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I got it!
I got it!
I got it!
I GOT IT!
I GOT IT!!!
OH BOY! :D
I pre-ordered October Dreams II: A Celebration of Halloween from Cemetery Dance Publications about an aeon ago. Hardcover and signed. It arrived a couple of days ago, and I just can't wait to curl up with a cup of tea and read this!
If you haven't heard of the first book, October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween, take a chance and buy it. It's a wonderful collection of Halloween-themed short stories, plus personal recollections of Halloween by some of the greatest authors of our age: Bradbury, Straub, Koontz, Brite, Crowther. On and on.
*happy sigh*
If you're one of those folks who is new to cruising the Hallowe'en blogs, or only cruise them at this time of year, you may have missed some of the best Hallowe'en literature out there. I've compiled a short list of Hallowe'en and spooky reading for you.
October Dreams has got to be one of the best compilations of personal stories and scary stories out there. I discovered this gem through Pumpkinrot's recommendation, and got it almost immediately. I'm really glad I did. The Official description says this: "Classic novellas, never-before-published stories, essays on the history, literature, and films of Halloween, and real-life memories of October 31st-from today's best practitioners of fear." With offerings from Ray Bradbury, Dean Koontz, Poppy Z. Brite and Peter Straub, you are constantly entertained by the upper echelon of our passion.
One of the things I love about this book is that it is in that short-story style, so you can read a story and put it down for a little bit and not worry about forgetting where you were. I really recommend this!
The Halloween Tree, is a near-legendary Hallowe'en story by Ray Bradbury. For those of you who haven't had the chance to read this, now is really the time, because you can't call yourself a true Hallowe'en enthusiast if you haven't. Disneyland has gone so far as to build their own Halloween Tree and dedicate it to Mr. Bradbury. There's a video about The Halloween Tree and Disneyland with Ray Bradbury here. They dedicate and light the tree towards the very end, but it's worth watching the whole thing for some tidbits about Something Wicked This Way Comes
and other Disney things...
I covered The Halloween Tree in Hauntcast 24, so if you want an engaging and incredibly intelligent synopsis, you should give that a listen! ;o) The book itself is a very articulate read, almost a poem in its rhythms, and the pictures it paints are fantastic.
Speaking of Hauntcast, by now you've downloaded the new show and heard all about The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
In the show, I recommended you read the original classic for yourself. You can get the copy pictured for free and download it to the Kindle for PC app, or you can browse the other free apps for Kindle here. I can't stress enough what a joy it is to read the original text describing the mad ride of Ichabod Crane as he's pursued by the Headless Horseman. The buildup of tension is wonderfully creepy, and sure to give you vivid dreams!
Well, what are you doing here, still? Go read something!
Last October, I took a page out of the book, "October Dreams," and invited some fellow Hallowe'en enthusiasts to share their favorite Hallowe'en memories in a guest post. (Click on the above picture for the collection.)
Since it was so successful, and such a blast, I again decided to invite some guest bloggers to share their favorite-------
I'm not telling you. You'll have to tune in in October. I will tell you, though, that Hallowe'en greats such as Johnny Thunder, Mr. Macabre, and Pam Morris of Labyrinth Creations have accepted this year's invitation to my haunted parlor for the annual long-distance Hallowe'en Bash! I'm really excited to see what everyone comes up with for this year's theme.
Those of you who received an invitation (and you know who you are!) and haven't responded, please send me a yea or nay so I know how to plan my October. (As always, if you can't participate, I'll still respect you in the morning!)
Since I will once again be joining the Countdown to Halloween, that means that there will be thirty-one days of Hallowe'en juiciness here, starting on October 1st.
In other news, the Sweet-Hot Giveaway ends tomorrow, so be sure to hit this post and enter while there's still time!
Ohhhh! I just am so in the Hallowe'en mood!
Well, the pity party is still hanging on, but I'm going to set it aside to let you know some of the cool things that will be hitting ShellHawk's Nest in the month of October!
In the tradition of the wonderful anthology, October Dreams, I contacted some of my fellow bloggers and Halloween enthusiasts and asked them to guest blog for me. They will be sharing their favorite Halloween memories, starting October 1st. The Bloodshed Brothers were gracious enough to agree to kick off the Season with a special vlog to share their memories, and it's fantastic! I am eagerly awaiting other guest bloggers' posts, and they'll be sprinkled into the October stew throughout the month. Stay tuned, because the awesomeness is on its way!
As always, I'll be part of the Cryptkeeper's Countdown to Halloween, so I hope to live up to the deal with fun content every day.
It's almost here, Creeps! Are you excited?
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