Horrific Snacks: Pinhead Cheeseball and Severed Fingers

When the Doktor announced an upcoming party, I was excited at the prospect. I enjoy a social outing as much as the next consort, and the fact that this was a Christmas gathering of the Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers meant some stops could be pulled in the creepy-creative snack department. I surveyed the possibilities on Pinterest to get some general ideas. We wanted to bring scary but not cringe-inducing hors d’oeuvres. Delicious snacks were just as important as a pleasing presentation.

Finger food caught my eye– specifically the mini hot dogs made to look like fingers. Some might feel the final products looked too much like digits, but to me they were a little less life-like than I’d hoped. I made several samples for the Doktor to test. Style A won the presentation contest, so a plateful accompanied us to the party.

Our other contribution was born whole from the Doktor’s mind. Upon his request, I did researched but could not find any instance where someone had previously made a Pinhead Cheese Ball. You might recognize Pinhead as one of the cenobites from the The Hellraiser Collection (III: Hell on Earth / IV: Bloodline / V: Inferno / VI: Hellseeker / VII: Deader / VIII: Hellworld) series; he’s a scary bad-ass character. The Doktor had a vision of a cheese block head with toothpicks replacing the afore-mentioned pins.

We set about rectifying this omission using a tried and true cheese ball recipe from our files. I purchased a Welch cheddar which I knew would provide a satisfying taste as well as the requisite pale complexion. Should you plan to make your own Pinhead cheese ball for an upcoming holiday gathering, be sure to do as I did and start the recipe early in the day; the cheeses need to come to room temperature to be combined easily and then well-chilled to give the cheese time to set up and the flavors a chance to mingle.

See the recipes below for preparation details. Feel free to comment or ask questions if they should arise.

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Pinhead Cheese Ball
an original

Ingredients:
4 ounces cream cheese
8 ounces sharp white cheddar, shredded
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon salt

Have cheeses at room temperature at the start. Combine ingredients in a bowl. Mix well.

Form into a ball, then wrap in cling wrap. Place on a plate so that you get a flat stable surface for the back of the head. Begin to shape the ball into a face. I chilled our cheese ball head for an hour, and then shaped some more, and returned the cheese to the refrigerator for a couple more hours.

Before serving, I scored the cheese head with vertical and horizontal lines, like Pinhead has. I placed toothpicks at the junction of the lines. The effect was pleasing overall, and our cheese ball was immediately recognized as Pinhead by the party guests.

Baked Finger Food Hor d’oeuvres
Just a bit of fussing needed for satisfactory results

1 package of mini hot dogs (contains about 40)
1 package of Pillsbury seamless dough sheets (crescents would work fine, if need be)
1 white onion

Cut the onion into small pieces, about ½ x ½ and slightly wedge-shaped.

Cut a small slice off one end of each hot dog to serve as the “nail.” Make a little cut lengthwise into the hot dog to seat the end of the onion piece.

Make several small slices about half way down; that will be the knuckle.

Cut the dough sheets into a ¾ inch strip. Wrap the base of each mini dog with a layer of dough and place carefully on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350F for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

Oh, and it was a wonderful party, complete with good food and holiday-themed horror movies!