“The Fear Of Blood Tends To Create Fear For The Flesh.”

Welcome to a new year of spooky Cocktails, where we choose a Halloween film and create a fitting Cocktail to go alongside, I’ll give you a little history into each film and the know-how to create a delicious Cocktail.

Silent Hill

Silent Hill is known by many people in the video games community, as one of the scariest and longest-running Horror Game franchises, even breaking, rather successfully, onto the silver screen, with two movies and a third on its way.

“Evil Wakes In Vengeance.”

As with most horror stories, if not based on reality, it is inspired by it, Silent Hill is the name of the town in the Silent Hill games and although the town doesn’t exist in real life, it is based on the very real town of Centralia, in the state of Pennsylvania, the town has a history that likely started before you were born and will last long after you’re dead.

Centralia was once a small thriving town, which served as home to 1,200 residents, shops, restaurants, businesses and a coal mine. On the 27th of May, 1962, a fire broke out in the coal mine.

On this day, the local fire department was burning trash next to the Odd Fellows Cemetery to make way for an upcoming holiday celebration, but didn’t realise that the burning trash fire would soon ignite a nearby coal seam, which made its way underground to unsealed tunnels that led to the towns abandoned coal mine.

A huge fire erupted underground, with the firefighters unable to control the flames, the town was soon evacuated, with only a few people remaining, hoping that the fire would stop, that fire still burns today and was said to have enough coal to burn for 250 years, meaning that after we pass, it will still be burning.

A few people still reside in the small town of Centralia, very much like the residents in Silent Hill, with one of the only buildings still standing being their local church.

In 2002, the US Post Office revoked Centralia’s zip code, meaning that the town now technically doesn’t exist, although it has become a popular dark tourism destination for people who enjoy the Silent Hill franchise and all things spooky.

“They Look Like Monsters To You?”

The film grossed over $46 million in the US and $100 million total worldwide.

• Silent Hill (2006)
• Silent Hill: Revelation (2012)

Although it rather successfully made its way onto the silver screen, Silent Hill is most famous for its large array of Horror Video Games, including the following:

• Silent Hill (1999)
• Silent Hill 2 (2001)
• Silent Hill 3 (2003)
• Silent Hill 4: The Room (2004)
• Silent Hill: The Arcade (2007)
• Silent Hill: Orphan (2007)
• Silent Hill: Origins (2007)
• Silent Hill: The Escape (2007)
• Silent Hill: Homecoming (2008)
• Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (2009)
• Silent Hill: Downpour (2012)
• Silent Hill HD Collection (2012)
• Silent Hill: Book of Memories (2012)
• P.T. (2014)

It was in 2014 that the Silent Hill franchise vanished into the unknown, P.T. was meant as a Game Demo for the new Silent Hills, which was later cancelled, the reason was this, the very respected and liked video game developer, Hideo Kojima had some conflicts with the video game company he worked for, Konami, over some completions and disputes of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, this caused Kojima to leave the company after 30 years, along with his senior staff. 6 months afterward, the company, Konami, made the very controversial decision to cancel the game after 3 years in production.

“But You’re Wrong… It’s Not My Birthday.”

This isn’t the end of the story though, more recently, Christophe Gans, the director of the first Silent Hill movie confirmed that he has completed a script for a third Silent Hill film, with it aiming to be released in 2023, but that’s not all, this new film is set to be the relaunch of the Silent Hill franchise, with it hopefully soon after being accompanied by a new video game, it’s officially been confirmed by Konami, the video game company, so things are looking up for the fans of Silent Hill.

“The Only Me Is Me. Are You Sure The Only You Is You?”

So out there somewhere is a partly playable Silent Hills game, which the gaming community will unfortunately likely never get to play, but what you can do is get ready to make a Silent Hill inspired Cocktail, so let’s meet the Sparkling Wine taking on Pyramid Head in this Cocktail showdown.

The Sparkling Wine – Ferjančič

Ferjančič, this Winery is from the fantastic wine-producing country of Slovenia and has been involved in viticulture and winemaking since 1809.

Although helping to create our Silent Hill Cocktail in this article, it is a Sparkling Wine that would go very nicely with a few food pairings, offering a delicious Brut Nature, clean cut and citrus experience.

Ferjančič – Pinela Brut Nature – Tasting Notes

Aroma – “A surprising sweet touch to the aroma of the Brut Nature, yellow fruits, yellow citrus, a touch of yellow floral and a note of yeast in the foreground.”

Flavour – “It takes a moment to realise this is a Brut Nature, starts off delicate with green and yellow fruits, then the palate starts to close down with sharper and more precise yellow citrus.”

Silver Medal in the Gastronomic Category at the Glass of Bubbly Awards 2022

The Rum – Belgrove

Welcome in the Belgrove, a Small Batch of Rum from the UK, this bottle displays a mesmerizing level of Hazelnut as it enters the universe of Silent Hill.

Speaking to Edmund Wood, the founder at Belgrove Rum, I asked him a couple of questions: What Seduced You Into Producing Your Own Rum?

“I’d always loved the satisfaction & sense of achievement that comes from creativity and from building things; and creating a rum company was where I could do exactly that. I’d always loved cooking too, and again that’s being creative and creating something, and it’s the same with making cocktails. Making a cocktail is a very fun way of finding your inner creative, and that’s what Belgrove gives people.” – Edmund Wood, Founder at Belgrove Rum

“Creating your own startup isn’t all beanbags and ping pong tables, it’s really really hard work, but it’s incredibly fulfilling. Things often take a long time to happen, and take a lot of effort and usually money, but the rewarding feeling of accomplishment is great. One of the most fulfilling things recently was when a longtime Belgrove fan bought 24 bottles of rum to have as the main celebratory spirit at her wedding, that meant a lot, I was very touched.” – Edmund Wood

Belgrove Hazelnut Rum Tasting Notes

Aroma – “A lovely expression of Hazelnut, hazelnut extract, vanilla and beautiful dark and milk chocolate on the aroma.”

Flavour – “Delicate but firm with hazelnut, dark and milk chocolate with a drop of vanilla to make your palate fall in love.”

Is There A Meaning Behind The Name Belgrove?

“Belgrove was named after a guy who was an expert farmer; his passion was figuring out how to create delicious rum, and make it consistently delicious.” – Edmund Wood

The Pyramid Kill Cocktail

Ingredients

• Sparkling Wine
• Rum
• Squirty Cream
• Red Food Colouring or Something Sweet & Red In Colour

How To Make The Pyramid Kill Cocktail

• Pour in15mls of rum
• Top Up with Sparkling Wine
• Fill The Rest of the Glass With Squirty Cream Going Over The Top
• Then Drop Red Food Colouring or Something Sweet & Red In Colour

The Pyramid Kill Cocktail Tasting Notes

Aroma – “Sweet creaminess, red berries, raspberry cheesecake and sharp red berries on the aroma.”

Flavour – “At the very beginning it’s sweet, but it’s not what it seems, Pyramid Head has come busting through with a vengeance, delivering slash after slash of sharp red berries, strong hazelnut and yellow citrus characters.”

Happy Halloween