Creep Show

October is a glorious month. There’s no one’s birthday for me to miss or send gifts late for, the weather finally gets reasonable, and every where you look on TV there are great old scary movies and TV shows. There’s nothing better than scary shows for background noise while I’m working on lots of interesting goodies for Christmas.   One of the creepiest shows I’ve seen in a long time is on the Food Network. It’s called "Sweet Genius" and stars renowned pastry chef Ron Ben-Israel as the judge and executioner. If you haven’t seen this, the concept is that 3 pastry chefs show up to compete against each other making desserts. The twist is that they get surprise ingredients to use, much like "Chopped." Unlike "Chopped," they get additional mandatory surprise ingredients partway through. They are also given something to use as their inspiration for the dish (for example, a cat could be the inspiration). I’m not finding the show so interesting, because it just has too much going on, and when I’m trying to craft, I don’t want to have to keep hitting the go back button to figure out what I just missed. What I find oddly compelling, though, is the host. This dude totally creeps me out. He’s like the love child of Martha Stewart and the creature in the basket in Basket Case. He’s prissy and bitchy and lumpy and authoritative. A former Israeli soldier and ballet dancer, I can’t imagine having this guy hovering over me while trying to compete. That's a combination that sounds like something Tarentino would come up with. I recommend watching it at least once if you are in the mood for a slight fright.   Other inspirational scary shows for your crafty background noise this month are: Halloween – The original, starring a pre-boob job, non-yogurt eating Jamie Lee Curtis Rosemary’s Baby – Mia Farrow rocks one of the best horror movie hairstyles. Okay to skip this one if you are boycotting pedophile Roman Polanski The Exorcist – Watch it while you’re whipping up a batch of pea soup A Nightmare on Elm Street – Great to watch while working on wood-burning projects Final Destination – I saw this movie for the first time about a month ago and now everywhere I look I see things that could be used by the Grim Reaper to kill me in some weird and ironic way. Death by paper trimmer? It could happen Whatever Happened to Baby Jane – Anyone with a sister can appreciate this one   One last scary thing to consider: the movie “Flawless” starring Demi Moore is playing a lot lately. No one would ever confuse her for being a great actress, but the scary thing she does in this movie? Picture it: Demi Moore attempting a British accent. Brrrr. Chills, guv’nur. I'll be back next week with a project for you. Till then, enjoy your crafting with some of your favorite frightening films. Jenny