many nights.

Just be careful if you read these titles in a public place. You might mistake the woman who just wants your extra chair as your book's monster. And no one wants to go viral as "shrieking girl in Starbucks."

• 1. The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

  What if you were the thing your neighbors whispered about, the dark shadow that everyone felt but no one acknowledged? The Replacements takes place in a town where every once in a while, a baby will be taken and replaced by a not-quite-right double that dies soon after the switch is made. The entire story is told from the perspective of one of the replacements that has mysteriously lived into his teens.

  IMAGE: PENGUIN PUBLISHING

• 2. Horns By Joe Hill

  Pick up this novel written by Stephen King's oldest son before the movie comes out, and you can only picture Daniel Radcliffe as the newly horned, deeply troubled protagonist Ig. It's proof that the scariest creatures in fiction are not ghosts or vampires, they are characters so twisted by grief and rage they've become unrecognizable.

  IMAGE: HARPER COLLINS

• 3. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

  When people talk about what kind of superpowers they'd like to have, the most common are typically flight, invisibility and mind reading. Mara Dyer has the power of her fear and her anger, and it's not until she walks into a room of live-caged bugs and walks out of a room of dead ones that she understands just how powerful she is.

  IMAGE: SIMON AND SCHUSTER
• 

  4. Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist

  Readers today are never at a loss for new zombie books, and any story about society crumbling under the weight of the brain-eating undead is bound to be terrifying. What makes Handling the Undead particularly spine-tingling is the window of hope for the characters that their undead loved ones might mean them no harm.

  IMAGE: MACMILLAN PUBLISHERS

• 5. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

  The best thrillers tap into a specific (and realistic) fear. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown opens in the aftermath of a typical party. But when the young heroine wakes up, instead of finding drunk people, she's surrounded by dead people. And it only gets creepier from there.

  IMAGE: HACHETTE BOOK GROUP

• 

  6. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

  What's truly creepy about this Shirley Jackson classic are all the unanswered questions left with the reader. At the end of most thrillers, you at least know what to be irrationally afraid of. With this novel, you won't know if you should be wary of the haunted house on the corner or the mysterious woman who lives next-door.

  IMAGE: PENGUIN PUBLISHING

• 7. Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

  Cas has been killing ghosts for as long as he could handle his late father's ghost-slashing knife. It's a lonely life, but one that he fully accepted until coming face to face with Anna, the murderous ghost of a dead teen who wants to leave but can't. Anna doesn't want to kill but must, and she terrifies Cas -- not because of her black eyes or blood-soaked dress, but because she makes him hesitate.

  IMAGE: MACMILLAN PUBLISHERS

• 8. The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson

  This is the original Paranormal Activity, and definitely not a book to pick up before you move to a new house, or come anywhere near one. It can also provide a fun after-dinner game: How many terrifying noises, smells, or sounds does it take for you to move out?

  IMAGE: SIMON AND SCHUSTER

• 9. Miss Pergrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

  This novel has the makings of any great horror flick: an abandoned orphanage, haunting children (Because the first rule of effective horror trailer-making is to include a small child's eerie rendition of nursery rhymes.), and a horrible tragedy. If you doubt your ability to fill in the creepy pieces with your own imagination, the included spooky vintage photographs are guaranteed to haunt your dreams.

  IMAGE: QUIRK BOOKS

The House of Spirits and Whispers

It is dark and spooky out today here in Madison. So instead of writing about my weekend craftiness, I am going to tell you about a book I just finished, because it is spooky too.

The House of Spirits and Whispers by Annie Wilder

This is the true story of a single mom living on the Wisconsin-Minnesota border who bought a house and discovered pretty quickly that it was haunted. What makes this book different from most "Amityville" type of books is that it is actually a pretty sweet haunting. I don't want to give too much of the story away, but the ghosts who inhabit the house are former owners/tenants who love the house as much as she does.

Sure it's unsettling to hear banging on the walls at night or see apparitions in your bedroom doorway, but she tries to understand what is going on instead of running from it. Through research and some work with psychic mediums she starts to put together the cast of invisible characters trying to get her attention.

I give this book a thumbs-up. Its a super-fun story told by a woman I think most of us can relate to. (She's a practical Midwesterner after all!) Here is a video clip of her being interviewed about her haunted house:

Get into the spirit of the Halloween season! Go pick up a copy of The House of Spirits and Whispers and get your creepy on.

–Cassandra

Spookytober Movie Madness!

It's SPOOKYTOBER!

For those of you who may be fairly new to us, Cassandra and I adore Halloween.

I love giving out candy to the little spooks on the actual day. In Madison, we celebrate Halloween on Halloween - even if it's in the middle of the week. Plus, I live in a neighborhood with tons of kids so it's always a celebration. The toddlers start coming around 5pm and then the kids get older as the night progresses. Usually, around 8:30pm or so, the first teenager with no costume and a pillowcase shows up. That's my cue to shut down the candy train. In my version of Halloween, if you want candy, you have to work for it. It's not hard to pull together a hobo costume now, is it? Seriously.

Cassandra has her own Halloween obsessions which I'm sure she'll talk about at some point this month. I'll just give you a small insight... She gives over her entire dining room to SpookyTown. 'Nuff said.

When it's all said and done, my favorite part of Halloween is the opportunity to wallow in all things horror. No one looks at you sideways when you watch old scary movies in the month of October. And I love a good horror movie - especially ones from the 1970's. As a matter of fact, Cassandra and I just spent a couple of lunch hours watching The Omen from 1976. Religion-based horror is our favorite genre.

In past Spookytobers, we've written posts about our favorite movies, television, podcasts, and books. We'd like to encourage you to go back and check out some of these posts because you might just find the perfect gem of a scare.

Oh the Horror! - Alex's list of favorite scary movies

It was a dark and stormy night... - Cassandra's list of spooky audiobooks

It's Spookytober! - Cassandra's suggestions for spooky podcasts

But for today's post, I'm going to provide a few suggestions of current movies and/or tv that are perfect for the season. As always, this comes with the disclaimer that these are MY favorites. And, while I'm sure I'll have forgotten (or passed over) something you really, really like - that's what the comment section is for!

Enjoy!

- Alex

Spooky Television

666 Park Avenue - So far it's not super scary but we've only had two episodes and the premise is promising. A big old NYC Park Avenue apartment building is somehow EVIL (from the DEVIL) and is owned by a couple that's super-rich and also EVIL (from the DEVIL). The couple is played by Terry O'Quinn and Vanessa Williams - both of whom can be super-scary in a "we're beautiful and hiding something" way.

American Horror (The Asylum) - If last season is any indication, this new series is going to be one hairy scary ride. Part way through last season I thought, "How are they going to maintain this story over multiple years?" and now we know that they're doing each season as a separate "mini-series" - new setting, new cast, new scary story. This year, the setting is an asylum (obviously from the title) that is run by NUNS! Woot! Scary nuns! I'm holding out great hope for this one.


Spooky Movies

Sinister - A family moves in to a house where the previous family had been murdered. The writer-husband finds an old box of movie reels in the attic and he watches them (has he NEVER seen a horror movie?). Turns out that, by watching the films, he activates a demon who killed all the previous families in the house. And, of course, the demon is now after his family. The trailer looks super-creepy. Plus, it's got little kids doing scary horror things which is always good for a fright.


Paranormal Activity 4 - So... yeah. Generally, I would advise against any fourth sequel but the thing about the Paranormal Activity movies is that they're not at all about the story. You really go to see them just for the frights. And there's something really scary about the "home movie" format. It makes the whole thing more "real" somehow.




Silent Hill: Revelations 3D - You all know that I love an extra D on my movies (if it's appropriate) and I can think of no better use of 3D than this. The trailer looks OVER THE TOP creepy and, weirdly, reminds me of Hellraiser (one of my all-time favorite scary movies). Plus, it's got Sean Bean in it. I think I've made my argument here.

Party Like It's 1968...

...and your baby is The Son of Satan!

In the world of Mighty Distractible, "spooky" is a year-round celebration - not just to be celebrated on Halloween. However, we recognize that many of you reserve your spooky love for the month of October. Therefore, we try very hard to limit our blog posts about spooky subjects to the Halloween season.

If you're interested, here are a few other posts from last year's "Spookytober":

• It's Spookytober!
• It Was a Dark and Stormy Night
• Ghost Hunters (review)
• Creepy Inspiration

While we had fun with each of these posts, my favorite entries are our film lists. Last year, I posted my list of favorite scary movies - a fairly comprehensive introduction to good (or good-bad) horror films. Recently, Cassandra posted a list of her favorite spooky films.

There is one movie in particular that both Cassandra and I are obsessed with - Rosemary's Baby. I won't get into the myriad reasons why this movie ranks as one of the best films ever committed to celluloid because that would become the Longest.Blogpost.Ever. But, I will share with you our secrets for hosting an awesome Rosemary's Baby Party (perfect for Halloween!!)

How to Host a Rosemary's Baby Party

There's a lot of eating and drinking that happens in Rosemary's Baby, and it's a recent-period film, so there's plenty to work with when planning your perfect Halloween party.

1. Costumes can be simple 1960's outfits. A trip to your local thrift store will yield plenty of options. But, if you really want to get specific, there are many secondary characters, including some very odd ones in the dream sequence, that would make great costumes including: the Pope, JFK, a Japanese photographer, etc.
2. Appetizers should include beef carpacio (raw, paper-thin beef) with capers. Rosemary ate her meat raw when she was pregnant with the Son of Satan. Also, she's given a charm containing "tannis root" which, by the description, I think might look like capers. Another good choice is chicken liver pate. Rosemary ate raw chicken livers but I'm guessing your guests wouldn't be into that so much.
3. Dessert has to be chocolate mousse - or, as Minnie (the devil's minion) calls it, "chocolate mouse." The way to make this especially perfect is to crush up some chocolate Necco wafers and mix them in the mousse. They need to be, basically, powdered so that you can't really tell they're in there. The Necco wafers will give the mousse the "chalky under taste" that Rosemary complains of in the movie. You can also serve chocolate chip cookies which Rosemary baked to give to the trick-or-treating children in her apartment building (oh the days of homemade treats!)
4. Cocktails should be appropriate to the '60's - martini's, Tom Collins', Gin Fizzes, etc. But, regardless of what you have available on your bar, you absolutely must serve Vodka Blush (recipe below). Roman and Minnie (devil's minions) serve Rosemary and her husband, Guy, Vodka Blush at their first dinner together. (Be sure to over fill the glasses and spill a little in remembrance of Roman.) While not a particularly popular drink today, sherry is another option as this is what Rosemary drank when she was pregnant - and she was afraid it had harmed the baby.
5. Another drink option is to recreate the "herbal drink" that Minnie makes for Rosemary each day. The consistency is like a yogurt smoothie and the color is green. I would recommend making smoothies with vanilla yogurt and using some green food coloring to get the right color.
6. If you like playing party games, Scrabble should be on the docket as Rosemary used Scrabble pieces to help her solve the anagram that reveals Roman's true identity.
7. Of course, the movie should be playing in the background throughout the party!

I hope you all have an amazing Halloween weekend. Just remember, to make it perfectly perfect, you have to have at least ONE viewing of Rosemary's Baby before November 1.

- Alex

Vodka Blush Recipe

2 1/2 oz vodka
3/4 ozfresh lime juice
1 dash grenadine syrup

Fill shaker 2/3 with fresh ice. Add ingredients. Shake and strain into chilled cocktail glass.