A spooktacular Fermentation Friday roundup

What better way to nurse a hangover brought on by last night's overindulgence of candy corn and gimmicky Halloween-themed beers than with this, a roundup of these most excellent contributions to yesterday's Fermentation Friday? A bevy of truly inspired pieces of horror nonfiction which left our own entry looking terribly lacking, these tales were penned by some intrepid souls perchance to warn and admonish less educated souls, but more likely simply to frighten them:

Starting with Adam at Beer Bits 2 (the originator of this monthly carnival), we have a serial post of sorts, a type of penny dreadful for the homebrewing set. Part I is here. Part II is here. Part III is here. Part IV is here. Awaiting Part V...

Keith at Brainard Brewing talks about dancing with the devil, and lives to tell the tale without any blown bottles.

Thomas at Geistbear Brewing Blog tells of how an innocent-looking pot of wort can quickly morph into a blubbering, sticky geyser of sweet, sweet horror, and the "rule #1" that came out of his experience. (Des' rule #1 would have also come into play.)

Matt at A World of Brews reminds us all that sometimes, the waiting is the hardest part, an unmatched psychological dread. It's a tale with a happy ending that nevertheless inexplicably made me want to reread The Pit and the Pendulum.

Mel and Ray both chime in over at Bathtub Brewery with their separate trials by fire over the old brew cauldron.

Steph at brew.cook.pair.joy tells of loss, pain, agony, and disaster, all through the filter of a story about a corny keg with sticky poppet valves.

Andy at Rooftop Brew recounts the harrowing tale of encountering a ghost of brewing past, covered with hair nonetheless. (Sounds like you might want to clean out your dryer vent.)

Damon at Life With Beer reminds us that beyond our vision, gremlins are always at work, and with the simplest crack in our defenses, they can get to work, wreaking havok while we wait unawares.

John over Brew Dudes taps into a trope of the horror genre in his tale of woe. In teen slasher films, there's always the cocky, overassured jock who, in the end, gets offed in a wholly ironic way, like being impaled by his state championship trophy or decapitated by his hockey stick or some sort. What if that character were a homebrewer? (And no, nobody dies.)

Marcus at Final Gravity reminds us of another psychological terror at the heart of homebrewing - that of becoming the paranoid mad scientist obsessed with checking readings and measurements until it absolutely possesses you.

Jon at The Brew Site says: IT LIVES. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Thanks again to everyone who contributed to this month's Fermentation Friday! Next up: November 28th, with Dr Joel at The Grain Bill. Let's see if he can avoid a topic surrounding Thanksgiving. Good luck!