Remmael Manor

Listen, there's a bunch of people from the cemetery who are stark, raving mad, and they'll kill you and eat you if they catch you. It's like a disease. It's like rabies, only faster, a lot faster. 

- Return of the Living Dead

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The Tomb

The vault to which I refer is of ancient granite, weathered and discoloured by the mists and dampness of generations.

- H. P. Lovecraft

Image source.

Text source.

Trailer: Nosferatu

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Now Playing: Totentanz

By Musica Cthulhiana.

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Hog Maw

I've often lamented about Halloween party food recipes being too geared towards children, or for people who like hot dogs wrapped up like mummies in dough bandages with small goobly eyes.  That stuff is always fun, but where are the spooky, dark meals that could be served at a classy Halloween dinner party?

Enter Hog Maw.

According to Wikipedia:

Hog maw, sometimes called Pig's Stomach, Susquehanna Turkey or Pennsylvania Dutch Goose is a Pennsylvania Dutch dish. In the Pennsylvania German language, it is known as Seimaage (sigh-maw-guh), originating from its German name Saumagen. It is made from a cleaned pig's stomach traditionally stuffed with cubed potatoes and loose pork sausage meat. Other ingredients may include cabbage, onions, and spices. It was traditionally boiled in a large pot covered in water, not unlike Scottish haggis, but it can also be baked or broiled until browned or split, then it is often drizzled with butter, sometimes browned, before serving. It is usually served hot on a platter, cut into slices, and topped with horseradish or stewed tomatoes. It can also be served cold as a sandwich. Often served in the winter, it was made on hog butchering days on the farms of Lancaster and Berks Counties and elsewhere in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country.

Jenna's wonderful version of this unique dish is the sausage and potato varietal, baked in the oven to a crispy golden brown.  It's visually shocking (and probably disturbing to some), but the house filled with a terrific scent similar to that of a Thanksgiving turkey.  She serves her Hog Maw in slices with roasted brussels sprouts and a baked three-bean casserole.  It made for an absolutely perfect birthday dinner but could very well be the main course at the aforementioned Dark Halloween Dinner party.

Monster House

"Jump higher, children! Higher!" 

 Image by Ruth Hartnup.

Grimm's Hollow

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The Shadow At The Bottom Of The World

For the skeleton of the thing should have been merely two crosswise planks.  We verified this common fact with its maker, and he swore that no other materials had been used.  Yet the shape that stood before us was of a wholly different nature.  It was something black and twisted into the form of a man, something that seemed to have come up from the earth and grown over the wooden planks like a dark fungus, consuming the structure.

- Thomas Ligotti

Revisiting The Autopsy Of Jane Doe (2016)

Here's a film you don't often see on people's top ten lists.  We watched it recently and it still holds up.  It's suspenseful and genuinely scary, with a really interesting story.

Click below for the trailer (though it gives a lot away)...

Now Playing: Kmc014

By Ben Lovett.

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Orange And Green

Perfect together.

Image by Orland Park Birdie Girl.

Gallows Hill Spirits

We traveled to Allentown, PA to a distillery with an interesting story.  Bob Piano, the owner of Gallows Hill Spirits, traced his lineage back ten generations and learned that his 8-times great-grandfather Samuel Wardwell was tried and executed during the Salem witch trials in 1692.  His distillery embraces this fact the same way the town of Salem, Massachusetts does - with a desire to educate the public while having some fun with the iconography.  The tasting room is part museum and part tavern.  The back wall behind the counter is a replica of the facade of Salem's "Witch House."  On the walls there are tributes to the 20 people executed during the trials.  Bats and witch hats abound.

The best part is that a full catalog tasting revealed that every one of their spirits were high-end products with extremely unique flavors.  We were really impressed, and the staff and owner made us feel incredibly welcome.  Would love to revisit closer to Halloween.  

Below are some photos and our take-home bounty (a limoncello and an amazing cinnamon liqueur that will go perfectly in spiced cider)...

Click here for their site.

Revisiting Primitive Pig Folk Art

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The Haunting Of Storybook Hollow

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Now Playing: Derelict Home

By Avith Ortega.

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The Haunted Rose

Beautiful Home Haunt courtesy of West Coaster (an amazing site).

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The Nightmare Before Christmas

...at the New York City Village Halloween Parade.

Amazing costumes designed and built by artist Brandon Hardy.

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