October Pairings (#OctPairs): Movies & Drinking Games

happy-halloween1

My Halloween card from last year. Please print it out and put it on the fridge as some Halloween love from me! But watch out! The pumpkin bites!

Since we paired books and candy last week, I thought we’d pair movies again. And what’s better than watching scary movies with friends and playing drinking games? (Doing a wooden jigsaw puzzle at the same time? Maybe.)
drinking gamesA while back, a friend of mine gave me the book Drinking Games by Terry Burrows. I thought I’d look at the games and pair them with Halloween movies.
The games in the book are organized into four sections: Words, Actions, Cards and Dice & Coins. Since I’m not into props while watching movies, let’s see if we can’t find pairs for Words and Action games.

I’ve linked the names of the movies to where you can stream them on amazon. It costs around $2.99. So if you get really excited and want to start right now, just click on the link of the movie you want and start playing.

Words

      1. Initial Thoughts: To play this game, one player asks a question. In our emily roseversion, let’s say the question has to be about the movie or Halloween, and each player has to give a two word answer. The two words have to start with their initials. Example: If the question was What will they find in the woods? My answer could be Many Bones where Frank Clark might answer Feral Cats and Earl Thomas might answer Eagle Talons (my first thought was Eager Tyrannosaurs, but I wasn’t planning on pairing with Jurassic Park). If a player can’t answer within five seconds, they have to drink and come up with the next question. This game will most likely go well with any scary movie. Since it’s about the players’ names, I think I’ll pair it with The Exorcism of Emily Rose. You might come up with a new rule like if you can’t think of an answer with your own initials you can use E. R.
      2. rhyme or reason: This looks like another fun one that can be adapted tonightmare on elm our Halloween fun. The first player says a word, for our purposes, let’s say it has to be a word that has to do with the movie. The next person clockwise in the circle must either come up with a word that rhymes or one that describes what it does. Example: I say “axe” then Doug Baldwin says “chops” so then Russell Wilson can say either “cops” or “feeds”.  If a player can’t come up with a word that works, it’s time to drink and come up with the next word. I think I would pair this game with A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) because of that creepy nursery rhyme.

PiranhaActions

  1. fish face: Each player selects the name of a fish and lets the other players know their type of fish. No two players can be the same fish. The first player says, “I’m a (says their fish name); you’re a (someone else’s fish name). That player repeats the phrase saying their fish name and then choosing another fish in the group. Players have to talk without showing their teeth. If anyone gives the glimpse of a tooth, they have to drink.

For obvious reasons, I would pair this game with Piranha [Roger Corman’s Cult Classics].  Though if you want to expand the rules to include sharks, you could pair it with Jaws or Sharknado.

2. drinking with the simpsons: Most of the drinking games I found online were like this one. In the book version, you watch an episode of The Simpsons. The rules are simple: you take a drink any time a list of things are said or done. There are games like this for lots of scary movies. You can find one for Halloween at Film Drunkies tumblr and cheezburger.com promises The Ultimate HalloweenHalloween the movie drinking game. And here’s a post that says it’s The Official Drinking Game For Every Horror/Slasher Film. You could try it with every Scream movie or the entire Friday the 13th series.
Another online game with “drink when” rules is for Hocus Pocus. POPHANGOVER.com professes to having The Ultimate Hocus Pocus drinking game.hocus pocus
Drinkwhen.ca has this style of drinking game for a lot of great Halloween movies from classics like The Shining and The Silence of the Lambs to newer greats like Get Out and What We Do in the Shadows. As you can see there is a game for every Halloween movie.
But what if you are trying to get fit and don’t want to drink beverages all night? I even found a game for you. Over at POPSUGAR Fitness they came up with a horror movie game where they linked things that happen in horror movies to exercises. I think I might try this for my workouts the next couple weeks.

I hope you enjoy trying some of these fun October Pairings this Halloween season. If/When you’re on Twitter, please head over to #OctPairs and share some of your favorite October Pairings.

 

*I apologize that this did not get out last night as planned, but my power went out and stayed out for over 16 hours.

October Pairings (#OctPairs): Halloween Candy and Books

When I was young, one of my favorite things to do on a cool, usually rainy, Fall day was grab a big bag of M&M’s(click on that and check out the weird M&M options on amazon. Coffee and nut, what?), a nice warm blanket and a good book. So for our second installment of October Pairings, I’m going to pair up Halloween candy with great Halloween-ish books.

This should be helpful for any of you still looking for books to read for #RIPXII Peril the First, Second or Third.

cover of Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King and Richard ChizmarThe first book I read for the Readers Imbibing Peril challenge was Gwendy’s Button Box Halloween chocolates from Hotel Chocolatby Stephen King and Richard Chizmar.
In the story, the button box gives Gwendy small detailed chocolate animals. I think these chocolates from Hotel Chocolat look like what the button box might spit out for Halloween. But if I were to choose a Halloween candy from my local drugstore, I would go with some special holiday M&Ms let’s see the offerings for this year:

fall mnmfall mnm2fall mnm3fall mnm5Okay, I wish I had nfall mnm4ever seen any of these. I thought I would find a nice bag of regular M&M’s with leaves, ghosts and jack-o-lanterns. These days you can go to  mymms.com and design your own. That’s looking like a good option.

The next book I’m reading for #RIPXII’s Peril of the group read.

slade house Slade House by David Mitchell is a series of stories related to the house, so I think it calls for a candy assortment. I will pair it with MARS Chocolate Fall Harvest Minis Size Candy Bars Variety Mix 45.8-Ounce Bag or this cute  HERSHEY’S Halloween Hershey's Halloween assortment bowl shaped like a pumpkinAssortment Pumpkin Bowl (50.2-Ounce)

Let’s turn to a classic ghost story, The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. Written in 1859, Cover of Wilkie Collin's gothic horror novelit is considered to be one of the first mystery novels and also a gothic horror. I absolutely loved reading it and enjoyed what I thought was the modern film adaptation The Lady in White by MGM (Video & DVD) when it came out in 1988. Imdb says the writer based it on an urban legend. An urban legend based on the book from the 1800’s. I say yes.
The 1997 TV movie The Woman in White included one Andrew Lincoln. That’s right! Mr. Walking Dead’s Rick Grimes himself.
After you read the book you may want to watch the movies for RIPXII’s Peril on the Screen.

I like white chocolate, so I would pair it with REESE’S White Peanut Butter Snack Size Ghostsreese's ghosts
If you’re not into white chocolate or looking for a “healthier” treat, how about Yogurt Covered Raisins ?

yogurt-covered-raisins-1-pound-bag-3

Another great candy to enjoy while reading is Lifesavers I especially enjoy Wintogreen and Butter Rum.
What books would make good pairs with those?

I think I’ll pair Butter Rum with Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. One of my very favorite books. I’m thinking the butter on popcorn one might snack on at their mutant freak-show. geek love

I would pair the Wintogreen Lifesavers with Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. This book is on my to read list. Goodreads says “Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous…you’ll recognize it immediately.” Sounds like a great pairing with Wintogreen Lifesavers to me.     Snow Crash

This was really fun. I’m enjoying October Pairings. I hope you’ll join me on Twitter at #OctPairs and share your favorite October Pairings.

 

Happy Reading and Snacking!

October Pairings (#OctPairs): Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles and Spooky Movies.

Little shop of horrors.jpg

I was writing my morning pages at the end of September (hard to believe that wasn’t even a week ago) and started thinking about things that go together with Halloween movies and books. I remembered an October when I manufactured artifact puzzles. I would put on scary movies while I separated the puzzle pieces and boxed them up.

I no longer work with the day to day of the business, but I still love the puzzles and recently designed the pieces for The Scream by Edvard Munch. So for my first October Pairing, I want to talk about which movies I think go well with my artifact puzzle designs. If you are a puzzle lover, like me, or are having a gathering for The Holiday,  you should have enough time to order a puzzle for Halloween.

starry nightArtifact Puzzles – Van Gogh Starry Night

Everyone knows this image. It’s a poster in a dorm room. So I tried to give it a twist. I swirled and whirled all of the signs of the zodiac into this puzzle then added the symbols, too.

If puzzling with the kids, I would pair this with Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and once the kids have fallen asleep I would put on Zodiac and Suspect Zero.

garden of deathArtifact Puzzles – Garden of Death

I love this image. This puzzle was one of my early designs. It includes a multi-piece monster plant and a Jack-o-Lantern. It’s a perfect pairing with Little Shop Of Horrors.

My mom gave me a great Halloween noises CD that came with a DVD of the 1960’s version of Little Shop of Horrors (1960) and I was happily surprised by a young Jack Nicholson (as pictured in the lead image).

 

creature ladder

Artifact Puzzles – Justin Hillgrove Creature Ladder

This image makes me smile. It’s fun. It’s whimsical. And monsters. I designed some of my pieces to represent these monsters, then their neighbors became their own monsters, and so on . . . The puzzle is a monsterfest!

This is a shorter puzzle, so the first time, during family fun-time, I would pair it with the monster squad

then after the kidlets have gone to bed, how about going full Cryptid with laughably horrible films like: Loch Ness Terror and Abominable

Or a Bigfoot comedy like Strange Wilderness

Artifact Puzzles – Waterhouse Lady of Shalott

Waterhouse_Lady_of_Shalott_edge_1024x1024

The Lady of Shalott is a ballad by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Like his other early poems – “Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere”, and “Galahad” – the poem recasts Arthurian subject matter loosely based on medieval sources.

I find this image haunting. So while working this puzzle, after the kids have gone to bed, I recommend:
An American Haunting and my mate’s personal favorite The Exorcism of Emily Rose

Edvard_Munch_-_The_Scream_-_Google_Art_Project_1024x1024
And of course, The Scream – you can sign up to get an email when it’s in stock!

It’s not available yet, but I worked hard on it because I love it!

At first the movie pairing is obvious:
Scream
Scream 2
Scream 3
Scream 4

But then you’ll notice the symbolism and want to watch TrollHunter.

#OctPairs

There you have it. My first offering of October Pairings. I hope you find the same joy in movies and puzzles as I do. When I started making these puzzles, I was surprised how they became the center of every family gathering. They bring people together, and they’re fun to do alone.

What fun things do you think pair up well? Let me know at #OctPairs on Twitter. Or here in the comments.