Some Scary Reads!

In a couple of weeks the ghost and goblins will be flying so it's the perfect time for a scary read.

 In the spirit of the season, here are three of my favorite mystery series with a supernatural twist.

First on the list are the Charlie Parker novels by John Connolly. 

The latest Charlie Parker novel

Connolly's debut novel, Every Dead Thing, introduced the character of Charlie Parker. Haunted by the brutal murders of his wife and daughter, former detective Parker hunts for their killer. On the surface, this sounds like boilerplate crime fiction, but as the events of the novel play out, the reader begins to suspect that there there is a lot more going beneath the surface. By the end of the novel, this suspicion becomes a certainty. Thus, Connolly gives us our first glimpse of the honeycomb world, a shadowland that exists beneath our own.

In the 14 novels that follow, Connolly builds a rich mythology that is mysterious and compelling. In the latest book in the series A Game of Ghosts Parker continues on his dark journey.

Another series I enjoy are the AXL Pendergast novels by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. 

FBI Special Agent Aloysius Xingu Leng Pendergast first appeared as a supporting character in their first novel, Relic, and in its sequel Reliquary, before taking charge as protagonist in The Cabinet of Curiosities.

Pendergast is a man of rare ability, learning, and taste. He might come off as a snob save for his commitment to fighting evil. Unlike the supernatural world of Charlie Parker, Pendergast exists in a place neared to our own. As a consequence, fully enjoying these novels  requires a total suspension of disbelief--and I mean total!

For example, one of Pendergast's more outlandish talents is his Chongg Ran practice, which he learned from the monks of the Gsalrig Chongg monastery. Basically, this involves building a memory palace which enables Pendergast to visualize a memory or a historical event in his mind as if he were actually there. The resourceful FBI agent has used this technique for solving several mysteries.

I know it all sounds cockamamie, but I go along with the game. Chongg Ran is just a modern incarnation of the ancient Greek deus ex machina, in which the god in the machine (usually a crane) arrives to move the plot along. Bottom line, the Pendergast  novels are so much fun that I don't sweat the details--or the Chongg Ran.

Two of the creepiest AXL Pendergast novels are Cemetary Dance (zombies) and Cabinet of Curiosities (mad scientist), either of which would serve as a fine introduction to the series.

My final pick is the Bill Hodges Trilogy by America's foremost author Stephen King.

The real drive of the series is the cat-and-mouse game between retired detective Bill Hodges and mass murderer Brady Hartsfield, who's known as Mr. Mercedes after driving a stolen Mercedes into a crowd of hopeful job-seekers at a job fair.

Mr. Mercedes starts out firmly in crime fiction territory, but as the series progresses, moves into the speculative. This is driving suspense with memorable characters as well as a startling amount of sweetness.

But because this is Stephen King, there is also horror, and for my money, Brady Hartsfield is one of King's most memorable monsters, partly because he is so frighteningly human. If you haven't read this trilogy, what are you waiting for?

So if you're looking for a fright or two this Halloween, treat yourself to one of these books!

Boo!

Shadows of a thousand years rise again unseen,
Voices whisper in the trees, "Tonight is Halloween!"
...Dexter Kozen

I have a confession to make--I'm a horror gal. Since the day I discovered a pile of pulp mags under a bed in my grandparents' house, I've been a shameless devotee of ghoulies and ghosties and things that go bump in the night. But I'm most fond of monsters, which is why I love Halloween.

As a kid I always felt a rush of excitement when the Halloween decorations appeared in stores. That's changed a bit, especially now that the skeletons and costumes show up around the Fourth of July. And each year the trick-or-treaters are fewer in number and most Halloween parties for kids are most likely to be called the "Harvest Festival" or "Corn Maze Party." Somehow the adults have claimed the night for themselves and stripped it of any real fun for the kids. But I don't them ruin my fun.

October 31 is All Hallows Eve,the night when the monster hiding under the bed comes out to play. 

A ghoul friend of mine once told me that life's no fun without a good scare. In the spirit of Halloween,  I offer three creepy tales involving a few of my favorite monsters.

Vampire

Perhaps the preeminent creature of the night is the vampire, the ultimate seducer who offers eternal life, with a catch. Like most people, I first encountered vampires in the movies. However, Bela Lugosi's Dracula never did much for me--he looked too much like a waiter. 

"Today's special is pan seared Chilean Bass
in a balsamic reduction..."

But Christopher Lee's hissing count scared the heck out of me. I watched most of Horror of Dracula with my hands partially covering my eyes, afraid to look, but unable to turn away.

But it was only when I read Bram Stoker's Dracula that I felt the cold hand of fear. There was always a sexual component to Dracula, who both attracts and repels. I imagine this passage was pretty strong stuff to Stoker's Victorian readers: 

There was a deliberate voluptuousness that was both thrilling and repulsive. As she arched her neck she actually licked her lips like an animal til I could see in the moonlight the moisture that lapped the white, sharp teeth. Lower and lower went her head. I closed my eyes in a languorous ecstasy and waited.

The vampire offers sex, but it is  debased and bestial, cut off from the human. And I think Stoker touches on the primal fear that animates much of horror--the fear of losing one's humanity. Nowadays vampires have morphed from bloodsucking monsters into someone's prom date! For years I  despaired of seeing a pair of fangs I could relate to, until I found Enter, Night by Michael Rowe.

It's a briskly told tale of ancient, toothy horrors, with an ending that is both heartbreaking and transcendent. If you're hungry for a really good vampire story, this one's for you.

Zombie

Zombie flash mob in London

Zombies are all the rage these days. Did you know there's even a subgenre of literature called zombie lit. Popularity aside, I don't find anything particularly frightening about these plodding creatures. To me they're just one-trick ponies on the lookout for fresh brains. Give me an old-school zombie any day, one created by a Voudou  priestess on a moonlit night.

Which brings me to one of the most frightening short stories I've even read: Pigeons from Hell by Robert E. Parker. The story's set in a deserted plantation haunted by ghostly pigeons, and something else. Stephen Kings calls "Pigeons from Hell" to be "one of the finest horror stories of our century". As usual in matters of horror, King is right.

Ghost

Can they feel, I wonder, those white
silent people we call the dead?
                        ...Oscar Wilde

Ancient and enduring, the  first ghost appeared at some primeval campfire  when one of our ancestors told the first ghost story. More than other monsters, the ghost is a sturdy literary device and pops up in all sorts of fiction, from Shakespeare to Dickens to David Mitchell. But a Halloween ghost always means mischief  and there is no more malicious spirit than The Woman in Black.

Susan Hill's novel is the source for the excellent film of the same name. The narrative's framed as a Christmas Eve ghost story, much as Henry James' The Turn of the Screw. Like James, Hill conjures an atmosphere of escalating dread and isolation. The horror rises to a shattering and unexpected conclusion. 

Psychologists like to theorize why people like me love horror. In his theory of archetypes,  Carl Jung believed that all humans inherited a set of primordial images that are contained in the collective unconscious, and that horror evokes these archetypes. Maybe, but I read ghost stories and watch horror films because I like them. 

So tonight, after the last trick-or-treater has come and gone, I'll pour a glass of blood-red wine and read one of the old tales, one guaranteed to send a shiver down my spine. 

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Costumes Gone Wrong

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Today I'm not talking about writing or books or promotion. I'm not talking about reviews or tweets or how to do research for your book. After all, it's Halloween!! So...let's play a game!

We are going to vote for the WORST Halloween costume! A word of warning, the costumes you are about to see are not just ANY Halloween costumes. These are costumes gone wrong. SERIOUSLY wrong....

Before you dare to read any further, make sure you are ready to view the following because once you see these costumes, you cannot UNSEE them. Okay, brave souls, GO!!

Costume Gone Wrong #1:

Costume Gone Wrong #2:

Costume Gone Wrong #3:

Costume Gone Wrong #4:

Costume Gone Wrong #5:

So, go ahead and vote! Which costume WINS the Costume Gone Wrong Award?!?!? Hahaha!

Wishing all of you a humorous and fun Halloween! :)

10 Things I Love about Halloween

I’m not sure what Halloween is like in other parts of the world, but here in rural Ohio, it’s amazing. The views are spectacular, falling leaves, brilliantly colored forests, country roads lined in hay bales and scarecrows spinning in corn fields. The crows are out. Pumpkins line fences. The whole things is gorgeous and then there are the ghosts. Ohio has oh, so many haunted asylums, prisons, homes and grave yards. Hey, Ohio’s also a great place to be a specter!

Here are a few other things I love about Halloween:

10. Pumpkin picking. I love going to the pumpkin farms and riding out into the fields on a tractor. I love choosing the perfect pumpkins and hauling them home.

   

9. Displays. I love busting out my inner nerd. I'm rarely crafty, but on Halloween, I can make some serious cosplay.

8. Decorating. Granted, my decorating has been more PreK than Rated R for horror these past few years, but I love the decorating.

  

  7. Pumpkin EVERYTHING! Pumpkin bread, pumpkin rolls, cookies, desserts Pumpkin lattes. omg the pumpkin lattes *dead*

6. School parties. It's the one day a year I can score points on those Olympic caliber PTA moms. I have Pinterest on my side, after all.

  

  5. Candy! I love giving other people's kids candy. It's the mean spirit in me. I will empty bags of sugar into other people's kids' bags. Take! Eat! Freak out your mama!

   

  4. Boo Berry, Frankenberry & Count Chocula. What? You were thinking it too.

   

  3. Scary Movie Marathons. Need I say more? Poltergeist, Nightmare on Elmstreet, Anything Hitchcock, Chucky....OK, that's a lie. I'm afraid of my shadow. I marathon Supernatural all day and ogle the Winchesters.

  

  2. Pumpkin Carving: This is not my pumpkin. Mine have three triangles for eyes+nose and a weird hole/teeth/fail mouth. I love the tradition of carving though and the yummy baked pumpkin seeds that come after. This pic is from scaryforkids

  

  1. Dress up for Mama. Hey, the kids aren't the only ones who can rock a cosplay.

So, how'd I do? What goes on your top 10 list for Halloween traditions? (I left out haunted houses because I've only made it through one and that was in college, at Cedar Point. I buried my face in my date's back and didn't look up until I saw daylight again. -- YES. I went in the daytime. Like the scardey baby that I am.)

Trick or Treat?? We Vote Treat! Recipes & Giveaway

To celebrate All Hallows Eve, NOT YOUR USUAL SUSPECTS are blogging about their favorite homemade Halloween treats. Enjoy!--And we are giving away four books for your delectation. Muwhahaha!!

Pumpkin Soup

Six green onions (Separate the white from the green).

Cook in two cups of chicken broth (approximately 15 minutes).

Add two cups of pumpkin (cook 15 minutes or tender when tested with a fork).

Drain and work through a sieve then combine with three tablespoons of butter, tablespoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 quarter teaspoon of white pepper.

Cook over low heat about ten minutes.

Before serving add two cups of half and half, sliced tomato and sprinkle green onion on top.

 Elise

Scene Stealer

www.elisewarner.blogspot.com

Bread Stick Bones with Blood

1 tube refrigerated bread stick dough

1 Tbs butter

2 Tbs Parmesan cheese

Garlic salt to taste

Unroll bread stick dough. Carefully stretch out and tie ends into knots. Use a scissors to cut a notch in the middle. Place on ungreased cookie sheet then brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with cheese and garlic salt then back at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes until golden.  Serve with red sauce.

Wynter

www.WynterDaniels.com

Cookie ghosts

Take Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies (or similar flat oval shaped cookie (for you furriners: try a lady finger, like you'd use for tiramisu?) and melt some white chocolate. Dip them in chocolate about half way. Lay they on a wax papered cookie sheet. Add some round candies for eyes...like mini M&Ms or sprinkles. Try a dab of black gel icing for an open mouth. Or just set out the decoration possibilities and let the kids go to town! (We always made dark chocolate ones as well, for an integrated ghost neighborhood.<g>)
Frankenheads

Get some big marshmallows, white or dark melted chocolate, your leftover holiday sprinkles, gel icing in different colors and a few toothpicks or small pretzel sticks. Use the marshmallow as the head. Dip one end in chocolate and add green or black jimmies for crazy hair. Use the toothpicks or pretzels to paint on spots of chocolate to attach eyes or draw some wicked looking scars. Set the finished "heads" in mini paper cupcake papers. Another fun kid-artist activity!

Last but not least, I always like to throw a few plastic spiders and eyeballs into some ice cube trays or small tupperware holders. The secret is to use the last of the boiled water in the kettle, which will freeze clear, not cloudy. Drop them in a glass for a surprise at dinner! (Note to the file: this can be a fun April Fool's moment, as well.<g>)

J Wachowski

http://jwachowski.com

Pumpkin & Choc Chip Muffins

Makes: 24

• 415g plain flour
• 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
• 600g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 500g pumpkin puree
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 150ml water
• 170g plain chocolate chips

Preparation method

Prep: 20 mins | Cook: 30 mins

1.Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas 4. Grease two 12-hole muffin tins or line with cases.

2.In a large bowl, stir together flour, bicarbonate of soda, sugar, salt and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, beat together pumpkin, eggs and water. Stir pumpkin mixture into flour mixture; beat until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips.

3.Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, until a skewer inserted into centre of a muffin comes out clean. 

 

Clare London

http://www.clarelondon.co.uk
 

 

 

Severed Fingers Halloween Cookie

2 tablespoons red food coloring
30 blanched almonds
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 pinch salt
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

1 Heat oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with Silpats (French nonstick baking mats) or parchment paper, and set aside.
2 Place food coloring in a shallow bowl. crack each whole almond into halves. and toss them into the bowl with the food coloring and stir them until the color is evenly distributed. leave them in the bowl and stir them every so often until the color is as dark as you like.
3 Separate 1 egg. Set aside the white. In a small bowl, whisk together yolk, remaining egg, and vanilla. Set aside.
4 In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, confectioners' sugar, granulated sugar, and salt. Beat on medium speed until well combined. Add egg mixture, and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the flour, and mix on low speed just until incorporated. Wrap the dough in plastic, and chill until firm, 20 to 30 minutes.
5 Divide the dough in half. Work with one piece at a time, keeping remaining dough covered with plastic wrap and chilled. Divide the first half into fifteen pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece back and forth with palms into finger shapes, 3 to 4 inches long. Pinch dough in two places to form knuckles. Score each knuckle lightly with the back of a small knife. Transfer fingers to prepared baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough.
6 When all fingers are formed, brush lightly with egg white. Position almond nails; push into dough to attach.
7 Bake until lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Cool completely.
8 note: To make the knuckles more creepy just shape them big and uneven. To keep them from puffing out too much roll the fingers extra skinny (skinnier than you want them to look if that makes sense). I also try to get them out of the oven before they brown. I sometimes add a bit of almond extract to dough

Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/severed-fingers-halloween-cookies-135850?oc=linkback

 

Anne Marie

http://www.annemariebecker.com

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And, because it's Halloween, we are giving away a copy of EDGE OF LIGHT, PROTECTIVE CUSTODY, SEA OF SUSPICION to one lucky commenter, today. Muwhahaha!!

Plus, a rare and special paperback copy of...

 Winners chosen at our discretion. Probably random, possibly Ouija board!

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