Halloween finally arrived and it was Mary's sixteenth birthday. Mary's parent's finally decided she was old enough to have a sleep over at their house. But she was only allowed to have two of her best friends spend the night after the party. Mary called Kathy and Kim to see if they would stay and have a sleep over at her house. Kathy and Kim both agreed and said that they would have a great time together being that they were all best of friends. Mary hung up the phone and said "This is the best day of my life. I'm going to turn sixteen today and I finally get to date boys."

Her party didn't start until 6pm and she was already planning fun things for her and her two best friends to do after the party.

Mary's mom said "Mary, its 6 o'clock and time to start the party."

Mary greeted her friends at the door as they came in with their presents in hand and sat them on the kitchen table.

Finally, Kathy and Kim showed up and placed Mary's presents on the table. Mary thanked everyone for coming to her party. Then Mary blew out the candles on her birthday cake as everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to her.

The party was finally over and Mary and her two friends Kathy and Kim were ready to play some games, and spend some quality time together.

As the night wore on Mary said "It's midnight and since its Halloween why don't we go in the bathroom and turn off the light and play "Bloody Mary.”

The Orange Witch by Melissa Stagi-Zepeda

So, Billy assigned me a theme for this post, and I think I know why: because if he had left me to just cut loose, you would’ve all learned who the REAL coffee-addicted writer is. So I’m not going to talk about that. I’m not going to say a single, solitary word about that. One pot a day since I was twelve. That’s all I’ll say about that.

Anyway, I’ve been invited here to talk about my love of the zombie genre. First, let me qualify what, exactly, that does and does not mean. I am a purist after a fashion, though I think my definition of a zombie, while rock solid, is flexible enough to encompass a whole lot of ground. All I insist on is that a zombie must at some juncture have been dead. I cannot equivocate on that point.

I have no problem with the shambling corpses of Night of the Living Dead, Return of the Living Dead, Cemetery Man, Zombie, Fido, The Walking Dead, World War Z, The Rising, etc., etc. They all fall wholly into the Venn diagram counter-splice area of “dead” and “re-animated.” I’ll tell you where I draw the line, though: zombie-like behavior in the still-living.

Evil Dead? Evil Dead II? Both inestimable classics of horror and gore, but nope. Sorry. Zombie-like, perhaps, but living people possessed by Kandarian demons is too far off the mark.

Planet Terror? Perhaps the virus causes zombie-like symptoms, but these still-living infected people are decidedly NOT zombies. Resident Evil IV? Perhaps the greatest Resident Evil game of all time, but, sadly, Las Plagas parasites are no replacement for actual, clinical death. 28 Days Later? Doesn’t count. The Rage virus, while it again exhibits many zombie-like symptoms, only affects living human beings. No death or re-animation. Not a zombie movie.

(Note: I have no issue with “fast” zombies provided they are indeed the resurrected dead. That is not my issue with 28 Days Later. For instance, the Dawn of the Dead 2004 remake also features fast zombies and I don’t disqualify it in any way, shape, or form. Ditto Zombieland.)

If you want schedule next week's post, click here to find the next prompt question. To submit a question, fill out this form.

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My Answer: 

I would have to go with Norman Bates, the book version. In the book he is middle-age, short and overweight, so nobody would suspect of him of being a murderer. Unlike the movie sequels, Norman only has a small bit in the book version of Psycho 2 and he isn't in Psycho House. Though, I have read all the Hannibal books (and I've seen the movies & TV series), I neither liked or hated the character; therefore I didn't find the character scary; weird, but not scary. Norman Bates was scary because you didn't expect him to be the killer because he looks like the average next door neighbor (besides for wearing his mother's dress).

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During no time of year is fear placed more at the forefront than during October, that month that culminates in a celebration of the dead or undead, that day we call Halloween. Should you find yourself afraid of sexy nurses or catholic school girls, you’re likely dreading the end of this month.

All kidding aside, there are a number of real fears that a holiday like Halloween can trigger. Because fear is a primitive emotion, it alerts us to danger and can often happen without reason. So, while we tell ourselves that thunder or darkness is without harm, we can’t believe this logic, we fail to respond to facts we know to be true. When these anxieties become more pronounced, fear becomes debilitating and more irrational.

Masklophobia

Especially problematic around Halloween given the abundance of costumes, Masklophobia is the fear of people disguising themselves in costume. It is associated with xenohabilzoophobia, which is the specific fear of people in animal costumes.

Both can include individuals sporting masks, sports mascots, and others attempting to disguise themselves. Many children suffer from this phobia but grow out of it as adults. For others, it remains a lifelong source of incredible fright.

Thanatophobia

This phobia is one of the most common because, inevitably, it happens to us all. The fear of death scares many of us, and Halloween embodies that. Referring specifically to fear of your own death, Thanatophobia differs from necrophobia which concerns itself with a general fear of death. What must it be like to suffer this phobia around Halloween, when people are dressing as the dead, the undead, and the about-to-be-dead? Terrifying!

 
Revealed
A House of Night #11
By P.C.Cast & Kristin Cast
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pub. Date: October 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0312594435
Pages: 320

Review:

#1 New York Times bestselling vampyre series may be coming to a close next year, but you can grab a hold of the 11th installment of the series today with the release of Revealed: A House of Night Novel.

Despite falling to her death, Neferet has barely survived and is battling her own demons, Queen of Tsi Sgili, but she finds a way take back her mind and body, resulting in the death of a human - Tulsa's mayor!

After the murder, the residents of Tulsa blame the House of Nights for the mayor's death, which was clearly a vampyre attack. Our heroine, Zoey Redbird, and her pals knows that someone from the House of Nights is responsible. Things get worse when the police begin investigating and the entire area wants the House of Nights to pay for the crime.

Then, of course, the red fledgling Dallas is out to destroy Zoey and anyone associated with her, including Stevie Rae and Shaunee.

Even more trouble as Zoey is not feeling herself, she is more stressed and she's just feeling weird. If it isn't her constant boyfriend issues, then maybe it has something to do with Neferet being on the loose again.

 
Zombies Unbrained
12 Film Flesh Fest
Directors: Herk Harvey, Sam Newfield, Amando de Ossorio, Ray Austin, Jean Yarbrough, Ubaldo Ragona, Sidney Salkow, John "Bud" Cardos, George A. Romero, Jesús Franco, Juan Ibáñez, Jack Hill, Jerry Waren, Victor Halperin
Starring: Candace Hilligoss, George Zucco, Barbara Ray, Mark Burns, Dick Purcell, Vincent Price, Bo Hopkins, Duane Jones, Manuel Gélin, Boris Karloff, Don Sullivan, Bela Lugosi
Studio: Mill Creek Entertainment
Release Date: August 20, 2013
Retail: $9.99

ASIN: B00DJ44LI6

Running Time: 6 hours 32 minutes
Rating: PG, R, Not Rated

Review:

The ratings-hit AMC's The Walking Dead returns tonight with its fourth season, but zombies have crawled their way onto screens way before the comic-flesh-eating-fueled way before the original comic book printed. Mill Creek Entertainment recently released a 12 film flesh fest on a 3-disc set titled Zombies Unbrained, featuring masters of horror Vincent Price, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.
 
The films on the 3-disc set are:

• Carnival of Souls (1962) - This eerie film matches some of the best Twilight Zone episodes. Filmed in three weeks, the movie centers around Mary Henry is a solo-survivor of a drag race, which her friends plunged to their deaths in a river. To get over the tragedy, she takes a job as an organist at a Church in Utah, but before long strange occurrences begin and she begins to believe she is being stalked by a mysterious man. She doesn’t know that death is coming for her!

• Dead Men Walk (1943) - Dr. Lloyd Clayton murdered his twin brother Elwyn in self-defense, but Elwyn returns from the dead as a vampire.

• Horror of the Zombies (1974) - This movie is the USA public domain version of The Ghost Galleon, the third movie in the Blind Dead series. When a publicity stunt goes horrible wrong, two female models are stranded on a mysterious galleon at sea. The women are unaware that the undead legions of the Knights Templar are aboard and they want blood.

It was Halloween again, October 31st, just like all the Halloween's before it. But this Halloween would change the world forever.

The Devil decided to go against God's wishes of only having enough power of deceiving our way of being able to choose between good and evil.

The Devil said "Halloween Night is the only night of the year that my powers are the strongest." As the darkness set in and the trick-or-treaters headed out of their homes to get candy, the Devil entered every trick-or-treaters mind using mental telepathy. The Devil said "Go out and fill up your sacks with all the candy it will hold, but this time you will say these words to whoever opens their door to hand out candy. Trick-r-treat! You’re dead! Then look straight in their eyes and all they will see is the eyes of the devil. They will be frozen like a statue. While they are staring in a trance, pull out the butcher knife from your sack and stab them until they fall to the ground. You have twenty-four hours to kill every neighbor in your neighborhoods. When morning rises there will be millions of dead throughout the world. When I release my hold of your minds at sunrise you will be saying where was God when all this took place."

Just as the Devil commanded trick-or-treaters around the world succumbed to the Devil's power and killed every person that opened their doors to pass out candy on Halloween Night.

For all the survivors that didn't participate in Halloween that night. When morning came and the neighbors all opened their doors in their neighborhoods they got the shock of their lives. As the survivors looked at their neighbors’ houses, there were dead bodies lying at their front door with porch lights on and doors wide open.

If you want schedule next week's post, click here to find the next prompt question. To submit a question, fill out this form.

What to do:

1. Post on your blog answering this question:

 

2. Enter the link to your post in the linky list below (enter your Blog Name and the direct link to your post answering this week’s question. Failure to do so will result in removal of your link).


3. Visit other blogs in the list and comment on their posts. Try to spend some time on the blogs reading other posts and possible become a new follower.  The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.

 

Where do I start?

Stephen King Novels: The Cell, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Doctor Sleep

R.L. Stine Books: Fear Street: Cheerleaders series, 99 Fear Street: House of Evil series, Fear Street Nights, Dangerous Girls series

Ghost Story by Peter Straub (remake)

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Anybody who follows my blog knows that Halloween has been my favorite holiday since I was a little kid. I did outgrew trick-or-treating at a younger age than most, I still love the holiday, which you can probably tell that by my 31 Days of Halloween posts.The Halloween Spirit entered me way before October, as I have had four boxes of Halloween props and decorations in my family room for a couple of weeks. Plus, I have made 10 29" cemetery fences and one freaky tombstone out of foam board.

Normally, there are between 120 to 130 trick-or-treaters at the door every year, give or take a few. I put together at least 130 bags of candy, plus I keep a little extra candy for backup. The prices of candy has gone up and the quantity has decreased. I have a few bags already bought, but I'll be looking around to the last minute to find the best buy.

Many adults like to dress up for the holiday, which I'm one of them. Department stores have their Halloween stuff on sale after October 31st and I had bought two t-shirts (Michael Meyers and Jason Voorhees) at Walmart for 75 cents each, but I didn't know until last year that they were a size too small, so I was stuck wearing a Jack-O-Lantern shirt. I've dropped a few pounds over the summer and I can now get the shirts on, but they aren't exactly comfortable, so I'll probably wear the Jack-O-Lantern again! Though, I do have the Jason Voorhees costume that I reviewed on the 1st, but I might use it for a dummy/scarecrow to put in the yard on Halloween Night. I've looked in the stores and there isn't a very big option for t-shirts this year, but there are many online stores with different options for male costumes, like Michael Meyers, Freddy Krueger, Leatherface and Chucky.

The Halloween holiday is right around the corner, and what better ways to be prepared for it than to find money-saving ideas. It’s understandable how difficult the search for the perfect costume can be, especially when the majority of them are so expensive. Here are some DIY costume projects and tips for you and your family to keep your Halloween enjoyable and thrilling while staying on a reasonable budget.

Black Cat Costume

This costume idea is very simplistic. Wear solid black shoes, pants and a shirt. Tease your hair all around to create a mane-like look. Draw whiskers on your cheeks, color the tip of your nose black and your lips red or pink to give yourself a cat face. Finish off the costume by braiding yarn together to make a cat tail.

Bed Bug Costume

This idea would be great for kids. First, dress them up in their favorite pajamas. Then, make antennas with a headband and pipe cleaner craft supplies. Fix your face up with a colorful nose and rosy cheeks.

Super Mario Bros. Costume

Do you have overalls? What about solid red and green shirts? This costume is for you! Include matching red and green hats and toy wrenches and you have got Super Mario Bros. This is fun for both spouses and siblings.

There are only 23 Days until Halloween and those days will fly by, meaning the costume and candy area of the department stores will be swamped with last minute shoppers.

The top essentials for Trick-or-Treaters are:

1. Cool Costume
2. Candy Bag
3. Extra Candy Bag
4. Cellphone (for older kids)
5. Small Flashlight 
6. Funflector

What is a Funflector?

Funflector is made by glimling.com LL and it is a fun reflective tag to be hanged off your clothes, briefcase, purse, book bags, etc, similar to a reflector on a bike. 

I'm sure candy is the only thing on kids' minds on Halloween, but parents should be thinking only about keeping their children safe, which can be difficult when trick-or-treating. Streets can be come overcrowded with trick-or-treaters, so it is always a good idea to keep an eye on your children. Funflectors can help you keep track of your children or vise versa. Cars are the biggest danger on Halloween night; 7 out of 10 pedestrian accidents occur at night. Wearing some kind of reflector can help save lives.

The freakish warm fall weather has finally disappeared over the weekend and I finally took my jacket out of storage. Plus, the leaves are starting to fall from the trees. That means Halloween is just around the corner, 24 days to be exact. I've already seen many yards in town have their Halloween decorations up, which I think it is a bit too earlier. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I enjoy carving a pumpkin, decorating the yard and giving away candy to trick-or-treaters, but I don't decorate my yard until a few days before Halloween, as there are a few neighborhood cats and dogs that might knock things down.

For years my decorations consisted of only a blowup Homer Simpson in a skeleton costume and Frankenstein's monster, but last year I bought a tombstone pack from Walmart, two tombstones from a dollar store and two tombstones from a thrift store along with three boxes of Halloween lights, all the items were on sale after last year's Halloween. Additionally, I have made one tombstone from a foam board and ten 29" fences. Which such a big fence, I decided I need a few more decorations.

My local departments stores have a limited quantity of Halloween decorations, so I turned to Oriental Trading, which has a huge supply of indoor/outdoor decorations, candy, and costumes After spending an hour going through their website, I decided to order the LED Skeleton Ground Breaker, the Tombstone with Skull Ground Breaker and the Up & Down RIP Tombstone. I received everything in about a week after I placed my order. The LED Skeleton Ground Breaker arrived first by UPS and the following day I received the other two by USPS.

If you want schedule next week's post, click here to find the next prompt question. To submit a question, fill out this form.

What to do:

1. Post on your blog answering this question:

Halloween Edition: 

What book gave you goose bumps?  

 

 2. Enter the link to your post in the linky list below (enter your Blog Name and the direct link to your post answering this week’s question. Failure to do so will result in removal of your link).


3. Visit other blogs in the list and comment on their posts. Try to spend some time on the blogs reading other posts and possible become a new follower.  The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.

 

The first book to give me goose bumps was probably the Fear Street: Cheerleader series by R.L. Stine. Then it was The Shining by Stephen King, followed by Ghost Story by Peter Straub, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and Rosemary's Baby (the movie creeps me out too) by Ira Levin.

Linky List:

Extreme Pumpkin Carving: 2nd Edition Revised & Expanded Review
By: Vic Hood & Jack A. Williams
Publisher: Fox Chapel Publishing
Pub. Date: September 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1565238060
Pages: 104










Review:

by Gary Falin

Halloween is nearly upon us, meaning its time to buy costumes, bags of candy, and pumpkins to carve for All Hallows' Eve. The origin of jack-o-lanterns is unknown, but the earliest known use of pumpkin carving occurred in the East Anglia during the 1660s; though others claim it originated from Ireland. According to a myth, lighting a jack-o-lantern will keep the undead away from your home. The first record of pumpkin carving in United States was recorded in 1866 and it is now a tradition around Halloween for both kids and adults, who like to make jack-o-lanterns by using printed stencils and place a lit candle inside the pumpkin, thus singling the trick-or treaters that this house is giving away candy.

by John Roth

For others, pumpkin carving is a craft or art. There are even pumpkin carving competitions, like the annual Food Network's Halloween War, but typically these carvings are on the extreme side. Fox Chapel Publishing recently published Extreme Pumpkin Carving (Second Edition: Revised & Expanded) by Vic Hood & Jack A. Williams featuring twenty amazing designs from frightful to fabulous.

Instead of cutting out your pumpkin, you'll learn how to carve a pumpkin like a piece of wood using simple tools, such as a permanent marker, a permanent-heavy-line-felt-tip-marker, a single blade knife or pocket knife, a butcher knife, an old toothbrush, a finish nail and/or pounce wheel, and masking tape. If you have any wood carving tools, you can use those too.

 
Today is October 1st, which officially kickoffs the countdown to Halloween, you know the holiday where kids dress up and go door to door asking for candy; and I guess there are a few adults who dress up and trick-or-treat along with their children or attend Halloween parties.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, though I never cared much for trick-or-treating (even when I was a kid), as I would rather decorate the house with spooky decorations and give away candy. Typically, I wear a Halloween theme t-shirt every year, but this year I'm looking to wear an actual costume.

The local department stores have a very small stock of costumes and very few are for adults. The internet is a great source to find costume stores that have a slue of costumes for adults.

What costume do I want?

There are only 85 days left until Halloween, which is simply my favorite holiday of the year as it brings out the kid in me. I grew up as a horror junkie (still am). I would circle all the upcoming horror movies being aired on television in the TV Guide. I was never one for trick-or-treating, but I have always loved decorating the yard with creepy things and giving away candy.

October 1st - 31st will be my  31 Days of Halloween, featuring 31 days of Halloween themed posts, ranging for horror movie reviews, horror book reviews, interviews with authors, guest posts, giveaways, and more. I would like to make this year more insane than last year, but I can't do it alone.

I'm looking for talented bloggers, authors, filmmakers, and horror fans to help out with guest posts, movie reviews, book reviews, or anything creepy. Each submitter will get a byline and a link back to their blog or website.

Additionally, I’m looking for giveaway sponsors, like Halloween costumes, candy, DVDs/Blu-rays, books, or anything Halloween related.

If you like to participate please fell out the form here!