Happy Thursday! For anyone new here: this is The Skinny, where we serve up curated, need-to-know lifestyle news designed to entertain and save you time, which is everyone’s most valuable resource.

• Digesting the Skinny’s curated news = 5 minutes + more time spent on meaningful activities.

• Mindless social media scrolling = hours you’ll never get back. 

So, since it’s Thursday, that means just about one week to pull that last-minute Halloween costume out of a hat. We have a lot to talk about but first, candy. In what we hope will be our most irresistible poll yet, please take two seconds to let us know…

What we’re covering: 

• How to Oktoberfest: including Pilsner lore, Bavarian vacation dupes, & ofc, pretzels

• All things Halloween, with the spookiest cities, costume trends & room 217 at the Stanley Hotel

• Not Bored Games! The latest news in online and IRL games, including a surprising neuroscience study

• Plus: ‘more’ chips in your bag, Peloton at Costco, the scariest novels ever, & Liquid Death’s cold plunge pool

💡Did you know: all The Skinny editions are online and searchable—which means you can easily find topics/recipes/items we have written about in the past. Bookmark this link for easy reference.

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‘Oktober’fest…or is it?

Raise your stein to all things German for fall

The Skinny: Gather ’round the keg/stein and listen up, because Brad the Lakeman, Jill’s brewmaster brother, has returned and is dropping knowledge with his trademark beer facts. We asked him which German beer was the best hands down, and he snapped right back to report that Pilsner is the world's most popular beer style, which was first brewed on October 5, 1842, in the city of Pilsen (in the Czech Republic, but by a German trained brewmaster). 

As Brad reports, it was an instant hit. The Germans quickly started demanding Pilsners, and the brewers were more than happy to oblige. From there, this easy drinking beer style spread ’round the world. 

A quality Pilsner will have an ABV around 5%, a balanced bitterness, and a crisp clean finish, he says. “When brewed correctly, you can analyze it all you want. But at the end of the day, you'll discover that it just tastes like a great beer. And a great beer goes well with everything.” Well said. Danke, Brad the Lakeman. You are our beer inspiration and we will be cheersing you throughout October! 

More important Oktoberfest facts include: why doest the festival start in September and end in early October? The CIA (Culinary Institute of America helps us understand, because this was truly confusing. Now you know. 

And for this Oktoberfest reddit thread, gern geschehen! Consider yourself enlightened to know that: the only genuine/actual “Oktoberfest” is in Bavaria, and (it seems) Munich specifically. And, apparently the more chill/less crowded/less beer guzzling cousin of Oktoberfest is “Volksfest.” This, thank you to the ever literal Germans, translates to “people’s event” – but we also saw it defined as “funfair,” which we prefer for its emotional context and, of course, the dangerously romantic excitement of a carnival ride. Also per the reddit thread: Wwisdom is that, for those looking for a classic experience, hit up an ‘Oide Wiesn’ section where you’ll have to pay a couple Euros but you get beer in ceramic mugs and Oktoberfest traditions of yore. 

If you can’t make it to the Mothership, and especially if you’re on the West Coast, an alert reader tipped us off to Leavenworth, a Bavarian paradise in Washington state. We love a vacation dupe, and aside from its stunning natural surroundings—for hiking, river tubing, and more–she reported activities such as an outdoor production of the Sound of Music, a tiny ski lift, excellent German food and lots of overly serious discussions of German Nutcrackers.

What is the lore of the delicious Oktoberfest pretzel? Ask and you shall receive in this story, “All Hail the Humble Pretzel.” Fun fact: the pretzel was once considered to have healing powers, complete with its symbolism of folded arms in prayer. 

In closing, two add to carts: 

• It is still October so you can wear this awesome Oktoberfest spirit shirt now, and also be ready to go hard next year, armed with all of the above information.

• We NEED this Fresh Baked Oktoberfest pretzel box!  

Tricks & treats  

If you dare: join us in room 217 at the Stanley Hotel

The Skinny: Halloween is creeping up on us, and we love candy, horror, costumes, and the annual re-airing of Geico’s “chainsaw garage” ad. First, some bite-sized Halloween fun facts:

Halloween is the U.S.’ second most commercial holiday, with Americans spending about $6.9 billion (great infographic!) with a shocking amount on pet costumes alone (hot dog shout-out for this “Casual Canine” costume…which we feel strongly that only Daschunds should be allowed to wear). 

• It’s also [unverified] the biggest night of the year for pizza delivery—even more popular than the Super Bowl—so, get your pie orders in early. 

• Also per the above infographic: kids consume about 7000 calories on Halloween but hey, at least they’re walking some of them off while Trick-or-Treating and/or climbing trees to TP the neighbor’s house. 

• We also learned that, in some Illinois towns, it's illegal to trick-or-treat if you’re over 13 and if caught you could face a $1,000 fine.  

For costume trends: The gift that keeps giving from the Summer 2024 Olympics continues as this year’s #2 most popular for Halloween: get your own Raygun costume here. And, according to this Time list of the most popular costumes, EVERYONE is wearing a costume connected to a movie/web or video game series we haven’t seen. For more alt ideas, check in on this Reddit thread (trust us: you still have time.)

Now, the spooky stuff. We’d encourage everyone to celebrate Halloween’s origins, which are reportedly from pagan times in 4000 B.C. Ireland. In the pagan calendar, this marked the end of summer and was celebrated with a fire ceremony, sacrifices (sometimes, animals…nooo!) and as a way to connect with the dead. So while walking around on Halloween night, we like to get into the spirit by connecting with nature and, ideally, trying to channel—either physically or emotionally— the souls of the departed.

Which brings us to room 217 at The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO. This is not, as incorrectly reported in this story about the best U.S. towns to visit for Halloween, where The Shining was filmed. Rather, it was where Stephen King stayed and—during that time—where he got the inspiration for “The Shining,” which he formed in his mind during the course of a cigarette. And in addition—there’s a chilling back story that inspired his tale.

Game on  

Forced family fun incoming ➡️

The Skinny: For gaming x food, the Chick-fil-A Play app is launching in November, promising “family friendly” games and content. Speaking of…a few years ago, Jill took a bunch of horse girls to “dine inside” Chick-fil-A and they had “phone coops” on the tables, which involved 1) putting phones inside; 2) enjoying the company of your party; 3) after eating, taking the coop to the counter to receive free soft serve cone. A novel idea, which reminds us not to play the Chick-fil-A game while dining with your friends. 

Counterpoint: Monopoly enters the chat with “Monopoly Board Crawl,” their boozy board-slash-drinking game that just dropped. Say hello to “Pregame” and “Rooftop Bar” spaces, plus…we found affordable real estate! Hint: buy now, as we envision this will sell out for the holiday!) 

Your move: lest you think board games are for the very old or young, you will be relieved to know that the market size of the U.S. Board Game Manufacturing industry has grown at a CAGR of 4.9 % between 2019 and 2024.

Fun fact: With 3 million boards sold yearly in the U.S., chess is the best-selling board game ever. If you’re looking to brush up, this is a cool solitaire version that we’d recommend.

OHM, THERE'S MORE

This week’s newsfeed

• While also being questioned about price-gouging (along with other companies), PepsiCo has heard the pain of shrinkflation and promises more chips for all. So, don’t be surprised to see that your bag suddenly has “more” chips (but wouldn’t that really mean the amount of chips it had pre-shrinkflation?).

• The most frightening novels of all time, as ranked by those who know best: horror novelists.

• For anyone wondering: what shall I do with this $6K burning a hole in my wallet? We have the answer…the Freeze to Death Liquid Death cold plunge pool.

• As Dr. Pepper continues its run on TikTok-driven concoctions, may we introduce: Whipped Dr Pepper.

• 🚨 BREAKING! DiGiorno’s “Thanksgiving Pizza” is BACK! If you’re not drizzling gravy on top, can you even call it a TG pizza?

• This week’s Costco news: Now you can burn off the samples, as Peloton and our favorite retailer entered an agreement to sell the iconic exercise bikes for $500 less. 

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