Halloween DIY

These are some of my favourite Halloween decorations and food posts I found around the internet. Enjoy.

Luminary Halloween Decorations

Halloween Party Monster Food

Witch Kitchen

Halloween Bats

Friendly Ghosts

Witch's Broom Halloween Place Card Holders

Halloween Review: Zombie Town by R.L. Stine

I haven't read a R.L. Stine book since last summer, when I was rereading my Goosebumps collection, but I found myself still mesmerized by his style and flipping the pages like crazy just to see what will happen at the end. If you ever read a Stine book you know there is never a happy ending and that is something that I love about his books.

Zombie Town is the story of two friends who decide to watch the nes blockbuster movie "Zombie Town". But when the movie starts they realize they are the only ones in the theatre and after a few minutes into the movie things take a turn for the worse. The zombies from the big screen come to life and chase after them. The kids manage to escape from the theatre but once they are out at the town they find out that something terrible had happened while they were gone. Everyone is turning into zombies. Zombies that need human flesh to survive. Their flesh.

I really enjoyed this story. It was small and fast paced and perfect for Halloween. Another thing I found great was the introduction from R.L. Stine at the beginning of the book. It was very interesting to see the idea blossoming into his mind. I need to get back in reading his books. They maake me feel like I am twelve years old, crawled up in my bed at night reading his creepy stories and it's a pretty good feeling.

★★★★★

Top 5 Halloween Books

Weirdsville by Rook Hastings
Nearly Departed Review
Immortal Remains Review

Nearly Departed
Everything has a rational explanation . . . unless it doesn't. The creepy first book in a ghostly new series: Welcome to Weirdsville. "I've seen a ghost," said Emily. "Well, not seen one exactly. Heard one. At least, I think I have . . . " Woodsville is not like other towns. Night falls a little earlier there, the shadows are darker and denser, and everyone knows it's a place where strange things happen., even if they won't admit it. Bethan would prefer to be anywhere but here. Jay has his theories, but isn't ready to share. Hashim sees more than he'll say, while Kelly's demons are all too flesh and blood. But Emily's freak-out brings them out of denial and face to face with the supernatural. Anywhere else, Friday night would be date night. But not in Weirdsville.

Immortal Remains
Four freak accidents. Four mysterious deaths. Four signs of trouble. Welcome back to Weirdsville! "You see, the girls that died -- it wasn't by accident. They were cursed, every one of them. Cursed to meet a horrible death! And I'm going to be next." Four girls from posh school Riverbank have been killed in seemingly random but freakish ways and it's not long before Bethan and co. are lured into investigating the grisly case. Is it really just coincidence or is there something more sinister going on? Meanwhile Hashim's playing truant, Kelly's on the warpath and Jay's trying to avoid someone even more close to home! Himself. Scary, paranormal and supernaturally chilling experiences are everyday in a town like Weirdsville!

Ten by Gretchen McNeil
Review

SHHHH!
Don't spread the word!
Three-day weekend. House party.
White Rock House on Henry Island.
You do NOT want to miss it.

It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school’s most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury.

But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.

Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

Legacy of Lies & Don't Tell by Elizabeth Chandler

Review

Two girls haunted by the past...and destined to relive it

In Legacy of Lies, Megan has to stay with the uptight grandmother she wants nothing to do with. She's determined to get through the visit without any drama, but when she falls into a twisted love triangle with potentially fatal consequences, Megan may be caught up in her family's legacy in more ways than she realizes.

In Don't Tell, Lauren knows that by returning to the town where her mother drowned seven years ago, she'll be reliving one of her most haunting memories. When she arrives, she is propelled into a series of mysterious events that mimic the days leading up to her mother's death. Maybe her mother's drowning wasn't an accident after all...and maybe Lauren is next.

Chain Letter by Christopher Pike

Review

When Alison first read the chain letter signed "Your Caretaker," she thought it was some terrible sick joke. Someone, somewhere knew about tha tawful night when she and six other friends committed an unthinkable crime in the desolate California desert. And now that person was determined to make them pay for it.One by one, the chain letter was coming to each of them ... demanding dangerous, impossible deeds... threatening violence if the demands were not met. No one out of the seven wanted to believe that this nightmare was really happening to them. Until the accidents started happening -- and the dying...

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Review

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story...

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

Happy Halloween!!!

Something Wicked Comes: Chain Letter

This is my second post in the Something Wicked Comes event that is running through out October. In my first  stop I featured Seraphina by Rachel Hartman an amazing paranormal read, but not a scary one. Since we are getting closer to Halloween today I am featuring a true Halloween Read.

The Book

Chain Letter
by Christopher Pike

He knows their secret and he wants to play...

Chain Letter
When Alison and her friends start receiving chain letters demanding dangerous and impossible deeds from them, they figure it is just a sick joke. Until one by one they start to go missing ...

Chain Letter - The Ancient Evil
Just when they thought they were safe, the letters start being delivered again. This time demanding even more horrific tasks from them in return for their lives. Can they survive long enough to uncover the sender?

The Review

Chain Letter 
Last Summer Alison and her friends got involve in an accident and a man got hurt. They decided to bury this deadly secret deep in their minds and never talk about it again, but someone else knows, he calls himself the Caretaker. He has started a chain letter and for each of them to stay safe they have to do whatever he wishes. With every request Alison will find out things about her friends she never knew, get closer to the boy of her dreams and be forced to face her worst nightmares.

I loved this book. It's the first Pike book I've ever read but it surely won't be the last one. It started out reminding me of I Know What You Did Last Summer (big horror fan here) but still I loved every minute of it. Alison was a great character and she took control of the situation when noene else could. She is a real fighter. We also get a few chapters from Tony's POV, her love interest, who is also another great character. He has so much guilt in him and so much pain but never lets it show.

Now, about the story, it unfolded perfectly. The Caretaker was someone you don't wanna mess with. And there were bits and pieces that would make everyone a suspect but if you paid close attention from the beginning till the end you can figure it out, just like I did. Whenever I read a book when I know we will get to guess who the bad guy is I keep my eyes open for every single clue.

I loved the creepy mood of this book and the action scene at the end. It was just like a horror movie. I literally couldn't sleep until the book was over, so I stayed up till 4am to finish it. So worth it! Now I can't even begin to imagine what will happen in the next one.

★★★★★

----

The Ancient Evil
In the second book of the Chain Letter Duology, the remaining members of the gang receive another chain letter a few months after the events of the first book. But this time the Caretaker is asking them to do some unimaginable things and the consequences are grave, deadly.

First off, let me start by saying I would have been perfectly happy if there wasn't a second book in the series. I just want to erase the memory of it cause I loved the first one but this one didn't live up to it.

The book starts with Tony and Alison, my favorite couple, fighting about going into different colleges while on the other side of town the chain letter is being discovered by its first victim. I thought that after they found the chain letter, they would put their differences aside and try to survive this Caretaker, but no such luck. There was a lot of teenage drama. Tony was turning into an insecure jerk and I just wanted to punch him. Besides the drama, there was this whole cult, satanic theme that was so uncalled for. It felt like it was there just so the author would have something more to write about.

Now, on to what I did like. Eric, a new character, who is kind of a PI, not exactly really but he was pretty awesome. Smart and curious, just how I like them. He was the one who help Alison discover the mystery behind the man in the desert and well, everything else after that. He was my favorite character in this book. Since Tony had turned into a jerk and Alison didn't have the spark she did in the first book.

Another think I enjoyed about the second book is what happened when someone broke the chain, made it so much more serious. But still I prefer the first book, with all the mystery, real mystery, and the action scenes in the end. This one's ending felt a little bit rushed to me, not much action or horror movie scenes.

★★★☆☆

Overall the Omnibus Edition was really great but I wouldn't mind having read just the first book. But I do love the way this book looks on my shelve.

★★★★☆

book 51           book 31

book 9

The Giveaway

I am offering one of you a copy of the Omnibus edition of Chain Letter.

Open wherever the Book Depository Ships.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Unpack This [Oct.22 - Oct.28]

Unpack This is a meme I started instead of my usual IMM. It was inspired by my love to open boxes, yes I love doing that.

Physical Books

Clarity: Paranormal murder mystery. Now, that's something I look forward to. 

A Witch in Winter: Book one in the Winter Series. I love books purely about witched and magic, no vampires or werewolves, sometimes it's nice to keep it simple. This series seems like something I will enjoy so I couldn't help but pick both books up. 

A Witch in Love: Second book in the Winter Series, I think it's a trilogy. And I see now that the third book is coming out in February, 2013. Hopwfully I will be done with these two by then. Although my to-read pile is huge.

E-Books

Significance: I received this e-book for review. Yet another series about magic. I will start reading this one today and hopefully will jump into book two soon.

Senshi: I really enjoyed the first book in the series, Katana, and I immediately requested this one when I found it on NetGalley. I love the Japanese related theme of the book, the flashbacks in Japan and of course the fights. This is coming out in March so I will read it closer to the pub date.

What did you Unpack this week?

Chain Letter (Chain Letter #1) by Christopher Pike

Last Summer Alison and her friends got involve in an accident and a man got hurt. They decided to bury this deadly secret deep in their minds and never talk about it again, but someone else knows, he calls himself the Caretaker. He has started a chain letter and for each of them to stay safe they have to do whatever he wishes. With every request Alison will find out things about her friends she never knew, get closer to the boy of her dreams and be forced to face her worst nightmares.

I loved this book. It's the first Pike book I've ever read but it surely won't be the last one. It started out reminding me of I Know What You Did Last Summer (big horror fan here) but still I loved every minute of it. Alison was a great character and she took control of the situation when noene else could. She is a real fighter. We also get a few chapters from Tony's POV, her love interest, who is also another great character. He has so much guilt in him and so much pain but never lets it show.

Now, about the story, it unfolded perfectly. The Caretaker was someone you don't wanna mess with. And there were bits and pieces that would make everyone a suspect but if you paid close attention from the beginning till the end you can figure it out, just like I did. Whenever I read a book when I know we will get to guess who the bad guy is I keep my eyes open for every single clue.

I loved the creepy mood of this book and the action scene at the end. It was just like a horror movie. I literally couldn't sleep until the book was over, so I stayed up till 4am to finish it. So worth it! Now I can't even begin to imagine what will happen in the next one.

★★★★★

Cover Reveal: Red Veil Series & Giveaway

Today I have two cover reveals for you. The prequel and first book in Elizabeth Marx's new Red Veil series will be out soon and I have the two beautiful covers to present to you.

When times are darkest, some vampires desire more than blood …

England, 1465. Mortal men clash in the War of the Roses for the English crown, while vampire warriors’ move undetected among their ranks, savoring the flow of blood that battlefields provide.

Vampire prince, Severian Pearce, fears the revelation of the immortal clans to humankind should King Henry fall from power. While in pursuit of Henry’s enemies, Severian comes to the aid of Meridian Neville, a human woman he craves—and not for the scent of her blood … Meridian is torn between honoring her father’s dying wish and her unexplainable yearning for Lord Severian. But as Severian and Meridian work together to protect a relic hunted by mortals and immortals alike, the red veil descends over them. This all-consuming attraction can drive immortals to the brink of madness. Will the existence of this powerful bond between a human and a vampire be enough to unite the immortal clans or is the red veil a scourge set on destroying any chance they might have of happiness?

When all hope is lost, one vampire will fight unto death for his forbidden love.

Sometimes, love is conceived in the mind of a man long before it is ever realized.

1990, Cardiff, Wales. Vampire prince, Sebastian Pearce, has waited six-hundred years for the right human mate. His own beloved mother was a mortal capable of carrying immortal offspring. While vampires no longer require live donors for sustenance, Mother Nature has played a cruel trick on them … making breeders a rare commodity. As numbers in his Imperial House dwindle, Sebastian’s virgin bride eludes him, until he happens upon a young woman searching for information about a sacred vampire text, the Book of Descent. Sebastian’s desire for her is more potent than anything he’s felt for another woman, but Everleigh Marbut isn’t innocent. She’s an American with a mind of her own, and worst of all, she’s already carrying an immortal being. Sebastian and Everleigh are so intent on fighting their attraction to each other and the influence of the red veil that they don’t realize they’re being pulled into a battle pitting medieval myth against the power of modern science to recreate life.

Author Bio:

Windy City writer Elizabeth Marx brings cosmopolitan flair to her fiction, which is a blend of romance and fast-paced Chicago living with a sprinkle of magical realism. In her past incarnation she was an interior designer--not a decorator--which basically means she has a piece of paper to prove that she knows how to match and measure things and can miraculously make mundane pieces of furniture appear to be masterpieces. Elizabeth says being an interior designer is one part shrink, one part marriage counselor and one part artist, skills eerily similar to those employed in writing.

Elizabeth grew up in Illinois and has also lived in Texas and Florida. If she’s not pounding her head against the wall trying to get the words just right, you can find her at a softball field out in the boonies or sitting in the bleachers by a basketball court. Elizabeth resides with her husband, girls, and two cats who’ve spelled everyone into believing they’re really dogs.

Elizabeth has traveled extensively, but still says there’s no town like Chi-Town.

Find Elizabeth

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Giveaway

Elizabeth has kindly offered one of you both the prequel and first book in her new series.

Open Internationally.

Giveaway will run till October 29th.
Just enter at the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Unpack This [Oct.15 - Oct.21]

Unpack This is a meme I started instead of my usual IMM. It was inspired by my love to open boxes, yes I love doing that.

I got most of these books at the beginning of the week and more are on their way. Sorry for the terrible photo, my camera's battery was dead so I used my phone.

Physical Books:

Finders Keepers & Now You See Me: These two are books 4 and 5 in the Gifted series. I can't wait to see the stories of other gifted characters and learn more about the background story that started unfolding in the previous books.

The Long Weekend: Not my usual type of book, but maybe it should be. I picked this up right after I read Vicky's Review. I already read and reviewed this. It was really good. A small full of action and emotions story about two kids getting abducted and their fight for freedom. My review.

E-Books:

The Dream Slayer: That was free when I got it, but I see it's not any more. Anyways I had it on my TBR list ever since it ccame out so it was a great chance for me to get it.

The Super Spud Trilogy: I got this for review from the author. This seems so different. It's about chips! I can't wait to read it. It's next on my TBR pile, so you will have a review soon. And then there is going to be an interview and giveaway with the author, so get ready.

What did you Unpack this week?

The Long Weekend by Savita Kalhan

This book is so different from what I usually read but I am glad I picked it up and it was all due to this review. In The Long Weekend, two friends, Sam and Lloyd, get abducted by a man right outside their school. Well, actually they entered his car on their own, but still...

We get to experience their abduction and their fight to get free through the eyes of Sam. He is the one who first got suspicious and tried to get out of the mansion where they were being held. We get to see him growing up so much just in two days. Sometimes I forgot he was only an 11-year-old boy, he could easily be 16 or even older. He is the one that takes charge of their plan to get free, especially since Lloyd is basically mentally broken through out the whole book.

Their story is short but it grabs hold of you and never lets go. Sam's mind is a beautiful place for this experience and the way he gets protective over his friend and tries to save him, even putting himself in danger for him, everything he makes would make you love him and wish to be like him even a little bit.

I can't say anything more about the story in fear of giving anything away. It's a small, fast read that would keep you turning the pages to see how everything will play out.

★★★★☆

book 30

Bewitched Blog Tour: Scary Books

Today I welcome Cambria Hebert. She is here to talk about scary books. Perfect timing since it's getting close to Halloween, right? So enjoy... and keep the lights on. 

Hello Everyone!

Big thanks to Veronica for having me here today as part of the Bewitched Blog tour! Bewitched is my newest release in the Heven and Hell series. It is a short novella detailing Kimber, the girl we all love to hate. :)

For today’s stop I enlisted the help of my fans on Facebook! Because I am a big scaredy cat (hey, don’t judge!) I don’t usually read scary books but it IS Halloween time and I am doing a witchy blog tour so I asked my friends to tell me the books that scared them most! And boy did they have some good ones. So, I am going to share with you a list of books to get you all creeped out in time for Halloween!

But before you check out my list of scary good books (lol) here is a little info about Bewitched (another great Halloween read for only 99 cents!):

Bewitched
by Cambria Hebert

For years, I accepted that Heven was more popular than me. I never liked it but I lived with it. I walked in her shadow, I stood by her when no one else would. When I finally thought her spotlight was mine things began to change. She began to change. Now she hardly ever calls me back, she spends all her time with her hot new boyfriend and everyone at school thinks she’s back on top. She had it all. But apparently she wants more. She wants Cole – my boyfriend. What’s worse is that it looks like she got him. I’ve had enough and she’s going to be sorry. 
Why?
Because I am bewitched.

#1 It by Stephen King. If you weren’t afraid of clowns before you will be now.

#2 False Memory by Dean Koontz

#3 Seven X by Mike Wech

#4 Cure by Belinda Frisch

#5 The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and Laura Miller

#6 What hides within by Jason Parent

And finally, some really good creepy books that I LOVED as a kid (and still do) are books that you or your kids would love. The Goosebumps series by RL Stine or his Fear Street books.

RL Stine has a new release called Red Rain for adults that I recently got and I can’t wait to dig into that!

Have you read any of these scary books? Do you plan too?

Happy Halloween!

In case you want to know more about Bewitched you can read my review. 

Screams in the Night: Tales of Terror

I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Screams in the Night is the perfect book for Halloween. It consists of 7 short yet creepy stories. I started reading the smaller stories first, which are at the end of the book, and I found them a bit lacking...in what I am not so sure. The thing is I love short stories but maybe these were a bit too short for me. Then I read the last story in the book, which was the most creepy on for me: Watched. It's about a girl that is being watched by a green eyed monster everytime she wants to sleep. The story really kept me on edge, especially since I read right before going to sleep. From the shorter stories this was my favorite one.

Then I turned back at the beginning of the book where the two bigger stories are. Let me tell you those two stories were the reason why this collection got 4 stars. They were amazing. So I am going to give each a little review.

A Tale of Two Cemeteries by Maren Dille: This is a funny story of two cemeteries which are run by ghosts. Once a week each cemetery will put on a show, trying to scare people and earn ghost credit. This was a very funny story. The two cemetery owners fighting with each other and then the ghost of Justin Feeber, a pop star, ended up at one of the cemeteries.

Our Own Worst Enemies by Jamie Canosa: This one was also one of my favorite stories in the book. Cal and Josh are fighting to survive in a world where zombies made their appearance a few months back. One day they learn about an Enclave not so far away from them and decide to go after it. This was a great action story and also very heart warming and heart breaking at the same time.

Now, both of those stories could have been a full book and they'd be amazing. So if you are looking for a scary read, or 7, during October this is a great book.

★★★★☆

book 50             book 40          book 11

Unpack This [Oct.8 - Oct.14]

Unpack This is a meme I started instead of my usual IMM. It was inspired by my love to open boxes, yes I love doing that.

I only got one ebook this week, and it was a freebie too. I am afraid that a huge order I've done a few weeks ago was lost in the mail or something. Hopefully it'll find its way to me.

E-Book:

Darkness Falls: This seems like an interesting book and hell it's free, so go get it while you still can.

Ten by Gretchen McNeil

Ten teens travel to a secluded island to attend a private party. No one knows where they are and no one can imagine that soon after they arrive one by one they will start dying.

I can't figure out how to write a review for TEN without giving anything away, cause trust me you don't want any spoilers, the twists and turns are what make this book awesome. So, I will try to keep my review small and to the point.

As I already mentioned this book is awesome. We get to travel to a creepy island inside the mind of Meg. Meg was my favourite character in the book by far. She was strong and noticed everything around her, she was also curious and even if she didn't believe it, brave. Meg was also a writer which only made her more cool for me. So, Meg and Minnie, the abnoxious best friend who I wanted to slap through out the whole book, attend a private party in Henry Island, there they meet with eight more people. All the other characters were also very unique. Gretchen McNeil managed to give everyone a specific personality from the beginning and this made it very easy to distinguish them.

Besides the characters I loved the mystery that unfolds through out the book. Meg finds the diary of a girl in her room and when she starts reading it, it seems all too familiar. I loved the diary entries, they gave us a good glimpse of what had happened and what was probably to come.

I need to stop my review here cause I realised that every sentence I start is a possible spoiler and I can't do this to future readers of TEN. I am just going to give everyone an advice: while reading TEN notice everything. Everything!

★★★★★

book 49