A few thoughts on the run-up to Halloween.

Find the Kobo sale HERE–many, many spooky ebooks for Spooky Season, all at a discount. (Full Disclosure: one of mine, too. I don’t allow ads on this site, so from time to time, I do post a promo of my own.)

If you’d like to order my own book, Cold Tales for a Long Cold Night, take a look at the Kobo site and enter my name or title into the search bar. Or order it directly from my online store. If you’d like more information about it, read on.

BUT FIRST. . .

Why read spooky books? Here are some thoughts about Halloween, its origins, and. . .

Why does Halloween scare us and delight us, both/and?

A blog posted on the U.S. Library of Congress web site points out that Halloween originated as the Celtic harvest festival Samhain. Samhain did have its spooky side–during the season of Samhain, spirits supposedly walked the earth. When Northern Europe was Christianized, the festival morphed into something pretty strange.

In the Christian calendar, Nov. 1 is All Saints Day, aka All Hallows Day, the day when many Christian churches remember and celebrate the lives of all the saints (‘hallow”=”holy.”) 

But the night before All Saints Day has traditionally been considered the time the evil ones show up–the night we know as All Hallows Eve. No, really. Halloween combines the word “Hallow” with “e’en,” a contraction for “evening.” Hallow E’en. Hallow-eve.

All manner of practices grew up to chase away the devil and any creepy ghosts, ghouls, and undead that happen to accompany him. Later, when people no longer took these superstitions so seriously, the practices turned into fun: carving pumpkins, dressing up in scary costumes, shaking the neighbors down for candy.

Depending on where you live, your Trick or Treat tradition may vary, Do you live in one of those benign and fun places where, as a thank-you for the candy, the trick-or-treater owes the candy giver a  “trick” like telling a joke or doing a silly dance? Or do you live in an edgier place where the tradition emphasizes the OR part of the trick or treat encounter? If you don’t give me candy, I’ll play a mean trick on you–egg your car, TP your house. It’s trick–mean trick–OR treat–gimme candy. Your choice, neighbor. Watch out, though. Santa is just around the corner and you may go on the Naughty List if your trick is too over-the-top.

But why do we keep these traditions up? Everyone loves a good scare, as long as no one gets hurt. Am I right? People differ in their tolerance for what constitutes “a good scare.” I’m not a roller-coaster person. I can admit it. And when I watch horror movies, my daughter has to be right beside me to hold my hand. But there’s something comforting, even fun, about being scared out of our wits and living to tell the tale.

Happy Halloween!

And thanks to Bany at Pixabay for this royalty-free pumpkin pic.

So why is Cold Tales for a Long Cold Night in the Kobo sale?

The title tips you off, right? These are dark, dark stories–some darker than others, some edgier than others, some YA and some. . . NOT. Be warned.

In the book, you’ll find twelve short stories about an assortment of creepy types–vampires, shape-shifters, witches, critters, you name it, plus a novella, Witch Moon. 12 + 1=13. . .you do the math.

Here’s a quick run-down:

• The Arbor–what’s going on in there???
• The Obligations of the King–heavy is the head that wears the crown
• Hatch–they’re hatching out. . .and they are hungry
• Gilles Whispers My Name–one of the most prolific serial killers who ever lived
• Plump, Full of Juices–the Blood Countess time-travels to our world from medieval Hungary
• Myrddin Wyllt–Merlin the Magician as you’ve never seen him
• Deeper–the Blood Countess strikes again
• Rat Rhymer–everyone knows a bard is a dangerous thing
• Closet Mirror–don’t look too close–you might recognize someone
• Every Witch Way But Loose–wherever you go, there you are
• Roadside Attractions–did they drive off and leave her?
• Girl Meets Swan–and it does not go well
• AND THE NOVELLA Witchmoon (also published as a stand-alone volume)

A personal story, because why does a writer write anything?

I wrote “The Arbor,” the first story in this collection, shortly after I walked several blocks down the street from my townhouse to my son’s house. He and his whole neighborhood were having a picnic in a lovely little pocket park on the corner of his block. As I ate my brat, I noticed all the kids in the neighborhood were darting in and out of a fun little leafy arbor in the garden.

Directly across the street is a church that owns some land connected to the park. It’s lovely. (Big disclaimer: I’m sure it’s a great place with great people, and I didn’t write about THAT CHURCH. . .)

As I say, I was munching out at the picnic. But I, with my warped imagination, found my thinking had gone into overdrive. Suppose the arbor is not so lovely? Suppose sinister things happen there?

So I wrote this story.

Fast-forward to last week. I decided to buy a house right around the corner from my son’s. I closed on the house. I’m in chaos right now as I move all my stuff in there. One of the great features of this house is that it abuts. . .

that pocket park. . .

I guess it never occurred to me UNTIL RIGHT NOW that I had JUST written a horror story about this very park, which I am staring at out my window THIS VERY MOMENT.

What DOES live in that arbor?????.

Thanks to Betidraws for this royalty-free ghost from Pixabay.