Dahlia DeWinters – Author – Page 24 – Quirky Heroines, Happy Endings

Blogtoberfest – Clinton Road, New Jersey

There is a great magazine out there called Weird NJ, wherein the authors note and describe weird/haunted places in New Jersey. It’s a fun read, but especially around this time of year. One of the most enduring legends is Clinton Road, located in West MIlford, New Jersey.
Snippets from the New York Daily News:

“It’s like a dark highway into people’s innermost fears.” That’s how Mark Moran, publisher and co-creator of the Weird NJ magazine and website, sums up Clinton Road, a quiet and twisty stretch of road roughly 55 miles northwest of New York City.

“People definitely play on the legend [of Clinton Road],” said Mark Moran. He mentions the menacing black truck that lurks on the road. Appearing out of nowhere, the truck gets extremely close to your rear bumper, flashes its lights, and then suddenly disappears into the night.

From WeirdNJ.com

This rugged ten mile stretch of deserted road is so rich in lore that it has been attracting late night visitors for generations. The stories that these sightseeing sojourners have brought back with them of their adventures are sometimes harrowing, often terrifying, and almost always intriguing. Many of these tales of midnight joyrides may seem unbelievable, while others leave one wondering just where truth ends, and an overactive imagination begins.

If you ever decide to travel down Clinton Road at midnight, stop at the bridge by dead man’s curve. As the story goes if you sit on that bridge and throw pennies into the river, the ghost of a young boy will throw them back to you. –Anonymous

My friends and I decided to find out for ourselves what is true and what is not. We went to the bridge and threw a quarter off. Not but a minute later you hear the bloop, as if you dropped the quarter in again. The water filled with ripples and a child’s reflection appeared. I flew back to the car. That scared all of us. –Dina, West Milford

You can read more here.

Pleasant dreams!

Dahlia

Five Scary Books – Lori Titus

As a fun part of Blogtoberfest, I asked my artist friends to send me their top five scary movies or top five scary books. The results were varied and interesting.

According to Lori Titus:

My top five scary books are:

5) Dark Rivers of the Heart by Dean Koontz

4) The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice

3) Fledgling by Octavia Butler

2) The Shining By Stephen King

1) My Soul to Keep by Tananrive Due

Lori Titus is a Californian with a craving for all things dark and scary. She sleeps most days and powers through her nights with the help of caffeine and waking dreams. When not working on or plotting out her novels, she is a voracious reader and pet lover. Catch up with her latest work on her blog, The Darkest of Lore (loribeth215@wordpress.com) catch her on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter or Instagram as Loribeth215. Her latest novel, The Art of Shadows, will be released in November 2016.

Want in on this? Send me your bio, your site and your top five scary movies or top five scary books!

Blogtoberfest – The Shining

I’ll be honest, I saw the movie “The Shining” before I read the book. Saw it on channel seven, ABC’s channel here in the New York area. I’m not sure how old I was, but I must have been in high school because the movie was in the theatre in 1980.

That movie frightens me to this day, even when they show it on the Arts and Entertainment channel.

The whole idea of being snowbound and trapped while the “strongest” of your party goes slowly mad and there’s nothing you can do about it is frightening enough. The fact that the HOTEL itself is making it impossible for you to escape from him is even scarier.

There is also the helpless feeling you have that not only is there “no escape”, but it’s your spouse/someone close, the one person who you love and trust the most in the world, is the one who is menacing you.

The soundtrack adds to the dread with its Native American chants, droning underchords and well-used scare chords.

The most well used scare chord is at the very end. No matter how much I anticipate it, it gets me EVERY SINGLE TIME.

Of course, YMMV (Your mileage may vary). Each person watches a different movie.

[clickToTweet tweet=”‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.’ #quotes #theshining #kubrick” quote=”‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.'” theme=”style4″]

Here’s a taste of Jack Nicholson, before he became the Joker. I must say, no matter what is said about Kubrick, he got excellent performances out of his actors. You can feel Wendy’s fear of her husband. However, no matter how afraid she may be, she’s still reluctant to really hurt him.

The miniseries remake with Steven Weber (from the show WINGS of all places) didn’t half faze me. I mean, this is the dude from Wings against Jack Nicholson for heaven’s sake. It’s a no brainer.

**“Come play with us, Danny. Forever. And ever. And ever.“**

The movie was made in 1980, but I’ll say SPOILER ALERT anyway.

The Shining is an example of chillingly great horror movie. The final shot of Jack Nicholson frozen in the hedge maze…that haunted me for quite a few nights after that!

So what’s YOUR favorite scary movie????

Five Scary Movies – Katara Johnson

As a fun part of Blogtoberfest, I asked my artist friends to send me their top five scary movies. The results were varied and interesting.

According to Katara:

My top 5 scary movies:

1. It
2. Pet Cemetery
3. Children of the Corn
4. Scream
5. Final Destination

Bio: Katara is a happy radio host who likes to read and write. When she is not taking care of grown up responsibilities you can catch her with her kindle in one hand and her phone in the other.

Visit: bit.ly/katarascafe

Blogtoberfest – Vampire Sangria

Hello again! So glad to see y’all along with me for the ride of 31 days of Halloween blogging, or, as I call it……BLOGTOBERFEST……..

Today’s recipe is not a mocktail, but a straight up liquor fest. It was a choice between this and chocolate martinis. I chose this because it looks like fruit punch. (What, me drinking? Nah, this is fruit punch.) And I love sangria.

You can find the basic recipe here, but I added my own twists.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

1 (750 ml bottle of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Rioja reds, Zinfandel, Shiraz)
1 Lemon cut into wedges
1 Orange cut into wedges
Strawberry or Kiwi slices
3 Tbsp sugar
2 shots brandy
1 shot gin
2 cups ginger ale or club soda

Preparation:

Pour wine in the pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the lemon and orange into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and add sugar and brandy. Chill overnight. Add ginger ale or club soda just before serving.

If you’d like to serve right away, use chilled red wine and serve over lots of ice.