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halloween

HauntFest

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THE BIGGEST HALLOWEEN PARTY IN THE MIAMI VALLEY HAS RETURNED!
More than just a party, HAUNTFEST 2021, in The Oregon District, is an opportunity to come together as a community and support a fundraiser for the Oregon District Business Association that covers improvement efforts in the District throughout the year.
HAUNTFEST 2021 will feature live music and DJs, food trucks, beer trucks, and street performers. Costumes are encouraged! Buy your tickets here: bit.ly/HauntfestOregon

$5 EARLY BIRD (UNTIL 10/14)

$10 PRE-SALE (UNTIL 10/29)

$15 AT THE GATE

 HAUNTFEST will feature live music and DJ’s, food trucks, beer trucks, and street performers.

Halloween costumes are encouraged!

VISITORS MUST BE 18 YEARS OLD TO ENTER, AND 21 TO DRINK.

“Of Soft And Golden Hue” – The Stoddard Avenue Pumpkin Glow

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The Stoddard Avenue Pumpkin Glow

 

“When black cats prowl and pumpkins gleam,
May luck be yours on Halloween.”

 

Judith Chaffin

Reflecting on a pumpkin patch, it reminds me of the way a community should truly be. Occupying your own mounded hill, you are nurtured from the same sustenance offered to your neighbor. When you bask in the warmth of a sunlit day, your neighbors feel the sun’s impartial rays as well. When hard times befall you, the community must endure the inclement storms. Eventually, your vines and roots tangle and twist together, becoming a communal plot of land. Could it be that a simple jack-o’-lantern could bring a community of people together as well?

Many years ago, Judy Chaffin envision ghoulishly glowing pumpkin lighting the perfect darkness of the McKinley Park located on Forest Ave. by the Dayton Art Institute. Her vision remained a wil-o’the-wisp…until she moved nearby onto Stoddard Ave.

“When I moved onto Stoddard Ave., I thought, ‘Boy, if we put some over on the hill, how neat would that look?’” Judy reminisce. “I then asked my brother and his wife if they would help me and I went out and bought thirty-six pumpkins and, back then, I thought that was huge! So, we put them over there and people stopped by and seemed to really like them and that was really nice.”

The hill behind the Greek Orthodox Church seemed perfect, providing the pumpkins with a raised dais so that the casual passersby would fall under it’s eerie orange stare while the stone edifice of the Church itself endowed the tableaux with the ideal backdrop. The idea seemed to grow all on it’s own, sending tendrils and roots through the fertile furrows of the imagination. Judy recounted how the pumpkin patch grew with each subsequent year that passed.

“Then the next year, we decided to go for a little more. We tried to increase it by twenty-five or so…we did seventy-five, then one hundred, then one hundred and twenty-five…it just kept going up and up and up.” With a wave, Judy said, “At some point, it just jumped up to three hundred, and once that number goes up, you really can’t go back down. Last year it jumped to like four hundred and this year we have like five hundred pumpkins.” We just heard that for 2015 there will be 825 pumpkins on display.

In the beginning, Judy would trek up towards Springfield each night after work to cull through a local pumpkin farm, loading up her little Honda Civic with all that it would carry. After a few years, her brother helped her by loading up his van with the orange gourd-like squash. Eventually, she was referred to another Springfield area farmer who not only negotiated a fair price for the prestigious pumpkins, but more importantly…he delivered.

Neighbors and friends have joined into the mix, offering their services from gutting and cleaning to carving, placing and lighting the finished pumpkins. It became a neighborhood affair. Now it’s even bigger, with a volunteer team working on carving, set up and feeding of volunteers.

“Well, I think that a lot of them like to bring people into the neighborhood for something positive. You know how it is. If you say, ‘Oh, I live over by the Dayton Art Institute’ people are aghast. It’s not like that. It’s a great neighborhood.” Judy opined, “I think that is why the neighbors enjoy it because we have people from all over…we have people from Sidney and Troy and other cities that come down. It’s just nice. I have friends from Cincinnati who come up to see it.”

With every manner of carving displayed, the Pumpkin Glow has definitely grown, taking in the hearts and imaginations of people from far away cities who have hear about the extraordinary exhibit by word of mouth. The sheer logistics is staggering when one realizes how few people are involved in the actual process of cleaning and carving the pumpkins.

If you’d like to help

“We’re going to try and put them up early this year at about eleven o’clock in the morning and then at about four-thirty or five o’clock, we’ll begin lighting them and they’ll stay lit well past midnight. Then they will be up Saturday night and Sunday night and then Monday, we take them off the hill.” Judy ended by alluding to one of the many factors that make this such a special occasion. “Some people want us to keep them lit until Monday. I think that two nights is enough…it’s fleeting, and that’s what makes it so special.”

Update: Ms. Judy was sick and unable to hold the pumpkin glow in 2016, then in 2017 the Grafton Hill Historic District took charge of the event that Daytonians had come to love .  Judy Chaffin, the Pumpkin Lady passed away in December of 2018, but with lots of volunteer help the Pumpkin glow continues

The Stoddard Avenue Pumpkin Glow can be seen from 6-10pm on the Monday and Tuesday prior to Halloween. It is a display that is well worth seeing, not only for it’s sheer eerie beauty, but also for the sense of community that it invokes.

“Only the knife knows what goes on in the heart of a pumpkin.”
~Simone Schwarz-Bart

…let the carnage begin!

Here is a video done in October 2011.

(note – this article was originally written in October 2010 and has been updated each year)

 

 

History & Halloween combine at Huffman’s Spooky Tour

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If you’ve ever driven or taken a stroll down Linden Avenue in the Huffman Historic District, you may have been struck by the beauty of the tunnel of oak and linden trees that create a continuous canopy overhead. Or perhaps you were too distracted by the stately collection of Queen Anne, Italianate, and Eastlake Victorian homes. Especially in the fall, there’s a certain magic in the air in Huffman when jack-o-lanterns grace front porch steps and the leaves of the tree canopy transition to autumn colors.

This October 12th and 13th, that magic will be alive and well when the Huffman Historic Neighborhood Association puts on their biannual, guided home tour, “The Spirit of Huffman.” The Spirit of Huffman home tour’s tagline is, “Where Halloween and History Collide,” and, indeed it’s true, when the outing offers tour goers a visual feast of Halloween decorations and entertainment dispersed among the Victorian homes.

Participants of the home tour will be guided through the neighborhood, established in the 1860s through the 1890s  by William P. Huffman, stopping to tour nine unique homes: one totally renovated house, a home bought through auction, homes renovated through Rehabarama, one home that housed the neighborhood post office, and two houses that were doctor’s offices. They will encounter an extensive collection of Halloween decorations, marble mantles, one-of-a-kind woodwork, bay windows, original hitching posts for horses, original carriage houses, carpenter’s lace, fretwork, corbels, towers,  and curved-glass windows. Along the way, they’ll take note of Dayton’s first brick school house, two beautiful Victorian churches with active congregations, and an old market that is looking at a second life. They’ll hear about the importance of the community’s connection to the country’s largest manufacturer of bicycles.

Each time The Spirit of Huffman Tour is presented, visitors are entertained. In addition to being a tour of today’s homes, this is an energized evening walk through time.  Expect to meet up with Huffman residents of a century ago who are scheduled to make an historic return engagement this year – just in time to make the past live again.  Visitors are advised: It is likely you will be transported beyond the Victorian architecture you are coming to see. Come prepared for several “Close Encounters of the Huffman Kind” as they pull back the curtain on time, revealing William Huffman’s new dream for a diverse community of bankers, laborers, shopkeepers, and street vendors at a moment when it is all so exciting and new.  When you come, be sure to listen carefully. The winds of change are rustling through the prairie grasses outside the city. It is 1870 and thanks to one man’s vision, Huffman Prairie is about to transform into the vibrant “Inner East” of Dayton.

Tickets are on sale now! To learn more about the Spirit of Huffman Tour please visit their website at www.SpiritofHuffman.com, or contact spiritofhuffmanhometour@gmail.com

A special thank you to sponsors DK Effects, LinkDayton, Blackbox Improv, Dayton Most Metro, St. Anne the Tart, Gem City Podcast and our great neighborhood of volunteers helping to keep the Spirit of Huffman alive.

How to Go?

When: October 12 and 13, 2018

Where: Huffman Historic District – 19 Linden Avenue, Dayton, OH 45403

Tickets: $18

buy online here

Note: This tour is not recommended for children under the age of 12.

What are my transportation/parking options for getting to and from the event?

Once you arrive for the tour signs and guides will help to find parking.

What can I bring into the event?

This event is rain or shine. Please come prepared with umbrellas and/or ponchos in the event of rain. We will have flashlights to share but are limited. Feel free to bring your own.

$3 Chipotle Burritos on Halloween

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On Halloween if you’re in costume you can score a  burrito, burrito bowl, order of tacos, or salad for $3 just by showing up at your local Chipotle. The discount is good from 3pm ’til close at most of the burrito empire’s locations

Excludes online, mobile, fax and catering orders. Limit one Boorito per person; must be in costume to qualify. Determination of whether a ‘costume’ qualifies for the offer is at the sole discretion of Chipotle restaurant personnel. Applicable taxes to be added to $3 purchase price.

Even without a costume you can also enter Chipotle’s  text drawing to win BURRITOS FOR A YEAR by texting BOORITO to 888222 by 10/31.  If you enter via text-messaging, you will receive a message confirming your entry into the Sweepstakes. Up to 6 automated marketing messages will be sent to the number provided at entry.

Consent is not a condition of purchase or entry. The wireless carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. Message and data rates may apply. Text HELP for help. Text STOP to cancel. At the time of entry, you will have the opportunity to opt-in to receive further communications from Sponsor. Entrants are not required to opt-in and opting in will not increase your chances of winning the Sweepstakes.  One(1) GRAND PRIZE will be awarded. The Grand Prize will consist of fifty-two (52) Free Burrito Cards (up to a value of $10 each card) to be redeemed by the Grand Prize Winner at any participating Chipotle Mexican Grill Restaurant. Approximate Retail Value (ARV) of Grand Prize: $520

For all the official terms and mumbo jumbo visit www.chipotle.com/terms. The name of the Winner will be posted online at: http://chipotlewinners.hit2c.com after the Winner is confirmed.

Halloween Drink Recipe: Yellow Zombie

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The Yellow Zombie

Hosting a party?  Looking for a chilled, laid back drink to serve guests that will will keep them howling?  Just need something to sip in between trick or treaters?

Each month we share a seasonal recipe, and this month, we have a quick, easy, and fun tip.

Big Ragu has a little Halloween cheer in this month’s Food Adventure recipe.

We think you will like it, like a Walking Dead Zombie loves a good shoulder.

Need a hand with this recipe ?

Let us exspleen…

We call it …

THE YELLOW ZOMBIE

 

In a blender,  spin:

8 ice cubes
12 ounces of rum 
4 ounce freshly-squeezed lime juice
4 ounce freshly-squeezed lemon juice
4 ounce pineapple juice
4 ounce cream of coconut
4 ounce triple sec
1/2 banana

Blend until consistency of a smoothie

Makes 4 drinks

Eye hope you like the drink

 

Rots of luck …

Stay tuned each month as Chef House, Big Ragu,  and Hungry Jax share monthly recipes.

Also, check back for our feature food articles on Dayton food spots, right here on MostMetro !

HAPPY HALLOWEEN  ………… enjoy !

Yellow Zombie

Whatcha gonna garnish it with

Dayton’s Food blog since 2008

Stick it to your guests

Beach

Zombay … zom bay .. za hombay bay bay bay

 

 

 

Fall at Hidden Valley Fruit Farm

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Down south on Route 48, is a great little place

Hay! Hay! Hay! Food, fun and fall flavors await you at The Hidden Valley Fruit Farm.  Just a few minutes south of Centerville on State Rout 48, Hidden Valley is the perfect place for a family Food Adventure, especially for little ones.  You can find pies to petting zoos, and scarecrows to strawberry jams.  They even have hay rides, pick your own apples and more.  We have great memories of coming here as kids.  This farm store is a perfect place to spend time with your loved onesand experience the sights and sniffs of the Fall season.

 

HERE’S THE SKINNY  on HIDDEN VALLEY FRUIT FARM:

Caramel Apples, anyone ?

—For over 60 years, located at 5474 OH-48, Lebanon, OH 45036 just a few minutes south of Centerville.

—10am – 6pm Sunday through Wednesday  and  10am – 7pm Thursday – Saturday

— Fun attractions include: Hayrides, pick your our pumpkin, pick your own apples, a gift shop in the 150 year old barn, an ice cream shop, and a petting zoo.   There is “so much room for activities”

Pumpkins Galore

— The Country Store is in a 150 year old barn.  It features a gift shop, a bakery, a produce area, grocery items and coffees.

— The small restaurant is open Wednesday to Saturday, and features an $8.99 lunch for a pulled-pork sandwich and two sides – choices are potato salad, corn-on-the-cob, or baked beans.

— They grow 38 different kind of apple varieties.

There are literally hundreds of choices, local squash, fruit jams and so much more.  Over the years we have tried dozens of items.  Here are some of our favorites that have lasted from the 1970’s.  Without further delay.. we present our MUST EATS !

 

MUST EATS at HIDDEN VALLEY FRUIT FARM:

Fritters, Cider and Apples….

— GALLON OF APPLE CIDER:  Hidden Valley Fruit Farm is one of the only farms in Ohio that still prepares its apple cider the old-fashioned way.  Not from concentrate, their cider is pressed from select apples out of their own orchards.  The cider goes from orchard, to press, to bottle, then straight to the refrigerators.  Their is no homogenization, no pasteurization, and no additives or preservatives.  The best cider ever in the Big Ragu’s opinion.  Maybe it is the nostalgia, but he has never tasted anything like it.

— PUMPKIN DONUTS:  Small, sugary and delicious.  We have been enjoying these for decades.  Get a few extra, they seem to disappear into hungry mouths on the way to the car.

Local Honey

— GALA APPLES:  OK, so they have 38 different kinds of apples… One of our favorites is the sweet Gala apples grown on site.  There are so many others, some good for baking, others good for eating.  All of them local, right off the trees and delicious.

— APPLE FRITTERS: These are huge.  They are sweet, glazed and delicious.  So sweet in fact, that they are guaranteed to attract a bee or two if eaten outside.  Made fresh, they melt in your mouth and go great with a glass of milk.

— LOCAL NATURAL RAW HONEY: There are so many uses for this wonderful product.  From a drop in your tea, to drizzling over cereal, this honey is fantastic.  On toast or a spoonful from the jar, it is a wonderful treat.  Did you know that consuming local honey helps guard against allergies to local plants?  It is true with all natural honeys and the area they are produced.

38 varities of apples

— CARAMEL APPLES WITH NUTS: Nice sized apples dipped in a thick caramel coating, with the bottom half rolled in chopped peanuts.  The result is everything you could ever want from a salty and sweet treat.  Sinful? You bet…  If you want to go big, they have a “Thriller” apple which is the deluxe chocolate added treat.  Although they are great, we stay old school here and prefer the original.

Honorable Mention:  The Homemade Fudge.  All flavors.  It used to cause family squabbles in the car on our way back from Kings Island..

Gala apples – sweet things grown on their orchard

The Hidden Valley Fruit Farm is a throwback Food Adventure and a tribute to the old days. Rural America eats and treats, and simple pleasures like a fall Hay ride.

Find the peace and calm of a brisk Autumn day, and visit this local treasure.  There is still time to grab a pumpkin before Halloween, and this is the perfect spot to scope one out. See you near the corn stalks, inside the barn….

Are you a Dayton Foodie?  Then follow us on Facebook by clicking here, and find your paradise.  The Big Ragu, Chef House and Hungry Jax are just a click away.

Please enjoy the sights of Fall at Hidden Valley Fruit Farm by browsing our photos below.

Pumpkins out front

Vintage Tractor

Chicken coop on site

Inside the Country Store

Butterfinger fudge – have you ever heard something so sweet?

Outside looking around

Stalk to you later

Activities and prices

No bake pies….

 

 

Indian Corn

Candy table

Pork in a can

Fresh from the orchard out back

 

Petting Farm and Playground

Scarecrows and Pumpkins out front

Apples – just picked….

Ghost Hunting at Amber Rose

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Come on down, nobody’s been down here… for a while

CALLING ALL GHOST HUNTERS!  BYOE.. bring your own equipment!

(Caution:  All attendees must sign a waiver)  Get your tickets by clicking HERE.

Friday night, October 21st, in the wee hours of the night, you may hear a creak, you may feel a chill.  But this is what many are coming for, this is what they want.   The Amber Rose Restaurant is giving 40 attendees unprecendented access to the previously private areas of the “Haunted” restaurant.  Some will bring cameras, some will bring fancy recording devices, others will just bring their senses.

Access to the spooky azz basement.. CHECK

Erdinger Dunkel will be flowing, and the moon glowing

Access to the creepy old attic… CHECK

Paranormal investigators “ParaSense” will be on hand, sharing their findings and helping guide visitors.  It’s all you hunt from 9pm til 2am.

But hey, Ghost Hunters get hungry and thirsty.. So we have put together a 3 station stop of food and brews… in between your, BOOS !  For late stayers, there will be a special late night cheap eats menu and drink specials until 2am.

Now, THAT is a Food Adventure.    

 

HERE’S THE SKINNY ON THE NIGHT OF GHOST HUNTING:

WHEN: OCTOBER 21st at 9pm and you are welcome to stay and Ghost Hunt until 2am

WHERE:  The AMBER ROSE RESTAURANT at 1400 Valley Street in Dayton

The Haunted Amber Rose Restaurant on 1400 Valley Street

WHAT:  3 Beers, 3 Food Stations, 1 Night of unprecendented access for Ghost Hunting and ghastly findings from Parasense Paranormal Investigative Team.  What will they share from their 2015 and 2016 overnight visits?  Shelly, Kat and Alicia have recordings, photos and computer findings that will make your hair stand on end !  The Food Adventures Crew may be hiding under a table

 

First Course
—Beck’s Oktoberfest
—Deluxe Potato Pancakes & Bavarian Pretzels with Bier Cheese Dip

Whats the wurst that can happen ?

Second Course
—Erdinger Dunkel Beer
—Bratwurst Encroute & Hunter Schnitzel Sliders

Third Course
—Breckenridge Vanilla Porter
—Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake

SPECIAL LATE NIGHT MENU 1opm – 2am – CHEAP PRICES, CHEAP THRILLS, CHEAP SCREAMS !  Hungry Jax, Chef House and The Big Ragu are always up for a late night Food Adventure.  

COST: EVENT IS PRE PAY ONLY $25 includes the tip – CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS – 

Welcome to the heart of Haunted Dayton ladies and gentleman.  Come learn about the history of Amber Rose, hear the personal stories, and most of all explore for yourself.  There will be door prizes, trivia and much more.  If you are serious Ghost Hunter or just have a hunger for the Miami Valley’s scariest places… Dont miss this one night only event !

Want more foodie fun? Join the 7,000 fans on Facebook that follow Food Adventures…. CLICK HERE

You arent Scared… are ya ?

Attendees can Toast to a ghost !

Wings from the Late Night Menu

Attic and basement and other places are now ON LIMITS !

Wiener scnitzel

Haunted Food Adventure at Amber Rose Oct 7th

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Rhinegiests & Poltergeists Returns Oct 7th to the Amber Rose

Sellout crowd expected again !!

FOOD, BEER, … GHOSTS

This is a post that many of you have been waiting for…  Dayton Most Metro is kicking of the fall season with a “BOO!”

—October 7th, the popular “RHINEGEISTS and POLTERGEISTS” ghostly beer dinner returns! A brainchild of local bloggers, the Food Adventure crew, this popular scarefest looks to again to have a sellout crowd of over 100 foodies at the Amber Rose restaurant. There will also be a special presentation from a nationally known paranormal investigative group, ParaSense.

Pierogies and More on the Menu

 

HERE IS THE SKINNY ON “RHINEGEISTS and POLTERGEISTS”

WHEN: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7th at 7pm

WHERE: AMBER ROSE RESTAURANT at 1400 Valley St. in Dayton

WHAT: 4 COURSE DINNER from AMBER ROSE and 4 BEERS from RHINEGEIST BREWERY

Visit the Haunted Amber Rose for this Food Adventure

—COURSE 1: Sausage, Potato and Sauerkraut Pierogies and German Bier Cheese Dip

—COURSE 2: Beef Rouladen (rolled) with Roasted, Rustic Vegetables

—COURSE 3: Apple Cinnamon Smoked Pork Chop with German Potato & Bavarian Hash

—COURSE 4: Cherry Almond Bread Pudding

Each course will be paired with a Rhinegeist Beer:

—BEER 1: “ALICE” a Belgium Style Ale

—BEER 2: “EXUM” a Pale Ale

—BEER 3: “HUGH” an Oktoberfest brew

—BEER 4: “STEVE” a Dark Lager

Parasense – Paranormal Investigator Team – Alicia, Shelly and Kat

WHAT ELSE:  A special presentation from a local paranormal investigative team with national exposure, called PARASENSE.  ParaSense will be sharing their findings from numerous overnight ghost hunts from 2015 and 2016.  NEW FINDINGS, NEW GOOSEBUMPS !

COST: $35 per person includes the tip ! Tickets are PRE-PAY and ONLY AVAILABLE at THIS LINK.  This event has always sold out and will be limited to 100 people.

EACH ATTENDEE GETS A FREE RHINEGEIST PINT GLASS !

ALICE from Rhinegeist Brewery

*****The party continues after the event, downstairs at the bar with “Happy Hour” pricing*****

As many of you may know, The Amber Rose is supposedly a haunted venue.  The ghost is believed to be the daughter of the former house owner.  She is a playful ghost named Genevieve Ksiezopolski aka “Chickie.”  Employees have many stories of glasses flying off of shelves, lights being turned on and even the appearance of a poltergeist.  Take for example this case, where a cook claimed to see a full apparition of a lady in a long dress who walked into the room, then turned and walked away.  When the frightened cook alerted the staff, they quickly pulled the security surveillance camera footage. What they saw at the same time the cook claimed to encounter the ghost was this: click to see video

 

Who is Haunting the Amber Rose? Some think it is this lady….

A local, three person “ghost hunter” crew will be investigating the Amber Rose facility in the weeks leading up to the dinner.  They have appeared on on National Television!  Their work has been featured in“America’s Most Haunted,” “My Ghost Story”, and Haunted Ohio VI.  Independent Paranormal Investigators Kat Powell and Shelly Suittor met in 1999 as tour guides for the Ohio State Reformatory, Prospect Place, and Snow Hill Country Club. Teaming up with Alicia Soich in 2012, they’ve logged hundreds of hours of field research and private investigations across the state.

What will their findings be?  Will they be contacted by “Chickie” or some other poltergeist?  Join us and find out !  And stay for the Happy Hour after party at the bar !

BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE!  TICKETS ARE PRE-PAY ONLY! LIMITED SEATING!

Browse the photos below…

“LIKE” FOOD ADVENTURES on FACEBOOK HERE !

Sausages Locally made

1400 Valley street – is it HAUNTED>>>

Bier Cheese Dip

Cut into a sausage with some sweet kraut

Staff at the Amber Rose make the whole experience

Beautiful upstairs area

wave hi

excellent food

Chef JT, Joe from Amber Rose and Trevor from Rhinegeist

Lucky guy

Pondering ghost evidence

Serving

Amber Rose Food

Bar upstairs

Happy Hour here “after party”

HORRORAMA 2014 Re-Haunts Englewood Cinema October 24th!

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Horrorama2014_UPDATEMore legal than a fake purge and less appetizing than zombies on AMC, it’s that time of year for the 18th Annual Horrorama Movie Festival. Making more returns then Jason, Freddy and Michael the ‘Horror’ returns to the Englewood Cinemas at 320 W. National Road, Englewood, Ohio by Kmart on Friday Oct. 24th. Doors open and the pre-show festivities at 6:00 PM, and the flicks kick off around 7:00 PM.  Tickets are $10 in advance (at GameSwap Kettering and Englewood Cinema) or $12 day of show.

Turning 18 this year (it’s old enough to drink blood but not other potent liquids), Horrorama has presented horror films and audience participation activities on the last Friday before Halloween each year. Fans are once again welcomed, encouraged and demanded with a sneer to wear costumes, yell at the screen and scream, holler and howl at will. Please no biting, sacrifices, monster attacks, conjuring’s, mauling’s or ‘turns’ in the theater or lobby. This year’s show returns with four great horror films, tons of trailers from distant yesteryear-current day, short films, some by local directors, and contests! Scream for me Horrorama!

This year’s event is hosted by Dayton’s own horror show and radio host A Ghastlee Ghoul.   Terrifying Tales of the Macabre’s Baron Von Porkchop will also present a short film during the event.

The evening’s first frightful flick starts with Peter Cushing returning as Baron Frankenstein in Hammer’s classic Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell. His brain came from a genius. His body came from a killer. His soul came from hell! Your blood will run cold when the monster rises. The second feature is from that hellraisen’ Clive Barker’s little seen sleeper Rawhead Rex. Watch out, he’s pure evil, pure power, pure terror. Someone has awakened him….he lives again to feed again.

The third film is the Italian zombie flick by Bruno Mattei, Hell of the Living Dead and is known as one of the worst zombie films ever made. In other words, you’ll love it! When the creeping dead devour the living flesh, get ready… it’s gonna be one hell of a night. The last film for the evening’s insomniacs and those too scared to sleep is H.P. Lovecraft’s The Bride of Re-Animator, a direct sequel to the cult classic Re-Animator starring Halloween 4’s Kathleen Kinmont and good ole Dr. West. The creator of the original cult classic injects new life into body parts other films cannot reach… it’s a scream! Date. Mate. Re-animate.

For the last 17 years, Horrorama has raised thousands of dollars for charity. This year Horrorama will benefit the All Creatures Great and Small Emergency Pet Food Bank.

Horrorama is not just a passive movie watching event, every year Horrorama features a kids and adult costume contest as well as other contests such as a “zombie walking” and “screaming” contest. More information can be found on Facebook at Horrorama 2014 and Horrorama Dayton or call the Englewood Cinema at 937-836-0805.

 

When To Trick or Treat Around Town

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[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]urlTrick or Treat  began with the Celtic tradition of celebrating the end of the year by dressing up as evil spirits. The Celts believed that, as we moved from one year to the next, the dead and the living would overlap, and demons would roam the earth again. So dressing up as demons was a defense mechanism. If you encountered a real demon roaming the Earth, they would think you were one of them. Fast forward to  the Catholic Church who put their own spin on the ritual.  They turned the demon dress-up party into “All Hallows Eve,” “All Soul’s Day,” and “All Saints Day” and had people dress up as saints, angels and still a few demons. . This event was devised so that beggars could go around asking for food, usually barley or oat cakes, in exchange for prayers. The Catholic church said the prayers were an extra bit of “insurance” that a dead person’s spirit would be given entry into heaven. Soul Cake day is no longer in common practice in England, but it is still rather popular in Scotland and Ireland and from this, it is believed, the concept of trick or treat arose.

Halloween Trick or Treat

Trick or treating didn’t start happening in America until sometime in the early part of the 20th century. It was first found in magazines and papers in the latter part of the 1930’s. Throughout the 1940’s trick or treat started to get into full swing due to many of the children’s books and TV shows. In 1952, Walt Disney permanently burned it into the minds and hearts of America when his cartoon, Trick or Treat debuted. Trick or treat was here to stay. Trick or treating became more widely practiced throughout the 20th century. In recent years many people have started to have issues with the “trick” bit. The original idea was that if you did not give a “treat” to the trick or treaters they would then play a “trick” on you. While egging house or car windows or papering someone’s house or tree could be considered harmless fun, the increase of vandalism for the sake of the “trick” has caused trick or treating to actually be banned in some areas. For those who still like to dress in costume in pursuit of candy you’ve got lots of opportunities to do so, as communities all over the Miami Valley each choose their own night to celebrate.  As best we know, here’s where you’ll be welcome at strangers doors:

Saturday 10/25

Clark County Trick or Treattrickortreating
Enon Trick or Treat
New Carlisle Trick or Treat
Hauntfest on 5th (Oregon District Party)
South  Vienna Trick or Treat
Springfield Trick or Treat

Sunday 10/26

Arcanum Trick or Treat
Jackson Center Trick or Treat

Wed, 10/29

Beavercreek Nazarene – Hall-o-fun-a-weenie

Thurs, 10/30

Anna Trick or Treat
Bellbrook Trick of Treat
Halloween_post Bethel Township Beggar’s Night
Brookville Trick or Treat
Cedarville Trick or Treat
Covington Trick or Treat
Franklin Trick or Treat
Germantown Trick or Treat
Middletown Trick or Treat
New Bremen Trick or Treat
Piqua Trick or Treat
Scene75 HalloScene Indoor Trick or Treat
Sugarcreek Township Beggar’s Night
Tipp City Trick or Treat
Town & Country Halloween Spooktacular
Troy Trick or Treat
Urbana Trick or Treat
Vandalia Trick or Treat
West Alexandria Trick or Treat
West Milton Trick or Treat
Wilmington Trick or Treat

Fri, 10/31

Beavercreek  Trick or Treatkids-halloween-2
Beavercreek Township Beggar’s Night
Butler Township Beggar’s Night
Centerville Trick or Treat
Clearcreek Township Beggar’s Night
Dayton – City of Dayton Trick or Treat
Englewood Trick or Treat
Fairborn  Trick or Treat
Huber Heights Trick or Treat
Kettering Trick or Treat
Lebanon Trick and Treat
Madison Township Trick or Treat
Miami Township Beggar’s Night
Miamisburg Trick or Treat
Moraine Trick or Treat
Oakwood Trick or Treat
Riverside Ohio Trick or Treat
Springboro Ohio Trick or Treat
Trotwood Trick or Treat
Union Trick or Treat
Washington Township Beggar’s Night
Waynesville Trick or Treat
West Carrollton Trick or Treat
Xenia Township Beggar’s Night
Xenia Trick or Treat
Yellow Springs Trick or Treat

If we’ve missed your town’s night, just sent us an email or comment below.  Thanks,[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

REVIEW: Mushroomhead Bring 20 Years of Halloween Havoc to Dayton

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What’s cooler than one of Ohio’s own, Cleveland’s masked men playing doomsday in December last year coming back the following October and playing Halloween night? Dayton was the third to last show on Mushroomhead’s 40 date fall tour with returning vocalist JMann. Though mother-nature brought the rain and winds of fury, postponing several little demons and dragons’ stroll through candy land and once again darkened a few house lights, McGuffy’s House of Rock was packed and celebrating All Hallows Eve under the influence of Mushroomed metal.

Halloween, All Hallows Eve, Pagan New Year, Samhain and the night before All Saints Day. The harvest is over and the winter/darker half of the year begins. The name meaning ‘hallowed’ or ‘holy’ evening has origins in both Christian and Pagan history. To any devout horror or heavy metal fan, the 31st is definitely the scariest day of the year and deserving of all day worship. Even mask-wearing, heavy-breathing, knife wielding, silent fictional slashers deserve their own day too.

Forces of Nature

Forces of Nature

Dayton hometown heros Forces of Nature started the hallowed evening. Last year’s lone Armageddon playing partner to the headliner. Notwithstanding what mother-nature was doing outside. Forces played their patented Pantera meets Slayer mid-pit stomp pounding the piss out of each other sound, ripping open the metal kegger with the face smashing Magnus Lee. Tate Moore’s voice has the devil sandpapering his vocal chords. Since the Apocalypse didn’t happen on schedule last year, they decide to court global danger and play a heavy, angry, defiant song about it with a few guitar licking tastes of Morbid Angel for extra heavenly hierarchal rebellion.

ASOT (As Seen On TV) rips out Udo Dirkschneider’s soft vocals ramming them down Tate’s hoarse, coarse throat, and together they make beautiful music along-side Marc Godsey, Jimmy Rose’s ripping guitar-flesh playing and Johnnie Wallace’s vampiric bass blood wallop. Of course any foursome of metal beasts are lucky to have a fair beauty among them, and the drums are pleasantly hammered by metal matriarch Shannon Godsey. The Godsey’s were also celebrating their 23 year anniversary.

The second showing of local support comes from Dayton’s self-made Moshpits & Lighters creators, In The Cut, led by event marketing mastermind Daniel DeDoncker. Breaking right into Killswitch Engage’s Until the End, they’re each a silent army of one and collectively sold out McGuffy’s with all local talent.

They play a song about all the assholes, particularly the ones out on Halloween doing stupid sh- (present company excluded). Here’s some Hatred Divine. Aaron Noble poured out the power on keys with the black eyes of Alice. He also broke out the skull and bones keyboard decor using two freshly pulled spines courtesy of one ugly motherf-…..  They finish with a fun, fan friendly dip into the 80’s rock power ballad vault singing Separate Ways. There were a few zombies onstage that just happened to be in the band and the night couldn’t end without a cute and innocent love bite amongst monstrous brothers. The end also marked a first time event as DeDoncker stopped mid-song announcing McGuffy’s owner Julia’s birthday.

The Xmembers

The Xmembers

Next up, from the birthplace of the Mushroom, comes the answer of what Quentin Tarantino in a heavy metal band would sound like. The X Members are birthed in musical freedom, bathed in whiskey and bred to destroy. Self-described as a beautiful train wreck of punk, rockabilly, metal, swing and hard rock, they’re greasy, mean and good at it too. Comprised of current and former members of Cleveland talent Pitch Black Forecast, State of Conviction, The Missing, Keratoma and Horror Madonna, they’re equal parts Astro-Creep mixed with Horton Heat.

They opened with the fast, twitching high impact Swinging Neckbreaker. Whether demon alcohol fueled or play acting, singer Elliot Barry does the zombie stagger a bit too realistically. The musical head-bobbing concussion begins with a trip down the devil’s highway burning up the whisky fueled roadster. It’s Quarter To Three and time for some Seltzer’d rockabilly metal and a few hotrod smoking streaks from Ministry with the hard crunch of oiled up bike chains and greasy gears. Ladies, in the sweetest of southern (Cleveland) sincerity, they want to see your special F Hole, and they’re willing to play with hardcore punk speed, serenading with the most mosh friendly tune a bunch of cowboy hat wearing, slick styled, metal hillbillies from up north can play on Halloween, if you’ll be so kind to oblige. Just like Anthrax, they’re startin’ up a posse. Indrid Cold is a hard hitting, bass thump’n return home if Slayer, Buck Cherry and The Black Crowes were born in the same place.
Nothing More (Than a Dream) cruises down the road with a silver skull on the shifter, slick backed hair in the wind and a cigarette smile heading to the Black Flag show. It’s a windmill mosh pit come to life. Antemorten Overdrive cranks out the smoke induced haze with some skeletons from the closet riding shotgun in the Jesus built hotrod. Everyone’s got a Dirty Little Secret, they just choose to scream about theirs turning it into an amped up merry go round of punk chain fisted southern charred horse power.
The X Members are a blood drenched wild-west biker gang movie on stage. From dusk till dawn, they play their mosh pit twang faster than a hole in the wall one night stand in the making can pound down Jager, Jack and Jim and feel coyote ugly in the morning. They were also celebrating their tenth show in ten days with Mushroomhead.
Xfactor1

Xfactor1

Columbus’ XFactor1 is American blue collar passion and intensity with a second to none with do it yourself attitude and an unquenchable desire for success. They open with Break You.  Singer QBall is dressed for the evening in metal surgical scrubs ready for the scalpel and some bloodshed. With a sound combination of Hellyeah, Seether and Shinedown with hints of Staind and Creed, they Bring It On with every show, with deep dark powered background vocals, clean strong lead vocals and a muscle bound hard rock sound stringing the metal carrot at the audience.

The rap rock POD power punch of Parasite could blare over any PA system as a fighter walks toward the octagon. They finish with a classic cover because everyone wants to be like the Rolling Stones and Paint it Black.
Austin based co-headliner One Eyed Doll arrived onstage with the evening’s playful animated playmate, skeleton boned Kimberly Freeman.  She’s your friend to the end, but ‘she’ won’t kill you…yet. Formed in 2007 with Jason ‘Junior’ Sewell on drums, they’ve toured the country playing a unique brand of rock, punk, metal with vaudeville humor and stand up slapstick encompassing an all-around entertaining show. Freeman and Sewell have released five OED records with creepy comedic videos for You’re a Vampire, Envy, Committed and Be My Friend along with a special 90 minute gonzo tour rockumentary on YouTube. Freedman’s been featured as Revolver’s hottest chick in Hard Rock in 2011 and 2012 and is listed in Guitar Player Magazine’s top 20 most extraordinary female guitarists. She also has four solo albums under her name with Sewell producing and is a real life character in the game Adventure Quest Worlds.
One Eyed Doll

One Eyed Doll

Alanis Morissette with the dark side of Smurfette and a twitter of Tinkerbell, Freedman resembles a sweet swirling mixture of what made Babes in Toyland, L7, Courtney Love and the Cycle Sluts from Hell so alluring to kids and enduring to concerned mothers everywhere. With a raw performance style of The Great Kat and voice ranging from high pitched innocent girl next door to loud feminine roar, she’s her own switchblade banshee donning many hats on stage, including a cowboy and the pope. The demented dolls open with Committed. Freeman, the Chelsea grinned painted princess playing the bad seed asylum escapee roaming the empty roads and backwoods churches in search of her sanity. She could be a sideshow freak or a lost child of the corn.

Unbeknownst to many but the few they’re secretly an easy listening, smooth jazz, hip-hop, contemporary Christian, Kenny G inspired band. In fact the next song was covered by Celine Dion and Michael Bolton also appearing on the soundtracks of Titanic, My Little Pony: The Movie and Passion of the Christ. Crowd chants of Hail Satan were acknowledged but not endorsed by Freeman. So in honor of these musical/movie influences they get ‘Dirty’ with the Black Sabbath/Slayer inspired Plumes of Death.
Crowd participation from Dayton, Texas was needed and politely demanded for the next song. They brought out fellow misunderstood friends Michael Myers and some dead guys borrowed from The Walking Dead. Their show and message is all about friendship and just like touring bands and axe murderers, serial killers are people too. “If you take away the voices I’m just like you. I’ll hack you up and bury you in my yard. So why does making friends have to be so very hard?” She led the crowd though the hardcore metal, country twanged Yee-Haw sing along first verse. The second verse conversed about religion as Freeman sported His Holy Eminences’ head gear proclaiming our two choices (you’ll be forced or converted either way) Amen or….Hail Satan (despite the crowd’s heavily biased dark side, only half-heartedly endorsed by Freeman).
They finish as she proclaims her true calling and identity as a dedicated woman of the metal law threatening to arrest anyone (with a show of horns in the air) who wasn’t metal. It was time to Break… the law One Eyed Doll style with slow motion hard ramming speed. She finishes crowd diving, surfing her way back to the merch booth.
Next, the Cleveland masked men return after playing and escaping the Mayan apocalypse to play Halloween celebrating 20 years of shroom-influenced metal. They open playing heavily from XX and XII, going straight in for the keyboard lobe shattering mind hemorrhage and religious confusion playing like dog faced gods. The leeches and the lepers in the crowd start to salivate as the predator stalks its prey preparing to Kill Tomorrow.
We take a mind expanding music tablet trip and get Bwomp’d on history’s leaders and who’s trying to control us. Would we be better with the convicted maniacs in charge, creepy crawling the country forward?  Ever been offered candy by a water drum playing human Borg reindeer? Only on Halloween.
Mushroomhead

Mushroomhead

Mushroomhead count their blessings, being around/fan supported for 20 years and counting. They’re fed up with the status quo and ready to fight and kill for what they believe in. Do you really wanna f- with a band that looks like that tonight? The Sun Doesn’t Rise at all until the past is put behind.

We take a slower ballad like breather as they Save Us from the flawed masterpiece of humanity. There’s only one way, forward.  Inner torment, pain and memories fester inside bleeding your life away, Never Let It Go. Everyone has their own cards to play in life and the inner struggle of good VS evil, right and wrong and what you choose to self-deal.
Everyday life takes its toll on the road, Becoming Cold, missing home. They dedicated The Dream Is Over to lost friend and original guitarist JJ Righteous and called for a pit in his honor.
They encored, changing faces to pumpkin grins and maniacal cut out smiles filling the empty spaces on the floor with some Floyd, proving that every successful band with staying power is Born of Desire.
Forces of Nature photos courtesy of Tom Wilson.
All other photos courtesy of Nikki Forte Design & Photography.

REVIEW: Katz Goes Aces High on Halloween

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Aces High take the stage at Katz (photo by Mike Ritchie)

Aces High take the stage at Katz (photo by Mike Ritchie)

Saturday October 25 the Pre-Halloween bash was going full scare all over Dayton. Katz in Kettering trumped everyone bringing in Aces High, ‘The’ Iron Maiden tribute band playing homage to metal’s scariest and coolest mascot, Edward the Great. The night’s Yankee played British invasion included two, 90- minute sets with a costume contest in between and plenty of grisly ghouls, a major French Kiss and some very lovely iron maidens.

Aces High pulled out familiar classics, crowd favorites and a few vintage tunes. Bathed in the vibrant green illumination of Osiris and eye of Horus, they start the evening’s maiden voyage to Egypt walking the sands of time as the names of ancient hailed deities are whispered through the air, telling us why we have to be a Powerslave and a slave to the power of death. Well, you know what they say, if you’re gonna die…. Die With Your Boots On! We get another nicely sliced Piece of Mind as dawn breaks above the ground. The only escape is air-born on your wings like an eagle, fly as high and touch the sun with Icarus, yeah. 11:58 came early at 10:19 with the glamour, the fortune, the pain. For anyone who doubts the power of Maiden, we’ll show the unbelievers. They’ll go anywhere, even Bavaria Where Eagles Dare.

French Kiss (photo by Mike Ritchie)

French Kiss (photo by Mike Ritchie)

Singer of all things Dianno and Dickinson, Tony Oliver said hello to the crowd and costumed incognito members of ‘French’ Kiss. “The fake Kiss came to see the fake Iron Maiden,” he quipped. We get our first Number of the Beast, walking along-side the doomed Children of the Damned. We skip ahead a few years to the late-eighties and get cultish with old creepy Crowley with the seven deadly sins, seven ways to win, seven holy paths to see Aces High as the first song from Seventh Son begins. Then they return to the beginning, since no one brought their daughter to the slaughter they play the next best thing, the blood red instrumental about Dracula’s home turf. Speaking of old-school Killers, they play another Dianno drenched bloodlust tune.

We take a time warp forward into an Eddie’fied future but before we’re caught in time we have to go back to the golden coast across the seven seas and search for those Wasted Years. You might need a Clairvoyant to find them. Back to killers in the literal sense as we get pseudo Poe’d in the Rue Morgue. Whether it’s the Rue Morgue, Mockingbird Lane or the Whitechapel district, we’re Caught Somewhere In time. Time catches up to even the greatest of legendary man, even Alexander.

As the band rested, the creatures of the night have their moment in the spotlight. A robust personal trainer, some iron maidens, Joker and Batgirl, the Mighty Son of Hercules and his queen, the ‘French’ Kiss, a straight jacket laced zombie and a solo feminine Gene Simmons among others rounded out the party guests. Though French Kiss had the bread and Pierre, crazy’s always in and the insane zombie won the night.

Aces High (photo by Mike Ritchie)

Aces High (photo by Mike Ritchie)

The Book of Revelation opens as the ominous voice of Barry Clayton reads its verses: “Woe to you, oh earth and sea, For the Devil sends the beast with wrath, because he knows the time is short, let him who hath understanding, reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six.” The song partially inspired by Omen II starts its epic intro and iconic scream. Sticking with the beast we are labeled number six by the new number two but we proclaim our freedom as free men, not a Prisoner. We get medieval in Egypt witnessing the swordsman seeking vengeance.  Flash of the Blade is Oliver’s first Maiden song performed on stage. Dario Argento also used it in his 1984 film Phenomena.

The condemned is waiting in his cold cell when the bells begin to chime, at 5 O’clock he’s taken to the gallows pole.  The sands of time run low and he doesn’t have much time. Iced Earth, Cradle of Filth and Machine Head have each taken the walk. Hallowed be their names. Churchill rallies the troops for war, they shall defend their island and fight…everywhere, whatever the cost may be, and never surrender. Aces High lives to play the opener from the legendary Live After Death Tour. After the fighting’s done we head down to Acacia Ave for some well- deserved decadent debauchery.

Aces played an impromptu fan request of Good Times Bad Times before connecting with some Infinite Dreams. Then go straight to Boleskine House for some Sacred Magick rituals to bring about Revelations. Then we hear the most epic song written by metal heads, inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. We’ll never look at birds the same way again. Five minutes later the stage is sprayed in laser light and smoke as the ship sails wayward. The timbers stretch and creak as the captain spins his tale of strange happenings followed by one of the coolest bass lines…ever, from Randy Gaines and the tale goes on and on and on.

We go from a seas tale to the Crimean War and battle back to back with The Trooper. Even the Mighty Son of Hercules and his fair lady worship at the stage of Maiden going crazy for The Wrathchild. The Evil That Men Do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones. So says mighty Caesar. We finish the evening with the iconic show closer of confrontation between Indians and Anglo-Saxons. Run To The Hills, run for your life!

Oliver thanked the crowd for coming as they only do a select amount of shows each year. He thanked the band, Dave McCarty, drummer Brian Harris and guitarist Dan Briley for upgrading/sprucing up the stage design and props and there is… no Iron Maiden tribute without Randy Gaines.  Till next time, scream for me Katz in Kettering, scream for me Katz in Kettering!