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The Inspiring Lessons from Edward Gorey I have a confession to make… It might shock you to know that up until late 2010/2011, I was not at all familiar with the works of Edward Gorey (Gasp!). I wasn’t even really thinking about drawing back then. I was at the infancy of my artistic journey as […]

I know it’s the day after Halloween, but I still have haunting on my mind.

I’m convinced the house across the street is haunted.

Let’s look at the facts. Since I’ve lived in my home, about three years or more, no one has stayed in that house for more than four months. There is a constant turnover with moving vans coming and going. Sometimes there is a playground set in the front yard, and other times, the swings are dismantled. There is always the landlord coming through cleaning up the yard, throwing out garbage in large quantities into a dumpster in between inhabitants. Something is scaring them away.

Haunted houses fascinate me. I went googling this morning on the subject and found some fun links for you to visit.

8 Haunted Houses in New Orleans That Will Scare Your Pants Off (Road trip!)

Here’s a list of haunted places in Arizona

My favorite haunted house as a kid: The Haunted Mansion

Hands-down my favorite link, How to Buy or Sell a Haunted House

Have any haunted house stories?

4 Stars
Into the Pumpkin
Kinda Franklin
Schiffer Publishing
No. Pages: 48 Ages: 4 to 11

It’s Halloween Party time again and the witches, bats, ghouls, ghosts, black cats, scarecrows, ravens, and spiders have come together for the annual bash. Questions remain. Where should they have the party, in the graveyard or the pumpkin patch? Will they dress up or go as themselves? Take a ride on a witches broom to find the answers to this year’s Halloween party.

You will hop on the witch’s broom for a journey like no other. Each creature of the night has a part to play. The bats are letting all know about the party, the ghouls are planning the treat or treating. The witch mails out invitations. Is she not a little bit late, or does she have magic on her side? Everyone has a job to do, right down to the scarecrow, who is the host of the night’s ball.

The biggest question, it seems, is where to hold the party. In the graveyard, the haunted castle, or the pumpkin patch. I like the haunted castle. It has great character standing amidst the ghosts. The graveyard is the spookiest and the pumpkin patch says nothing about the Great Pumpkin, so for me, it must happen at the haunted castle. Once the party is over, and the raven has sung all he came to sing, the witch sends us back home by way of the pumpkin patch. It is quite a journey on this Halloween night.

Told in rhyming verse, the Halloween party plans are whimsical. There is nothing here to scare a little one. The illustrations have a ghoulish, haunted feel, yet are bright and fun. It is the illustrations that make this book for me. I like the orange cast of Halloween and the feel of spider webs and wisps of clouds covering each illustration. This lends a feeling of motion and emotion to each picture.  All the fall colors of Halloween are there. The oranges, yellows, whites, browns, and especially the blacks come together in delightful ways. The ghosts are dancing in a circle and I can hear the music as they twirl.

The text is a poem broken down verse by verse on the pages and illustrated by the author. She has made an unusual book with a familiar theme. Most of the lines roll right off the tongue in the lyrical way I enjoy. I think the illustrations are what make this book a winner. Anyone who enjoys Halloween will delight in Into the Pumpkin. I see this book as a family favorite, visited each year alongside the Great Pumpkin and treat or treating.

Into the Pumpkin is party planning that will not frighten a soul. To those of you who collect picture books for the fantastic illustrations, this is a must have. The illustrations are wonderfully enchanting. Into the Pumpkin could have just as easily have been dark, ghoulish, and frightening; the thing nightmares are made out of. Ms. Franklin chose to go the opposite direction and made a story any child can enjoy at any age. Into the Pumpkin is a Halloween winner.

Into the Pumpkin

Author/Illustrator: Linda Franklin   website
Publisher: Schiffer Publishing   website
Release Date: July 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7643-4183-0
Number of Pages: 48
Grades: Pre-K to 6
Ages: 4 to 11
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We just finished celebrating Halloween. Your children dressed in wonderful costumes, you walked from house to house getting candy, your schools had parties and ton of candy was given away. This holiday was celebrated all over the country and probably in other countries as well. Last post I shared with you where Halloween came from and the folklore behind it but today I will take a larger step. I will look at how public libraries celebrated this holiday.



A few days ago I did a massive survey on a list called pub lib and asked a very simple question How does your library celebrate Halloween. I got a massive response to this question and have decided to give a list of 10 most unique stories that came from this list. This post will not have any book reviews and lets say I will catalog this under Cool Stuff. Please enjoy my list of 10.



1)  The year we had the ground breaking for our building the same day as the Halloween parade so that as soon as that parade was over we had our parade from the old building to the new site. Thus the community band that played for our parade and ground breaking ceremony did it dressed in Halloween costumes. The last two years of the Optimists Halloween parade we entered a book truck drill team. The first year we each dressed as a story book character and put pictures on our book trucks to fit our character. The second year we all wore black with bright colored boas and decorated the carts for Halloween.

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By: Aaron Polson, on 8/4/2011
Blog: The Other Aaron (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  haunted houses, WIP Wednesday, Add a tag

I'm obsessed with haunted houses.

No, not the Halloween theme spook houses, with genuine haunted houses (if such things exist). I've never been in one--as far as I know--but the idea fascinates me. Some of my favorite novels feature spooky houses--The Haunting of Hill House, Hell House, 'salem's Lot. Yes, I know the last one is about vampires, but the Marsten House certainly haunts the protag. The House of Leaves is an amazing book about--you guessed it--a bizarre house.

The House Eaters features a house--a semi/sort of haunted place. I've written stories about "places" with hauntings or "infestations". That's a good word for it, I suppose: infestation.

Here's the set up for my WIP:

Six people volunteer for a reality style show set in an old country house. The rules: they must stay inside for seven full days. No slipping out for a walk on the veranda or stroll through the garden. For their time, each will receive a minimum of $12K.

Four of them have been there before, but that time there were five. They sought shelter during a snowstorm (their van had landed in a ditch and there was no cell phone reception in the boonies).

The fifth member of their party disappeared in the house. The police, of course, theorized he wandered out into the snow to find help and never found any.

His body, of course, was never found.

But the four friends did find something else, upstairs in the house.

And I'm not telling what.

Yet.

7 Comments on Infestations (A WIP Thursday...Sorry No Alliteration), last added: 8/7/2011

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Cindy Little said, on 8/4/2011 7:32:00 AM

Cool premise! I have one suggestion--go visit a haunted house or at least stay in a haunted hotel. I'm a ghost hunter and have been in several haunted places. Nope, haven't seen any ghosts--yet. But the places themselves are usually very cool--lots of colorful history attached to them. Might give you some ideas for your setting.

James Everington said, on 8/4/2011 9:57:00 AM

Love that picture - now THAT'S a haunted house!

They always seem to be elevated, so they're looking down on you don't they? A Hill House indeed...

Aaron Polson said, on 8/4/2011 10:33:00 AM

Cindy - Great suggestion, thanks!

James - They always have such a sinister look in their... er, windows, too.

Barry Napier said, on 8/4/2011 11:40:00 AM

I lovelovelove these kinds of stories. Sounds awesome.

I have another haunted house type story in the works (The Bleeding Room, is, of course, a haunted house story as well).

And if you have never been in one...for shame! I know there has to be some creepy stuff out in Kansas, right?

Aaron Polson said, on 8/4/2011 1:51:00 PM

Barry - Atchison, KS(about 90 minutes north of here and home of Amelia Earhart) is supposed to be one of the more haunted towns in America. Go figure.

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Danielle Ferries said, on 8/7/2011 8:37:00 PM

Me too! Great picture, and great premise.

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Hands down, the most fetching cover of the year. Look at this house. Absolutely beautiful. This is kind of the house of my dreams, and the minute that I saw the cover I yearned to live inside.

Until I read the book.

Miranda is a little girl who often gets caught by the wind. She is diminutive in size, and can easily wind up tossed about like a kite without a string. One day she is taken by the wind and lands in some brambles where she is discovered by Wysteria's hounds. Wysteria Barrows is the mistress of this house which is called Bourne Manor. Wysteria takes Miranda in, and sets her to work mending the fishing nets that pay the bills. Wysteria is a bit odd, but Miranda is thankful to have a home. So she overlooks the fact that Wysteria locks her in her room every night and makes her wear heavy iron boots so that the wind no longer takes her.

But Miranda is a child, after all, and she is curious. Over time, she discovers the entry to Wysteria's late husband's study. He was a sea captain, and among all of the expected treasures in the study, Miranda finds a secret room that is filled with kites. Miranda is soon up on the widow's walk flying the kites unbeknownst to Wysteria. When her beloved kite is stolen by the wind and found by a young boy named Farley, Miranda feels a stirring in her soul that she cannot name.

Soon, Miranda finds herself on her own, and is discovering the secrets of the Manor. Chilling secrets. Should she stay with Wysteria who has helped her all of this time, or should she escape and see where her future takes her?

Now, I should preface this by saying that I am very susceptible to books about houses that seem somewhat possessed. I went and read Amityville Horror at the tender age of 9 (which I DON'T recommend!!!) so houses with personalities scare me more than your average reader. I do not want to imply that this is a horror story, but there are ghost story elements to it. Along with a fairytale like atmosphere complete with an otherworldly lead character, and an Irish boy filled with fairy lore.

Rita Murphy has written an interesting and ethereal story about friendship, family, loyalty and first love. It is an odd story. There is no other way to say it. But it is magical and compelling as well. Bird is for the older tween who is a deep reader and will not be put off by something completely different.

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Casey said, on 12/29/2008 7:06:00 PM

I completely agree about the cover. Beautiful...and the story sounds great too. Have you seen the cover for My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath. I think it rivals.

Stacy Dillon said, on 12/30/2008 9:12:00 AM

Hi Casey: I have seen Horvath's book...one of my favs of the year. I have a review if you scroll doooowwwwwnnnn! Thanks for stopping by!

Pikealicious said, on 12/30/2008 12:56:00 PM

I heartily agree about the cover of this book. I love the cover. I bought the book because it looked beautiful, and the description of the story sounded good. Then I started reading it- it was not bad, but like you said, it was odd.

Casey said, on 12/30/2008 5:46:00 PM

You know, as I was typing I was thinking that I should check if you'd reviewed it already...but I didn't. Woops! :)

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By: travis king, on 10/7/2008
Blog: Sugar Frosted Goodness (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  halloween, witch, vampire, ghosts, haunted houses, travis king, Add a tag

More Ghosts of Gettysburg — Spirits, Apparitions and Haunted Places of the Battlefield was written by Mark Nesbitt and published in1992 by Thomas Publications.

I will have to read Nesbitt’s other books about Gettysburg ghosts because he doesn’t just tell the story, he fills you in on the historical background. Never having been interested in battle stories, I knew only when Gettysburg was fought and by whom and the general outcome. In the previous book I read about Gettysburg ghosts, I had to get out the National Park Service’s informational booklet to help me understand the areas and settings of the ghost stories. Not so with Nesbitt’s book and for that, I highly recommend it.

Nesbitt also explores the bigger questions concerning ghosts and where they might come from.  “Parallel universes — both invisible to one another and yet existing side by side and simultaneously — may help us understand how, while changing form, energy can continue to exist irrespective of time constraints.” This is a thinking person’s book of paranormal experiences.

I also found out through this book, that Eisenhower bought a farm in Gettysburg and retired there with Maymie. They bought the farm in 1950, but because Eisenhower went on to serve our country in different capacities, including as our President, he really only spent about 7 years on the farm. He died in 1969 and Maymie died ten years later. We will have to add the Eisenhower Farm on our vacation itinerary and see if we can smell Maymie’s perfume wafting about or hear Eisenhower descending the stairs to the kitchen.

It is Nesbitt’s tour of ghosts in Gettysburg that we have booked for our vacation.

Why am I so fascinated with ghosts? Because I lived in a haunted house. Both of my young sons felt the presence and one of them saw faces in the bathroom mirror. They could not sleep well at night and never alone. For me, the shadowy malevolent presence stood by my bed every night at about 3 in the morning, causing my heart to race out of control after I bolted straight up in bed. After months of this terrifying experience, I eventually pretended to not respond to his presence at all. I would pretend to stay asleep — not even opening my eyes. I also walked around the house and read specific prayers to quiet the spirit. This worked very little. I am convinced that the spirit is the father of the people we rented from. He had built the house and died there and he was mad that strangers were living in his family’s home.

What is your ghost story?

3 Comments on More Ghosts of Gettysburg, last added: 7/31/2008

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Melissa said, on 7/25/2008 12:34:00 AM

I too am fascinated with ghosts. I have searched for sites and books that might help me understand more about them and came across one book that I highly recommend called, Their Way Home by Melissa Van Rossum.

It is a ghost book like no other.

journeybooks said, on 7/25/2008 5:18:00 PM

Thank you, Melissa for the book recommendation. I will check it out!
Jennifer

Ruth McNally Barshaw said, on 7/31/2008 1:35:00 AM

I have two ghost stories. One was a young relative, and the other was someone at Gettysburg.
Both surprised me at the time. I didn’t believe in ghosts until I saw them; now I do.
More recently, two of my kids saw the same ghost at different times. They described it separately and their descriptions matched. A psychic said the ghost was looking for someone else and it wasn’t dangerous. After that it wasn’t seen again.
I think there’s too much going on for it to be merely a figment of the imagination.

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