scary

Blogtoberfest: Vincent Price’s Rap Career

If you are a horror fan from way back, and lived in the New York area, certainly you remember the 4:30 movies on WABC, channel 7. They aired after The Edge of Night and were all those cheesy 70s movies we know and love. Oftentimes, they would have a “theme week:”, such as Godzilla week, Gamera week, Monster week, Planet of the Apes week etc. I always loved the Vincent Price/Edgar Allen Poe week. It was a fun, not too scary, kinda cheesy introduction for kids to horror films.

From then on, whenever I saw Vincent Price, I knew something scary or sinister was about to happen on-screen. Michael Jackson must have had the same experience, because he tapped Mr. Price to do the “Thriller Rap”. Here, Mr. Price recreates his part on the Joan Rivers’ show, the first time he’s done it on television. And the laugh. The laugh.

Enjoy!

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

Blogtoberfest – Vampire’s Kiss Cocktail

For our third day of #blogtoberfest (click to check out the other posts, both new and old) let’s take a look at our adult beverages. Today’s recipe is for a cocktail, lovingly named Vampire’s Kiss. Quick to mix up, nice to look at, and tasty to boot!

All you need are:

2 ounces raspberry vodka
2 ounces black raspberry liqueur
3 ounces cranberry juice
chilled glassAdd all ingredients to shaker with ice, shake it up, and serve!Enjoy!

recipe courtesy of https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/vampires-kiss-347701

Blogtoberfest – Urban Legends – Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine

By Chris C Jones (Own work) [CC BY-SA 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

As part of Blogtoberfest and the season of Halloween in general, it’s always fun to take a look at the urban legends which stay a part of our pop culture. Every state seems to have their own, and some states have more than one. Some of the urban legends have found their way onto as in this case.

The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine is a legend, that, much .like many legends, is steeped in fact. It is, obviously, a gold mine located in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona. As legends will go, there are many stories that circulate around how to find the mine, leading to people actually trying to find it. And, yes, some have perished on their quest for the riches.

A little history: The mine is named after a German immigrant names Jacob Waltz who found it and kept it a secret. Interestingly enough, despite the lack of information we have about it, it might be the most famous “lost mine” legend in American history.

I was tricked into watching an “entertainment program” that I thought was a documentary about the mine. Called Legend of the Superstition Mountains, it resembled a factual program until I found out it was a six season “fakumentary”. Also, it was pretty boring, which is the real crime. I mean, if you’re going to fake something, please, make it interesting.

The film based loosely around this legend is called Dark Mountain, and to be honest, I tried to watch that one too….but wow, a snooze fest it was. I couldn’t finish it.

So there, you are, a taste of the urban legend, the Lost Dutchman’s Mine. If you plan on going to look for it, be sure to bring plenty of water. Arizona’s pretty hot and dry.

Dahlia

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Dutchman%27s_Gold_Mine

Blogtoberfest – Stephen King's Pet Sematary

Horror is different for everyone. I don’t think the “experts” can agree on what horror is and thus there are tons of movies and books that represent the horror

Cover of "Pet Sematary (Special Collector... — Cover via Amazon

genre, as it should be.

I also believe that horror is different depending on where you are in your life. What’s represents horror for a twenty-year-old might be old-hat to a forty year old. Books that resounded for me in my twenties are just “eh” now that I’m a lovely seasoned woman of a certain age.

But Stephen King’s Pet Semetary broke that mold. It’s just as frightening now as when I first read it many years ago.

Here’s the blurb

“Sometimes dead is better….”When the Creeds move into a beautiful old house in rural Maine, it all seems too good to be true: physician father, beautiful wife, charming little daughter, adorable infant son — and now an idyllic home. As a family, they’ve got it all…right down to the friendly cat.

But the nearby woods hide a blood-chilling truth — more terrifying than death itself…and hideously more powerful.

SPOILERS SPOILERS sort of SPOILERS sort of SPOILERS SPOILERS

My goodness, what a story. It runs the gamut from the “real-life” horror of the death of a child and the grief that follows, to the otherworldly horror that awaits when the family tries to alleviate the grief that follows the death of a family pet.

The first time I read the story the scene on the hill wasn’t so horrifying. You know why? Because I didn’t have children of my own. I think I was more touched by the death of the pet than I was by the other. However, when I read it now, that scene on the hill makes my gut twinge and jump. After reading it, I had to go “check on the children”. Having children of my own makes the following scenes more poignant and so much more touching.

Sympathy turning to empathy.

SPOILERS END (they were half-assed anyway)

My theory of horror if you’re “just watching” it makes it a lot less scary. “This could never happen to me because blah blah”. When an ordinary situation turns into a “horror” situation, something that could happen to anyone, something that is plausible (with a little “what if” thrown in) that’s when the true terror begins.

Pet Sematary is about grief, loss and at its core, the horror of not letting go and where it can get you.