Ten Things to Celebrate Halloween
1. Ice Cream Kings Ben & Jerry's Halloween Page offers online games, e-cards, the flavor graveyard (I still weep at the grave of Deep Dark Chocolate), creepy crafts and more.
2. Make a virtual jack-o-lantern at How to Carve a Pumpkin Like a Pro (a treat I snitched from Larissa Ione's blog.)
3. All the Halloween linkage you could want over at the Halloween edition of Dark Echo's blog.
4. Get your Halloween Horrorscope from Halloween-Online.com
5. Threads of Malice by Tamara Siler Jones -- Take my word for it: "A dark, fascinating web of a novel...Jones will keep you wide-eyed and terrified until the very last page."
6. Last Girl Dancing by Holly Lisle -- Holly's sizzling suspense thriller about a female cop who must work with a scarred psychic and face her own tragic past to stop a killer preying on exotic dancers.
7. For some true and not-so-true horror stories, check out Snopes.com's Urban Legends Horrors page. My personal favorite urban legend is The Vanishing Hitchhiker, the "Prom Girl" variation of which was popular when I was a teen.
8. KidsDomain.com's spooky online stories for kids
9. Private Demon by Lynn Viehl -- not sure about this one. I mean, all that blue for a Halloween story? What was she thinking. Cute guy on the cover, though.
10. You get the treats: Tonight I'm giving away ten sets of the three books I've put on the ten list: Threads of Malice by Tamara Siler Jones, Last Girl Dancing by Holly Lisle, and Private Demon by Yours Truly.
For your chance to win one of the ten sets, list one of your favorite treats in comments to this post by midnight EST on October 31, 2005. I'll select the names of ten winners at random from those who participate and post them here on the weblog just after midnight EST on October 31, 2005. Giveaway open to everyone on the planet whether you've won something here before or not.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
My favorite Halloween treat: a midnight reading, by candle-light, of Robert E. Howard's excellent horror tales, 'Pigeons From Hell' and 'Old Garfield's Heart'. Good stuff to have been written in the 1930's.
ReplyDeleteI guess my treat revisitng my pagan side. On this day, I cast my tarot, look up my western/eastern horoscope, check out my Celtic Zodiac and stick them all together. It's remarkable how similar astrology is, no matter what culture your from and how effective it is.
ReplyDeleteI also spend more time studying the stars on this night than any other except May Day (like watching clouds drift by, but at night).
Just this evening I was waiting outside while my little bro made the rounds of a "trunk of treat" thing in a parking lot. The cool fall breezes were blowing and I was reading Gaiman's Anansi Boys (great book!) and munching on chocolate. There's no better treat that I could think of than an evening like that!
ReplyDeleteThis isn't really Halloween-ish (we don't celebrate it here in Australia much) but my treat this year was to do my Biology exam and have it done and out of the way for NaNo. Besides that, I like the leftover food. Never much of that though, because we never get much to start with.
ReplyDeleteWolverine.
Awww I can't resist one of your contests... even if I have those books and have read them and adore them Christmas is coming and there are other minds and hearts to expose!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite all time treats is warm caramel or spiced apple cider... especially during apple season here in Michigan :) On a cold night: even better! Forget hot chocolate! (Ok I can never forget chocolate in any form for long but fresh cider is soooo good and snow and hot chocolate are still there later, really!)
I'm an easy girl. Just give me chocolate and lots of it. Although I'm partial to Rolos. Nothing like a good true ghost story on Halloween night too.
ReplyDeleteLots of chocolate and a copy of Kurt Vonnegut's Welcome to the Monkey House.
ReplyDeleteHalloween isn't a German thing, though it slowly makes its way hither. Last year, some kids did the Trick or Treat thing at my door for the first time. Usually, kids go round for sweets on St.Martin's Day or St.Nicolaus' Day, depending on the area.
ReplyDeleteThey just do it twice now, sneaky kiddies. And Halloween dressing up is surely more fun than playing angels. *grin*
So, no special day for me. But wait, Nano starts at midnight - that should be scary enough. ;-)
Lol, and what's a temdekid? It's the verification word for this post. Could be something Hallowwen-ish.
1 giant tub of candy out on the porch
ReplyDelete1 locked door
1 dark house
1 giant tub of candy on the table beside me
1 dog-eared copy of Silence of the Lambs
Doesn't get much better than that.
- Rachel A
My favorite treat is, well, liberating chocolate from my kids' Halloween pumpkins. (I think "liberating" sounds much better than "stealing," don't you?) It's for their own good, really... they get too much candy, after all. I steal from them because I love them so much:-).
ReplyDeleteFresh toasted pumpkin seeds (removed when carving jack o'lantern) with hot spiced apple cider, enjoyed while snuggling up with my husband (who I met at a Halloween party). Horror movie on TV (after child's off to bed) optional; my husband enjoys them far more than I do.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite are Pixie Caramels. Do you even have those in the States? They're as delightful as they sound.
ReplyDeleteKnitting in a dimly lit house watching the younger children running about the neighborhood as many of my neighbors have decorated as they get more and more exicted knowing that I won't have to deal with the stomach aches and other maladies brought on by too much sugar.
ReplyDeleteMarie
My favorite treat for this time of year is reading Richard Matheson's I Am Legend and enjoying a cup of cocoa, complete with peppermint stick.
ReplyDeleteAnd maybe shouting "TRICK!" at the kiddies who come around trick-or-treating on Halloween and watching the confusion on their faces.
My favorite treat is either devil's food cake or brownies covered in the darkest chocolate frosting found on the planet. Chunks of chocolate mixed in would be good too.
ReplyDeleteOr rereading a favorite book (or reading an excellent new one) on a cold day, snuggled inside with more chocolate.
My favorite treat? Seeing little tykes all dressed up on their first few halloweens. I just adore that.
ReplyDeleteCandy corn!! I love candy corn but only eat it around Halloween.
ReplyDeleteThis year one of my treats is seeing my one year old daughter dressed up as a pink poodle. All together now...ahhhhh.
And this Halloween, JR Ward answered some questions for me about the Black Dagger Brotherhood (on my blog) and reading those was a huge treat because I'm a fangirl of Dark Lover. And I heard it here first ;)
My favorite Halloween treat: carving pumpkins. *-* It's messy, you get a tray full of toasted pumpkin seeds out of the deal, and I am actually allowed to wield a knife! ^-*
ReplyDeletePumpkin Masters has only made the treat sweeter by allowing me to make up my own designs, print them out, and then spend 2 hours poking holes into the pumpkin which I can then carve. Nothing like being able to look more creative than I am! *-*
Anything chocolate, of course!
ReplyDeletePam
Dark chocolate of course and "Nocturnes" by John Connolly, very dark, very scary and sometimes funny.
ReplyDeleteAnd my black cat loves Halloween, all that attention from friends and neighbors.
My favorite treat? Sharing a bowl of popcorn with the birds while watching a not-so-scary movie, cuddled up under a quilt on the couch.
ReplyDelete--JamiJo
This year my favorite treat has been Russell Stover caramel and marshmallow chocolate pumpkins and Hellraiser movies.
ReplyDeleteCheers and Happy Halloween!!
Ris
Sliced apples dipped in caramel and a bar of Godiva raspberry chocolate.
ReplyDeleteMarelou
Whooo-eeeee! Look at all these posts, but I gotta give it a shot!
ReplyDelete(Favorite is very simple and childhood related: Candy Corn)
I agree with monica. Gotta eat as much candy corn as you can - you won't see it for another year.
ReplyDeleteTrying again, LOL. If the other post shows up first, I like it the best.
ReplyDeleteI think the best treat of all is the pure joy and anticipation I see on my children's faces come Halloween night.
The other treats of the night can be found with my best friend and her family as we enjoy Halloween Taco Night, stealing candy from the huge bucket next to the door, and the neighborhood Haunted Houses. The kids trying their best to scare each other, and watching It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.
A night of family, friends, good food, and candy. That's a treat. The trick is to come home with no crying jags or tummy aches.
Making truffles: one bar Trader Joe's Pound Plus chocolate, one half-pint cream, a little mint flavoring (or liqueur if you're one of the next ingredient), and my two friends with whom I've been making truffles for years. Partly it's the company, partly it's the chocolate that gets all over my hands as I'm rolling the truffles to drop into the cocoa-powder-and-powdered-sugar coating.
ReplyDeleteHappy Halloween!
Warm apple crisp with real whipped cream......and dark chocolate anything.
ReplyDeleteI was right, Halloween does make it to Germany.
ReplyDeleteI just came home from town with some chocolate bats, miniature marsipane pumpkins and vampire teeth (triangular vanilla cookies with cherry icing) - courtesy of our best coffe shop that sells homemade cookies and goodies. :-)
Halloween treat: Drinking warm apple cider while watching the kids and their dad carve out the pumpkins.
ReplyDeleteOverall treat: Going to a movie by myself. It happens so rarely.... :-)
~PJ~
That Halloween horoscope is brutal. I'm a Capricorn, and it says that folks with my sign
ReplyDelete"are reliable workers in almost any profession they undertake. But they are neither original nor creative and can only develop what others invent or initiate."
*Sniff.* Right. Tell that to Edgar Allen Poe and Rudyard Kipling!
...Off to sulk. Happy Halloween, everyone!
a big bag of chocolate covered pretzels, a new Mercedes Lackey book and a laptop, fired up and ready for midnight when I can start work on my Nano.
ReplyDeleteGoing out and celebrating Halloween with the local witches, then coming back and sharing my boyfriend's little sister's Halloween candy. Oh, and staying up till midnight to start NaNoWriMo...
ReplyDeleteThis year I’ll be dressing up in my DIY Autopsy kit and visiting some of the local farms via any unlocked windows or doors.
ReplyDeleteI have a hankering for liver.
Curling up with a good mystery and some dark chocolate truffles. Chocolate is always a treat.
ReplyDeleteRobin F.
Well my biggest treat this year already happened a few days ago, but...
ReplyDeleteWatching people try to swing dance in those costumes. hehe. One gal was wearing a floor length dress and trying to lindy hop.
Well, my favorite treat is in the Ben & Jerry's Flavor Graveyard with yours: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Ice Cream. A whole frozen pint of delicious dark chocolate ice cream with mighty chunks of cookie dough, savored slowly while wrapped in a blanket, reading a really fabulous book...*sigh*
ReplyDeleteThese days, my treat is still the blanket and book routine. Especially during the busy times - finding an hour to disappear into a story is the perfect present to myself. (But I wouldn't turn down one more pint of that ice cream, for old times' sake. *grin*)
Misty
Good ice-cream ("Dulce de leche", I don't know how to translate it into English...), and a good book.
ReplyDeleteNothing original :p
Ice cream....especially chocolate. I think I could live on chocolate. Though I'd probably die young.
ReplyDeleteAnd a good book. Loved Last Girl Dancing and Private Demon (read this one last week).
Any kind of chocolate, I am a big chocoholic :) And it feels really good to sit with a cup of hot chocolate and a great book. It comes to my mind "The Gingerbread Man" by Maggie Shayne, that I have reread several times. Or also a favorite movie, like The Sixth Sense or a Hitchcock oldie.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite treat?
ReplyDeleteAside from pumpkins and Drambuie, re-reading my favorite Lovecraft scary stories, and lots of chocolate.... probably having the grandchildren come by dressed up in their costumes.
I like potato chips a lot. I don't know why everyone's so down on them as treats. They go especially good with all that chocolate you get! Yum.
ReplyDeleteSadly, I'm not doing anything for Hallowe'en this year ... oh well.
Not entering the contest, since I've already read, and enjoyed, all of the books. Just wanted to wish the rest of you the best of luck. Enjoy all of your treats. Mine--Godiva chocolates, when I can afford them. Otherwise, any good, dark chocolate. :)
ReplyDeleteLinda
Caramel apples! I love them, love them, love them! I've been slicing apples and dipping them into caramel. I suspect the health goodness of the apples doesn't negate the badness of the caramel, but I don't care. I'll just sit over here in the corner and get all sticky ... (That sounded naughty, but I didn't mean it that way.)
ReplyDeleteCHOCOLATE!!!!!!!! :)
ReplyDelete-JBD
PS, if I win anything please send it to Tammy, I'll pick it up next time I see her. :)
Oh, and...
CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!! :-D
My fave treat has to be handing out sweets to the kids! The look of happy anticipation on their costumed faces is what matters the most to me :)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite treat is starting NaNoWriMo at midnight, with watching the Halloween episode of Reno 911 close behind.
ReplyDeleteHot buttered popcorn in one hand, peanut M&M's in the other. Shove them both in your mouth at the same time and....mmmmmmmmmmmmm. My kind of Halloween.
ReplyDeleteBret
My husband says they are gross, but I love tootsie rolls!
ReplyDeleteFavorite treat? Hmm... This year I kicked off the start of Halloween by listening to Fairport Convention's version of Tam Lin a little past midnight, which I found oddly fitting.
ReplyDeleteI don't have much on the sweets front, but I did buy a little mini-pumpkin.
-Brigh T.
Favourite treat... Well, I would have to say a good creepy horror or suspence novel, or any sort of paranormal novel at night with various candles burning around the house with a bowl of either chocolate or sweets/candy and hot chocolate at my fingertips. :D
ReplyDelete~Briana N.
Oops, forgot to list my favorite Halloween treat!
ReplyDeleteA glass (okay, two big ones!) of wine, followed by a slice of warm pumpkin (cooked to a soundtrack that includes "Monster Mash" and "Ghostbusters"), topped with French Vanilla ice cream: this proves a surprisingly nice accompaniment to a review of Buffy and Angel's Greatest Episodes, Ever. Of course, we start with Buffy's musical episode ("Once More With Feeling"), then move on from there...
Happy Halloween, everyone!
Simple. Seeing my 6 year old son dressed up as Anakin and my 3 year old daughter dressed up as Padme.
ReplyDeleteWatching them have fun is the best.
My favorite treat? Hmmmmm....... Has got to be Neopolitan Ice Cream Sandwich and a scary movie with my honey :-) Of course, I may have to wait until football's over. SIGH.
ReplyDeleteI never get my favorite treat... a costume party. :(
ReplyDeleteOh well. Happy Halloween! :D
Jacob Day / waywardclam from LJ / FM
Every Halloween is pretty much the same -- me, curled up on the couch, with a cup of coffee or hot cocoa in one hand, a thriller or other scary (or what other people would call scary) book in the other, and some supposed to be scary movie playing in the background.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite treat:
ReplyDeleteIn winter curled up in the armchair by the window, writing while watching anime, with the radiator on. At the same time, listening to the thunder & lightning storm that threatens to interrupt broadband broadcasting services.
Hmm. Chocolate, and skimming through my much abused copy of 'The Vampire Lestat'. Having my cat curled up next to me isn't that bad, either.
ReplyDeleteWell, my Hallowe'en treat this year is not being in the hospital (yay!), and having actual soup instead of consomee.
ReplyDeleteBut in years when I'm actually normal (relatively speaking), the epitome of Hallowe'en is curling up on the couch with freshly roasted pumpkin seeds (the key is the soy sauce marinade and seasoning sald), hot chocolate, and the movie "Lady in White". It crossed over into tradition when I was ten. :)
Pumpkin cupcakes covered in cream cheese icing, a good book, and hot chocolate. All of which I couldn't consume on my front porch due to that darn thing called work. Grrr.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I just wanted to participate. Please don't enter me. I don't wanna be too greedy. ;)
My favorite Hallooween treat? A quiet night at home with a creepy book like David Morrell's Creepers, which I finished reading today and loved. A good story for a chilly October night.
ReplyDeleteRob Flumignan