First off, what IS the Year of the Rat? Well, "The Year of the Rat is first in the 12-year cycle of animal years of the Chinese zodiac. Rat years are …1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020… If you were born in one of the years, then you are a Rat." (source)
Of course, I celebrate all holidays I can with food and horror. So, let's start with some food....
Here's an article entitled "10 vegetarian dishes for Chinese New Year". Fair warning, the "Imitation Shark's Fin Soup" calls for pork or chicken, chicken soup, and oyster sauce. You could use veggie broth and either a Veg*n "chicken" or cubed tofu. And there is Vegetarian oyster sauce. OR you could try THIS Vegetarian recipe (if you have all the ingredients).
Here is another, called "Top Chinese Vegetarian Holiday Recipes". The recipes I checked seem to be Veg-friendly, but the photos show meat. Weird, right? So, if you're offended by that, skip it!
"50+ CHINESE INSPIRED VEGAN RECIPES FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR" has some interesting-looking recipes!
And so does this Vegetarian section on "The Woks of Life"!
So, if you haven't already eaten, skip the takeout and make something delicious.
I HAD planned to share links for decorations, but ran out of time. So, here are some rat-related horror movies (sadly, I can't find any horror movies about the Chinese New Year): "Willard" (the 1971 original and the 2003 remake) and the sequel to the original, "Ben" (1972). "The Food of the Gods" (1976) and it's sequel "Gnaw: Food of the Gods II" (1989). There's also "Deadly Eyes" (1982), "Of Unknown Origin" (1983), "Rats: Night of Terror" (1984), "Graveyard Shift" (1990), "Burial of the Rats" (1995), "Rats" (2003), "Rodentz" (2003), "Rat Scratch Fever" (2011), plus a segment in the 1983 anthology movie "Nightmares". There may be others, but I'm not aware of them. Sorry.
Let me leave you with this link, so you can look up your own sign and view your horoscope for the Year of the Rat!
Until next time, Happy Chinese New Year!