Horrifically Good Books

Time is running, Halloween is almost here and I haven't had the time to mention some really important news for amateurs of horror fiction like myself. Now I have always loved the city of  York, allegedly the most haunted city in England. Now I have another reason to love it and another reason to want to go back to it: I learned through social media that the bookshop Criminally Good Books now has a sister bookshop exclusively selling horror books, called... Horrifically Good Books. It also has a Facebook page. As far as I am aware, it's the first bookshop of its kind, at least in the UK. Now I must go back to York and visit the bookshop. For my English readers, if you ever visit it before me, please let me know about your experience. Whenever I go there, I promise I will behave... like a vampire in a blood bank.

L'Halloween le 30???

 Petite nouvelle dans la catégorie "décision de cabochon prise par des gens qui n'ont pas l'esprit à la fête": des villes au Québec devancent les célébrations de l'Halloween le 30 octobre. Le prétexte: heu...? Non, sérieusement, parce que le 30 c'est vendredi, on peut passer l'Halloween avec les tout-petits juste après l'école et donc pas besoin de les re-costumer le lendemain, c'est encore l'heure d'été donc fait plus clair le soir, bla, bla, bla. Vraiment, je suis tombé en bas de ma chaise en lisant la nouvelle. Parfois mes compatriotes me découragent. (Parenthèse anecdotique qui n'a peut être pas rapport: ils semblent me décourager plus souvent le 30 octobre. Honnêtement, on devrait faire du 30 octobre le Jour du Québec Décourageant.) Non mais sérieusement, les raisons avancées puent la frilosité et la petitesse. Comme si on voulait dans certains coins du Québec se débarrasser de l'Halloween le plus tôt possible, en faire le moins possible et puis pouvoir passer à autre chose au plus crisse. J'espère que Jack punira les gâcheurs de fête.

Pr. Henry Armitage (Hero Against the Forces of Darkness)

For today's countdown to Halloween post, I am blogging again about H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos. Lovecraft peopled his universe of many, many evil entities and nasty critters, as well as barking madmen, but he also sometimes gave us a few heroes who actually fought the forces of darkness. One of them is Professor Henry Armitage, from Miskatonic University, Arkham. Both university and city are fictitious of course. The portrait you see here is from the fifth edition of the role-playing game Call of Cthulhu. Pr. Armitage is featured in The Dunwich Horror and he is a Van Helsing figure, an academic who figures out the presence of the supernatural and knows how to fight it. He is far more bland than Van Helsing (Lovecraft wasn't the best giving much character to his good guys), but he deserves a mention in this blog. Horror has plenty of villains, we must remember that the genre also has heroes.

Les Bouquinistes: concours de l'Halloween

Petite annonce concernant l'Halloween prise sur la page Facebook des Bouquinistes: la librairie organise un concours de déguisements. Il y a quelques détails sur l'image ici. Jolie image par ailleurs. Mais il y a plus de détails sur la page Facebook. Quoique tout ne soit pas très clair, je crois comprendre que les adultes comme les enfants peuvent participer. Les résultats seront connus le 31 octobre, alors si vous avez le temps de passer à la librairie le 30 et/ou le 31, n'hésitez pas.

Ghostly Pig-Headed Bride

 For today's countdown to Halloween post, a little known ghostly legend. As you may know, I have been reading on and off Halloween Folklore and Ghost Stories. The book tells a few long forgotten pieces of English folklore, that deserves to be rediscovered and maybe developed into bona fide horror stories. Among them, the sighting of the Pig-Headed Bride from the village of Pipe and Lyde. I tried to find more about her (it?) online, but found zilch so far. That's how obscure it is. And that is tragic. I don't know for you, but I find pigs featured in horror stories to be particularly scary. Not sure why. But there is just something about their face. Especially on top of a human body, like here. A pig-headed woman is scary enough, a pig-headed bride even more, but a pig-headed ghost? It's the stuff of nightmare, pure Unheimliche. So yes, I don't know if I can find out more about this abomination, but Pipe and Lyde is now on my list of eerie pilgrimage destinations.

Outardes sur La Baie

Ce n'est pas seulement mon père qui a pris des photos à La Baie récemment. Amy, ma cousine artiste-photographe aussi et a réussi, encore une fois, à prendre des outardes en vol. Les oies sont des oiseaux que j'associe beaucoup à l'automne, c'est encore plus le cas ici, avec les collines en arrière-plan.

Dracula's Hot Wheels

For today's countdown to Halloween post, I thought I would blog about Dracula again. By the way, it struck me recently that I never formally recommended the novel, even though it's by far my favourite horror novel. Î will need to sort it out one day. Anyway, I have seen on other blogs, from other Cryptkeepers, that Hot Wheels has a special range of vehicles for Halloween. And I was happily surprised to find the Dracula "Kool Kompi" in the local toy shop. At £9.99, it's a bit pricey for a small toy car, but I could not resist. I did not take it off the packaging, because I think the image of Count Dracula is way cooler than the car. It's kind of funny, to think that Bram Stoker wrote a horror novel, one of the scariest ever written, and its antagonist now sells toys.

Un bateau à La Baie

Autre photo prise par mon père d'un bateau de croisière à La Baie, en automne bien entendu, parce que quand je ne blogue pas sur l'Halloween, je blogue sur ma saison préférée. On voit beaucoup moins les couleurs mais quand même, c'est l'automne.

Ghosts In the Pub

For today's countdown to Halloween post, a British classic, inspired by the sight of a Halloween decoration. So I was walking down town a few days ago and I saw this ghost at a pub's entrance. Okay, so it's not a real ghost and the pub is most likely not haunted, but it was cool to see all the same. Maybe it was just a regular punter who had one drink too many ("Kids, that's what alcohol does to you!"). No, but more seriously, I always thought pubs were great settings for ghost stories. Obviously, they were the starting point of many of them, especially after a few pints. But ethylic hallucinations aside, the pub being the place of gathering of locals, as well as a place of discovery for visitors, full of dark corners and centuries old dramas, it's no wonder haunted pubs are still nowadays a source of attraction. I even been in a few. I hope one day to write a scary story set in a pub.

L'Halloween chez Première Moisson

Bon, je désespérais un peu, mais je suis enfin rassuré: l'Halloween est arrivé chez Première Moisson.C'est à dire qu'ils ont montré sur leur page Facebook cette photo de leurs créations de la saison. Il était à peu près temps. Je savais déjà qu'ils avaient leur propre version du latté à la citrouille épicée, mais quand même, c'est bien qu'ils aient des sucreries qui font dans le macabre et dans l'épouvante. Je crois que ma préférée, de sucreries, c'est le fantôme. Il est même trop beau pour être mangé. Et vous?

Care for a Danse Macabre?

 When Halloween season comes, it's time to enjoy a special kind of music and a special kind of party. So anyway, this time of year, I always share a rendition of the Danse macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns. I found this truncated animated version, found online. It is suitably sinister, but not devoir of humour, albeit of the darker kind.

Gâteau chocolat et menthe

 Inspiré par notre initiative le jour de son anniversaire, mon frère PJ a fait son propre gâteau au chocolat avec glaçage à la menthe. Il a ajouté des pépites de chocolat, pour faire plus décadent.

A Coven

For today's countdown to Halloween post, I wanted to blog about witches again. I love them both as Halloween characters/critters and as antagonists in horror stories. I think our horror stories need more witches. And what is scarier than a witch? A gathering of witches, aka a coven. During on eof his walks in the neighbourhood, my father took a picture of one of them. At least I think it was meant to represent a coven, albeit a small one. Maybe they are the Weird Sisters, but I think three is a crowd. I have written a few horror stories, most of them involving a witch, one day I want to write about a whole coven. In any case, I find this display both terrifying and inspiring. And you, what do you think of it?

Un arbre en automne

 Photo prise par mon frère PJ au Parc Lafontaine, lors d'une de ses promenades. Je la publie rien que pour le plaisir, parce que les couleurs sont plus vives qu'ici. Je suis un grand amateur de promenades automnales, beau temps mauvais temps. La dernière fois que j'ai marché dans le Parc Lafontaine en automne, c'était en 2015, c'est vous dire que ça me manque. Surtout que c'était plus tôt dans la saison et qu'il y avait donc moins de couleurs.

New Ghost In The House

For today's countdown to Halloween post, I wanted to show my readers a new decoration, which I bought last weekend at an artisan market. Cute isn't it? My wife thinks we have a lot of Halloween stuff already, but I regret nothing. I even think I will let this little ghost live permanently on the bookshelves, unlike most of the Halloween decorations I own. It's made of pottery and I wouldn't want it to break you know. No but seriously, I am always on the lookout to get our home haunted, so I gladly get my hands on more ghosts.

"Blast-À-Citrouille"

Mon frère PJ m'a envoyé cette photo d'une bière de saison du Prospecteur, une microbrasserie de l'Abitibi. Elle a pour nom Blast-À-Citrouille et c'est une bière de type belge (pas mes favorites) forte en alcool (pas certain non plus) et, ben, à saveur de citrouille et d'épices. Je trouve dans tous les cas que la bière a une belle couleur et qu'elle a vraiment une belle image sur sa cannette. Non mais on va se le dire: c'est beau en tab avec les citrouilles dessus. Dans les bonnes circonstances, bien automnales, disons une soirée froide d'octobre, ça doit assez bien se prendre. Et tu garde la cannette pour décorer.

Mummy (Terror at the British Museum)

For today's countdown to Halloween, an old horror classic. It's not Halloween without at least one mummy. This one comes from the gamebook Terrors Out of Time, one of my go-to book for interactive horror stories. But truly, the creature comes from the British Museum and has been animated by Baron Ausbach to cover his escape from the hero (hero played of course by the reader). The mummy here is little more than a glorified zombie, an undead doing its master's bidding. Nevertheless, it's always cool to have a mummy in a horror story, especially in a cool setting like the British Museum. Tactical advice if you ever play the book: use the knobkerrie against it, not the sword-stick. Otherwise, the blade might get stuck in it and you end up weaponless.

Sloshe (mot du jour)

 Il a neigé au Saguenay et à Chicoutimi, comme vous le savez si vous suivez ce blogue. En automne, c'est maintenant relativement rare, une première neige, mais ça arrive encore. Mon père m'a envoyé des photos, dont celle-ci. De la sloshe. Au Québec, on a deux mots pour la neige: neige et sloshe. Ou sloche. Ou slush. Enfin bref, sloshe est donc notre mot du jour.

"Ghosts And How to See Them"

Oh the treasures one can find in charity shops sometimes. For today's countdown to Halloween, I wanted to share one of these discoveries I made last weekend. Now a disclaimer: I am not a believer in the paranormal and I do not think ghosts exists. I wouldn't buy this kind of book new, because I have no intention of becoming a ghost hunter, a pointless activity for a skeptic if you'd ask me. That said, I love horror and ghost stories and I even try to write in the genre. As such, books like Ghosts And How to See Them can be an invaluable source of inspiration. This is why I bought it last Saturday, at £3.49, a bargain. Also, because I love the cover, worth the purchase in itself. It's eerie, it's atmospheric, it's absolutely perfect for Halloween.

L'Halloween macabre sur le Plateau

Mon frère PJ a pris cette photo sur le Plateau Mont-Royal. C'est l'Halloween tôt là-bas et ils ne font pas les choses à moitié. J'adore ces deux figures spectrales, avec la tête de citrouille sur l'une d'elle qui sourit de manière maiveillante. Et puis le haut de forme et l'habit noir, classique. Deux morts vivants démoniaques et macabres. Même de nos jours, laors que l'Halloween est de plus en plus populaire et fêtée en grand en Angleterre, on trouve rarement de pareilles décorations.