It’s October, time to celebrate beer, certainly, but also the month that goes out screaming on Halloween. To help us celebrate the ghastly occasion in style, we turned to veteran bartender Benny Bowden, who for the past two years has practiced the mixologist’s art at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Sarasota’s Southgate district. And here’s the kicker: Benny was an October baby and Halloween has always been his favorite holiday! We asked him to share his best recipe for a creepy cocktail that party planners might want to inflict on unsuspecting guests, and he came up with a real winner straight from the Dark Side.

Cryptini

2 oz. Kahlua

1 oz. Stoli vanilla vodka

half oz. dark crème de cacao

half demitasse fresh espresso

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a martini glass with a sugar rim and garnish with a lemon twist. Drink if you dare. (We were hoping for an eyeball garnish, but you can’t have everything.)

An editor, writer and online publisher, John Bancroft has reviewed restaurants, books, movies and music for many magazines, Web sites and newspapers, most recently for the

St. Petersburg Times.