BW40: October Spooktacular

 

Happy Sunday! Are you ready for our October Spooktacular? What spooks you, gives you goosebumps, sends a chill up your spine, keeps you up reading late into night?  Horror, thrillers, dark comedy, science fiction,  supernatural thrillers, speculative fiction, true crime stories, books with morally grey characters.  Perhaps cozy reads or paranormal reads with ghosts, vampires, werewolves, or mummies. There is something for everyone, even if you like spooky lite. Boo!

16 Spooky Halloween Books for Adults

Spooky Books to Read Every October

31 Halloween Books to Read This October

Goodreads all inclusive Spooky Book Lists

And for those who aren't into the spookiness, our fall reading challenge will be ongoing until Winter. Plus I think we should extended banned books week through October because I still want to read Grapes of Wrath along with Steinbeck's Working Days: The Journal of the Grapes of Wrath. I also want to read Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits which is also on the Top 100 Banned Books List. 

Which brings us to our letter of the week - M- which stands for magical realism, memoirs, motifs, marginalia, and metaphors.  

Happy reading! 

BW40: October Spooktacular

 

Happy Sunday!  The first of October means it's time for our October Spooktacular! Once again, I have the Adam's Family theme song along with their snapping fingers, running through my mind while I write this. 

Everyone's definition of what is spooky is different. Some people can handle higher levels of outright horror to those who can barely handle the kid friendly ghost stories.  From all out horror to horror lite, from psychological thrillers to gothic, from the paranormal to the supernatural, there are stories for every level of spookiness. 

If you're like me, I can't stand horror books filled with blood and guts.  I prefer psychological thrillers, tales with nail biting, spine chilling suspense, creepy settings, and characters you certainly wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley.  

I've grown to love psychological thrillers, scary supernatural fiction, and more, and have a library full of Dean Koontz, Ted Dekker, Bram and Dacre Stoker, Charles De Lint, Frank Peretti, and more.  

Currently on my nightstand for October are House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski,  The Last Man by Mary Shelley, Graham Moore's The Sherlockian, as well as several Dean Koontz's books including 77 Shadow Street, The House at the End of the World, and Fear Nothing.  No, I won't get to them all this month, but love having the choice. 

If you dig through the classic to the modern authors such as Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Neil Gaiman,  Edgar Allan Poe, or Shirley Jackson's Bibliographies, to name a few, you'll find gems that are more psychological thriller or just plain scary, rather than outright blood and guts horror.  

If you haven't read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or Bram Stoker's Dracula, now may be the time to dip your toes in. Put away all your preconceived notions and be prepared to be surprised, because the books are very different from the movies.  

Part of the fun is in the search and a quest for a scrumptious scary read, so leaving out the links. 

What is one of the spookiest or most thrilling book you have read?

This post is brought to you by the letter M and macabre, mad, mayhem and mundane. 

BW43: 52 Books Bingo - Myths, Monsters, and Imagination

 

Happy Sunday! We are continuing our October Spooktacular with the next 52 books category - Myths, Monsters, and Imagination. 

Monsters in Entertainment: Obsession or Projection?

Eight creepiest mythical creatures from around the world

Terrifying monsters in literature

Samhain Reading List: 13 Frightening Works of Fiction for Celebrating Halloween’s Celtic Roots

Caspar Henderson: rereading The Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges

"The Book of Imaginary Beings tosses stone after stone into the subterranean caverns of the reader's mind. It takes us along passageways and turns corners to reveal strange shapes and images, some of which may precede and outlast anything conceived by man. If we are attentive, the reverberations can help us trace the dimensions of those spaces. We glimpse chinks of light and are then engulfed in sudden dazzling floods of it." Casper Henderson, The Guardian. 

Getty's An Introduction to the Bestiary, Book of Beasts in the Medieval World

Let's not forget my son's favorite - Godzilla and all the monsters he's fought over the years from Mothra to King Kong. Toho's Kingdom of the Monsterverse and all things Godzilla. 

And our A to Z and Back Again letter and word of the week are J and Juggernaut. 

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BW41: Vampires, Werewolves, and Ghosts! Oh My!

 

Happy Sunday! Our spooktacular reading month continues and it isn't all about horror.  Oh no! Especially since I'm not into blood and guts violence.  I like the type of books that get your adrenaline going, keeps you guessing, finger nail biting, keep you up all night reading suspense.  There are a number of ways to go with psychological thrillers, gothic, paranormal reads that run the gamut from the supernatural to urban fantasies. Books full of bad guys, ghosts, and scary as well as delicious vampires, and werewolves.  

Authors whose books I've enjoyed:

Stephen King's World of the Dark Tower or his psychological thriller Duma Key.  

Dean Koontz's series: version of Frankenstein or take a trip with Odd Thomas who communicates with the dead. 

Christian writers that will scare the pants off you: Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker. I've read all their books which are chilling and thrilling.

Take a tour through stories about haunted houses.

Psychological thrillers that will play with your head. 

The Best Gothic Horror Books Of All-Time.

30 Best Vampire Romances to sink your teeth into. 

17 Werewolf Romance Books That Will Have You Howling for More.

Need something a little lighter? Check out Cozy Mystery's Halloween Mystery Book list

This week's A to Z and back again letter and word of the week are L and Looming.

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BW40: October Spooktacular and the Unreliable Narrator

Happy Sunday and welcome to our Spooktacular October full of chills and thrills, spine tingling adventure stories, and unexpected, jump out and surprise you, don't turn the lights off reads? If you are anything like me, gruesome horror isn't your thing. However, psychological, mind bending, Hitchcock type thrillers full of suspense are my favorite type of reads, along with paranormal, ghosts, vampires, were wolves and the weird.

If you haven't read the classics, now would be your chance with Frankenstein or Dracula, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Grey or Something Wicked This Way Comes to name a few. Put away your expectations because you may be surprised when they don't turn out how you suspect they will.

And this month's crime spree category fits the bill with the Unreliable Narrator.

The first rule of reading books by an Unreliable Narrator is to not read anything more about it than a brief description. All the charm in this genre is surprise so you must be diligent in avoiding spoilers.


The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Malice Aforethought by Francis Iles
We Were Liars by E. Lochart
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Before I Go to Sleep by SJ Watson

Challenge: Who can you trust? Really? Watch your back and pick up a book by an Unreliable Narrator.


And our A to Z and Back Again letter and word of the week are M and Mayhem.


Cheers to a spooktacular reading month.

BW40: October Spooktacular

 

Welcome to our October Spooktacular reading month. I have the music of The Addams family theme song running through my head today:

Their creepy and their kooky

Mysterious and spooky

Their all together ooky

The Adams family

Their house is a museum

When people come to see 'em

They really are a screaming

The Adams family.

Neat.

Sweet

Petite

So put a witch's shawl on

A broomstick you can crawl on

We're gonna play a call on

The Adams family

Their creepy and their kooky

Mysterious and spooky

Their all together ooky

The Adams family

Strange

Deranged

The Adams family

Does it put you in the mood for some spooky or kooky, spine-chilling or thrilling, creepy or cozy, scary or mysterious?  Yes, me too. 

Spooky to me doesn't necessarily equal horror. I detest blood and guts horror books or movies. Give me emotion, give me pee in your pants scary moments.  Give me tense moments that make you laugh or cry. Give me mind bending stories with devious and conniving characters and lots of twists and turns.  Give me stories that make me think and go whoa, I didn't see that coming.  Entertain me, thrill me, shock me. 

If you haven't read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or Bram Stoker's Dracula, now would be the perfect time.  Put away all your preconceived notions as the books are very different from the movies and will shock and amaze you.  If you have read it, dip your toes into retellings of the story as well as the reimagining's of  Bram Stoker's Dracula. 

If you are slightly on the squeamish side and can only handle a little bit scary or a little bit spooky, read a cozy supernatural mystery  or what the Austin Public Library considers a cozy horror which includes 

Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None or Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles.  

For those who like psychological thrillers, like me, read Female Psychological Thrillers/Suspense Written by Women.

From historical thrillers to psychological page turners, check out Pan MacMillian's list of the Best Thriller books of 2021. 

What is one of the spookiest or thrilling books you ever read?

Have fun following rabbit trails!

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Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 94. Maximilian’s Avowal

Chapter 95. Father and Daughter

Chapter 96. The Contract

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BW43: 52 Books Bingo - Ghosts and Goblins

 

We approach All Hallows Eve where the veil between the living and the dead is thin and Ghosts and Goblins come out to play.    

There are a wide variety of fantasy novels where goblins come out to play from historical fiction to futuristic to mythology.  You'd generally think of goblins as evil creatures but they come in all shapes and sizes and I'm sure the last thing on your mind is romance, however some authors have taken the goblin mythology and written stories with goblins as romantic leads and heroes such as in Shona Husk's Shadowland Series.

Ghost stories abound from the real to the  creepy to the spooky to the surreal to romance and ghostly detectives and cozy mysteries.   And let's not forget Gargoyles!  

Read a book with ghost in the title or picture on the cover.

Read a book with goblin in the title or picture on the cover.

Read a book with gargoyle in the title or picture on the cover.

Challenge yourself and spell out ghost, goblin, or gargoyle, one book per each letter in the title.

A few more links to close out our October Spooktacular reading month: 

9 books to creep you out this Halloween season

2020 Halloween reads for Kids and Teens. 

Goblins: Books for kids

11 Haunted Novels with Emotional Ghosts

Top 10 Unconventional Ghosts in Literature 

Have fun following rabbit trails! 

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BW40: October Spooktacular

 

Welcome to our October Spooktacular reading month.  It's time to dip your toes into the water and scare yourself silly.  Read thrilling stories stocked with the mysterious and shocking, paranormal stories brimming with ghosts and goblins, or urban mysteries packed with vampires and werewolves.  If you are anything like me, I can't stand horror books filled with blood and guts.  Give me a psychological thriller any day, roiling with nail biting, spine chilling suspense, creepy settings, and characters you certainly wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley.  

Choose from a wide variety of classics to the contemporary, or the Hitchcockian and Lovecraftian to Stephen King and his son, Joe Hill, to Dean Koontz, to the men and ladies of suspense.

If you haven't read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, now would be the perfect time.  Put away all your preconceived notions from the movies as the book is very different and will shock and amaze you.  If you have read it, dip your toes into retellings of the story as well as the reimagining's of  Bram Stoker's Dracula. 

From the really scary to the mild:

The 20 Most Anticipated Horror Books of 2020

Best Horror of 2020

31 Psychological Thriller Books That Mess with Your Head

Lock Your Doors: 8 Young Adult Thriller Books 

2020 Halloween reads for Kids and Teens

Currently on my night stand are Dean Koontz's Devoted, Josh Malerman's Bird Box, Dan Simmon's Hollow Man, and Marisha Pessl's Night Film, to name a few. Hmm! Which should I read first?

~Cheers to a spooktacular reading month~ 

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BW41: October Spooktacular

Are you ready for a Spooktacular October full of chills and thrills, spine tingling adventure stories, and unexpected, jump out and surprise you, don't turn the lights off reads? If you are anything like me, gruesome horror isn't your thing. However, psychological, mind bending, Hitchcock type thrillers full of suspense are my favorite type of reads, along with paranormal, ghosts, vampires, were wolves and the weird. 

If you haven't read the classics, now would be your chance with Frankenstein or Dracula, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Grey or Something Wicked This Way Comes. Put away your expectations because you may be surprised when they don't turn out how you suspect they will.

If you need a few ideas, check out Bustle's 20 New Horror Books For Readers Who Take Spooky Season Seriously or 11 Books That Scared The Master of Horror, Stephen King, And Will Terrify You, Too, as well as 5 Classic Horror Novels You Can Finish in a Single Sitting.

Lit Reactor's The 15 Most Anticipated Horror Books of 2019

Bookriot's 25 Top Horror Books According to Goodreads or What to Read if You Love Hitchcock Movies.

Haunted Rooms 12 Best Ghost Books to Keep You Up at Night.

Vampire Book Club's Sure fire favorites for Urban Fantasy

Off the Shelf's 8 Psychological Thrillers With Twists You Won’t See Coming

I've grown quite fond of Dean Koontz amazing stories and currently have Watchers as well as Intensity along with Dan Simmons Hollow Man, Steven King's The Green Mile,  Josh Mallerman's Bird Box, and James Rollins Deep Fathom on my nightstand. Which one shall I read?

What spooktacular books will you be reading this month?

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BW40: Spooktacular October

Hello October. Nice to meet once again. Are you ready to dive into the spooky and spectacular, ominous and thrilling, supernatural and mysterious, suspenseful world of Spooktacular October? So far this year our travels have taken us from the far East to the sands of Africa and down the Roman Roads of yesteryear. Time to jump on board our ghostly ship Portentous and sail with the wind.

My idea of scary isn't blood and guts horror, but psychological thrillers and suspense stories that give me goose bumps. Worlds full of villainous vampires and witches and warlords and monsters, both man made and natural  There's a wide variety to choose from: classic gothic reads to ghost stories to the best of Stephen King and his son Joe Hill as well as King's villains. Check out 21 Psychological Thrillers that will mess with your head, 100 Best Thrillers of all time, or 13 New Thriller Books Recommended by Bestselling Authors

James Rollins, our author of the month, is one of my favorite suspense writers and his most recent novel in his Sigma Force series, Demon Crown, is one that will keep you reading long into the night.

Synopsis: Off the coast of Brazil, a team of scientists discovers a horror like no other, an island where all life has been eradicated, consumed and possessed by a species beyond imagination. Before they can report their discovery, a mysterious agency attacks the group, killing them all, save one, an entomologist, an expert on venomous creatures, Professor Ken Matsui from Cornell University.

Strangest of all, this inexplicable threat traces back to a terrifying secret buried a century ago beneath the National Mall: a cache of bones preserved in amber. The artifact was hidden away by a cabal of scientists—led by Alexander Graham Bell—to protect humankind. But they dared not destroy it, for the object also holds an astonishing promise for the future: the very secret of life after death.

Flower of the month

The Blossom Bookology flower of the month is the Marigold which were the sacred flowers of the Aztecs. There are a number of directions to go for this month's challenge. Read one book per letter using either the title and/or the first or last name of the author. Yes, you can mix it up. You may read a book with the name of the flower, color of the flower in the title, or on the cover. Another possibility is a book which takes place in the time period or flower's country of origin or has some cultural significance and/or symbolism of the flower. The choices are unlimited.

Brit Tripping

Our Brit Trip is taking us down Watling Way to Surrey this week . Surrey is one of the wealthiest counties in England, it has the highest GDP per capita and the cost of living is as high as inner London. That might explain the reason that Harry’s Uncle Vernon settled there with his family.

Rabbit trails: Nonesuch Palace Waverly Abbey Guildford Castle Abbot’s Hospital Emma’s picnic on Box Hill Alice in Wonderland Guildford Tourism Hampton Court Palace

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BW40: Spooky and Spectacular October

What lies beyond -  Witches and Vampires and Ghosts - Oh My!

Welcome to October and our celebration of all things spooky and spectacular!  Are you ready to scare yourself silly and dive into the thrilling and chilling, supernatural and psychological, the dark and the weird, Gothic and horrifically suspenseful reads. There's a bit of something for everyone - nonfiction ghost stories, contemporary, classics, Gothic,  thrilling,  terrifying science fiction and everything in between.  From the silly to the 'afraid to sleep with the lights' out. I don't know about you, but I tend to shy away from the blood and guts horror, but enjoy the fingernail nibbling, heart palpating, goosebumps all over my body,  psychological thrillers. 


If you haven't read the staples of the genre -  Frankenstein or Dracula, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Grey, Turn of the Screw or Something Wicked This Way Comes, or the works of Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, now is the time. Also be sure check out the Top Ten Contemporary Horror Novelists, Fabulously Creepy Reads by 13 Women Writers, and  65 Great YA Horror Reads by Women.  Take a peek at the plethora of choices from the Horror Writers Association Bram Stoker Award Reading list from 2016.   


I have a few interesting books on my shelves for this month including Ray Bradbury's From the Dust Returned, new to me author Mindy McGinnis's A Madness So Discreet, Dennis Lehane's Shutter Island as well as  Dean Koontz's The Husband.  


Let's not forget our birthstone of the month. You get to choose between Opal and Tourmaline.  You may choose to spell out the word, reading one book per letter or read a book with the name or the colors of the stone in the title.  Or perhaps find an author whose name is Opal or Tourmaline.   You may decide to find a book set in the time period where the birthstone was discovered or surrounding the myth and lore or set in countries where the gem is currently found. 



What spooky books are you reading this month? 

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BW42: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

I'm going to assume that everyone who has wanted to read Frankenstein has read it by now.  For those who have never wanted to read it, hopefully you won't be miffed by the telling of the story.  Yes, it is full of spoilers.  Who knows, you may be intrigued enough to finally read it. 

Synopsis: "Obsessed with creating life itself, Victor Frankenstein plunders grave yards for the material to fashion a new being, which he shocks into life with electricity. But his botched creature, rejected by Frankenstein and denied human companionship, sets out to destroy his maker and all that he holds dear. Mary Shelley's chilling Gothic tale was conceived when she was only eighteen, living with her love Percy Shelley near Bryon's villa on Lake Geneva. It would become the world's most famous work of horror fiction, and remains a devastating exploration of the limits of human creativity."

I was surprised by the story because I some preconceived ideas about it from various films I had seen over the years and those were shot all to heck.

The story starts with an Adventurer Robert Wallen, trying to reach the North Pole. He tells the story in letters to his sister, Elizabeth. Out in the middle of the frozen ice lands, they meet up with Dr. Frankenstein who is chasing the monster. Frankenstein takes over the narrative at this point, telling his story and how he came to be there.

He had created a monster. Upon creating this monster and shocking it to life, he became instantly disgusted with it and himself and abandoned it.

"The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature. I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and healthy. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room, and continued a long time traversing my bedchamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep....

I started from my sleep with horror; a cold dew covered my forehead, my teeth chattered, and every limb became convulsed: when, by the dim and yellow light of the moon, as it forced it way through the window shutters, I beheld the wretch - the miserable monster whom I had created. He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eye, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks. He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs." pg 58 -59

He leaves the house for a couple days and when he returns is overjoyed that the monster has left. The monster disappears for a period of time only to resurface angry with Frankenstein and kills his brother. Frankenstein knows the monster is responsible, however he is very depressed and travels up into the Alps to escape and sooth his weary spirit. The monster finds him and approaches and asks him to listen and help him. The monster has managed to educate himself quite well.

"Be calm! I entreat you to hear me, before you give vent to your hatred on my devoted head. Have I not suffered enough, that you seek to increase my misery? Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it. Remember, thou hast made me more powerful that thyself; my height is superior to thine, my joints more supple. But I will not be tempted to set myself in opposition to thee. I am thy creature, and I will be even mild and docile to my natural lord and king, if thou wilt also perform thy part, the which thou owest me. Oh, Frankenstein, be not equitable to every other and trample upon me alone, to whom thy justice, and even thy clemency and affection is most due. Remember, that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed. Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a friend. Make me happy and I shall again be virtuous." pg 102-103

The monster educated himself while living in a storage shed by a French family's house and spying on them. He managed to get a hold of three books and learned to read. The three books: Milton's Paradise Lost, Plutarch's Parallel lives and Johann von Goeth's Sorrows of Werter. The monster wants Frankenstein to make him a woman, a mate who will keep him company and he promises to disappear forever. After some thought, Frankenstein decides to so. He disappears to a tiny island and in the middle of making the monster's mate, is so overcome with disgust, destroys the mate halfway through. The Monster, who had been keeping tabs on him, kills his best friend, Cherval,  and Frankenstein is put in jail for the murder. When he is acquitted, he returns home to his father and his lady love who is still waiting for him.

Even though the Monster told him he would be there on his wedding night and kill him and despite the fact the good Doctor tells his lady love he has a terrible secret, but can't reveal it to her until they are married, he and Elizabeth get married. Frankenstein sends his new wife off to bed, while he paces the floor in the library, overcome with worry about Frankenstein.

"She left me, and I continued some time walking up and down the passages of the house, and inspecting every corner that might afford a retreat to my adversary. But I discovered no trace of him, and was beginning to conjecture that some fortunate chance had intervened to prevent the execution of his menaces; when suddenly I heard a shrill and dreadful scream. It had come from the room into which Elizabeth had retired. As I heard it, the whole truth rushed into my mind, my arms dropped, the motion of every muscle and fibre was suspended; I could feel the blood trickling in my veins, and tingling in the extremities of my limbs. This state lasted but for an instant; the scream was repeated and I rushed into the room." pg 199

Yes, the monster killed Elizabeth and the chase is on. Dr. Frankenstein chases the monster until we get to the point where the doctor meets up with Robert Walden. He is in ill health and ends up dying. Robert discovers the Monster in the room with Dr. Frankenstein, saying goodbye to his creator. After a long and dramatic discourse over his body, jumps out the window and disappears into the night.

"But soon,' he cried, with sad and solemn enthusiasm, 'I shall die, and what I now feel be no longer felt. Soon these burning miseries will be extinct. I shall ascend my funeral pile triumphantly, and exult in the agony of the torturing flames. The list of that conflagration will fade away, my ashes will be swept into the sea by the winds. My spirit will sleep in peace; or if it thinks, it will not surely think thus. Farewell.' pg 225

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BW40: October Spooktacular Reading Month

 Spooky Forest by Mellon007

Bwahahahaha!  Welcome to the spooky and spectacular, fretful and frightful, eventful and exciting, thrilling and chilling October Spooktacular Reading Month!  

Our spooky reading month is not all about horror.  Oh no! Especially since I'm not into blood and guts, graphic violence but those reads that are spine tingling, finger nail chewing, blood pumping, and goose bump exciting.    There are a number of ways to go with psychological fiction, gothic, science fiction, supernatural, apocalyptic and dystopian.  Reads full of bad guys, vampires, werewolves and monsters of the deep. 

Who comes to mind when you thing about scary reads?  Stephen King, Clive Barker, Dean Koontz, or Frank Peretti?  Maybe Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill or Peter Straub?  What about Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft or Bram Stoker.  From the classics to the contemporary, you have a wide variety of choices.

I've been surprised and entertained, maybe not pleasantly but scarily thrilled by Joe Hill's (Stephen King's son) N0S4A2 and Dean Koontz's Frankenstein series. Glued to the edge of my chair of Robert McCammon's Swan Song and enthralled by Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes.

If you haven't read the staples of the genre - Frankenstein or Dracula, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Grey or Something Wicked This Way Comes - now is your chance.  Put away your expectations, because you just may be surprised when they don't turn out how you suspect they will.

I have a few thrillers in my stacks for the month including Mary Shelley's The Last Man, Dean Koontz's The City along with Marisha Pessil's Night Film as well as an annotated version of Dracula.

Plus I'm contemplating a reread of Frankenstein or Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian. Both were equally good. 

What spooky books will you be reading this month? 

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BW43: Jack O Lantern history and the Tale of Stingy Jack

Courtesy of The Harvest Club 

The Irish brought the tradition of carving pumpkins into Jack O'Lantern to America. But, the original Jack O'Lantern was not a pumpkin. Pumpkins did not exist in Ireland. Ancient Celtic cultures in Ireland carved turnips on All Hallow's Eve, and placed an ember in them, to ward off evil spirits.

 The Tale of Stingy Jack and the Jack O' Lantern

 Jack O'Lantern legend goes back hundreds of years in Irish History. Many of the stories, center round Stingy Jack. Here's the most popular story:  Stingy Jack was a miserable, old drunk who took pleasure in playing tricks on just about everyone: family, friends, his mother and even the Devil himself. One day, he tricked the Devil into climbing up an apple tree. After the Devil climbed up the tree, Stingy Jack hurriedly placed crosses around the trunk of the tree. Unable to touch a cross, the Devil was stuck in the tree. Stingy Jack made the Devil promise him not to take his soul when he died. Once the devil promised not to take his soul, Stingy Jack removed the crosses, and the Devil climbed down out of the apple tree.

Many years later, Jack died, he went to the pearly gates of Heaven and was told by Saint Peter that he was mean and cruel, and had led a miserable, worthless life on earth. Stingy Jack was not allowed to enter heaven. He then went down to Hell and the Devil. The Devil kept his promise and would not allow him to enter Hell. Now Jack was scared . He had nowhere to go, but to wander about forever in the dark Netherworld between heaven and hell. He asked the Devil how he could leave, as there was no light. The Devil tossed him an ember from the flames of Hell, to help Stingy Jack light his way. Jack had a Turnip with him. It was one of his favorite foods, and he always carried one with him. Jack hollowed out the Turnip, and placed the ember the Devil had given him, inside the turnip. From that day onward, Stingy Jack roamed the earth without a resting place, lighting his way as he went with his "Jack O'Lantern".

On all Hallow's eve, the Irish hollowed out Turnips, rutabagas, gourds, potatoes and beets. They placed a light in them to ward off evil spirits and keep Stingy Jack away. These were the original Jack O'Lanterns. In the 1800's a couple of waves of Irish immigrants came to America. The Irish immigrants quickly discovered that Pumpkins were bigger and easier to carve out. So they used pumpkins for Jack O'Lanterns.

Courtesy of The Pumpkin Nook

Yes, I know, this doesn't have anything to do with books.  However.....   Root (har har) through your bookshelves or look on Amazon and  see if you can find a book with Jack, Lantern, Irish, Pumpkin, Turnips, rutabagas, gourds, potatoes and beets in the title.  You'd be surprised how many books you can find with rutabaga in the title on Amazon.  *grin*

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History of the Medieval World 

Chapter 54 - Triumph of the Outsiders - pp 413- 422

Chapter 55 - the Third Dynasty - pp 423 - 426 

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BW42: Poe's Tell Tale Heart

Edward Gorey's Tell Tale Heart

The Tell-Tale Heart 

 By 

Edgar Allan Poe 

 True! --nervous --very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses --not destroyed --not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily --how calmly I can tell you the whole story.

It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees --very gradually --I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.

Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded --with what caution --with what foresight --with what dissimulation I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him. And every night, about midnight, I turned the latch of his door and opened it --oh so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed, that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly --very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep.

It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha! would a madman have been so wise as this, And then, when my head was well in the room, I undid the lantern cautiously-oh, so cautiously --cautiously (for the hinges creaked) --I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye. And this I did for seven long nights --every night just at midnight --but I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye. And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber, and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone, and inquiring how he has passed the night. So you see he would have been a very profound old man, indeed, to suspect that every night, just at twelve, I looked in upon him while he slept.

Upon the eighth night I was more than usually cautious in opening the door. A watch's minute hand moves more quickly than did mine. Never before that night had I felt the extent of my own powers --of my sagacity. I could scarcely contain my feelings of triumph. To think that there I was, opening the door, little by little, and he not even to dream of my secret deeds or thoughts. I fairly chuckled at the idea; and perhaps he heard me; for he moved on the bed suddenly, as if startled. Now you may think that I drew back --but no. His room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness, (for the shutters were close fastened, through fear of robbers,) and so I knew that he could not see the opening of the door, and I kept pushing it on steadily, steadily.

I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening, and the old man sprang up in bed, crying out --"Who's there?"

I kept quite still and said nothing. For a whole hour I did not move a muscle, and in the meantime I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up in the bed listening; --just as I have done, night after night, hearkening to the death watches in the wall.

Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. It was not a groan of pain or of grief --oh, no! --it was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe. I knew the sound well. Many a night, just at midnight, when all the world slept, it has welled up from my own bosom, deepening, with its dreadful echo, the terrors that distracted me. I say I knew it well. I knew what the old man felt, and pitied him, although I chuckled at heart. I knew that he had been lying awake ever since the first slight noise, when he had turned in the bed. His fears had been ever since growing upon him.

He had been trying to fancy them causeless, but could not. He had been saying to himself --"It is nothing but the wind in the chimney --it is only a mouse crossing the floor," or "It is merely a cricket which has made a single chirp." Yes, he had been trying to comfort himself with these suppositions: but he had found all in vain. All in vain; because Death, in approaching him had stalked with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim. And it was the mournful influence of the unperceived shadow that caused him to feel --although he neither saw nor heard --to feel the presence of my head within the room.

When I had waited a long time, very patiently, without hearing him lie down, I resolved to open a little --a very, very little crevice in the lantern. So I opened it --you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily --until, at length a simple dim ray, like the thread of the spider, shot from out the crevice and fell full upon the vulture eye. It was open --wide, wide open --and I grew furious as I gazed upon it. I saw it with perfect distinctness --all a dull blue, with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow in my bones; but I could see nothing else of the old man's face or person: for I had directed the ray as if by instinct, precisely upon the damned spot.

And have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the sense? --now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old man's heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.

But even yet I refrained and kept still. I scarcely breathed. I held the lantern motionless. I tried how steadily I could maintain the ray upon the eve. Meantime the hellish tattoo of the heart increased. It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every instant. The old man's terror must have been extreme! It grew louder, I say, louder every moment! --do you mark me well I have told you that I am nervous: so I am. And now at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror. Yet, for some minutes longer I refrained and stood still. But the beating grew louder, louder!

I thought the heart must burst. And now a new anxiety seized me --the sound would be heard by a neighbour! The old man's hour had come! With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room. He shrieked once --once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done. But, for many minutes, the heart beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not vex me; it would not be heard through the wall. At length it ceased. The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the heart and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead. His eye would trouble me no more.

If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence. First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.

I then took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited all between the scantlings. I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly, that no human eye --not even his --could have detected any thing wrong. There was nothing to wash out --no stain of any kind --no blood-spot whatever. I had been too wary for that. A tub had caught all --ha! ha!

When I had made an end of these labors, it was four o'clock --still dark as midnight. As the bell sounded the hour, there came a knocking at the street door. I went down to open it with a light heart, --for what had I now to fear? There entered three men, who introduced themselves, with perfect suavity, as officers of the police. A shriek had been heard by a neighbour during the night; suspicion of foul play had been aroused; information had been lodged at the police office, and they (the officers) had been deputed to search the premises.

I smiled, --for what had I to fear? I bade the gentlemen welcome. The shriek, I said, was my own in a dream. The old man, I mentioned, was absent in the country. I took my visitors all over the house. I bade them search --search well. I led them, at length, to his chamber. I showed them his treasures, secure, undisturbed. In the enthusiasm of my confidence, I brought chairs into the room, and desired them here to rest from their fatigues, while I myself, in the wild audacity of my perfect triumph, placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the corpse of the victim.

The officers were satisfied. My manner had convinced them. I was singularly at ease. They sat, and while I answered cheerily, they chatted of familiar things. But, ere long, I felt myself getting pale and wished them gone. My head ached, and I fancied a ringing in my ears: but still they sat and still chatted. The ringing became more distinct: --It continued and became more distinct: I talked more freely to get rid of the feeling: but it continued and gained definiteness --until, at length, I found that the noise was not within my ears.

No doubt I now grew very pale; --but I talked more fluently, and with a heightened voice. Yet the sound increased --and what could I do? It was a low, dull, quick sound --much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I gasped for breath --and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly --more vehemently; but the noise steadily increased. I arose and argued about trifles, in a high key and with violent gesticulations; but the noise steadily increased. Why would they not be gone? I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observations of the men --but the noise steadily increased. Oh God! what could I do? 

I foamed --I raved --I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder --louder --louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God! --no, no! They heard! --they suspected! --they knew! --they were making a mockery of my horror!-this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! and now --again! --hark! louder! louder! louder! louder!

"Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed! --tear up the planks! here, here! --It is the beating of his hideous heart!"

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History of The Medieval World

Chapter 52 - The New Sennacherib - pp 396 - 404

Chapter 53 - Castle Lords and Regents - pp 405 - 412

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