Jack O'Lantorch

 For today's countdown to Halloween, I wanted to blog about a very useful item for trick or treat: a torch. I bought this one at Sainsbury's. It has a friendly looking Jack O'Lantern on top, that lights up when you press on. It also gives a spooky howling sound. We had a similar one a few years ago, but it did not make any light anymore, so I bought this one. I affectionately call it Jack O'Lantorch. It will make us see (and seen) (and heard) (yes, I know, lots of brackets, it's intentional) when Wolfie and I walk in darker paths on Halloween night for trick or treat.

Le portico et les chauves-souris

 Photo qui date de l'an dernier, c'est le portico chez mes parents. Comme quoi ils décorent pour l'Halloween eux aussi.

About the Great Pumpkin

I thought I would give my readers something heartwarming for today's countdown to Halloween. I found on YouTube this video giving quite a lot of information about It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.It tells you a few trivial facts, but also explains why it became such beloved Halloween classic for children and why it is so compelling, even today. I, of course, really love it.

 

"Le fantôme citrouille"

Autre photo prise par mon père de la figure gonflable de Jack O'Lantern, ou Jack à la lanterne, ou Jack la Lanterne, ou peu importe le nom qu'on lui donnait à l'époque. en fait oui, le nom qu'on lui donnait c'était "le fantôme citrouille". Il me fascinait et m'effrayait tout à la fois. Même adulte, j'ai écrit quelques histoires d'horreur ayant pour personnage Jack (vous les trouverez sur le blogue). Je compte en écrire d'aautres, parce qu'il n'y a pas grand-chose qui fait plus peur quede voir une figure à tête de citrouille quand le soir tombe.

The Grim Raker

For today's countdown to Halloween post, first, a bit of news: the annual Scarecrow Festival will start again soon, so get ready to see a lot of scarecrow pictures on Vraie Fiction. I took this picture last year at the very Scarecrow Festival. A Grim Reaper that truly is a Rake Reaper. I found it deliciously scary and perfectly autumnal, even if the rake gives it a comical touch. A lot of the scarecrows featured at the festival are funny, many are scary, some are both. I would love to write a story about this Reaper. Well, I'd probably change the rake for a scythe, but I would keep the white shroud and the pumpkin.

Jack au cimetière, au crépuscule

 Photo prise l'an dernier par mon père lors de sa promenade, un fantôme avec Jack O'Lantern. C'est tout.

Dracula and the Spook

For today's countdown to Halloween post, more on Count Dracula. As Dracula is my favourite horror novel, heck, one of my favourite novels, period, I think he deserves some exposure on this here blog. During our visit at the York Castle Museum last April, I saw this mechanical puppet booth (I think that's the term): you put a coin in it, a mechanism puts in motion a little dramatic scene with characters and sounds. I have seen then before, in other places, they usually display a scene with monsters or ghosts, or some kind of supernatural story. This one's title/name caught my attention.

I will try to add a video to it, because of course I videoed it. It was quite pleasantly spooky. There's just something about these old pieces of technology, they just work for scary stories. of course, Dracula looks like the lounge lizard he has been depicted in movies and nothing like in the novel, but it makes sense that I found Dracula and the Spook in York. The Count, after all, entered England in Yorkshire. Anyway, I hope you like the pictures.

Le clown sinistre

 Je partage une autre photo prise par mon père l'an dernier, celle d'un clown diabolique. Enfin, un clown normal. On voit son visage plus en détails et j'ai remarqué que ses boutons de chemise avaient l'apparence de citrouilles.

Bier-Balk and Corpse-Gate

 One of the traditions during my countdown to Halloween is the reading of  Edith Nesbit's Man-Size in Marble, a ghost story set on Halloween night. Since I first read it in The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories back in 2006 (I know, a long time ago), I have been fascinated by it. Now, I have at least four books with the story in it, most of them anthologies. And I have also been reading a good deal of critical analysis of the story. Recently, I watched its adaptation on BBC, stupidly retitled Woman of Stone, which was absolutely rubbish (no but seriously, it was bad and they just didn't get it). But I digress. From Man-Size in Marble, I also learned two terms that should be in the vocabulary of every fan of Halloween and Gothic horror: bier-balk and corpse-gate. A bier-balk or bierbalk is a path across a road to a church, sometimes across a field, taken by the funeral march. A corpse-gate, or lychgate (which is a way cooler and sinister sounding term) is the roof under which you put a corpse before the arrival of the clergyman. I often see lychgates near churches here in England. I will see them in a different light from now on, and will try to find bierbalks nearby too. And I hope one day to visit in a sort of Halloween pilgrimage the village of Brenzett, which inspired Edith Nesbit to write this most excellent ghost story and where the real ghostly statues are. Be that as it may, bier-balk and corpse-gate are your words of the day.

Cambriolage au Louvre

Je laisse mes chroniques habituelles le temps d'un billet afin de bloguer sur une nouvelle criminelle qui me fascine un peu: je parle bien entendu du vol de bijoux au Louvre. Au moment où j'écris ces lignes, l'enquête suit encore son cours et personne n'a été appréhendé. Quand même, c'est le genre de crime que l'on croit bon pour les polars. Je crois que ce sera la source d'inspiration pour nombre d'entre eux. Enfin bref, je sais que c'est pas drôle ce qui arrive, que c'est même catastrophique, mais ça ne m'empêche pas d'être fasciné par la nouvelle.

Reese's for Halloween

 At last! I was getting desperate since the start of the countdown: I could not find any Reese's chocolates for Halloween. I mean yes, I could find some, but not the one with pumpkins, just normal ones and (shudder) Xmas ones. The latter have no place on the shelves right now. However, a short trip to the nearest Aldi changed it: not only do they have bags of Halloween Reese's, but they have loads of different figures: the usual Jack O'Lanterns, bays and ghosts. I'm in high protein and sugar heaven. It's not Halloween without Reese's. It is a brand I rediscovered in adult age, but for some reason I really got hooked on it.

Fantôme et citrouilles

 Photo prise par mon père lors d'une promenade il y a quelques jours. L'Halloween à Chicoutimi.

The White Lady of Hohensalzburg Fortress

For today's countdown to Halloween post, a bit of a ghost story, in fact an account of true haunting, Salzburg. To be more specific, the Hohensalzburg Fortress.Of course a place like this needed to be haunted by a ghost or two. You can read more about the White Lady here. This is of course an image of her, as sadly we did not see her when we went there. Maybe because it was daytime? When I learned about the White Lady of Hohensalzburg Fortress, I knew I had one blog post for the countdown. White Ladies are a fairly common type of ghosts in old places, they are both elegant and eerie. Maybe you have one White Lady haunting a historical landmark near you?

L'Halloween chez Première Moisson

  Photo prise sur la page Facebook de Première Moisson. Rien que pour dire qu'ils ont toute une gamme de produits pour l'Halloween.

Halloween in Vienna

For today's countdown to Halloween post I come back to my very first post of the month, when I shared the picture of a display window in Vienna. Because the display was gorgeous, for one, also because I was so glad to see that Halloween is getting traction on the continent. Austria is a great place to celebrate Halloween, I thought, but I also always thought Austria and Vienna especially are great places for old fashioned horror stories. It has been in the past, of course, I know of at least one anyway. Because of the architecture, the history, the atmosphere (not to mention the music), the city deserves its own critters and iconic supernatural villains. When I was in Vienna, I could not help but imagine what I could do with the setting, imagining malevolent presences and hapless victims. What do you think? And do you know of any horror stories, old or new, set in Vienna?

Danse Macabre

Comme à chaque année, tradition de l'Halloween, je partage ici la Danse Macabre de Camille Saint-Saëns. Une vieille, vieille, vieille version vinyle... Accompagnée d'une photo prise par mon père. L'Halloween, c'est aussi de la musique dans les cimetières.

Zombie Siege

 For today's countdown to Halloween post, I want first to qualify what I said on my Thursday post. I said I never liked zombies much as antagonists in horror stories. Too one note, too gross, too slow. Maybe I am being unfair. As I enjoy a good zombie attack, which can create genuine suspense as much as terror. Zombies are good for minions, if nothing else. The zombie attack, or zombie siege, was used to great effect in Where the Shadows Stalk of the Forbidden Gateway  gamebook series. Okay, so they are called mutants, but they truly are zombies, in any way, shape or form. There is one episode of the gamebook where these creatures attack the house of Professor Charles Petrie-Smith in the middle of the night. It's a great moment in the game, scary and tense. And it also brings back the zombies to their initial function in tradition: they are not the main antagonists but servants of evil entities. One of the many reasons why I love the Forbidden Gateway gamebook series, which was tragically short lived.

Passer l'Halloween aux Bouquinistes

Petite annonce régionale en ce qui concerne l'Halloween au Saguenay, plus précisément à Chicoutimi: j'ai appris sur la page Facebook des Bouquinistes que vous pouvez y passer l'Halloween pour les friandises. Profitez-en donc pour acheter un bouquin.

Fear the Witch

For today's countdown to Halloween post, another witch, because Halloween is truly their season. You might remember last year, I blogged about a scary witch on a lawn. Well, the witch is back, by a bonfire that has not been lit just yet. There's no cauldron yet either, but I suspect she is preparing the fire to cook something, or... someone. Seriously, there are some great Halloween props that could be used as inspiration for horror stories. This is one of them.

Les provisions pour l'Halloween

Photo prise l'an dernier par mes parents, les friandises offertes aux enfants qui ont passé l'Halloween dans leur coin. Aussi appelés au Québec Halloweeneux. J'ai commencé à faire des réserves moi même, même si on ne reçoit pas autant de monde. Et ça ne sera pas aussi bien présenté que ceux préparés par ma mère, avec des petits sacs pour les enfants que mes parents connaissent. Dans tous les cas, l'achat de friandises est l'un des rituels de l'Halloween qu'il me faut souligner chaque année sur ce blogue.