31 Days of Halloween { guest author } Christina Henry, author of Black Wings
Today we are joined by Christina Henry, author of the amazing Madeline Black series (Black Wings and Black Night) as she shares with us her favorite Halloween flicks. Enjoy!
As part of the 31 Days of Halloween event, I humbly present to you my top ten movies to watch on Halloween, with a bonus Pumpkin Bars recipe at the end so you have something to munch on in between screams :)
1) Halloween – Directed by John Carpenter. No messing around with inferior Rob Zombie remakes.
2) Sleepy Hollow – This is a holiday tradition in my house. Every year we watch this film on October 31st.
3) Evil Dead II – The “Who’s laughing now?” sequence is worth the price of admission all by itself.
4)
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown – Do I need to explain why you must watch this in between trick-or-treaters coming to your door?
5) Scream – The original, and still the best of the modern self-referential horror sub-genre.
6) Night of the Living Dead – Because it’s just not Halloween unless you’re watching someone’s guts get eaten.
7) The Nightmare Before Christmas – Also works for Christmas viewing.
8) Sweeney Todd – Yes, I have a Tim Burton/Johnny Depp problem. The doctors are looking into it.
9) The Wolf Man – I must stress again, watch the original, staring Lon Chaney Jr. Let’s pretend the remake with Benicio del Toro never happened.
10) A Nightmare on Elm Street – This movie still scares me, almost 30 years after I saw it for the first time.
Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
4 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
2 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground clovesCream Cheese Frosting:
1 package (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar1. Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease bottom and sides of 15x10x1-inch pan with shortening. In large bowl, beat eggs, granulated sugar, oil and pumpkin until smooth. Stir in flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger and cloves. Spread in pan.
2. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until light brown. Cool completely in pan on cooling rack, about 2 hours.
3. In medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla with electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Gradually beat in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, on low speed until smooth and spreadable. Spread frosting over bars. For bars, cut into 7 rows by 7 rows. Store in refrigerator.
About the Author
CHRISTINA HENRY is the author of the Black Wings series and enjoys running long distances, reading anything she can get her hands on and watching movies with samurai, zombies, and subtitles in her spare time. She lives in Chicago with her husband and son. You can visit her on the web at www.christinahenry.net.
Black Howl – coming February 28, 2012
