And here you have our first place winner! (Lucky recipient of a year's subscription to the Crow Toes Quarterly ezine, an adorable Baby's First Boo trick-or-treating bag, and a fantastic piece of original art by the talented Chris Zenga) Kimberly sent us this photo of her son Cody dressed as Chucky (from Child's Play). Absolutely adorable and terrifying at the same time, love it!
We had a lot of fun with this contest, I think we'll definitely run it again next year! Congrats to the winners and a huge THANK YOU to everyone who partic
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By: Kinderscares,
on 11/1/2010
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How'd our favourite holiday come and go so fast?! We had an awesome Halloween this year, the kind that lasts from the moment you wake up until you fall into bed exhausted at the end of it. We covered the kids in spooky rub-on tattoos, gave scary books to friends, made tons of delicious food (and gorged on candy too), dressed up and trick-or-treated, hung out with various fun folks, and still made it home in time to watch The Walking Dead.
Here's our eldest, who decided after much indecision to be a vampire this year:
If you think THAT'S scary, you should have seen her when she wanted to be a zombie at age three. Terrifying stuff. From this year's costume we learned that even child-sized fangs are too big for little 6-year-olds...she lasted about five minutes before ditching them for being too uncomfortable.
Colum was our resident zombie this year:
That's the same expression on his face as when he has to get up early for work.
And here's our toddler, the bat to accompany his sister's vampire:
2 Comments on Halloween 2010 - pics, overview and general rambling..., last added: 11/2/2010
Few people love scary books as much as we do. With two websites dedicated to horror in literature and a personal library that's terrifying in size as well as subject matter, I guess that's a little obvious. We read them, collect them and write about them. Our big kid writes and illustrates them in her spare time.
The only thing we like MORE than the books themselves is sharing them with other people, which is why we've fallen instantly in love with All Hallow's Read, a newly thought-up tradition of giving people scary books for Halloween.
Author Neil Gaiman came up with this awesome plan recently when it occurred to him that there just aren't enough traditions that involve giving books. He posted about it here on his blog, and has since managed to put together an official All Hallow's Read website.
We hope all you book and/or horror lovers out there will join in to spread the word and give someone a spooky book this year! If you need suggestions, don't hesitate to ask! Happy Halloween!
For your amusement this Friday evening, we pulled out a few of our OWN Halloween photos from the distant past. Here's pirate Colum at 2 years old (so we're talking the distant, DISTANT past, heh heh).
(In case you're wondering, he still looks pretty much exactly like that, but taller and with a beard.)
And here is me (Shelagh) at age 7 or 8. I was a witch, in case you couldn't figure that out on your own:
Rest assured that I now have all my teeth and even brush my hair once in a while (whether I feel like it or not).
Feeling inspired? Go pull out the old Halloween photos - of you or your kids - and submit your favourites to our photo contest for a chance to win awesome prizes! We'll be accepting entries until November 1st.
Happy Halloween weekend!
S.
Oops, I was supposed to announce the winner yesterday. Blog slacker! Real-life October craziness has really distracted us from online October madness, apparently. So much Halloween awesomeness...so little time...
In any case, the (day-late) winner of our Scary Stories giveaway is SimplyK8! Congratulations, and thanks to all entrants!
Remember we'll be accepting entries for the Halloween Kids photo contest until the end of November 1st! We've received some really fantastic and adorable entries already and can't wait to see the rest of what y'all come up with!
Now I'd better get back to slaving over Halloween costumes! Just a few more days!
S.
You'll have to excuse our mid-week slacking...we had a couple of crazy days (the fun kind of crazy!). Now we're back on track again and ready to announce our next October giveaway!
If you grew up in the 80's you probably recall these iconic collections of terrifying tales. They were all the rage among grade school kids who loved being scared out of their wits. The series has stood up to the test of time and gained notoriety along the way - the original was the #1 most challenged book between 1990 and 2000! (If by some chance you never heard of them, reviews for all three can be found on our 'Reviews by Title' page.)
Anyway, we're giving away all three as a set to some lucky horror fiend: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones (all by Alvin Schwartz).
Same old rules: to enter just leave a comment on this post! Earn extra entries by sharing the giveaway on Twitter, Facebook or your blog, etc (but remember to tell me you did! I'm not really omniscient, even if that is what I tell the kids...).
The giveaway will run until next Wednesday. Hop to it!
By: Kinderscares,
on 10/18/2010
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Too Many Monsters by Robert Neubecker is a creepy-cute counting book perfect for your tiniest monster fan. The board-book format will hold up to all sorts of abuse and the colourful illustrations will delight your little ones.
Five Ugly Monsters by Tedd Arnold is another board book that parodies the song '5 Little Monkeys'. You know, the song where everybody's jumping on the bed and falling off and banging their heads. That one. This is cuter and tons of fun! I was terribly sad when our copy was destroyed by a rogue sippy-cup gone all leaky, and really need to get around to replacing it.
Spooky Hour by Tony Mitton is an adorably illustrated picture book that counts down from twelve gongs of the tower clock to one gigantic pumpkin pie, with all sorts of Halloween goodness in between.
Miss Smith and the Haunted Library
Written and illustrated by Michael Garland
ISBN: 978-0-545-30188-6
Zack's teacher Miss Smith is taking them class to the library, where the librarian Virginia Creeper reads scary stories aloud to them from the Incredible Storybook. It's quite a shock when creatures galore begin leaping from its pages!
This book brought our household so much joy! The characters that appear in the library as the story goes on are all beloved favourites from darker classic tales of both adult and children's literature, from Captain Hook to the Headless Horseman. The familiar characters amuse older readers and the detail-filled illustrations entrance little ones who might not be ready to catch the references. It's fun for everyone, seriously.
If your little one is like ours and thinks partying with a selection literature's famous monsters and villains sounds like the greatest thing ever, you NEED this book. If they don'
Today's the day! The winner of the Baby's 1st Boo trick-or-treating bag giveaway is...
Thanks to all entrants! Remember you still have a chance at another of these adorable bags as part of the prize for our Halloween photo contest, so get the picture albums out and start thinking about your entry!
By: Kinderscares,
on 10/14/2010
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Our eldest monster-lover got the book-making bug this past week and created a masterpiece I'm sure you'll all appreciate. I didn't include the cover, but it's titled 'The Kraken Eats a Sailsman'. Aside from the general hilarity, I think my favourite part of this is that our daughter thinks a 'sailsman' is someone who hangs out on a sailboat. Way to avoid consumer culture, kid!
I'll spare you most of my commentary since the book pretty much speaks for itself:
In case you can't make it out, the 'sailsman' is saying "Ah!". As well one might in such a situation...
By: Kinderscares,
on 10/13/2010
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Back when we first started delving into the world of spooky books for kids, we sometimes wondered if we'd eventually run out of things to talk about. Instead we've had the opposite experience - we find so many books that our to-read list is always terrifyingly long, and we can actually subdivide our children's horror library into various themes.
For us, this means that the kids' books are slowly growing to outnumber our own and almost certainly plotting to overthrow our organizational system. Not to mention that we're eternally in need of more shelves. But for YOU, lovely readers, this means that we can wake up one day and put together an entire list of creepy and awesome alphabet books...and what could possibly be better than that?
Midnight in the Cemetery: A Spooky Search-and-Find Alphabet Book by Cheryl Harness combines verbal and visual fun in an awesome way!
H is for Haunted House by Tanya Lee Stone is a super-adorable picture book featuring lots of traditional Halloween words (think zombies and witches and ghosts), but with illustrations too cute to scare even the littlest readers.
The cover of Crow Toes Quarterly says: Great Reading for Sleepless Nights. I couldn’t agree with this more. If you haven’t been introduced to CTQ, you’re really missing out on something special. The artistic prowess of this little magazine screams of something so huge, but is contained so beautifully in such a little package. It’s amazing. Just amazing.
Every issue is prefaced by an editorial by ‘Your Humble Narrator’, with topics ranging from the CTQ staff’s love of the Fall season, to the ability that a short story has to take you places that you’ve never been before. By far my favorite part of the whole CTQ series, the Narrator adds that little bit of insight into the imagination and creativity that goes into each publication.
Never before have I seen such incredible quality in a magazine for children, let alone one dedicated to scary stories and poems. Crow Toes certainly does set the bar at an awe inspiring level. Art-wise, volumes 1 - 14 feature pieces by many different artists, but it’s the seventh issue - the cover depicting a solemn looking little blonde girl - by artist Kristian Adam - entitled DEER HEAD, that really speaks to me. The picture is at both times terrifyingly creepy and endearingly beautiful, giving it the ability to create an uncomfortable yet gorgeous atmosphere. Yeah...I like art. Can you tell?
"Digging Around For Candy"
Don't you just love it? Get photo hunting and enter our contest for a chance to make it yours!
Today we're giving away this seriously adorable trick-or-treating bag from Baby's 1st Boo!
Handmade and reversible, the bag features one side with candy-corn festooned spiderwebs and one with Halloween Charlie Brown fabric (can you make out Lucy riding a broomstick near the moon there?). It's so cute and perfect for any little Halloween enthusiasts in your life!
To enter the giveaway just leave a comment on this post telling us your favourite thing about Halloween. Earn extra entries by linking to the giveaway or to the Baby's 1st Boo website on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, or whatever else you've got!
The winner will be drawn on Friday, so don't wait!
By: Kinderscares,
on 10/10/2010
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It's that time again! Time to talk about our photo contest, that is. You may recall us mentioning it just as we were gearing up for October:
To recap, the rules are simple: Just send us your favourite picture of yourself as a kid on Halloween (or of your own kids!). Send it to our email at [email protected] with 'photo contest' in the subject line and include a few lines telling us the who/what/when. Easy! Plus you get all the fun nostalgic goodness of digging through your old pictures...
And if nostalgia's not enough to motivate you, there's also the matter of the awesome prizes you could win! Here they are:
The first prize package includes:
And this incredibly adorable, fully reversible trick-or-treating bag from Baby's 1st Boo:
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2 Comments on Photo contest prize announcement!, last added: 10/12/2010
*cue ominous music*
...A relaxing day, perhaps good for watching a movie in one's fancy new chair.
Nothing SEEMED amiss.
...a baby-sized Cthulhu toque makes you FREAK OUT with joy.
Okay, but seriously - is this not the cutest thing you have possibly EVER seen? Does it not make you want to go out and procreate IMMEDIATELY just so you have a reason to buy one?!
Of course it does! This insanely adorable hat is for sale over at The Pink Toque shop, along with a variety of other handmade Cthulhu goodies like adult-sized hats, scarves, toys, and even a pattern for making the hats yourself. You must go! Shop! Drool over the cuteness!
Kinda makes you glad I've been surfing the internet instead of being productive, now doesn't it? I thought so.
S.
As I believe I mentioned before, we're not the only ones with tons of bloggy goodness this October! D.M. Cunningham of Literary Asylum has lots of good stuff going on too!
Yes, that's TWO awesome interviews with authors we love in a matter of days. Go check them out!
Of all the many treasures we've discovered at the Rue Morgue Festival of Fear over the years, Baby's 1st Boo ranks high on the list. This small business run by Jacquie Lynn (and her husband, also Jackie), sells handmade spooky-themed baby items sure to delight any horror fan or Halloween aficionado with a little one in their life. The only word that comes to mind is 'AWESOME!' From the moment you catch sight of their creepy-doll mascots (available on notecards, which our kid happens to think are the greatest thing since sliced bread), you know Baby's 1st Boo is a different kind of kids store - the kind we've been searching for since we became parents!
Proprietor Jacquie was kind enough to write a little bit about herself and the business for our readers. Check it out:
As an only child, I started sewing and knitting to keep myself entertained. In my early teens, I was already making of all my bizarre punk clothes so following high school, a year in the Creative Fashion Design Course at George Brown College was the only logical choice for me.
2 Comments on Baby's 1st Boo!, last added: 10/5/2010
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I just got Fibble in the mail!! Can't wait to read it.