Cinema Style Saturday-Universal Horror VS Hammer Horror

For the vintage horror fan their are two essentials: Universal Horror, also referred to as the Universal Monsters, and Hammer Horror.  Universal monsters gave audiences a spooky from 1923 to 1960 and was the provenance of horror meistros Lon Chaney, Bella Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and Lon Chaney Jr.  The universal horror films began with Lon Chaney Sr. The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera in the 1920s and the popularity peaked in the early 1930s with the advent of Dracula and Frankenstein.   From their Universal began capitalizing on the horror drama with scores of monster movies with  varying results.  Universal horror films are generally black and white with a Gothic sensibility and often feature a  sympathetic monster, such as Frankenstein or the Wolf Man.  The popularity of the films has stayed strong over the decades wtih collectors shelling out sizable sums for memorabilia:

Lon Chaney in the Phanton of The Opera

Dracula 1931

Frankenstein 1931

Bride of Frankenstein 1935

The Mummy 1932

The Invisible Man 1933

The Wolf Man 1941

In the late 1950s through the 70s Hammer Horror took over where Universal had left off.  Again they specialized in lush stories with a British tinge.  The big difference was Hammer Horror appeared in thrilling techni-color with redder then red blood, plenty of gore, and lots of scantily clad females.

Dracula 1958

The Curse of Frankenstein 1957

Dracula Has Risen From The Grave 1968

Hound of The Baskervilles 1959

Brides of Dracula, 1960

 Perhaps because my preferred vintage decade is the 1930s I have a strong preference for the Universal Monsters, though the Hammer films are plenty of fun too.  I strongly recomend a viewing marathon of either this Halloween.  Preferably with a dog or cat cuddled up on your lap.

Halloween Pin Up-Clara Bow

Charming flapper heroine Clara Bow seems to have had a thing for Halloween, or at lest she certainly posed for her fair share of Halloween Pin Up photographs.  

Tasty Tuesday-Chicken Paprikash alla Jonathan Harker

I had for dinner, or rather supper, a chicken done up some way with red pepper, which was very good but very thirsty. (Mem. I get recipe for Mina).

Jonathan Harker's Journal- Bram Stoker's Dracula

Every October I re-read Dracula, one of the most popular novels ever written and watch some of the plethora of film adaptions.  
 

Film fest buddy.

My favorite being the 1931 version with Bella Lugosi:

 This year for our Dracula film fest I decided to make a version of the Chicken dish Jonathan Harker is so impressed by that he plans to get the recipe for his fiance, (though considering what happens later it seems likely that he would have lost his taste for this particular dish.) 

Chicken Paprikash for a Journey to Dracula's Castle Recipe Source

Traditionally this would be served with dumplings or spaetzle but egg noodles make an easy and acceptable substitute.

The essential ingredient.

• 2 to 2 1/2 pounds of chicken legs and thighs, preferably organic, bone in and skin on
• Kosher Salt
• 2-3 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 pounds yellow onions, sliced in half moons
• Black pepper to taste
• 2 Tbsp sweet paprika, preferably Hungarian
• 1 heaping teaspoon (or to taste), hot paprika preferably Hungarian
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1 1lb egg noodles

1 Salt the chicken pieces well and let them sit at room temperature while you cut the onions. Slice the onion.

2 Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and melt the butter. When the butter is hot, pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels and place them skin-side down in the pan. Let the chicken pieces cook 4-5 minutes on one side, until well browned, then turn them over and let them cook 2-3 minutes on the other side. (Take care when turning so as not to tear the skin if any is sticking to the pan.) Remove the chicken from the pan to a bowl, set aside.

3 Add the sliced onions to the sauté pan and cook them, stirring occasionally, scraping up the browned bits from the chicken, until lightly browned, about 7 minutes.  

4 Add the paprika and some black pepper to the onions and stir to combine. Add the chicken broth, again scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and then nestle the chicken pieces into the pan, on top of the onions. Cover and cook on a low simmer for 30-35  minute until cooked through and just starting to fall of the bone.

5 When the chicken is done to your taste, remove the chicken from the pan. Allow the pan to cool for a minute and then slowly stir in the sour cream and add salt to taste. If the sour cream cools the sauce too much, turn the heat back on just enough to warm it through. Add the chicken back to the pan and coat with the sauce.

It tastes much better then it looks.

 As Harker says this is a thirsty dish so you will want to have some wine, water, or of course:

 

Vintage in The Bronx-Edgar Allan Poe's Cottage

In fact nothing could be ore simple---more utterly unpretending than this cottage.  Its marvellous effect lay all together in its artistic arrangement as a picture.  I could have fancied, while I looked at it, that some eminent landscape-painter had built it with his brush.

 Edgar Allan Poe-Landor's Cottage

Few people know that the inspiration for the cottage Poe describes above in one of his few non-horror tales, actually exists, and still stands in a busy urban section of the Bronx, in New York City.  Poe rented the cottage and lived their with his ailing wife Virginia from the summer of 1846 through 1847.  During the time Poe lived in the Bronx it was rural farm land and Poe had few neighbors, other then the nearby Jesuit residents of Fordham, College.   Recently the cottage was restored by the Bronx Historical Society and is now a museum. 

I have always loved the stories of Edgar Allan Poe so as soon as I heard the cottage had re-opened I made plans to visit and my husband and I made the trip in September.

The cottage is smack dab in the middle of urban sprawl of the Bronx and you have to pass plenty of Bodegas and apartment buildings to get there.  We did see this neat old Loewes Theatre

It seemed almost identical to the one in Jersey City where we live, but it appeared to be being used as a church rather then as a theatre.  Just when you think you won't find the cottage you come across the sign for Edgar A Poe park.

The 1930s knit dress I am wearing by the way is from Adeline's Attic on Etsy.

The cottage is right in the center of the Park.

Its very small, just as Poe described it, and is staffed by Volunteers who show you around and tell you a bit about Poe's life in the Bronx.  There is also a short film on the subject.  The interior has been very carefully restored to match descriptions of the cottage from the time Poe lived there.

 The rocking chair and bed are believed to be Poe's own and the rest of the furnishings are from the same period.  The cottage is open Saturdays and Sundays and admittance is five dollars for adults and three dollars for children and students.

 If you live in the New York area and are a fan of Poe's work I would definitely recommend a visit.

Silent Film Sunday-George Melies The Haunted Castle

One of the earliest entertainment films with a cohesive story was the three minute horror film The Haunted Castle filmed in 1896 by Georges Melies It features several trademarks of the genre a bat who turns into a devil, a beautiful women who turns into an old crone, a vanishing skeleton, and two brave and fool hardy demon hunters.  The movie was presumed lost until 1988 when a copy was found in the New Zealand film archives.

Cinema Style Saturday-Don't Look Now

In general I don't much like the style or the films of the 1970s, but there are exceptions to every rule, and for me one exception to both is the 1973 film Don't Look Now.  I generally spend October watching Horror films or films with a spooky edge to them.  Don't Look Now in not really a horror film, its more of a thriller and a drama about grief with some supernatural elements, but its still a very stylish and fairly creepy film and though its not one of my all time favorites I think its well worth a viewing.  Julie Christie's tweed jackets alone make it worth the time.  

Vintage Outfit Post-1950s Reproduction Dress and 1930s Reproduction Hat

As a vintage lover I am constantly falling in love with clothes that don't fit me.   Many times I have clicked on a dress on Etsy and discovered the measurements are hopelessly tiny when compared with my non-vintage sized frame.   That was the case with this beautiful 1950s dress, not usually my favorite era but it is divine:

Thanks to one of my favorite Etsy seller Time Machine Vintage I was able to get a very accurate reproduction of this dress that fit me just right.  I purchased the dress last year and it made me a total Time Machine Vintage addict.  I wore it a few weekends ago with a 1930s-ish hat I got from Anthropologie and I did get some pictures.  I am not much of a model so they don't due the dress justice but here they are any way: