Friday, October 29, 2010

Of spooks and contests, hee-hee

I love fall and Halloween. There's excitement in the air and it's not just sugar-induced. The air's crisp and clean. People dress up silly and tell spooky tales. What's not to like?




I saw this ghost pinned to a massive redwood trunk while I was walking back from the lake, and I had to steal his image. Now, he's forever caught in digital limbo.




*




bwa-ha-ha-ha




Last year's pumpkin. I haven't carved this one yet. I love me some scary squash.




*
And I found a witch's broom!




Really, I think she got zapped by another witch and fell to earth.




Or maybe she upgraded to a Firebolt and tossed this one aside. Did she take the magic off it first?


Now I wish I'd brought it home.
*

Neil Gaiman has come up with a brilliant idea for all us bookloving, writing fanatics. All Hallows Read gleefully suggests that we give gifts of scary books as a new Halloween tradition.


So I'm going to give away the very scary THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH by Carrie Ryan to one lucky person who leaves me a comment. All I ask is that the comment tell me one of your favorite scary reads and that you follow my blog. Contest closes midnight Oct. 31.


*This is not my contest for reaching 300-plus wonderful followers. That will come soon. I'm having fun looking up the number three and dilly-dallying.

19 comments:

VR Barkowski said...

Very cool Pix! I adore Hallowe'en. Count me in for All Hallows Read. The scariest book I ever read was HELTER SKELTER, but I don't consider it much of a Halloween read. Same with John Fowles THE COLLECTOR. Scary, but far too real. I'm going to say THE TURN OF THE SCREW by Henry James. Very creepy.

Laurel Garver said...

Ooh, fun! I really loved Susan Howatch's THE HIGH FLYER for a scary read. The protagonist is a high-powered London exec who discovers her husband is involved in the occult.

Another fave is the classic supernatural thriller by Charles Williams, ALL HALLOW'S EVE.

Shannon O'Donnell said...

The MG series, THE LAST APPRENTICE, always creeps me out big-time when I read it. I love it! :-)

Great pics, as always!

Donna said...

I read Stephen Kings' CYCLE OF THE WEREWOLF one night after a desert snow storm. When I crunched through the snow alone to my car at the bottom of the hill I could swear I heard a werewolf howling . . . yeah, probably a coyote, but the book and creepy drawings had me primed for a scare.

Dawn Ius said...

Cheesy, I know, but I still read Bunnicula every Halloween. ESpecially now that I have a young stepdaughter AND we have a bunny. One of my childhood faves.

I love Halloween too. On my blog today, I detailed the graveyard scene hubby and I are building in the front yard this year - with a real coffin! Happy Halloween!

Elana Johnson said...

Oh, I loved TFOHAT. Fantastic book. I'm not sure I read scary stuff other than that. Does TANTALIZE count?

Bish Denham said...

LOVE that fallen broom! You can leave me out of the mix asI'm not much into scary...read TFOHAF and...well...I must be daft, I didn't get it.

Unknown said...

Hi stranger.

I also enjoyed THE TURN OF THE SCREW by Henry James.

Happy Halloween, Tricia :)

Liza said...

I am sorry to say that the last scary book I read was probably Salem's Lot by Stephen King...and I didn't finish it...I was too scared. My imagination can really take off, and I like to sleep at night...but I'm willing to give it another try!

Happy Halloween!

The Words Crafter said...

I just did a post a couple days ago about my scariest reads. The first was the Exorcist, but I didn't finish it-too scared. The second was John Saul's Suffer the Children. I've never picked up another of his books. It creeped me out for weeks....

And that is the coolest, most menacing pumpkin I've ever seen. Great job!

Jemi Fraser said...

Love the photos - great pumpkin!

I'm a wimp and after reading The Shining in high school, I've rarely read true horror.

The scariest I get is romantic suspense or paranormal romance... Kay Hooper is a good one!

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

@Viva: Those all sound like mega-scary reads. I'm a wimp, just give me a whiff of horror and I've got the racing pulse. But considering what you write, I bet you can take it pretty frightful! ;)

@Laurel: Oooo, I haven't read either of those. They sound deliciously spooky.


@Shannon: Wow, another one I haven't read. I see the ol' TBR pile growing.

@Donna: Eeeks, that sounds really scary, and it reminds me of the bird that flew into the windowpane of my bedroom after I'd just watched Hitchcock's The Birds. AAAEEEOOO!

@Dawn: Hi, fellow Halloween lover! It's such a fun holiday. I'll come over and check out you pictures. (been gone all day on a not-so-fun adventure)

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

@Elana: *waves* Hi! Anything counts if it scares you. ;)

@Bish: Isn't the broom wild? I'm convinced it belongs to a witch.

@WendyQ: Hi there! Glad to see you around, and Happy All Hallows to you, too.

@Liza: Oh, I'm a big wimp when it comes to horror books, but I do like a scary paranormal.

@WordsCrafter: I have to stay away from certain types of scary books and movies, because my imagination goes into overdrive. But I like a bit of scare. And, thank you, I love to carve creepy pumpkins. :D

@Jemi: I agree, I like my scare watered down. And thank you. I'm proud of that pumpkin.

Lydia Kang said...

That witch's broom is so neat! I wish you did bring it home. Likely the witch went and retrieved it for a trade-in.

No need to enter me into the contest, I already have FOHAT!

RaShelle Workman said...

Love the pics. Purple is my fav color and look at the witches broom? So cool! I so am not a scary story person. I have read THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH though. =D

kathrynjankowski said...

Love the ghost!
The last truly scary book I read was THE GREAT AND SECRET SHOW by Clive Barker.

Anonymous said...

Happy Halloween! Thanks for sharing the great pics.

Stephen King's The Tommyknockers scared me.

Don't enter me. I already have the book. :)

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

@Lydia: I sooo wish I'd brought it home, too. I was hiking and didn't want to drag it---wait! I could've flown home. :0

@RaShelle: I'm in love with that broom!

@Kathryn: I haven't read that, but I did read his Ararat books and they were darn scary.

@Madeia: Thank you! S. King scares the beejeebers out of me, so I rarely read him. I'm so sensitive. :)

Yvonne Osborne said...

Yikes, I almost missed out. You have a nice fat address book of groupies! The scariest book I ever read was THE STAND, with SALEM'S LOT a close second. That one actually had me digging out my rosary and taking it to bed, long after I had stopped saying it.

Love your piccies, as always.