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Dahlia DeWinters - Author

Quirky Heroines, Happy Endings

Blogtoberfest – Dark Country Songs

There’s no song like a country song.  Whether you’re into Charley Pride, Hank Williams, Hank Williams Jr., Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, Patsy Cline or the “new school” of Garth Brooks, Trace Adkins, Miko Marks and a score of others, there’s not a doubt in my mind that country’s roots are entwined with the blues both musically and lyrically.  Some of the saddest songs I’ve ever heard were from either of these genres, usually by men, who’ve acted up so bad that they drove their woman, and sometimes their dog, away.

Today we’re going to look at and listen to some dark country songs that go even deeper into the human psyche, past crying into your beer or sittin on the porch weeping, into murder, mayhem and ghosts.

 

The first one is by a musician who performs one of my all time favorite country songs.  The Charlie Daniels Band is perhaps best known for its rollicking fiddle-fest “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”, but they also did a mysterious song that tells of a swamp, an old man and a treasure.

It’s a song that tells a story and it starts off like this:

 

Well, if you ever go back into Wooley Swamp
Well, you better not go at night
There’s things out there in the middle of them woods
That make a strong man die from fright
Things that crawl and things that fly
And things that creep around on the ground
And they say the ghost of Lucius Clay
Gets up and he walks around

To say anything further would ruin the scarily told/sung story, so click here to listen for yourself:

 

As a child, Johnny Cash’s rumbling bass always used to scare me. It also didn’t help that he was called “The Man in Black” which rendered him as some sort of evil being floating around, scaring kids with his guitar and flashy country shirts.  As I grew older, however, I was more able to appreciate the music and I give you “Ghost Riders in the Sky”.  Can’t get much scarier than that.

Rachel Brooke – The Black Bird

This sparse arrangement leaves room for Rachel Brooke’s hauntingly innocent sounding voice to a story of illicit love…and that black bird always watching. Also, the video is pretty creepy too!

 

 

Comment below with your dark country artists!

 

Dahlia

 


Filed Under: Blogtoberfest, Music Tagged: blogtoberfest, colors in darkness, dahliadewinters, dark country, dark country songs, horror movies, scary songs, songs for halloween

Blogtoberfest – My Bloody Vampire Sangria

Hello again!  So glad to see y’all along with me for the ride 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 twist.

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.

 


Filed Under: Blogtoberfest, Recipes, Uncategorized Tagged: blerd, blogtoberfest, colors in darkness, dahlia dewinters, female geek bloggers, geek girl, halloween, halloween drinks, Halloween fun, halloween recipe, sangria, vampires

Blogtoberfest – Five Scary Movies – Mya Lairis

My top five scary movies are: 

 

1. Trilogy of Terror– is my all time scary movie. There is just something about that damn doll, like maybe it gnawed my ankles off in a past life or something but I have only watched this film once. Trying to get up the nerve to do it again, but…that doll!

2. Squirm– I have no issue with snakes, at all…they are tasty in fact but earthworms, shrieking, no-eyes having, able to be cut into pieces and still live, burrowing under the skin…Hell naw.

3. Event Horizon– When I first saw this film it scared the crap out of me. Dimensional terrors usually hit home with the terror mark in me and that the space ship had breached the dimension to Hell and was inescapable…yeah. I have been able to watch this a few times however and still, its a shitty deal for those on board.

4. Evil Dead Remake– This was an excellent remake and one that I winced a couple of times at but enjoyed all the same. That razor blade though….

5. Beloved– Yup, actually now that I think about it, this could be one of the scariest films I’ve ever seen. The notion of slavery is frightening enough but this film did emotional damage to me as it made me question the notions of anger, vengeance, and self. Creatures are scary and all but the human psyche can be far worse.

Bio: Mya Lairis is a monster and kaiju  fanatic who writes paranormal romance and erotica but who reads mostly extreme horror and heart racing cyber punk sci fi.

Website: www.myalairis.com

 

 


Filed Under: 5 Fandom Friday, 5 Favorites Friday, Blogtoberfest Tagged: black girl geeks, black girl nerds, blerd, blogtoberfest, CID, colors in darkness, dahlia dewinters, halloween, halloween party, horror movies, movies, movies that scare, mya lairis, scary, scary movies, top scary movies

Blogtoberfest -Swallow that Sweet Fear: Halloween Cookie Recipe

Photo Courtesy of Domino Sugar

It’s cookie recipe day! 

If you’re like me,  you plan way ahead for any type of party or treat fest because you’ve just GOT to be sure that everything is going to go right. 

I worked with my daughter this summer in perfecting her cupcake and frosting recipe so she would have the most lovely cupcakes to take to school for her birthday.

Mind you, I can’t stand everyday cooking, but baking is my thing.  I like the fact that it’s fun, short and you get a sweet treat at the end.

Now, I’m giving you this cookie recipe early enough so you have time to experiment with it, mess it up and start again. 

 

Halloween Bat Sugar Cookies – Recipe courtesy of Domino Sugar

YIELDS

3 to 4 dozen cookies

INGREDIENTS

Cookies

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
  • 3/4 cup firmly packed Domino® Light Brown Sugar
  • 3/4 cup Domino® Granulated Sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Icing

  • 3 3/4 cups (1-lb pkg.) Domino® Confectioners Sugar
  • 3 tablespoons meringue powder
  • 6 tablespoons warm water
  • purple food coloring
  • 1 tube black decorator gel icing

Click HERE for the rest of the recipe.

 

Happy Baking

 

Dahlia


Filed Under: Blogtoberfest, Recipes Tagged: black girl nerds, blogtoberfest, colors in darkness, cookie recipes, cookies, dahlia dewinters, female geek bloggers, halloiween, halloween, halloween cookies, halloween dessert

Horror Movie Review – Exhibit A

Title:  Exhibit A

Genre:  Thriller/Horror – Found Footage

Synopsis:  The timely story of a normal family disintegrating under financial pressure, eventually driven to the unimaginable. We witness the terrifying events unfold through daughter Judith’s video camera, which subsequently becomes Exhibit A.

I watched this movie on the recommendation of Overthinking Horror Films.  For some reason, I really enjoy “found footage” horror films and was looking for something that was found footage but wasn’t littered with profanity and super shaky cam.  I mean, the jitter cam is fine, but when it’s 80 percent of the movie, it’s more annoying than atmospheric.

I’d seen Exhibit A in my travels through the websites that listed found footage, but never really paused to examine it more closely.  First of all, it’s a British film and either I didn’t want to fight with the accents, or the description didn’t grab me.  However, since I trust OHF’s taste in films, I took a chance and watched it.

I’ve seen reviews which poo-poo the film or say that it’s over the top.  They’ll say the acting was terrible and how could the daughter film all through this. Let me just say this.  The film got me by throat and didn’t let go until the end.  I even gasped in some parts.

The basic premise is a regular old family of Mom and Dad, and two teens, a girl and a boy.  I was a little annoyed when thirty seconds in , the girl filmed herself in the mirror so that we could see who she was.  Ugh.  However, I stuck with it and while I can’t say I was rewarded for my perseverance, I was served a good film.

The father’s performance was one that stuck with me the most.  Early on, I could see something was amiss and the little things just kept piling up.  The film became more painful to watch as it went on, not because the performances were bad, but you could see where the train was going.  You just wondered where exactly it was going to wreck.  

And wreck it did.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more harrowing to an ending in recent years.  At one point, I had to look away from the screen to relieve the tension.  I just didn’t want to bear witness to it any more.  Yes, it’s a movie, but the actors sold the story and I was right there with them.

This is not a gleeful horror film.  While it’s stylized up to a point, it’s a little too close to the bone to be laughed at.

 

Rating: B+ Recommended.


Filed Under: Free For All Fridays, Horror Movie Reviews, Movies--Books--Music--Television Tagged: black girl nerds, colors in darkness, dahlia dewinters, female geek bloggers, horror movie review, horror movies

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