Recipe of the Month – July

One minute I was shuffling around my living room, worried about the current state of the world…

I suppose I could pour my heart and soul out, in another boring, feeble attempt to explain how summer depression disorder works, or, I could blame it on aliens. Lucky for you, I was totally kidnapped by aliens!

I don’t remember a thing, except when I woke up, a strange voice in my head told me to make these amazing Toy Story Alien Popcorn Balls found over at TotallytheBomb.com and binge-watch 5 seasons of CW’s The Originals, so that’s what I did.👽

alien-popcorn-balls-1 — Photo by TotallytheBomb.com

Ingredients:

½ cup granulated sugar
4 tbsp butter
⅓ cup corn syrup
1 cup unpopped popcorn (about 6 cups popped)
1 tsp Neon Green GEL food coloring
12 Candy Eyeballs

Photo by TotallytheBomb.com

For the full recipe instructions, please visit here:
https://totallythebomb.com/ready-for-the-claw-toy-story-alien-popcorn-balls

alien-popcorn-balls-5 — Photo by TotallytheBomb.com

Recipe of the Month – February

Today we celebrate Women in Horror, with a tribute to a legendary queen of horror, Sigourney Weaver, star of enduring Alien franchise.

In Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi horror masterpiece Alien, Sigourney relished the chance to bring a smart, no-nonsense, powerful leader to movie audiences during a time when women yearned to see a strong female presence on the big screen. Lt. Ellen Ripley proved to be way more than just the final girl, and in the 1986 sequel Aliens, Sigourney continued to portray Ripley, this time as a badass survivor and the voice of reason in this crazy new world. In her final action-packed showdown with the queen mother of all Xenomorphs, Ripley emerged as one of the greatest female kickass heroes on film, period.

So, in honor of Queen of Sci-fi and of Horror, I found a recipe for Date and Marizpan Alien Xenomorph Eggs over at Feast In Thyme.

20190912_XenomorphEggs-OH-1c-lo — Date & Marzipan Alien Xenomorph Eggs by Feast in Thyme

Ingredients:

24 large Medjool dates
1 (7 ounces) tube marzipan almond candy dough
1 cup dark chocolate fudge (see below, or your favorite recipe)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Decorating Supplies: green sprinkles, matcha powder, cocao powder (optional)
Feast in Thyme

Feast in Thyme

For the full recipe and cooking instructions, please visit here: https://feastinthyme.com/alien-xenomorph-eggs/

For some insight on Sigourney’s thoughts on playing Ripley, check out this video:

Wicked Art Wednesdays – Sam Heimer

Happy October! Kicking off Wicked Art Wednesdays this Halloween season with illustrator, designer, and master horror artist, Sam Heimer, who credits Edward Gorey, H.P. Lovecraft, and Alfred Hitchcock, among others, as early influences on his work. His art invokes the Halloween spirit with scenes of trick-or-treaters, skeletons, pumpkins, classic movie monsters, aliens, and Victorian and Steampunk themes, as well as film noir.

Artist: Sam Heimer
Where to Purchase Goods: Etsy shop, horror conventions, gallery shows, and special events
Website: https://samheimer.wordpress.com/ and https://www.etsy.com/market/sam_heimer
Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/sam_heimer/

Why we love them: Chances are you’ve come across Sam Heimer’s art before and a big part of the reason is he still takes custom orders. No, seriously, I’m not sure if you all understand how big an opportunity that is. From magazines to book covers, t-shirts to beer cans, Sam Heimer’s work is everywhere and Halloween fans are better for it. He smoothly blends horror with whimsical trick-or-treat scenes, reminding us just how thin the veil between innocence and evil is on Halloween night. If terrifying could be cute, it would be a Sam Heimer piece.

©Sam Heimer

Best of Irish Horror

For a country so rich in myths and folklore, Ireland doesn’t produce many horror films. Let’s hope someone is carving out some funds from the $250 million that the Irish Film Board received last year to help usher in more scary movies from the Emerald Isle. Until then, here are five great Irish horror films to watch this month.

Citadel (2012)

citadel

“Take a look at yourself. Everything about you, says victim.”

A grieving new father joins forces with a grumpy priest to protect his baby from being taken by feral children.

Nothing will prepare for the barrage of emotions you’ll feel, watching a grieving young man struggling to care for his baby, fight the broken system, and deal with his post-traumatic stress disorder, all while fending off a group of freaky feral children from trying to kidnap his child. Suspenseful and unsettling, in the same vein as the French thriller Them, sadly, The Citadel misses the opportunity to truly be a frightening horror film, nonetheless, I still recommend it for the outstanding performances from Aneurin Barnard and James Cosmos.’

citadel2

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Haiku of the Week

it has landed
message from outer space
SOS

Best Horror Reboots/Remakes

January is almost over and few of us have kept our resolutions. Don’t worry, the year is still new and second chances can happen anytime. So, in keeping with that theme, here’s my picks for the best horror reboots/remakes.

Typically, I’m a big fan of the phrase “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. However, with the superior technological advances in both filmmaking and special effects, some reboots or remakes are pretty darn good, a few even surpass their predecessors. Let me know what you think.

10. Fright Night (1985/2011)

Yes, the characters aren’t half as charismatic as the original cast, but the acting talents of Colin Farrell, Anton Yelchin, Toni Collette and David Tennant are what keep Fright Night from being a bad remake. While the story itself hasn’t changed much, the remake loses most of its humor, in favor of a more sardonic style, making the film more of a thriller.

Biggest Changes: Setting location moves from main town, USA to a glitzy suburb of Las Vegas. No more camp, just blood-thirsty vampires.

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Underrated Halloween Movies for Teens

There’s plenty of kid-friendly Halloween movies out there, and but finding good movies for pre-teens and teens can get challenging. Halloween movies skewed towards older kids are far too scary for little ones and not quite scary or gory enough for adults, thus, many get overlooked as good Halloween movies. Not only do these movies on our list have a strong message, they invoke the spirit of Halloween.

♦♦♦♦♦

Monster House (2006) Steve Buscemi, Catherine O’Hara

Three friends discover their cranky neighbor’s haunted house is actually a scary monster.

At first glance, it’s just a silly kids movie but the story really highlights working through pubescent troubles and learning to get along with adults. When released, the film was mis-marketed to children, when clearly geared towards pre-teens and above. The movie deals with some teen issues and is far too scary for little kids. As for the characters, the adults are kinda creepy and the kids get into trouble, not your ideal role models, but they’re realistic enough that teens might will identify with them. There’s some excellent visuals and 3D version out there for those with a fancy TV.

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Top 10 Back to School Horror Films

It’s that time again. Time for all the kiddos to go back to school. Hollywood has long picked on teens to sell their worst nightmares to the delight of horror fans all over the world. Just when you thought there was nothing scarier than teenage angst and rampant acne, here’s ten Back to School thrillers that will make you glad that you’ve already graduated.

Prom Night (1980)

Chance of being killed is absolutely a good reason to skip the prom.

Four high schoolers, who made a pact in grade school never to reveal their involvement in the accidental death of a friend, are stalked by a masked killer on Prom Night, the anniversary of the death.

prom night

Unless you’re a diehard Idris Elba fan (which I am), I suggest watching original over the 2008 version. With Halloween and The Fog under her belt, star Jamie Lee Curtis secured the title of Scream Queen with Prom Night. The movie’s disco soundtrack became more popular with fans than the movie itself, but a copyright lawsuit killed its chances of US release. Original soundtrack was only released in Japan, making it a rarity among collectors but bootlegs are easily found these days.

Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

No one sleeps through the night in this neighborhood.

Four teenagers are stalked through their dreams by the vengeful spirit of a janitor, and alleged child murderer, who was killed by the teen’s parents, years ago.

nightmare on elm st

This film gave birth to one of horror’s most iconic killers, Freddy Krueger, played by the charismatic Robert Englund, and superstar Johnny Depp, in his film debut; and, it also saved New Line Cinema from bankruptcy, when the film made a killing at the box office. The screech of Krueger’s clawed glove is second most hair-raising sound in horror, the first being, the infamous chainsaw.

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