Brain-y Treats and Zombies: Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Hoping all of you were safe during monster storm Sandy, and that you're now able to channel your energy into Halloween celebrations.

For those of you throwing a party tonight, I’ve found some fun brain-y treats for you to serve up to your guests. Courtesy of the Huffington Post, you can make anything from brains-in-a-jar cupcakes (and here I thought I was over my cupcake craze) to a zombie mac and cheese brain. Even if you’re not a baker, these photos are worth a look.

Lest you be concerned that all this eating will pack on the pounds, the Telegraph published a story on Sunday that says that watching scary movies (another favorite Halloween pastime) can burn as much as 113 calories. Based on a study by the University of Westminster, “Viewers who put themselves through 90 minutes of adrenaline-pumping terror can use up as much as 113 calories, close to the amount burned during a half-hour walk and the equivalent to a chocolate bar.”

Since not every movie induces the same calorie burn, the article lists the top ten as found by the study (not surprisingly The Shining is number one – those twins!):

1. The Shining: 184 calories

2. Jaws: 161 calories

3. The Exorcist: 158 calories

4. Alien: 152 calories

5. Saw: 133 calories

6. A Nightmare on Elm Street: 118 calories

7. Paranormal Activity: 111 calories

8. The Blair Witch Project: 105 calories

9. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: 107 calories

10. [Rec]: 101 calories

 

Since no zombie movies were listed, I’ll leave you with this short video by asapSCIENCE, which looks at the science behind zombies and concludes that, while unlikely, hypothetically “with the right virus/nerve specificity, a form of zombies could be possible.” In just a little over two minutes, you’ll learn the details behind this conclusion, all to an eerily happy background tune that sounds like it belongs on Sesame Street. 

 

I wonder how many calories zombie anticipation can burn?

--Ann L. Whitman