OCTOBER
SPOOKY LITERATURE
TV MONSTERS
EDIBLE IDIOMS
PUMPKIN EATER
THE COMEDY OF ERAS
200
An important October campaign is this disease awareness month with fundraisers & other pink-themed events
breast cancer
200
To pass the time on a rainy day in Geneva, she & her husband & friends were telling each other ghost stories; she came up with "Frankenstein"--not bad for starting your first novel at age 18
(Mary) Shelley
200
Folks guard against these mindless monsters on "Black Summer"
zombies
200
It's something of little importance or value, like, say, legumes in a heap
a hill of beans
200
Alton Brown shreds 3 cups of fresh pumpkin to make one loaf of this
pumpkin bread
200
1960's "The Button-Down Mind of" this standup comic & future TV star topped the Billboard album chart & won a Grammy
(Bob) Newhart
400
Test your "metal" in the world championship of this mega-endurance event held in October in Hawaii
Ironman Triathlon
400
On the way home at midnight Ichabod Crane thinks this alliterative specter is in pursuit & has thrown its cranium at the schoolmaster; in the morning, a broken pumpkin shell is found, but not Ichabod Crane
the Headless Horseman
400
"Return of the Killer Catfish" & "Mekong Mutilator" were episodes of this Animal Planet adventure show
River Monsters
400
In a 1785 poem William Cowper referred to this as "the very spice of life"; spoken like a man who's never tried sriracha
variety
400
Paula Deen puts a twist on tradition--instead of pumpkin pie, it's pumpkin gooey butter cakes for this holiday
Thanksgiving
400
The ancient comic plays of Aristophanes include this one where a group decides to build a utopia in the sky
The Birds
600
The second Monday in October is celebrated as this day in Canada; ours comes a few weeks later
Thanksgiving
600
"Welcome to Dead House" from 1992 was the first of the books in the "Goosebumps" series by this author that by now has sold a spooky number of copies
(R.L.) Stine
600
In a Christmas special narrated by Burl Ives, this title animal meets an abominable snow monster
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
600
At the dinner table, it can be a tempting item, perhaps twice baked--or a subject best avoided
a hot potato
600
Emeril says to shell these & toast them before putting them in his mole verde sauce
pumpkin seeds
600
This film comedy duo began in the silent era with "Putting Pants on Philip" in 1927
Laurel & Hardy
800
Gandhi's birthday, October 2 is observed as the international day of this philosophy of his, also known as Satyagraha
non-violence
800
The burial of Stephen King's daughter's cat Smucky helped inspire this novel that the author has said is just as dark as can be
Pet Sematary
800
The monster-hunting Winchester boys on this show tangled with demons & Rakshasa
Supernatural
800
TV's "MythBusters" once tested whether "taking" this is "as easy" as the idiom suggests--conclusion: nope
take candy from a baby
800
Out of pumpkin? Tyler Florence says you can substitute the butternut type of this in his pumpkin sou
squash
800
Richard Sheridan's 1775 comedy of manners "The Rivals" features this character known for the misuse of words
(Mrs.) Malaprop
1000
In Catholic tradition, October is the month to celebrate this set of prayers recited with an accompanying physical aid
rosaries
1000
"The story had held us round the fire, sufficiently breathless", is how this author began "The Turn of the Screw", about a governess trying to protect children from the effects of malevolent spirits
(Henry) James
1000
There were also vampires & werewolves on this Showtime series with characters like Dorian Gray & Victor Frankenstein
Penny Dreadful
1000
This 3-word term once referred to a vessel for boiling the catch at river picnics; today, "fine" or not, it means a hot mess
kettle of fish
1000
Giada de Laurentiis adds 6 of these "wise" leaves to her pumpkin ravioli with toasted hazelnuts
sage
1000
Full of colorful anecdotes, this 1872 travel journal by Mark Twain recounted a stagecoach journey out West
Roughing It