Dispatch #43: What's So Scary?

Photo by L. Fernandez

by Lupe Fernandez

Scratch, scratch.
There's an insect lodged in my ear.

Just kidding. That's an urban legend of a bug crawling in a my ear, laying eggs and the larvae eat my brain.

What's scary?

Three unrepresented writers walk into a bar and only one will walk out with an agent. Aahhhh!!!!!!

I could summon up a bucolic memory of Halloween night, wading through a front yard choked with spindly branches to the front door of an old man - as a kid, all adults were old - and ringing his doorbell. He swung open the door and shoved his hand deep into my candy bag, rattled it around and slammed his door. I didn't bother to check if he left any candy. I ran.

The Wolf-Man lived in crawlspace above my family garage. He would only jump out when I went to switch off the light. Wolf-Man as in the Universal 1930's Lon Chaney Jr. version who, after his transformation, kept his shirt and pants on. A werewolf with no pants, that would be scary.

Fortunately, the crawlspace above the garage has long been seal off. My nephew lives in garage converted to a loft. Although, he does spend a lot of time with the door closed. Hmmm...

Scratch, scratch, scratch.

Plenty of horrors in local and international news. Don't need vampires or zombies.

At the time of this writing, my city is experiencing a swarm of small earthquakes. The U.S. Geological Survey states swarm activity is comment and can stop at anytime. A jolt here and there. No problem. For the past ten days, unsettling.

Ringing telephones make me cringe. Someone is calling. What do they want? Why doesn't the ringing stop? I don't want to answer it; I'll have to talk.

The end of the world scares me.

I dreamed my mother laid down towels on the living room floor and told us kids to lay on our backs. That we wouldn't fall over when the meteors struck the Earth.

Aaahh...the ear irritation has stopped. Told you. Nothing in my ear.

Gurgle, gurgle. 

My stomach hurts. I lift up my shirt. A fin shape bulges under my skin. Something swims around my navel.

And its angry.

Spooky Good Reads for Halloween

by Kris Kahrs and Susan J. Berger

Gather round Chickens! The Pen and Ink Blog has compiled a list of spooky good reads for you and the kidlets this Halloween. So, chuck the candy, pull up a stool, grab a swig of apple cider and read on...

Monstore by Tara Lazar, Illustrated by James Burke (2013)

Monstore, a Crystal Kite finalist, is currently 1.99 for your Kindle App on Amazon. (Hurry)
We read this last Saturday at Reading to Kids. Big hit with kids and readers.

The Monstore is the place to go for all of your monsterly needs. Which is perfect, since Zack definitely has a monsterly need. The problem? His pesky little sister, Gracie, who never pays attention to that “Keep Out” sign on Zack’s door—the one he has made especially for her.
But when Zack’s monsters don’t exactly work as planned, he soon finds out that the Monstore has a few rules: No Refunds. No exchanges. No exceptions.

 

Ten Little Tricksters by Penelope Cole, illustrated by Kevin Collier. 2014

The art of learning how to count both backwards and forward is a milestone for children. Pair it with the antics of Halloween and a classic children’s book is born. Each group of Halloween characters approach a different house at various times, each clustered in the number they represent. Find out how the fun-filled adventure concludes for these Halloween creatures in Ten Little Tricksters.
Also available as a PDF for 5.00 at Guardian Angel Publishing

Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley (1992) 

Pre-K and up. This die cut book is a lot of fun to read to kids. As you turn the pages, the monster grows piece by piece and as you keep going, the kids get to interactively tell the monster off and it disappears bit by bit.

Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler and S.D. Schindler (Aug 9, 2005)

Ages three and up. You can just imagine the problems of a skeleton with hiccups. Now imagine how difficult it would be for him trying the various methods of getting rid of the hiccups and you'll have an idea how visually funny this book is!

The Hallo-wiener by Dav Pilkey (Sep 1, 1999)

Ages four and up. Oscar the Dachshund gets a special costume from his mom to wear for Halloween. One problem -- it a hot dog costume and guess who's supposed to be the wiener that goes inside the bun? By the author of Captain Underpants.

 

Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (Aug 25, 2003)

Ages four and up. A rhyming story of a witch and the friends she picks up as she flies through the night. Is there room for one more? You have to read it to find out!

The Halloween Kid by Rhode Montijo (Aug 3, 2010)

Ages Kindergarten and up. Rhode Montijo is the author and illustrator of this superhero story of The Halloween Kid and how he keeps Halloween safe for all. The retro illustrations are the real treat.

Bone Soup by Cambria Evans (Sep 8, 2008)

Ages 6 and up. This is the Halloween version of the old tale "Stone Soup". A story I still tell to my son at night. In this retelling, Finnigin the always hungry skeleton is looking for his next meal on Halloween and needs to convince the townspeople to share a meal with him.

Sounds Spooky by Christopher Cheng and Sarah Davis (May 1, 2012)

Ages 5 and up. SCBWI homeboy, Christopher Cheng's book Sounds Spooky is the perfect read for Halloween. He uses the Onomatopoeia of words to help the reader hear the sound as well as set the tone for the story.

The House With a Clock In Its Walls (Lewis Barnavelt) by John Bellairs and Edward Gorey (Aug 3, 2004)

Ages 8 and up. A deliciously chilling tale for the older crowd, John Bellairs writes a couple of different series for this age group that are thrilling but not too scary and that have an upbeat resolution. At 179 pages, you won't finish reading this to the kids on Halloween, but the good news is that they'll keep coming back night after night asking you to read more.

Vampirina Ballerina by Anne Marie Pace and LeUyen Pham (Aug 7, 2012)

Ages two and up. This is a charming, funny read. Being a ballerina is every girl's dream, especially so for Vampirina, but this little dancer has the extra challenge of also being one of the undead.

Creepy Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown (Aug 21, 2012)

Ages 4 and up. How would you feel if your favorite snack all of a sudden became alive and started stalking you? That will give you a good idea of what happened to Jasper Rabbit one day while noshing on his crunchy treat. There's some lovely illustrations you'll enjoy, parodying cinematic classics. Put down the cupcake and back away slowly.

 

In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories (I Can Read) by Alvin Schwartz. Illustrated by Dirk Zimmer (1985)

An oldie, but goody. This level two reader was my second grader's favorite chapter book.
From The School Library Journal: This collection of short stories (HarperCollins, 1984) retold by Alvin Schwartz are just creepy enough to give youngsters shivers without causing nightmares. The seven tales were collected from a variety of sources and include some classics such as "The Green Ribbon" (holding on a severed head) and "The Night It Rained" (a man discovers that his hitchhiker was a ghost)

Margot Finke just reminded me of The Revenge of Thelma Hill by Margot Fink. Illustrated by Algy Wilson. While not strictly a Halloween book, it's a spooky enjoyable ghost story.

Also Anne Loader McGee is having a signing of The Mystery at Marlatt Manor on Sunday October 26, 2014 from 4-6 PM at the “$10 or Less Bookstore” 9054 Tampa Ave, Northridge 91324, Tel: 818.701.0047. The store will also be hosting their VILLAIN Storytime from 2:30-3:30 PM with some really exciting special guests. Do pop in and say hello if you are in the area, we would love to see you. And we also wouldn't mind it one bit if you wore a costume.


There are lots more spooky reads out there. Please add to our list and share your favorite Halloween Stories.

 

 

One More thing:

Scary Mommy Blog is coming out with a new book. The Scary Mommy Guide to Surviving the Holidays, It comes out November 17th from Simon and Schuster and has a wonderful collection of writers. Your purchase of this book (2.99 eBook) goes to help Scary Moms help moms in need. Their blog is wonderful and I love this project.

Halloween Hodgepodge

By Susan J Berger

October 28th calls for a Halloween post. I thought I would start with a little history.

 I Googled History: when did dressing in costume to trick or treat begin?  I got a number of vague and confusing answers. I left Wikipedia for last and I like it best. At least Wikipedia had footnotes. Although there are mentions of Halloween trick or treating and costumes as early as 1906, our modern trick or treating began after sugar rationing ended in World War II. This next bit is straight from Wikipedia

Early national attention to trick-or-treating was given in October 1947 issues of the children's magazines Jack and Jill and Children's Activities, and by Halloween episodes of the network radio programs The Baby Snooks Show in 1946 and The Jack Benny Show and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet in 1948.^[23] Trick-or-treating was depicted in the Peanuts comic strip in 1951.^[24] The custom had become firmly established in popular culture by 1952, when Walt Disney portrayed it in the cartoon Trick or Treat, and Ozzie and Harriet were besieged by trick-or-treaters on an episode of their television show.^[25] In 1953 UNICEF first conducted a national campaign for children to raise funds for the charity while trick-or-treating.^[26]
 

Susan as Witch for the 4th time 1953

I know my brother and I were trick or treating in the early 1950's. He got to be Superman. I mostly remember being a witch and dreaming of being Cinderella. But I had been a witch in several school plays and no one spent a lot of money on costumes in my neighborhood. My Cinderella dreams remain just that. When I moved to Connecticut in 1956, my neighbors mom sewed awesome costumes. Simplicity or McCall's had lots of costume patterns ad she was a wonderful seamstress. I, however was still a witch. So here's my two year old son James' first costume.                                                                                           

     

James Barry Corbin Age 2

Later on I got more creative.

James and Christopher 1985

Costumes for sale have become more and more elaborate. There are whole stores devoted to costumes and decorations. I have to say that, as a child I would have sold my brother for the kind of princess costumes that are available now.  

Halloween has gone big time. Not just here in Hollywood, but everywhere.

I spotted this decoration in the window of a Halloween store in New York.



Yes, Zombies are big time. My neighborhood sports several ghoulish graveyards. 

My next internet stop was Amazon for Halloween books for kids. I thought I would do a simple "best of" list. Amazon lists 6,346 results. I linked you so you could look for yourself.

I reworded to Best Kids Halloween Books. That cut the list to 517. I know I have not read them all.

I scrolled through the list and realized Amazon included in the list many non Halloween books.

I hope you scroll through the lists and find a few you like. I found these.


Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown by Charles M Schulz



In the Haunted House by Eve Bunting

The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

Do you have a favorite Halloween book, or costume?
Sorry about the weird spacing, but my computer is haunted. 
Happy Halloween.