Scary Spirits Podcast

Being that Dr. Craig Fischer raved about Michael Reeves in our Wicked Ramblings episode on horror films, Karen has chosen the classic 1968 film “Witchfinder General” (released in the states as “The Conqueror Worm”) for our viewing pleasure this week. Join Greg and Karen as they discuss the film while they enjoy a “Witches Brew Cocktail“. The recipe that Karen found on myheavenlyrecipes.com is below.

Witches Brew Cocktail Recipe

• 1 oz vodka
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 2 oz raspberry liqueur
• 2 oz Sprite
• 1 tsp. silver cake shimmer
• 1 drop purple food coloring

Instructions:

1. In a large bar shaker add your liquors, silver shimmer, and lime juice.
2. Shake to combine.
3. Pour your mixture into a glass.
4. Top with Sprite.

A Brief Synopsis: A disturbing tale of evil set during the English Civil War. When Matthew Hopkins is appointed Witchfinder General by the Puritans under Cromwell, he is empowered to travel the countryside with his henchmen and collect a fee for each witch from whom he extracts a confession – a policy which is exploited to the full.

Some of the topics discussed and highlights of this episode include:

• Karen gives us some facts about the English Civil War.
• Did you know that Matthew Hopkins was a real person?
• Karen teaches us all about the process of “pricking” to determine if a person is a witch,
• We learn a little about Oliver Cromwell.
• Greg teaches us about the firearms used during the English Civil War: Flintlocks and Matchlocks.
• Why are actors listed as “Guest Stars” in the credits of a movie?
• Greg makes several “Empire Strikes Back” references.

Our rating of the film:

This movie was OK. It took us 3 cocktails to get through it.

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We want to know more about you! Please take our survey. All questions are optional and you can remain completely anonymous if you prefer. Tell us what you like or would like to hear more of!

All music on the Scary Spirits Podcast is provided by the band “Verse 13”. Please check them out. You can listen to all their music on their Bandcamp page.

Get social with us!

• Connect with us on Facebook and Instagram
• Subscribe on YouTube to watch Greg attempt to make all the featured cocktails
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Questions, comments or suggestions?

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Celebrating the 13th anniversary of it’s release, Greg has chosen the 2009 Ti West film “The House of the Devil”, for our viewing pleasure this week. Join Greg and Karen as they discuss the film while enjoying a “Satanic Panic Cocktail“. Greg found the recipe below on reddit.com.

Satanic Panic Cocktail

• 1 oz lime juice
• 2 oz ginger syrup
• 3 oz dark rum
• 2 bar spoon Grenadine
• fresh mint leaf

Instructions:

1. Combine Lime, Ginger syrup, 2oz Rum and grenadine, add broken Mint leaf with ice in a tumbler and shake.
2. Strain over ice in a Highball glass with 1oz Rum on bottom.
3. Optionally top off with splash of seltzer water, garnish with mint and lime wedge as you see fit.

A Brief Synopsis: Desperate to make some money so she can move into a new apartment, college student Samantha Hughes takes a mysterious babysitting job. When she arrives at the house, Mr. Ulman mentions a full lunar eclipse and explains there is no child, but that Samantha will be watching his mother instead. After exploring the sinister-seeming house, Samantha soon comes to realize that her employers are hiding a horrifying secret and have plans to use her, dead or alive.

Some of the topics discussed and highlights of this episode include:

• We learn about the value of a 1984 Volvo 240 DL sedan.
• Karen lets us know that the next full lunar eclipse occurs on 11/18/22.
• Just how much is a Sony Walkman from the 80’s worth now?
• References are made to the “Greg Kihn Band” and “The Fixx”.
• Greg makes a reference to “Sesame Street”.
• We learn a little about the “Satanic Panic” that occurred in the 80’s.

Our rating of the film:

This movie was pretty good. It only look us 2 cocktails to get through it.

Take our online survey!

We want to know more about you! Please take our survey. All questions are optional and you can remain completely anonymous if you prefer. Tell us what you like or would like to hear more of!

All music on the Scary Spirits Podcast is provided by the band “Verse 13”. Please check them out. You can listen to all their music on their Bandcamp page.

Get social with us!

• Connect with us on Facebook and Instagram
• Subscribe on YouTube to watch Greg attempt to make all the featured cocktails
• Follow @ScarySpiritsPod

Questions, comments or suggestions?

Shoot us an email at [email protected]

Wanting to watch a spooky film to celebrate the Halloween season, Karen has chosen the classic 1968 film “Night of the Living Dead” for our viewing pleasure this week. Join Greg and Karen as they discuss the film while they enjoy a “Smoky Harvest Apple Cider Margarita“. The recipe that Karen found on halfbakedharvest.com is below.

Smoky Harvest Apple Cider Margarita Recipe

• cinnamon sugar and flaky sea salt, for the rim
• 2 oz mezcal or silver tequila
• 1/2 oz orange liquor
• 4 oz (1/2 cup) apple cider
• juice from 1/2 a lime
• 1-2 teaspoons maple syrup use more or less to your taste
• apple slices and cinnamon sticks, for serving

Instructions:

1. If desired, rim your glass in salted cinnamon sugar. Mix equal parts cinnamon sugar and sea salt. Run a lime wedge around the rim of the glass and coat in sugar.
2. Combine the mezcal or tequila, orange liquor, apple cider, lime juice, and maple in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake to combine. Strain into the glass. Garnish with apple slices, rosemary, and cinnamon sticks. If desired light the cinnamon on fire for a smoky effect.

A Brief Synopsis: A disparate group of individuals takes refuge in an abandoned house when corpses begin to leave the graveyard in search of fresh human bodies to devour. The pragmatic Ben does his best to control the situation, but when the reanimated bodies surround the house, the other survivors begin to panic. As any semblance of order within the group begins to dissipate, the zombies start to find ways inside — and one by one, the living humans become the prey of the deceased ones.

Some of the topics discussed and highlights of this episode include:

• Greg references several White Zombie songs that feature samples from the film.
• Karen gives us some facts about German Shepherds.
• Karen teaches us all about the planet Venus.
• Greg shares some facts concerning probes launched to Venus during the 1960’s.
• Greg tells us about his possible experience with trying to get gasoline to ignite.
• We learn about the value of a 1967 Pontiac LeMans Tempest.

Our rating of the film:

This movie was OK. It took us 3 cocktails to get through it.

Take our online survey!

We want to know more about you! Please take our survey. All questions are optional and you can remain completely anonymous if you prefer. Tell us what you like or would like to hear more of!

All music on the Scary Spirits Podcast is provided by the band “Verse 13”. Please check them out. You can listen to all their music on their Bandcamp page.

Get social with us!

• Connect with us on Facebook and Instagram
• Subscribe on YouTube to watch Greg attempt to make all the featured cocktails
• Follow @ScarySpiritsPod

Questions, comments or suggestions?

Shoot us an email at [email protected]

Celebrating the 90th anniversary of it’s release on October 20, 1932, Greg has chosen the pre-code film “The Old Dark House”, starring Boris Karloff for our viewing pleasure this week. Join Greg and Karen as they discuss the film while they enjoy a “Dark ‘n Stormy” cocktail. The recipe that Greg found on liquor.com is below.

Dark ‘n Stormy Cocktail Recipe

• 2 oz Gosling’s Black Seal rum
• 1/2 oz lime juice, freshly squeezed
• ginger beer, to top (about 5 ounces)
• lime wheel for garnish

Instructions:

1. Add rum and lime juice to a tall glass filled with ice.
2. Top with the ginger beer.
3. Garnish with a lime wheel.

A Brief Synopsis: Driving through a brutal thunderstorm in Wales, three travelers take refuge in an eerie house owned by the Femm family. Reluctantly admitted by Horace Femm, the three sit down to a strange dinner. Horace is neurotic; mute butler Morgan is an alcoholic; and Horace’s sister, Rebecca, raves about chastity. When the storm brings in an industrialist and chorus girl Gladys DuCane Perkins, Morgan’s lust and Rebecca’s ire are ignited.

Some of the topics discussed and highlights of this episode include:

• What exactly is the average rainfall in Wales? Does it rain a lot?
• Greg makes a reference to the Dio era Black Sabbath song “Sins of the Father”.
• A reference is made to the classic Def Leppard album “Pyromania”.
• Karen schools Greg about some biblical names and stories.
• Greg makes a reference to the Tom Petty album “Damn the Torpedoes”.
• Karen teaches us all about the impulse control disorder pyromania.

Our rating of the film:

This movie was so bad that it took us 4 cocktails to get through it.

Take our online survey!

We want to know more about you! Please take our survey. All questions are optional and you can remain completely anonymous if you prefer. Tell us what you like or would like to hear more of!

All music on the Scary Spirits Podcast is provided by the band “Verse 13”. Please check them out. You can listen to all their music on their Bandcamp page.

Get social with us!

• Connect with us on Facebook and Instagram
• Subscribe on YouTube to watch Greg attempt to make all the featured cocktails
• Follow @ScarySpiritsPod

Questions, comments or suggestions?

Shoot us an email at [email protected]

Welcome to the sixth episode of The Scary Spirits Podcast Presents: Wicked Ramblings, an entertainment podcast that strives to answer the twisted questions currently burning a bright hole in your dark soul. On this episode our hosts are joined by Kristen Kreft and Maya Banatwala, authors of the book: “Rocktails: An Amped Up Spin on Mixology“. Tune in as our guests teach our hosts all about cocktails and concocting them!

Some of the topics covered and questions asked of our special guests this episode include:

• Where did the idea for combining music with cocktail come from?
• What exactly is “mixology”?
• Who are your taste testers?
• Have you ever done or considered doing a cocktail based on a movie soundtrack, for example the omen?
• What is the basic formula for crafting your own cocktail?
• Has there been a drink you thought would be amazing and just…wasn’t?
• Has there been a drink you thought would be meh, but was amazing?
• Do you research your musical artists before making a drink?
• How do you come up with the drink names?  
• Bartending/cocktail crafting seems like a science as well as an art, do you see yourselves as both or do you each have a strength?
• What is your favorite liquor, what is your favorite drink?
• Kristen and Maya teach our hosts all about “Wassailing”!

You can buy Kristen and Maya’s books and follow their bands below:

• Rocktails: An Amped Up Spin on Mixology, by Kristen Kreft and Maya Banatwala.
• The Perfect Children Band
• Heavy Hinges Band

Take our online survey!

We want to know more about you! Please take our survey. All questions are optional and you can remain completely anonymous if you prefer. Tell us what you like or would like to hear more of!

All music on the Scary Spirits Podcast is provided by the band “Verse 13”. Please check them out. You can listen to all their music on their Bandcamp page.

Get social with us!

• Connect with us on Facebook and Instagram
• Subscribe on YouTube to watch Greg attempt to make all the featured cocktails
• Follow @ScarySpiritsPod

Questions, comments or suggestions?

Shoot us an email at [email protected]

Looking for an excuse to enjoy a cocktail featuring candy corn, Karen has chosen the 1984 film, based upon a Stephen King short story, “Children of the Corn” for our viewing pleasure this week. Join Greg and Karen as they discuss the film while they enjoy a Candy Corn Cocktail. The recipe that Karen found on Tasty.co is below.

Candy Corn Cocktail Recipe

• 1 cup whipped cream flavored vodka
• 1/2 cup candy corn, plus more for garnish
• 8 tablespoons orange juice
• 4 tablespoons whipped cream

Instructions:

1. In a medium glass bowl, combine the whipped cream vodka and candy corn. Set aside to infuse for 1-2 hours. Strain the candy corn solids from the vodka and discard.
2. Add the orange juice to a 1 cup (7½-ounce) martini glass.
3. Place a spoon, back side up, against the inside wall of the martini glass. Very slowly begin pouring 3 tablespoons of the infused vodka over the back of the spoon, making sure that the vodka hits the inside of the glass before reaching the orange juice. This will create a layered effect, causing the vodka to sink to the bottom of the glass, below the orange juice.
4. Top with whipped cream and garnish with more candy corn.
5. Enjoy!

A Brief Synopsis: As physician Burt Stanton and his girlfriend, Vicky, drive across the Midwest to his new job, their trip comes to a sudden halt when they encounter the body of a murdered boy in the road. In trying to contact the authorities, Burt and Vicky wander into a small town populated only by children, followers of sinister young preacher Isaac Chroner. Soon the couple is fleeing the youthful fanatics, who want to sacrifice them to their demonic deity.

Some of the topics discussed and highlights of this episode include:

• Greg makes a reference to comedian Heywood Banks.
• We learn a little bit about “gasohol”.
• Karen discusses the evils of playing “Monopoly” she learned as a child.
• Dr. Karen teaches us all about the process of blood coagulation.
• We learn all about the value of a 1977 Buick LaSabre Custom.
• Greg makes a Van Halen reference.

Our rating of the film:

This movie was OK. It took us 3 cocktails to get through it.

Take our online survey!

We want to know more about you! Please take our survey. All questions are optional and you can remain completely anonymous if you prefer. Tell us what you like or would like to hear more of!

All music on the Scary Spirits Podcast is provided by the band “Verse 13”. Please check them out. You can listen to all their music on their Bandcamp page.

Get social with us!

• Connect with us on Facebook and Instagram
• Subscribe on YouTube to watch Greg attempt to make all the featured cocktails
• Follow @ScarySpiritsPod

Questions, comments or suggestions?

Shoot us an email at [email protected]

Celebrating its release 52 years ago on October 4, 1970, Greg has chosen the Hammer film “The Vampire Lovers” for our viewing pleasure this week. Join Greg and Karen as they discuss the film while they enjoy a Carmilla “Useless Vampire” Cocktail. The recipe that Greg found on YouTube.com is below.

Carmilla “Useless Vampire” Recipe

• 1 1/2 oz gin
• 3/4 oz lemon juice
• 1/2 oz blood orange syrup
• 1/2 oz pomegranate syrup
• dash of bitters

Instructions:

1. Shake and serve in a iced glass.

A Brief Synopsis: A peaceful hamlet in 18th-century Eastern Europe is home to a female vampire with lesbian tendencies who ravages the townsfolk. Years earlier she killed off all of her fellow vampires. Adapted from J Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Carmilla”.

Some of the topics discussed and highlights of this episode include:

• What exactly is a “Hamlet”?
• Karen makes a reference to the “Red Shirted Ensign” from “Star Trek”.
• What is a “Duchy”?
• Greg recognizes one of the actors from the 1951 version of “Scrooge”.
• Karen teaches us all about wild garlic.
• We learn that both Greg and Karen took German in High School.
• This film is part one of the “Karnstein Trilogy”.
• We learn a little about the source material for the film, the novella “Carmilla”, written by Sheridan Le Fanu in 1872.

Our rating of the film:

This movie was OK. It took us 3 cocktails to get through it.

Take our online survey!

We want to know more about you! Please take our survey. All questions are optional and you can remain completely anonymous if you prefer. Tell us what you like or would like to hear more of!

All music on the Scary Spirits Podcast is provided by the band “Verse 13”. Please check them out. You can listen to all their music on their Bandcamp page.

Get social with us!

• Connect with us on Facebook and Instagram
• Subscribe on YouTube to watch Greg attempt to make all the featured cocktails
• Follow @ScarySpiritsPod

Questions, comments or suggestions?

Shoot us an email at [email protected]

This week as part of Karen’s “back to school” themed month, she has the selected the 1995 film “The Addiction” for our viewing pleasure. Join Greg and Karen as they discuss the film while enjoying a “Black & White Cocktail”. Karen found the recipe below on foodnetwork.com.

Black & White Cocktail

• 2 oz heavy cream
• 1 oz vanilla vodka
• 1 1/2 oz chocolate liqueur
• chocolate swizzle sticks, for garnish

Instructions:

1. Fill a cocktail shaker or small pitcher with ice.
2. Add the cream and vodka. Cover and shake vigorously, or stir, until combined and chilled, about 30 seconds.
3. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
4. Slowly pour the chocolate liqueur into the center of the drink to make a layered black and white cocktail.
5. Lay a chocolate swizzle stick across the top rim of the glass. Serve. (Stir the layers together with the swizzle stick before drinking.)

A Brief Synopsis: After being bitten by a vampire, a New York grad student tries to come to terms with her new lifestyle and constant thirst for blood, adopting the philosophy of a nocturnal comrade.

Some of the topics discussed and highlights of this episode include:

• There is a lot of talk about philosophy in this film.
• We learn about the philosophy of Determinism.
• Greg makes a “Terminator” reference.
• Karen teaches us all about the state of HIV infections when this film was released.
• Karen enlightens us on the topic of “Gen X Angst”.
• We learn quote a bit about dissertations and the process to acquire a Doctorate.
• Did you know that Karen is addicted to shoes?

Our rating of the film:

This movie was pretty good. It only look us 2 cocktails to get through it.

Take our online survey!

We want to know more about you! Please take our survey. All questions are optional and you can remain completely anonymous if you prefer. Tell us what you like or would like to hear more of!

All music on the Scary Spirits Podcast is provided by the band “Verse 13”. Please check them out. You can listen to all their music on their Bandcamp page.

Get social with us!

• Connect with us on Facebook and Instagram
• Subscribe on YouTube to watch Greg attempt to make all the featured cocktails
• Follow @ScarySpiritsPod

Questions, comments or suggestions?

Shoot us an email at [email protected]

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of it’s release on September 20, 1972, Greg has chosen the film “Necromancy”, starring the lovely Pamela Franklin and Orson Welles for our viewing pleasure this week. Join Greg and Karen as they discuss the film while they enjoy a “Negroni” cocktail. The recipe that Greg found on liquor.com is below.

Negroni Cocktail Recipe

• 1 oz gin
• 1 oz Campari
• 1 oz sweet vermouth
• orange peel for garnish

Instructions:

1. Add the gin, Campari and sweet vermouth to a mixing glass filled with ice, and stir until well-chilled.
2. Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube.
3. Garnish with an orange peel.

A Brief Synopsis: Grieving the death of his child, Frank takes up an advertising position with a toy company in Lilith, California. Mr. Cato, head of the toy company, is the head of a witches’ coven in the town of Lilith, where he needs the powers of Frank’s wife, Lori Brandon to raise his son from the dead.

Some of the topics discussed and highlights of this episode include:

• Lilith. What is the significance of that name?
• What exactly is a “veiled birth”?
• Did you know that Karen is a “Super Taster”?
• Greg Makes a “Logan’s Run” reference.
• What is Greg’s zodiac sign?
• The lovely Pamela Franklin met her husband onset while making this film.

Our rating of the film:

This movie was so bad that it took us 4 cocktails to get through it.

Take our online survey!

We want to know more about you! Please take our survey. All questions are optional and you can remain completely anonymous if you prefer. Tell us what you like or would like to hear more of!

All music on the Scary Spirits Podcast is provided by the band “Verse 13”. Please check them out. You can listen to all their music on their Bandcamp page.

Get social with us!

• Connect with us on Facebook and Instagram
• Subscribe on YouTube to watch Greg attempt to make all the featured cocktails
• Follow @ScarySpiritsPod

Questions, comments or suggestions?

Shoot us an email at [email protected]

Welcome to the fifth episode of The Scary Spirits Podcast Presents: Wicked Ramblings, an entertainment podcast that strives to answer the twisted questions currently burning a bright hole in your dark soul. On this episode our hosts are joined by Dr. Craig Fischer, and English professor from Appalachian State University who teaches a class called “Studies in Film Genre: The Horror Film”. Tune in as Dr. Craig schools our hosts all about horror movies!

Some of the topics covered and questions asked of our special guest this episode include:

• What sparked your interest/obsession with horror films?
• What qualifies a film as a horror film?  Are there parameters that must be met?
• What are your favorite types of horror films?
• What do you hope your students take away from your class?
• Has a student ever come up with something in a paper that surprised you (something you hadn’t considered before)?
• Who do you feel influenced horror the most? (Director/actor/writer/studio/producer, past and present)
• Why do you think people like to be scared?
• Women, and for that matter minorities aren’t always represented in a positive light in horror films, often portrayed as victims or vindictive, do you think this is due to male interpretation/control/fantasy (directors producers) or is it a societal influence or something else?
• If you were going to make a horror film, what would be your theme?
• What is one film that you think everyone should see? Why?
• Do you read horror books, or are you mainly interested in film?
• Classic Universal monsters vs Hammer Films.  Compare and contrast.

Some of the books and authors mentioned during this episode include:

• Carol J. Clover, Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film (Updated Edition, Princeton University Press, 2015)
• Junji Ito, Uzumaki (3-in-1 deluxe edition, Viz, 2013)
• Kier-la Janisse, House of Psychotic Women, Expanded Edition: An Autobiographical Topography of Female Neurosis in Horror and Exploitation Films (FAB Press, 2022)
• Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom (Tor, 2016)
• Josh Simmons, House (Fantagraphics, 2007)
• Robin Wood, Robin Wood on the Horror Film: Collected Essays and Reviews (Wayne State University Press, 2018)

Take our online survey!

We want to know more about you! Please take our survey. All questions are optional and you can remain completely anonymous if you prefer. Tell us what you like or would like to hear more of!

All music on the Scary Spirits Podcast is provided by the band “Verse 13”. Please check them out. You can listen to all their music on their Bandcamp page.

Get social with us!

• Connect with us on Facebook and Instagram
• Subscribe on YouTube to watch Greg attempt to make all the featured cocktails
• Follow @ScarySpiritsPod

Questions, comments or suggestions?

Shoot us an email at [email protected]