Happy Halloween!!!

(No this is not my house, I just wish I'd had the energy to make this lovely setting)

The rituals:

Morning - Watching Halloween episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, South Park, and Simpsons whilst lounging in bathrobe and sipping coffee
Afternoon - prep for harvest feast, carve pumpkins (why can I never manage to get this done before Halloween!)

Evening - friends arrive for harvest feast, dogs forced into costumes (I'll have about 1 minute to snap photos before they are shredded), candy to trick or treaters

Night - Scary movie-a-thon! On the docket: Carrie, The Craft, Rosemary's Baby, Night of the Living Dead, Donnie Darko

What will you be doing this Halloween?

Location, Location, Location

Up to this point in Hallo-week posts we've focused on the whosits and whatsits of scaryville.

But ghosts, goblins, witches, and werewolves would not be half as scary if they didn't have the right backdrop in which to weave their spells and stalk their prey.

Today's post features three of my favorite spooky settings.

1) The windswept moors at night.You're probably alone but if you're not you have just one friend with you. All that means is that one of you is fodder. Why oh why did you wander off the road? I know those villagers were creepy but they were trying keep you alive!

2) Caves
As someone who is claustrophobic, I find caves utterly horrifying. But also fascinating. Caves are nature's labyrinths - mysterious, beautiful and chock full of critters that want to eat you.


3) The gothic manor (of course!)
So many rooms, so much potential for mayhem. Who lives here? Dracula, a witch, a hopeless romantic who just happened to lock his deranged wife in the attic (yes, I think Jane Eyre is horror)?

What locations make the best frights for you?

Lonely Souls

I don't know that I could write a ghost story. I worry I wouldn't survive.

Writing is a visceral experience for me; I become completely wrapped up in the minds and lives of my characters, sharing their every hope and fear.

Ghosts might be too much for me.

But before we delve further into this haunted Hallo-week post, let's make an important distinction.

Ghosts = human spirits that for one reason or another haven't moved from the earthly plane to another. Ghosts remain in contact with the human world because they need some issue from their human existence resolved. They may cause harm in trying to do so but only as a result of their own desperation.

Poltergeists = malevolent spirits that are manifested by human acts of violence or sacrilege. Poltergeists are cruel and wreak havoc in human lives, like pulling little girls into televisions.

So one more time, just to be clear. Ghosts are people, poltergeists are people's fault.

Back to the writing dilemma (not so much a dilemma - I have plenty to write about - as a thorn in my paw; I don't like thinking there is something I wouldn't be able to write about). But I wonder if writing the story of a ghost wouldn't send me spiraling into a terrible depression. Human existence is so much about change, discovery, growth - all things that have been robbed from a spirit that is stuck on this plane. I can of little else that could cause more despair, to be deprived of the very essence of what makes human life so wonderful. To rely on flawed beings (uh, yeah, I'm talking about us) who you can barely communicate with to free you from that tortured liminal state.

I'm getting depressed just thinking about it.

Don't get me wrong; I enjoy reading ghost stories. Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones was one such story I found compelling. And I adore Poe's tales of ghostly vengeance. But frolicking in the worlds of other writers is a different ballgame than playing in the field you've built with your own hands.

Maybe I'll grow braver with time (side note: amazing writer and blogger Suzanne is my hero, for writing Haunting Anne, which looks to me like an astonishing, beautiful and devastating book about the world of ghosts. Suzanne you are courageous and so talented!)

Is the problem that I believe in ghosts?

Let's put a big check in the box next to I don't know.

I've had the experiences that I think most of us have. The prickling along one's neck. Glancing over your shoulder, knowing that someone is there, following, but then there isn't anyone. The flickering of movement in your peripheral vision.

All I these things make me wonder, but I don't know. The closest truth I've stumbled upon rests in the words of Emily Dickinson:

One need not be a chamber to be haunted,
One need not be a house;
The brain has corridors surpassing Material place.
Far safer, of a midnight meeting External ghost,
Than an interior confronting That whiter host.
Far safer through an Abbey gallop, The stones achase,
Than, moonless, one's own self encounter
In lonesome place.
Ourself, behind ourself concealed,
Should startle most;
Assassin, hid in our apartment,
Be horror's least.
The prudent carries a revolver,
He bolts the door,
O'erlooking a superior spectre More near.

Brains...Brains...

I've got nuthin on this...



And let me just say, Halloween Karaoke anyone? This and Thriller - you're golden.

Just for good measure, let's put that classic up too.

I Vant to Suck Your Blohd

Ah, vampires. How do we love thee? Let me count the ways (70 million copies of Twilight sold...)

Glancing at any bestseller list it seems that the nation has been overtaken by vampire mania. From Twilight to House of Night to Vampire Academy, it's clear that undead is the new black.

I've long been fascinated by vampires. I read Dracula at age 10 and have gobbled up vamp lit and films ever since. But for me the moment of truth came in 1997 when Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered on the WB (remember the WB? Dominion of the teen drama? Dawson's Creek, Felicity, anyone?)

It was love at first bite and I've been faithful. BVS is the best show I've ever seen. My morning ritual is to watch an episode as I eat breakfast, repeat, until I get through all the seasons and then start over again. It never gets old.

But Buffy slays vampires, and this post is about the lords and ladies of the night themselves.

So what is it about vampires that fascinates us? Arguably most of us like the sun, so why would we want to hang out with folks who could never join us at the beach?

The current phenomenon of vampire love, while impressive, is not new. Like werewolves, vampires have a long, diverse history of lore and the current manifestation of vampire types reflects this range of mythology.

I have my own theories, but I'd like to ask you two questions.

1) Why are vampires so popular and enduring?

2) What is the best type of vampire (scary, sparkly, somewhere in between)?



And as a final note, I just have to have a mini squeeeeeeee because of awesome (but super secret) news from Editor Jill today. Will share when able!

Of "Wolves" and "Were"

Etymology, or the history of words, is kind of a hobby of mine. I'm no expert, but where words originate and how they change over time fascinates me.

And did you know words can go extinct? No one says, "I lost my azaleas to last night's gelicide (frost)," anymore. Gelicide - cool huh? Really evokes that whole 'killing frost' thing. Perhaps we should bring it back.

But I digress. Today's Hallo-week post is about werewolves. Werewolf has a particularly nifty etymology. What's interesting is that the idea of "were" (man) combining with "wolf" (uh...wolf) has so many origin points. There's the possible Old English 'wer,' but there's also the Gothic 'wair,' German 'ver,' and Norse 'verr.'

The variety of language birthplaces for werewolf is matched by the diversity of lycanthropic legends across cultures. So many, in fact, that I'd have to write a book to recount them all (...and that may happen). But for now you can visit this very cool site to read up.

So where do our furry friends fall in the pecking order of classic Halloween beasties? According to the Wall Street Journal werewolves are about to usurp vampires in the pop culture spot light (*rubs hands* excellent).

So whether you're a fan of the New Moon variety of wolves.



Or the more classic Wolf Man -



Get ready to howl. Oh, and Nightshade has the awesomest werewolves of all time. Just sayin.

Something Witchy This Way Comes

Witches took the poll! So we'll start Hallo-week posts with witches.

Witches are a favorite subject of mine; the period of history I study features the witch hunting craze in Europe and North America as well as the shift from spiritual to scientific with the rise of the Enlightenment.

Witches have a traumatic history. Much maligned and misunderstood, the persecution of witches was a means to suppress female sites of power while consolidated that of patriarchal religious institutions.

Though accused of consorting with the devil and other demonic spirits, witchcraft is actually a means of channeling natural spirits, of working with the earth to produce desired effects. Of course, like any form of power, witchcraft can be abused; thus the Wiccan mantra 'and harm ye none,' as well as the rule of returns - anything sent out into the world will return to the witch three fold.
Since scary witches capture the public eye more easily than benevolent ones, Hollywood has done its part to reinforce the idea that witches are in league with evil forces (okay, okay I have to confess now there are bad witches in my book - but there are good witches too!!) but there are still places in the world where witches are revered and not reviled.

When I visited Bavaria (my father-in-law's home), I was struck by the witches that were everywhere. Effigies of women with brooms, cauldrons, in flight, sat in store windows, hung in kitchens and living rooms. When I inquired about this abundance of witches I was told that in Bavarian lore witches are benevolent women, guardians of the home. To have images of witches in your house brings luck.

As much as historical witches interest me, I'm still a sucker for the Hollywood variety. Particularly the angsty teen ilk. So here are two of my Halloween picks: boarding schools, romance, witchcraft? Yes, please. (And both feature good and bad witches...ahem.)