Bookshop of Halloween Horrors

Halloween, born of the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, is nigh and we might all be looking for a good read to suit the occasion. I know I am!

If it's a book that goes bump in the night, there is a multitude to choose from, but there aren't all that many that weave Halloween into the pages.

Here are a few that spark my interest.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Something Wicked is a classic from the archives of Ray Bradbury. If you haven't read it yet just imagine: two thirteen-year-olds, a traveling carnival and more jump-scares than the heart can handle. Oh yes, and spooky Halloween!


Another classic is Norman Partridge's Dark Harvest

Dark Harvest is set in the 60s, like Stranger Things, and packed with plenty of suspense. Why not when the town's teenagers comb the streets on Halloween, intent on killing the October Boy. The winner (aka murderer) gets the prize and leaves town, never to be seen again. Or so we think...

This one will set the stage for those trick or treat bangs on the door!


A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

The first book in the All Souls Trilogy, be ready with book two if you don't want to dangle over the edge of the cliff. The story of an academic witch in denial, this is historical fantasy at its finest, with a splash of Halloween at the (cliffhanger) ending.


Dance Upon the Air by Nora Roberts

This is also the start of a trilogy - Three Sisters Island. Set on said island, the series has it all: a strong female character with a terrible past, a curse, a love true-blue and a loudly ticking clock. And yes, Halloween!


A Path Begins - by J. A. White

Book #1 in the Thickety series, this story is set in colonial times. Think a dark forest. Vicious beasts. Deadly plants. Spellbooks. Secrets. Mysteries. Witches, and a girl everyone hates...

Yes, it's marketed as a middle-grade book but some might feel the content is too disturbing for that age range. Are there Halloween themes? You bet, colonial-style!

I'd love to know what your fav Halloween books are and if you plan to curl up with one at the end of the month.

Let us know in the comments!

Trick or treat,

xxKim

* * *

Kim Falconer's New YA Fantasy Series is out March 2020 - The Crown of Bones. (Writing under A.K. Wilder)

Also, check her urban fantasy  - The Blood in the Beginning - and Ava Sykes Novel and the SFF Quantum Enchantment Series. 

You can find Kim on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Or pop over and throw the bones on the AKWilder.com site.

Contact at kimfalconer.com

The Alchemy of Horror

Magic Realism Art of Rusty McDonald

Halloween, as Sup author Helen Lowe explains in her post this month, comes from Samhain, the Celtic day of the dead, where the spirits of those passed are placated with offerings of food. It makes me wonder what else we are placating when we welcome ghosts, ghouls and demons into our lives. I mean, we do welcome them, don't we?

I know I do.

Three of my favourite series off the top of my head are iZombie, Lucifer and The Vampire Diaries.

Three books that I've read or reread recently are The Southern Vampire Mysteries, Anna Dressed in Blood and the Sandman Slim.

All deal with supernatural and horror themes.

I certainly don't need the excuse of Halloween to immerse in these genres. Heck, I write the stuff myself - Books that go bump in the night.

The question is, why?

Why would anyone want to have Horror as a pastime, a career, as entertainment?

You can google it and find explanations like dealing with fear, power and control, an adrenaline rush in a 'safe' environment, living on the edge in the comfort of your own home... Sup author Merrie Destefano has written on this topic and covers it well.

But I can't help but wonder, is there more to it?

Musing on it, up popped a single word: alchemy.

Yes, I mean the exploration of consciousness handed down to us from medieval times.

This alchemy is "...a living form of sacred psychology... the projection of a cosmic and spiritual drama in laboratory terms, an art, both experiential and experimental. It is a worldview which unifies spirit and matter..." - Iona Miller, 1986

Simply put, alchemy reflects the process of personal transformation in the metaphor of turning lead into gold.

So, what does this alchemy have to do with books that go bump in the night?

Everything.

In the alchemical process, there is always a container, a vessel of some kind, real or imagined, that that provides the space for transformation to occur. When reading horror, the story becomes a container for the prima materia, the raw psychic urge for growth and transformation that lies within us.

Think of it like this: Every time we are moved to the heightened emotions and extreme fear of a scary story or film, we switch on a powerful psychological process that shakes us out of complacency. Within the alchemical container, we may learn to remake ourselves, transcending judgments, social conditioning, unconscious patterns and beliefs.

And then, abracadabra, we create a chance to live more authentically, in full awareness of the present moment.

It's a theory in progress, but the next time you pick up your fav fiction or switch on that scary show, you may notice the mystical fumes bubbling up from the cauldron, engaging you on the next step of your own, inner transformation journey.

And with that, happy Halloween!

xxKim

* * *

Kim Falconer's latest novel, an urban fantasy, is out now - The Blood in the Beginning - and Ava Sykes Novel. You can find Kim on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Kim also runs GoodVibeAstrology.com where she teaches the law of attraction and astrology. 

Kim posts here at the Supernatural Underground on the 16th of every month, hosts Save the Day Writer's Community on FB and posts a daily astrology weather report on Facebook. 

Trick or Le Chocolate?

Le Chocolate

As we roll along to the month's end, we near the witching hour, the night of the living dead, samhain, AKA Halloween. What we actually celebrate these days is an ancient pagan ritual with a modern twist. All the ingredients are there - food, family, friends, mumming, divination, spirits and . . . chocolate.

In honor of the night, I thought it would be fun to 'guess that book quote'. Here are some one liners from books that all share a certain bend toward the Theobroma cacao shrub. How many do you recognize? (I threw a film in there too. Couldn't resist!)

1)  “Will looked horrified. "What kind of monster could possibly hate chocolate?”

2)  “Strength is the capacity to break a Hershey bar into four pieces with your bare hands - and then eat just one of the pieces.”

3)  “Can I come back and see you sometime?"
     "Long as you bring me some chocolate," Gramma said, and smiled. "I'm partial to chocolate."
      "Gramma, you're diabetic."
      "I'm old, girl. Gonna die of something. Might as well be chocolate.”

4) “Happiness. Simple as a glass of chocolate or tortuous as the heart. Bitter. Sweet. Alive.”

5)  “Chocolate says "I'm sorry" so much better than words.”

6)  “A Kiss is a terrible name for a piece of chocolate shaped like a water droplet, because kisses are  hot and would melt chocolate—even if it is wearing an astronaut suit made out of tinfoil.
”

7)  “Like magic, she felt him getting nearer, felt it like a pull in the pit of her stomach. It felt like

hunger but deeper, heavier. Like the best kind of expectation. Ice cream expectation. Chocolate expectation.”

8) ...Seashells. Chocolate seashells, so small, so plain, so *innocent*. I thought, oh, just one little taste, it can't do any harm. But it turned out they were filled with rich, sinful...

9) “Don't wreck a sublime chocolate experience by feeling guilty. Chocolate isn't like premarital sex. It will not make you pregnant. And it always feels good.”

10) “ . . .(she) opened the box of chocolates. The dog looked at them longingly.
      "Would you like one?" she asked the little dog.
      "Yes, please," whispered the dog. "Only not toffee ones. They make me drool."
      "I thought chocolates weren't very good for dogs," she said, remembering something Miss   Forcible had once told her.
      "Maybe where you come from," whispered the little dog. "Here, it's all we eat.”

Recognize any? Have one of your own? Pop them in the comments please!

And, if you need a permission slip to indulge, remember, dark chocolate is full of antioxidants, anti-aging properties and hormone regulators. It keeps your heart and cardiovascular system running smoothly, lowers blood pressure, lowers orchestral, and slows down the clotting cascade (prevents stroke). It also stimulates endorphins and increases seritonin, the happy brain messengers. Seriously, what's not to love? Enjoy, everyone!

Kim Falconer is a Supernatural Underground author writing paranormal romance, urban fantasy, YA and epic science fantasy novels.

You can find out more about Kim at kimfalconer.com or on the 11th House Blog. She posts here at the Supernatural Underground on the 16th of every month. Her latest release is"Blood and Water" in Supernatural Underground: Vampires Gone Wild.