Fall, Halloween and All Hallows Read…Candy Too, Don’t Forget That

October is here!  The air is crisp…okay, so actually it is humid and supposed to be 90 tomorrow, but the weatherman promises a cold front is on the way.  The point is fall has officially arrived, and in addition to being able to purchase pumpkin….everything, the build up to one of my favorite holidays is beginning…Halloween is on its way!

I have always loved Halloween.  Whether you don a costume and wrap yourself in another persona for the night or partake in the joy of…okay, the joy of frightening people…just a little.  It is a the time of year to let the devilish spirit of the season play a bit. Yes, my house is the one that is usually decorated creepily…and I do have a motion sensor skull that plays the theme song from the movie Halloween hung right next to my door for the trick-or-treat crowd.  (It is high enough that the little ones don’t set it off, but it gets all the teenagers and adults.)  The best part is scaring the parents when that sucker goes off.  Oh, the joy I feel watching a Dad jump three feet in the air when he’s not expecting that creepy music…maybe I am just a tad evil.  Glowing eyes or a dismembered skeleton in the bushes and a graveyard under the tree all make an appearance, and I like to add to my collection each year.  (One day I’m afraid Halloween decorations will posses more square footage than Christmas decorations in the garage.)  Isn’t it grand? It is a great time of year for scaring yourself with a scary movie or book…even a haunted house or two.  Although, living by myself, I don’t indulge too much.  I may or may not get a little…caught up in the story…and when you wake up at 2:00 am, with that what-was-that-noise panic it is usually better if the last thing you read/watched didn’t include…monsters.  Let’s not talk about what happens in haunted houses.  I don’t think my best friend will ever go into another one with me…the bruise took a while to heal.  (The werewolf was going to get me and she wouldn’t go, so I…moved her out of the way.)  Next time (if I ever get one) I’m betting that there is no assuming that I’m rational and remembering that it is all fake.  (Can you say over active imagination?) Yes, I’m also the person who jumped to (mostly) joking that my dishwasher was possessed when it would switch on by itself in the middle of the night.  Nope, no faulty wiring for me…demons. (It really was just a loose wire.)  Thank goodness for level headed, electrically inclined fathers, because how would you exorcise a dishwasher? (Put your best idea, theory or whatever on removing a demon or vengeful spirit from a dishwasher in the comments.  No prizes, but serious kudos will be awarded.  That would be a seriously angry spirit, can you imagine being stuck in a dishwasher for all eternity?) Last year I stumbled upon the mention of All Hallows Read. Hmmm, interesting, very interesting.  It combines All Hallows Eve and reading, and these are a few of my favorite things. (did you sing that in your head?  I did!)  Of course I had to check it out!  That’s when I saw the video.

Yes, more Neil Gaiman.  Is it any wonder I think this man is awesome?  For all of my good intentions, I didn’t give any books last year.  There were a few copies of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven that I handed out, because…well, that just screams Halloween for me.  (The Tell-Tale Heart does too, but that story stays with you, and I don’t want to give kids, or me, nightmares or anything.)  Check out the All Hallows Read site for book recommendations, posters, bookmarks, stickers, cards, and all kinds of wonderfulness.  This year, at least one book is being given…can I keep it a secret?  Hmmm….We shall see. What’s your favorite scary story for adults?  What about chilling tales for kids, do you know any good ones?  Even if they’re totally terrifying or weepingly wimpy, I’m okay with both of those!  I have friends…and possibly relatives…who need both!  Comments are very much appreciated, because all my scariness is in decorations…and suspense novels.

‘Til next time,

Jessica

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• All Hallow’s Read (letusnerd.com)