I've watched many a horror movie this past week in order to recommend the best to you, my dear friends; and while I can't claim that The House of the Devil is flawless, it is worth a late-night Halloween-week viewing and definitely the best of the bunch from the pile of DVDs I spent the week sifting through (which included the mouth-to-mouth vomit heavy Drag Me To Hell and the rather tedious When a Stranger Calls). A deliberate and effective homage to horror movies of the late seventies and early eighties (right down to the casting of thin and adorably Margot Kidderesque Jocelin Donahue as the heroine and titular fontography), HOTD is a slow burning film comprised of a series of extremely effective techniques. The skillful use of sound design, imagery, surprise and pacing results in genuine chills, but sadly the film misses the mark when it comes to the big reveal.

Maybe Ti West did himself a huge disservice by announcing the plot secret in an onscreen quote at the very beginning of the film, maybe it's just hard to make genuine scares out of clich?s; either way, by the end of the movie the dread the director worked so hard to evoke devolves rapidly into silliness… but at least its good and gory silliness featuring some of my favorite character actors: Mary Woronov and Tom Noonan.

Rather awesomely, the movie is currently available on-demand while it's still in theaters, making for a perfect night once friends and popcorn are added to the equation.

Usually the looping ads that play on the on-demand channels are nothing but an annoyance (why else would I have memorized the ad for John Tucker Must Die?) but the other day, the refrain “I Like Halloween, but I Don't Like Candy Corn” caught my ear.

This adorable song from Moose A Moose, who I've since learned is the mascot for Nick Jr, is not only totally fun and catchy (I've been singing it off and on for days) but is thematically one I can completely relate to: See, I love Halloween but I don't like candy corn either!

I've got to admit that I was a little embarrassed to find Eli Roth so irresistibly and rather inexplicably cute in Inglourious Basterds – not because he was playing a head-bashing 'Bear Jew', but because he's behind the revolting torture franchise, Hostel.?/p>

As a long-time fan of horror films, I have to say that I've just never gotten on the relatively recent torture bandwagon and greatly prefer other sub-genres and wish the fad would give way to better stuff (see this week's movie pick). And I never trust any dude with a vigorous and vainglorious daily muscle-man work-out routine.

Still, one can't always expect good taste to go with good looks.

I vividly remember standing in front of a cardboard cutout of her in the grocery holding a pack of Coors, so in my mind I early learned that Elvira = Halloween + beer, and there's nothing wrong about that. Sure, Cassandra Peterson's shtick was not completely original, the lovely Vampira came before her, but beyond becoming the sex symbol of the scariest holiday, she's also a local girl who grew up dancing in gay bars in my hometown of Colorado Springs.

The perfect fall dessert, Pumpkin pie is usually associated with Thanksgiving, but after finding the best version I've ever had at Blue Stove (with home made whipped cream and a rich, caramelized bottom-crust with a hint of chocolate) I'm hoping to grab a few of them for my lucky Halloween party guests – we'll just call them dead jack-o-lantern pies.

Of course, if you are not near a bakery as good as ours, the classic Mrs Smiths has served me well for years.

I may be getting old, because Jim and I used to host parties every other month or so, but now we're down to just two a year. Fortunately, they are fantastic ones – and our Halloween Bash is the best. I'm always impressed with our friends' costumes, and here are just a few photos from last year that include my sister as Andrew Dice Clay, myself as Purple Rain era Prince, my friend Laura sporting stigmata and Jim as the Love Guru…

'd like to think that I'll have the skill and patience for some Martha Stewart-caliber decorating and recipes, but my friends may have to settle for what my local dollar stores have to offer and some mad scientist shots.. which is pretty much what they've come to expect without complaint.

Weather has put a damper on apple picking plans before, so when a co-worker suggested a long island trip this Sunday I was pleased to join. Windy Acres is about an hour and twenty minutes away, on the LIE, through lots of lovely fall foliage views.

We chose them because they have a small petting zoo, hayrides, a corn maze and pumpkin patches. Unfortunately, they did not have the U pick apples we came for, but it really didn't matter. It was great to get out into the autumn air on what might be our last day of warm weather.
if you really crave them, there are apples, as well as other vegetables, Halloween cookies, pies and cider in the market.

The most crave worthy goodies though, are by far and away the fresh apple cider donuts – truly the best I've ever tasted of one of my favorite treats on earth. The roasted corn was also great.

The petting zoo was minuscule but included a wild looking turkey that was fun to gawk at and the corn maze offered a relaxing walk. We opted out of the hayride, due to overcrowding, but the many families there seemed to enjoy it. We did pick out the perfect pumpkin, though and he'll be on haunting display Halloween Day.

The decade before the word 'tween' was invented offered much in the way of young adult television and I myself have a sentimental soft spot for most of the shows preteens spent the 90s in front of (Breaker High, Swan's Crossing, Flash Forward, etc); so you can imagine I was looking forward to filling this week's TV pick with Nickelodeon's semi-forgotten spooky anthology series, Are You Afraid of the Dark??/p>

But from the wildly disappointed comments of fellow Netflix subscribers and Jim's own pretty clear memories of the show, I've learned that the “freaky favorites” double disc (the only one currently available on Netflix) is, contrary to what the title suggests, not representative of the best of the show at all. The three episodes on the DVD feature a “new” cast of kids making up the Midnight Society (an admittedly nerdy nocturnal story-telling club) who, according to Jim, are way lamer than Gary and the original dorks.

Still, it's a fun late afternoon view and, while the episodes we saw weren't particularly mind-blowing, this sweetly nostalgic Canadian show (one episode is actually about a demonic hockey stick) is certainly a hell of a lot better than most other horror anthology shows out there (the dreadful Hitchhiker and, what is bound to be my worst TV show of the year, Masters of Horror quickly come to mind).

Despite a seemingly vast fan base, the seven seasons of the show are particularly hard to find on DVD…

Okay, so there's nothing scary about this wonderful Chicken Chili with Black Beans (in fact, it's so good it even convinced a friend who claimed to hate chili to ask for seconds), but it's so warming and perfect for after a night of trick or treating or a Halloween party that I thought I'd include it this week.

Plus, you could easily call it brain soup or something to make it more festive. Just be sure to add chipotle peppers in adobo sauce – that's the magical extra ingredient.