Halloween Tradition

I'd like to share with you, if I may, a bit of my Halloween tradition. Besides watching old, scary movies, my mother and I will sometimes break out the recordings of old radio shows. Most of the ones we have are adventures or mysteries, but there is one that scared the living daylights out of me when I was little. It is a 1945 radio drama of "The Dunwich Horror" by H.P. Lovecraft.

I've never actually read any of Lovecraft's stories; I've been too scared to and it is all because of this radio show. It even made me afraid of whip-poor-wills for a while.

It isn't really that scary, to be honest. But it is chilling. It gets into your mind and nestles there next to the imagination, whispering to it and allowing it to run away with all kinds of unsavory images. Even now, I get chills when I listen to it.

If you've about 30 minutes to spare, I recommend giving it a listen and I dare you not to shiver when you hear the voice of Wilbur Whateley demanding the incantation, or when something unmentionable calls out to its father.

Don't pay any attention to the slide show that come with the videos, just listen and let it sink in.

Happy Halloween! Don't let the Elder Gods haunt your dreams.

Keeping Dead

Hi, Everyone!


We hope you've been enjoying the wonder October Treats Clara and I have been posting for you during our Annual Break from Blogging! We're back tonight with a few tales that are ripe for the season, and just in time for Halloween! Hope you've all been good ghouls and zomboys. Even if you haven't, the Spatulans still have some treats (not tricks) for your enjoyment. :) 

Keeping Dead

I surveyed the land stretched out before me. It was a modest place, old and overgrown. You could feel the history of the setting through the grass and up through the soles of your shoes, as if the land was trying to convey to you the importance of its past through every cell and fiber of your being. 

I had worked the land for many years. I came here to be the Keeper when my mentor, Chris, a wise woman, asked me if I would be interested. Needless to say I jumped at the chance.

This job had been completely different from the one I worked before. My former profession was that of a lay minister. I had grown up in this same town, sadly receiving no formal training or education, married, raised children, and settled into the life and heartbeat of a humble, backwards community. And it is here that I remain. 

This Is Halloween

I was going to post something Lovecraftian and horrifying, but then I found this video and...well... what's Halloween without a little fun?

Happy Halloween everyone!

The Haunting

"The dead are not quiet in Hill House."

The Haunting, the 1963 original, was the first  movie that scared me stiff. Sure, by today's "horror" standards it isn't really that scary. But that's the thing about this movie; there are no jump scares, no excess of gore or violence. In fact, you don't see anything.

And that's why it scared me so much. My imagination was free to embellish all kinds of horrible possibilities for the things that happened in Hill House. And I really think that is what is missing from movies (and movie audiences) today, nothing is as terrifying as what our own minds can conjure for us.

I watch this every Halloween and it stills gives me cold shivers every time I watch it.

The Raven

It wouldn't really be Halloween without Poe's "The Raven." I present, for your entertainment, the two masters of horror reading the masterpiece poem. It's hard to figure out which one I like more, Vincent Price's frantic tone or the creepy deepness of Christopher Lee's voice.

Eye of Newt: A Green Smoothie Recipe

Eye of Newt | A Green Smoothie Recipe

While I'm aware this might look like something Latrine would have concocted, I can assure you it tastes much better than it looks.

It's also a healthy alternative to Monday's milkshake, and a good way to get yourself going in the morning. Unless you're a night owl like myself. In that case this will help you wake up after 8... in the evening. ;)

Ingredients: 

• 1 Frozen Banana
• 1/2 Cup Frozen Mango
• 2 Cups Kale- Chopped fine or torn
• 2 Tsp Raw Cacao (I substituted chocolate syrup for this. Hence why the color came out a little less green and a lot more pond scum)
• 1Tbs almond butter
• 1-2 Cups water
• *Optional: I added a little bit of honey to the top and swirled it around with a toothpick. This adds a nice touch, and also a little more sweetness for us Sugar Addicts. 

Directions: 

Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth.

Twitchy, Witchy Girl: Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

AH, yes, Fall is the best time for making ooey-gooey treats and dipping into warm, refreshing beverages. While we are all dreaming of wearing our scarves and borderline-fashionista-drool-worthy footwear, the weather around Southern Virginia has been a mite bit inconsiderate. So while we are having dreams of cider and bonfires, we're still swilling on iced lattes with our feet still happily in their flip-flops. 

Thus, a Pumpkin Pie Milkshake is the best of both worlds! Autumnal Spices blended with Summery Ice cream, and suddenly everyone's happy again and all's right with the world! Now, if only everything else were so easy!

A pumpkin pie milkshake out in the wild!

There are actually two recipes. You could use the more involved one, as I was originally going to do, explained here. OR, you could take the easy, no-brainer route. You can tell which one I used...

Here's the Easy Way-

Ingredients:

1. Two- Three scoops of Eddy's Limited Edition Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream.

2. 1/2- 2/3 cup of milk (or soy, or almond milk, depending upon your preference.)

Directions:

1. Combine ingredients in blender and churn those suckers up! 

2. Top with your choice of nutmeg or cinnamon. I chose to top mine with a swirl of caramel and a dash of pumpkin spice for extra OOMPH power. 

3. Enjoy!

In His House at R'lyeh, With A Mouse?

A little levity for Friday!

The Artists dA gallery, check out the other pages.

H.P. Lovecraft meets Dr. Seuss courtesy of dA artist DrFaustusAU, complete with rhymes and cute illustrations.

"There are certain themes of which the interest is all-abosorbing,

but which are too entirely horrible for the purposes of legitimate fiction."

-Edgar Allen Poe, The Premature Burial

A Lonesome Road

When the Moon Howls

Halloween Challenge

Courtesy of Fotolia

Two weeks ago, Lucy issued a challenge: think of something that scares you and go out and DO IT. 

I brainstormed fearsome actions for a week; there were even tornado warnings.  I crossed off reality-tv-like stunts and anything that would take more than two weeks.  I wanted to do something to further a goal I cared about, another step down my five-year plan. 

Recently, I’ve taken a lot of steps that scare the hell out of me (and there’s a lot of hell in there to scare out): I started River City Fiction, shy me talks to Richmond’s literary who’s who; I left my day job; I started another job more in line with my literary ambitions; I’m planning a 30^th anniversary celebration for an indie bookstore as part of the job; I joined and formed critique groups; I’m applying to grad school.  Basically, the last few months have been one pee-my-panties experience after another, but there was one major career-related biggie left.  I needed to share my fiction in a public space.

But it scared the crap out of me.  Since 2008, only 100 words of my fiction have been read by anyone outside my inner circle, and they were here on Fantastic Spatula.  I admit it seems neurotic since I hope to be published one day.  I, like most species on earth, protect what I care about.  I guard it from bullying like an over-protective parent, I hoard it like Smaug, but to improve, fiction has to get black eyes, and it has to circulate. 

To fulfill the Halloween challenge, I will post fiction to Fantastic Spatula for the month of November.  I can already feel the hairs on the back of my neck raise.  Happy Halloween, Spatulans.