The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current, October 29, 2015, Image 30

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    GRAB BAG book shelf • glimpse • wildlife • pop culture • words • q&a • food • fun
~ a wicked ~
What’s your favorite scary movie?
Staying in on Halloween doesn’t mean you can’t
get your spook on. Coast Weekend rounded up
experts from local video stores to offer some
more recent film recommendations guaranteed to
horrify your home theaters. This is Part Two of Two.
By RYAN HUME
a case of the Warrens, the real-life
The Conjuring (2013)
Rated R
Recommended by Jenna Johnston
Video Depot
575 S. Roosevelt Drive, Seaside
503-738-6095
The takeaway: This James
Wan-directed horror flick is based on
paranormal investigators whose me-
dia-hyped forays into the supernatural
(they were one of the first on the scene
of what would become known as the
Amityville haunting, which spawned
its own film franchise) got a lot of ink
in the ’60s and ’70s. Here, the Warrens
are played soberly by Patrick Wilson and
Vera Farmiga, but the real attraction are
the elaborate tricks and supernatural
scenarios that pump fresh blood into
the haunted house genre.
Recommended for: Anyone
looking for a classic ghost story in
1970s wardrobe with some fresh chills
thrown in. Surround sound is a plus.
1408 (2007)
Rated PG-13
Recommended by Larry Gresham
Nehalem Bay Video
733 Manzanita Ave., Manzanita
503-368-5538
The takeaway: As the current
season of FX’s “American Horror Sto-
BREWERY PICKS
Coast Weekend has rounded up a few offerings from local breweries for you to check
out this fall. This is Part Three of Three. Read, sip and savor. Cheers.
Photo by Dwight Caswell
North Jetty Brewing owners Erik and Michelle Svendsen with Seaview Autumn Blueberry Rye.
Story and photos by
Lynette Rae McAdams
Hydnellum peckii
Bleeding Hydnellum
ry” would like to remind us, it’s not
just houses that can be haunted;
hotels too can have terrible pasts
and a penchant for undoing their
occupants. This chiller, based on a
short story by Stephen King, stars
John Cusack as a failed novelist who
has turned to debunking haunted
places for a paycheck. Samuel L.
Jackson offers some atmosphere in
the first act as the stern harbinger
and hotel manager who implores
Cusack’s Mike Enslin to not check in
to the infamous room. But once the
door shuts, this is Cusack’s show as
he encounters all manner of psycho-
logical spooks.
Recommend for: You don’t have
to be old enough to remember the
boom box scene in “Say Anything” to
enjoy this well-paced genre entry.
The soaking rains and
heavy autumn mists so com-
mon to our coastline bring
with them an abundance of
fungi each year. Some are
delectable treasures, prized
by chefs and local foragers;
others are deadly and poi-
sonous. While the Bleeding
Hydnellum won’t kill you,
it’s not considered an edible
mushroom (meaning: It tastes
horrible, and will likely upset
your stomach). That said,
coming across one in the
woods is still a pure delight.
Known commonly as the
Red-juice Tooth or Straw-
berries and Cream, this
mushroom’s most prominent
feature lies in the beads
of blood-red droplets that
emerge from the fresh cap.
Lovers of pine and spruce
forests, they spring up from
the ground within piles of
tree needles and are very
tough and fibrous. The un-
derside of the cap has tooth-
like spines (instead of gills or
a spongey spore base), and
as this species matures, its
pale pink center becomes
dark, almost black, in color.
Fiber artists adore this
mushroom for its ability to
dye yarn; when harvested
properly, it yields marvelous
shades of blue and green.
Araneus diadematus
The Cross
orbweaver spider
Perhaps the most com-
mon spider to appear in
Northwest gardens, the Cross
orbweaver is actually indig-
enous to Northern Europe
and likely arrived to North
America during the age of
exploration. Typically or-
ange-brown or light yellow,
it can also be dark gray, but
its distinguishing character-
istic is the mottled markings
across its back, which are
always accompanied by five
or more white dots, forming
what looks like a cross.
The females are the largest
and most noticeable of these
spiders, making a strong pres-
ence in gardens, open fields,
and in the eaves of buildings
from late summer through
fall. Known for her beautiful,
intricate webs, the orbweaver
exudes spider silk from three
pairs of “spinnerets” located
at the tip of her abdomen. By
day, she waits at the center of
her web or at a nearby retreat
post until a flying insect
becomes ensnared. Once
captured, she quickly wraps
it in more silk to prepare it
for exsanguination. Cross
spiders are said to eat their
webs every night, recycling
any leftover bug bodies
along with the silk, which
is reabsorbed by the spider
and turned into a fresh web
by morning.
Though quite unpleasant,
the orbweaver’s bite is essen-
tially harmless to humans.
Picks and photos
by DWIGHT CASWELL
North Jetty Brewing
North Jetty Brewing in Seaview,
Washington has two seasonal of-
ferings. Brewer Erik Svendsen says
of their Seaview Autumn Blueberry
Rye, “The rye gives it some spiciness
that we use to balance out the 126
pounds of blueberry puree.” The beer
has the aroma and some sweet-
ness and flavor of blueberries plus
caramel flavor from crystal malt.
“It doesn’t scream fruit beer,” says
Svendsen. “The blueberries are part
of the whole, not out in front of it.”
The other seasonal offering is
the Graveyard of the Pacific Impe-
rial Red Ale, a big beer with strong
malt and caramel flavors to balance
the hops. It’s made in collaboration
with Heathen Brewing in Vancouver,
Washington.
Photo by Lynette Rae McAdams
Photo by Lynette Rae McAdams
This Bleeding Hydnellum mushroom, found in Ilwaco, Washington, is prized for its ability
to dye yarn.
A Cross orbweaver spider in Ocean Park,
Washington, prepares to feast on a fly in
its web.
October 29, 2015 | coastweekend.com | 21