Terrifying Tuesdays: This Week's Favorite Mid-Century Scary Movies to Watch (Week 4)

From Amazon

Happy Halloween!  For this last week of favorite mid-century scary movies, I have links to six of the seven movies I have listed.  First up is "The Monster That Challenged the World" (1957) which can be viewed on DailyMotion here.  An earthquake in California releases prehistoric giant molluscs with a taste for humans and the ability to reproduce quickly in California's waterways.  Can the US navy stop them in time?  Find out by watching the film!

From Amazon

Next up we have "Mysterious Island" (1961) which can be watched here on DailyMotion.  Four prisoners being held in a Confederate army prison escape in a balloon along with a Confederate soldier who tries to stop them.  A violent storm blows them off course and causes them to crash on an unknown island.  Here they struggle to survive while attempting to figure out a way to leave the island, which is full of unusual oversized creatures and a menacing volcano.  Will they survive long enough to escape the Mysterious Island?  Watch the movie if you want to find out!

The third film, which you can watch on YouTube (above), is "The Quatermass Xperiment" (1955), AKA "The Creeping Unknown" in the United States.  A manned rocket designed by Professor Bernard Quatermass crash lands to Earth, and only one of the three astronauts on board survives.  As he recovers in a hospital, the astronaut begins to undergo horrendous changes and escapes.  Quatermass must track the man down and find a way to stop him before he spreads an alien organism that will destroy the world.  Will Quatermass succeed?  See the film to find out!

From Amazon

A giant bug movie is next for your viewing pleasure (I could not find a free video showing for Them! (1954), the second giant bug movie on my list for this week).  The link for Tarantula (1955) on Vimeo is available here.  Leo G. Carroll stars as a research scientist whose experiments go horribly awry, creating an enormous tarantula that threatens a small Arizona town.  Can the local doctor and the scientist's newest research assistant (played by John Agar and Mara Corday, respectively) find a way to stop the horrendous beast?  Once again, you can only find out if you watch the film!

Image from Amazon (DVD link here)

Last but not least for this week is "The Uninvited" (1944), which is my favorite classic ghost movie.  The only video link I could find is in two parts on DailyMotion - see Part 1 here and Part 2 here.  Brother and sister Roderick (Ray Milland) and Pamela (Ruth Hussey) Fitzgerald accidentally stumble upon and fall in love with an unoccupied seaside abode called Windward House, and are able to purchase it from the owner, Commander Beech (Donald Crisp) for an unusually low price.  They soon find out that there is a reason the house was such a bargain, and delve into the mystery of the house which involves the Commander's deceased daughter Mary, his granddaughter Stella (Gail Russell), and his daughter's best friend, the superbly sinister Miss Holloway (Cornelia Otis Skinner).  With the help of the local doctor (Alan Napier) they eventually find out why the house is haunted, but not without several perilous moments for young Stella.  Throw in a cute little dog, a motherly housekeeper with a fluffy cat, and a few comedic moments from Milland's character, and you have the most perfect cozy creepy ghost story to watch on All Hallow's Eve!

So there you have it - six links to free online videos perfect for scary Halloween viewing!  Have fun watching one or more or even all of them today if you so desire, or do whatever it is that makes you happy on this spooky holiday (just pace yourself with the Halloween candy 😜).  👻🎃💀🐍👽

On the Homefront: Traveling by Train from Lamy, NM, to Pittsburgh, PA, and Back - Is It Worth It? Part 3

At the end of my last post, I had settled in for the night in my roomette and slept surprisingly well.  In the morning, I woke up to the view shown above, a view that would pretty much dominate the landscape once we left Colorado and until the train reached its final destination at Chicago's Union Station - miles and miles of endless cornfields!  I got myself ready for the day and headed to the dining car for an early breakfast.

The breakfast menu had a decent number of choices, freshly prepared of course.  I opted for the simple scrambled eggs with cheese and fried potatoes, and enjoyed my tasty and well-cooked breakfast.  My only objection was that, as a tea drinker, I only had the option of Lipton tea, which I do not like.  Fortunately I always bring my own teabags when I travel, so I asked for hot water and milk and brewed my own cup of Twinings English Breakfast tea.  After breakfast I headed back to my room, which the car attendant had set up for the day by folding up the bed, removing the sheets, and setting up the seating areas again.  I was still feeling a bit queasy, but I was able to do a few stretches in my roomette by bracing my feet against the opposing seats to keep from falling over on the moving train!  Then I sat down to read and watch the cornfields go by, getting out at the few stops where we had time to disembark to walk around and get some fresh air.

We were due to arrive in Chicago in the early afternoon and luckily our train was on time.  After spending about 24 hours on the train, I was ready for a break on solid ground!  I received a message from Amtrak before arriving at the station which let me know that, because I was a passenger in a sleeping car, I had the privilege of waiting for my connecting train to Pittsburgh in the Metropolitan Lounge.  Having never been to this station before I was not quite sure where to find the lounge, but I asked a couple of security guards for directions and found it pretty easily.  I showed my ticket to the attendant at the counter in the entrance to the lounge, where I was given a ticket for use of the lounge and waved through to the seating area.

The lounge is not fancy, but it is clean and has plenty of comfortable seating as well as outlets for recharging any devices such as phones.  There are also snacks and beverages available (I think they are free but I did not get any so I am not sure), as well as several televisions set on a couple of not very exciting stations (game shows or old TV shows).  I only had a few hours to wait for my train, and I was fortunate enough to sit near a couple of women who were friendly and chatty, so I passed the time pleasantly until my train to Pittsburgh arrived right on time.  One of the women unfortunately had to wait hours for her long-delayed train to San Francisco, and another train passenger mentioned that the station had pretty much shut down the night before because of an unexpected loss of power, so I was very lucky to have arrived when I did!  When my train arrived a porter escorted all passengers from the lounge to the boarding platform so that we would not have to wander around trying to find it ourselves, which was very convenient.

The train trip to Pittsburgh was about 12 hours and pretty much mostly overnight.  We boarded in time to have dinner, so after I dropped my belongings in my roomette I went to the dining car.  I shared a table with another woman passenger and we both ordered the salmon from the menu.  There was no chef on this train, so unfortunately the meals were pretty much the same as prepackaged airplane food, edible but not especially good.  My poor fellow passenger was on her way to South Carolina, and the approaching Hurricane Idalia meant that her train from Washington DC to her final destination had been cancelled.  She would be stuck in DC until Amtrak could reschedule her train, and because the cancellation was weather-related she was responsible for finding a place to stay until then.  She planned to spend her time waiting in the train station lounge instead of trying to find a hotel, which sounded ghastly to me.  Apparently if a cancellation is due to some sort of man-made snafu, such as the power outage in Chicago, Amtrak is responsible for accommodating passengers, but if cancellations are weather-related then Amtrak is off the hook.  So my tip number five when traveling by train is to try to avoid destinations and/or times of year when inclement weather may lead to train cancellations!

My train was scheduled to arrive at Pittsburgh's Union Station at 5 o'clock in the morning, and my brother who still lives in the area was coming to pick me up.  For some reason, even though we were traveling at night, the train ended up being an hour late.  I texted this information to my brother so that he would not have to wait at the station for an hour.  The train station in Pittsburgh is undergoing renovations so it is not looking at its best right now, but thankfully my brother was there to meet me so I did not have to wait in the station.  It was actually a good thing that the train arrived so early in the morning, as the station is right in the middle of the downtown area and later in the day traffic would be horrendous.

I finally arrived at my destination for my family's little Labor Day reunion, still a bit queasy, in need of a shower because I was not willing to take my chances on falling in the train shower on a moving train, hungry because I disembarked so early in the morning that breakfast was not available, and desperate for a chance to take a good walk for some exercise after spending so much time sitting or lying down on the train.  But at least I made it!

In the next post and hopefully final post in this series, I will give a quick summary of my visit and then describe my return trip by train.  And you will finally find out if I considered this mode of travel worth it!  See you in the next post for my trip back home.

Terrifying Tuesdays: This Week's Favorite Mid-Century Scary Movies to Watch (Week 3)

This week I have quite a few links to some favorite mid-century scary movies to share, so let's get started!  First up is "House on Haunted Hill" (1959), starring Vincent Price as a millionaire throwing a very spooky birthday party for his scheming wife in a haunted house full of jump scares and plot twists that will make you glad you were not invited to the party.  The video from YouTube is shown above.

Next up is a YouTube link shown above to the movie "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956).  Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Carolyn Jones, and King Donovan star as four friends and residents of a small California town trying to escape from a terrifying alien invasion.  This classic has been remade a couple of times but the original is still my favorite.

The third link from YouTube (above) is the film "Island of Terror" (1966), starring Peter Cushing (my all-time favorite scary movie star) as one of a team of scientists who travel to a remote Irish island to investigate an unusual death, only to find that this death is not a solitary incident and the cause is something so horrifying that the entire island is soon endangered.

From Amazon

I have two more movie links but I will not load them in this post because they are available on DailyMotion and I have found that if I share their videos here they run continuously.  "It Came from Outer Space" (1953) stars Richard Carlson as an amateur astronomer who witnesses what he assumes is a meteor crash in the Arizona desert.  He soon discovers that the object is more than just a meteor, and strange occurrences in his town are directly linked to his discovery.  You can watch this movie here.

From Amazon

Finally, "The Monolith Monsters" (1957) really does involve a meteor crash landing on Earth, bringing with it a mysterious alien life form that threatens to destroy yet another small town, this time in California.  Luckily a local geologist is there to save the day!  Watch this film here.

These movie links ought to be enough to keep you entertained all week.  I hope you enjoy some or all of them - Halloween is almost here!

Foodie Fridays: Eggplant and Tomato Pasta

We have had a very mild October, with only one night close to freezing, and my vegetable garden is still producing.  I finally harvested the last of the eggplant before cutting down the plants, and decided that a recipe I found for Eggplant and Tomato Pasta was the perfect way to prepare it.  Ziti is the pasta that is usually used in this recipe, but I had small shells so I used those instead and I think I prefer them.  I also still have fresh basil so I added a generous amount to the pasta.  It will not be long before a hard freeze brings an end to my vegetable garden, but this pasta was a great way for me to use up some of the last of my harvest, and is simple and tasty enough to be worth making again with grocery store produce at any time of the year.

Eggplant and Tomato Pasta

1 large eggplant, cut into pasta-sized pieces
4-6 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14 oz.) diced tomatoes (I used unsalted)
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce (I used unsalted)
1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
8 oz. short pasta (I used small shells)
salt to taste
2-4 T. roughly torn fresh basil leaves
1 package (8 oz.) fresh mozzarella pearls

In a wok or large skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat.  Add the eggplant and stir-fry or sauté until golden brown and very soft, about 20 minutes, adding about 1/4 tsp. salt halfway through cooking.  (Add more oil as needed to prevent the eggplant from drying out.)
 

Push the eggplant to the sides and add the garlic.  Cook until slightly soft, about one minute.  Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, and 1/2 tsp. salt and bring to a gentle simmer.  Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.


Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente.  Reserve 1/2 C. of the pasta water and drain.


Add the pasta and basil to the sauce and toss until the pasta is coated and glossy.  Taste and adjust the seasoning.  Stir in the pasta water if needed (I did not need to add any).  Spoon individual servings into bowls, divide the mozzarella pearls among the bowls, and stir them in.  Serves 4.

Note: If you have leftovers, reheat in the microwave before adding the mozzarella so that the cheese does not get too melted and stringy when serving.

This 'n That Thursdays: A Few Good Reads for Halloween

 

For me, the colder and shorter days of fall and winter are the best days to start reading spooky tales.  I have four recommendations that would be perfect for Halloween, starting with The Bone Key: The Necromantic Mysteries of Kyle Murchison Booth by Sarah Monette.  Sarah Monette is an excellent writer, Kyle Murchison Booth is an unlikely but endearing protagonist, and it is refreshing to read supernatural tales written in the traditional style but from a contemporary woman's point of view.  This is the best supernatural short story collection I have read in a long time, and I highly recommend it.

Next up is A Theory of Haunting also by Sarah Monette, a short novel which marks the return of Kyle Murchison Booth, the protagonist of the impressive previously mentioned collection of short stories.  Monette continues Booth's saga in this book, and it does not disappoint.  It is short enough to read in one day, but I would suggest reading the short story collection first to become familiar with Booth's back story.  That said, you can still enjoy the book even if you read it first.

Another short story anthology recommendation is Horror Stories for Halloween by Tony Walker.  Tony Walker is the narrator of the Classic Ghost Stories Podcast as well as the author of a number of supernatual-themed books.  This collection covers a variety of supernatural themes.  If you are looking for a read that will get you into the mood for spooky season, give this book a try.

My last recommendation is Ghosts from the Library: Lost Tales of Terror and the Supernatural (A Bodies from the Library special) edited by Tony Medawar.  I have just started reading this one so cannot yet give an opinion, but this is a collection of lesser-known works by familiar mystery authors, so I have a feeling I am really going to enjoy this one.  This anthology of supernatural tales is a slight departure for the Bodies from the Library series, which usually focuses on mystery stories by authors from the Golden Age of detective fiction.

Happy Halloween reading to all who enjoy these types of tales! 👻🎃💀🐍👽

Terrifying Tuesdays: This Week's Favorite Mid-Century Scary Movies to Watch (Week 2)

From Amazon

 This week I have links to two of my favorite mid-century scary movies, but both come with caveats that have nothing to do with the supernatural.  First up is a YouTube link to "Fiend Without a Face" (1958), about a US Air Force base in Canada experimenting with atomic energy, which leads the soldiers at the base and the inhabitants of the nearby town to confront one of the most unusual horror fiends ever seen in old 1950s B movies.  Unfortunately, however, please be aware that a dog dies in this movie.  I almost never watch movies in which dogs perish, but this old film is one of my very few exceptions (if I could I would just remove that scene from this movie as it is not even necessary to the story):

From Amazon

Up next is "The Ghost Breakers" (1940), starring Paulette Goddard as a young woman who inherits a spooky castle in the Caribbean and Bob Hope as a radio personality who ends up helping her explore the mystery surrounding the old castle.  This is mostly a comedy (I especially love the hilarious scene where Hope and Goddard are trying to read through a tourist brochure once they reach Cuba, the island closest to Black Island where the castle is located), but there is an actual ghost and some of the scenes are truly scary.  The caveat for this movie is that, like a lot of old movies from this era, there is a rather racist undertone, so keep that in mind if you decide to watch.  Happy pre-Halloween viewing, everyone!

Terrifying Tuesdays: This Week's Favorite Mid-Century Scary Movie to Watch (Week 1)

From Youtube

This week I have a link to one of my all-time favorite scary movies from the 1950s.  "The Crawling Eye" (1958), AKA "The Trollenberg Terror", stars Forrest Tucker as an American scientist who travels to Europe to investigate strange events which are occurring on the Trollenberg, a mountain in Switzerland.  The blurb on the image above is a bit melodramatic, but the movie does provide a lot of suspense and a few very creepy scenes.  Below is a YouTube link to the movie (enjoy!):