It was a dark and stormy night… Creepy Reads
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Dorian Grey is young and beautiful – but there is evil lurking beneath this flawless facade. Wilde’s 19th century novel follows Dorian’s descent into a hedonistic and corrupt lifestyle that he is able to hide with the help of a portrait with supernatural powers. As he commits evil deeds, his portrait becomes aged and grotesque – while Dorian maintains his outward beauty. Dorian’s descent into a self-indulgent, immoral lifestyle is both fascinating and horrifying.
It by Stephen King
Everyone knows that clowns are creepy; there just has to be something sinister lurking beneath those brightly painted, perpetually grinning faces. King’s tale of Pennywise the Clown terrorizing a neighbourhood of children taps into this common anxiety. At over 1000 pages, “It” is an engrossing read.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Frankenstein, the monstrous result of a science experiment gone wrong, is one of literature’s most infamous monsters. Frankenstein’s search for acceptance and companionship despite his horrid appearance is met with fear and disgust. This creature’s remarkably human qualities and his failed quest to connect with his creator are perhaps the most disturbing aspects of this gothic tale.
Scary Movie Pick: The Conjuring
As we get older, most of us become less easily impressed, let alone scared. Traditional Halloween fare, ghost stories, creepy costumes, spooky decorations, can be pretty frightening when you’re young; but as we get “mature,” we need to ramp up the thrills. Conveniently, the most horrifying movie this year was released on DVD and Blu-Ray just in time for Halloween. “The Conjuring” is a “based-on-a-true-story” about Ed and Lorraine Warren, a husband and wife team of paranormal investigators set in the 1970s.
In the film, the Warrens are extraordinary protagonists – they are seemingly fearless of the dark presence haunting the family. This film leaves one wanting to learn more about their career, and about demonology in particular. That is surely a good sign. Real film critics liked it too:
“It scared the living crap out of me. Only at the movies is that a compliment. So kudos to “The Conjuring” for putting fresh fire into the overworked haunted-house genre,” said Peter Travers for the Rolling Stone. (3/4 stars)
“The dread gathers and surges while the blood scarcely trickles in “The Conjuring,” a fantastically effective haunted-house movie,” said Manohla Dargis for the New York Times. (4/5 stars)
“There were moments where it seemed the entire theater was holding its breath. We were united in one feeling: terror,” said Ian Buckwalter for the Atlantic. (8/10 stars)
Frightening Music
What’s Halloween without a quintessential Halloween playlist? In search for Halloween songs to accompany one during lonesome late nights in library cubicles, this array of tracks resembles the ghoulish figures of the overworked, pulse-absent students that occupied these very cubicles and corridors.
If you’re looking for some way-backs, a few tracks come to mind outside Michael Jackson’s overplayed, “Thriller”. There’s Rockwell’s “Somebody’s watching me,” which makes light of crippling paranoia in a way that is exclusive to 1980s music videos. And since the vast majority of us are Canadian, it felt only appropriate to throw in a track that’d appeal to the masses of us northerners. Nothing screams Canada quite like a cowbell does and that’s when Blue Oyster Cult’s, “Don’t fear the reaper” came to mind.
If you’re not into the classics, modern music has adopted Halloween and reinvented its image. There are literally hundreds of classic tracks, from “This is Halloween” from the Nightmare Before Christmas, to “Michael Myers” remixes done in the dubstep genre.
If you’re a fan of dubstep and complete mindf*cks, go watch some of Jonah K’s videos of YouTube. With frighteningly ominous tones and incredibly eerie imagery, they sure do set the tone for a psychedelic, Halloween. This is for the fans of dub, and drum and bass.
Avenged Sevenfold’s, “Not ready to die,” has a piano interlude written for the zombie feature of the 2010 best-selling videogame, Call of Duty: Black Ops.
Staying with the heavier artists of the rock genre, Calabrese is an American Horror Punk band with no relation to Calabrese pizza. Their music is dark and with titles like “Backseat of my hearse,” and “Voices of the dead,” they make their music interests blatantly obvious.
Whatever your taste, you can rest assured that some artist, somewhere has reinvented the holiday we cherished as children and adapted them for the college experience.
Recipe: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
www.food.com
Total Time: 50 mins
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 45 mins
Ingredients:
– 1 1/2 cups pumpkin seeds
– 2 teaspoons melted butter (olive oil or vegetable oil work well) or 2 teaspoons melted oil (olive oil or vegetable oil work well)
– salt
– garlic powder (optional)
– cayenne pepper (optional)
– seasoning salt (optional)
– cajun seasoning (optional)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. While it’s OK to leave some strings and pulp on your seeds (it adds flavor) clean off any major chunks.
3. Toss pumpkin seeds in a bowl with the melted butter or oil and seasonings of your choice.
4. Spread pumpkin seeds in a single layer on baking sheet.
5. Bake for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown.
Spooky Nail Art:
If you aren’t planning on dressing up on Oct. 31, a great way to show your Halloween spirit is to paint your nails in a fun and decorative way. A quick search on the Internet will give you an endless amount of Halloween-themed options, but here are just a few selections you may want to try:
Blood Curdling by The Girlie Tomboy
Candy Corn by Fanny at mylifeinturquoise.blogspot.ca
Bloodshot eyeball at skate-or-cry.tumblr.com
Mummy at makenailart.blogspot.ca
Act IV, Scene 1 from Macbeth
William Shakespeare
The setting: A dark cave. In the middle a Caldron boiling. Thunder.
Enter the three Witches.
Witch one: Thrice the brinded cat hath mew’d.
Witch two: Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whin’d.
Witch three: Harpier cries:—’tis time! ’tis time!
Witch one: Round about the caldron go;
In the poison’d entrails throw.—
Toad, that under cold stone,
Days and nights has thirty-one;
Swelter’d venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot!
ALL: Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
Witch two: Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
ALL: Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
Witch three: Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf;
Witches’ mummy; maw and gulf
Of the ravin’d salt-sea shark;
Root of hemlock digg’d i the dark;
Liver of blaspheming Jew;
Gall of goat, and slips of yew
Sliver’d in the moon’s eclipse;
Nose of Turk, and Tartar’s lips;
Finger of birth-strangled babe
Ditch-deliver’d by a drab,—
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger’s chaudron,
For the ingrediants of our caldron.
ALL: Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
Witch two: Cool it with a baboon’s blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.