Trick Or Treat

Well, it is still Halloween for a littlemore than an hour here, so I will spend it reading. But I thought I would share a picture of all our jack o'lanterns, six of them, on display in the night. We live in a remote part of this town, so we don't see many trick or treaters. We had only five tonight: one knight, two skeletons and one vampire with some kid with a cape or an army coat or something. Better than nothing, but I daresay they must have enjoyed our spooky display. And this year, for the very first time I felt like I did it as a family, as Wolfie was very much into it. He did not want to go for trick or treat himself, but he really enjoyed the preparation and waited for our visitors eagerly. And he was so proud of the pumpkins!

Les citrouilles

Voici les citrouilles, toutes les citrouilles, creusées et sculptéespar Wolfie et moi cette année. On les a sorti durant l'après-midi et je les ai allumées (chandelles électriques) avant de prendre cette photo. Ca n'a l'air de rien, mais le soir commençait déjà à tomber. J'aime beaucoup l'Halloween à ce moment-là, quand on est encore dans l'attente. Au moins aujourd'hui, nous avons eu le temps de nous préparer et d'apprécierles choses. Il a fait soleil en après-midi et juste assez frais. L'Halloween, c'est aussi le jour que ça se passe.

Happy Halloween 2021!

Happy Halloween everyone! You see here not a Jack O'Lantern, but a banner which was a gift from Halloween afficionado Wendy the Very Good Witch. I haven't heard from her in years, so please if you are reading this Wendy, thank you for your generosity and I hope to hear from you again some day. I always put this banner up (now that we have a wall where it fits). Halloween this year is on a Sunday, a pretty good time for it, so we have a whole weekend to be spooked. I have been and will be busy this weekend, but I will try to blog again on my fabourite holiday. Have spooky fun everyone and stay safe!

À propos des "Halloweeneux"

Il y a un terme bien québécois pour désigner les enfants qui passent l'Halloween (les adultes aussi, sans doute): Halloweeneux. Ici c'est parfois "trick or treaters". Nous vivons dans une ville où l'Halloween est assez célébrée, ce qui est bien, mais notre maison est dans un coin en retrait de la ville. Ce qui fait que nous avons peu d'Halloweeneux qui y passent chaque année. Je me pose la même question à chaque année: combien en aura-t-il cette année? L'année dernière, avec les restrictions dûes à la pandémie, il n'y en a eu aucun. Cette année, s'il y en a cinq, ce serait pas mal. L'autre question que je me pose, c'est: est-ce que Wolfie passera l'Halloween cette année?

Crooky the crooked Jack O'Lantern

You see here our second jack o'lantern of the year, carved yesterday night, at Wolfie's insistence. The design was my idea, but he insisted that after the first one, we needed a jack o' with sharp teeth, looking "really nasty". As the pumpkin we had was a bit mishaped and crooked, we decided to call this one Crooky. It is my favourite so far, I think. So now I have carved four pumpkins, two yesterday, two tonight, I will try to show them all on this blog before Halloween ends. So much to blog about, so much to do, so little time. On the plus side, Wolfie is now a proper Halloween lover.

Le temps des lampions

Hier et ce soir, ce fut le temps pour petit loup et moi de creuser des citrouilles. Pas comme celui que vous voyez ici, creusé par mon père. Mais on n'en a fait des pas si mauvais. J'aurais quand même en faire un comme ça, vaguement vampirique. Enfin bref, attendez-vous à voir une orgie de photos de citrouilles ce soir et demain, quand j'aurai l'occasion de bloguer.

First of... six(!)

I had promised to Wolfie that yesterday evening, we would start carving the pumpkins. When the time came, I was tired and was wondering if we could not postpone it. Of course, this did not do at all and Wolfie was adamant that we started working on the jack o'lanterns. But there was a good reasn to start early, as this year we have more to do: instead of the usual three pumpkins, we have... six. Don't ask me how we got there, I am still trying to figure it all. That said, Wolfie was very hardworking: he chose the designs himself and did a lot of the emptying. So this is our first jack o'lantern anyway. We carved two last night, so today we have "only" four to go. I will try to show each and everyone of them.

Citrouille des grand-parents

C'est peut-être, si j'ai bien compris, une première: mes parents ont creusé des citrouilles. Je dis mes parents, parce que d'habitude, mon père s'en occupe seul. Cette année, ma mère l'a aidé. Elle a trouvé ça rough. Mais enfin bref, voici le premier résultat. J'avoue que le design est pas mal mieux réussi que les miens. Dans tous les cas, petit loup a été très impressionné.

How to spot a ghost?

You know my love and my fascination for All About Ghosts, the book of paranormal that fired up my imagination when I was a child. And made me a very superstitious and gullible child as well. But if I ever write horror stories, this book will be one of my main sources of inspiration. It also has lots of useful tips, such as how to spot a ghost, as you can see above. The last two points are rather obvious, but the first two are rather interesting, for whoever keeps in mind that ghosts are not only wearing white sheets.

Les feuilles d'automne

 Photo prise par mon père, je partage parce que, ben, l'automne...

Red Death

For today's countdown to Halloween post (my second one in fact), a little bit about one of my favourite towns, Wallingford. They seem to celebrate Halloween more there than anywhere else I have been in England. We went there recently nd we saw lots of decorations. Including this deliciously spooky Grim Reaper, which of course reminded me of The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe. I read it for the first time last year. I haven't read enough Poe, I don't know why. Be that as it may, you can find the short story here. It should give you a few chills, especially in a year of pandemic. On a side note, I want to find and buy this Red Death for next year's Halloween.

Une sorcière et des fantômes

J'ai pris cette photo dans la petite ville de Wallingford, l'un de mes endroits préférés en Angleterre. On semble y fêter l'Halloween un peu plus qu'ailleurs, en tout cas j'y ai vu plus de décorations qu'ailleur. Et surtout, j'y ai vu des décorations beaucoup plus impressionnantes. Donc, en voici une autre: une sorcière laide et verte, avec un sourire aussi laid que malveillant, ainsi que deux fantômes. Ilfaudrait peut-être célébrer l'Halloween à Wallingford, maintenant que j'y pense.

Treats for Trick or Treat

For today's countdown to Halloween post, a picture my mother sent me. You see here that she organised the treats for Halloween. My mother is not into macabre and the scary aspects of the holiday, she leaves this aspect for the male members of the family (did I ever tell you that she is completely outnumbered?). But treating people, that she loves and any excuse is good for her. So she made these fancy bags, filled with goodies, mainly chocolate. Generous sizes too. Not many people come on my parents' street for trick or treat, from what I understand, but there are always a few, the children of the neighbours and some friends, and she prepared the orange bags especially for them. I look at this and I think I need to work on my presentation skills.

L'automne, toujours

 Bon, je publie une nouvelle photo de l'automne, rien que parce que. je n'ai pas d'autre raison.

"Soul cakes"

For today's countdown to Halloween post, an old, old, old seasonal tradition, often forgotten, that I have never practiced, until now (sort of). I read before about soul cakes, small round cakes given to children going door to door (in a primitive version of trick or treat) to pray for the dead. And it struck me recently that the pictures I have seen of soul cakes look a fair deal like the family's galettes aux raisins. Which we often bake around this time of year. While we don't add spices and they're not really round, there's still dry fruits in them and it would not take much to make this a proper soul cake. So anyway, I made a batch of galettes aux raisins a few days ago and for all practical purposes they will be this family's soul cakes.

Fantôme hurleur

Je publie encore une fois une photo d'une décoration d'Halloween prise par mon père. Je sais pas qui à Chicoutimi a fait ça, mais si jamais d'aventure il tombe sur ce blogue: j'ai un immense respect pour vos goûts en matière d'épouvante et de macabre. Il nous faut toujours quelques fantômes à l'Halloween et au moins certains doivent être terrifiants. Celui-ci est parfait et j'aime les fantômes hurleurs.

Halloween Season

For today's countdown to Halloween reading suggestion: Halloween Season by Lucy A. Snyder. She's a Bram Stoker Award-winning AND Shirley Jackson Award-nominated, so you know you can't go wrong. In any case, it's maybe my favourite horror discovery this year, even though not all the stories are centered around Halloween. There's a lot of direct Lovecraftian influences here, as the Cthulhu Mythos is often explicitly mentioned, or even integral to the plot (in fact I had read the short story Cosmic Cola in this book), but Snyder has a far more optimistic approach. Often evil does not triumph (although it sometimes does) and mankind's struggle against the Forces of Darkness is not ultimately doomed to fail. Or at least, there is some hope that we will overcome. There's often a surprisingly not irritating dose of humour. Also, you will find a few non horror stories and some others that are practically Christmas stories. I could have done without then, but then again I'm a purist. And on a side note: what a cover!

Question existentielle (374)

J'espère ne l'avoir jamais posée, sinon, je m'en excuse:

  -À quelle date creuser les citrouilles de l'Halloween?

Halloween Magazine (£1)

 Sometimes, I stumble on something that I can buy on the cheap and it stays with me forever, turning out to be a great return on investment. This was the case for this Halloween Magazine, which I got for one quid in a corner shop, back in 2015. Sure, a lot of it is coupons and advertisement stuff for various brands (see on top), but there is so much more in it: Halloween recipes, an article about witches in history, another about haunted places and of course party ideas. There is even a few Halloween stickers, which Wolfie hasn't found yet. I made a few recipes in there and I will make more this year if I have time and the articles on the paranormal are great inspiration for a few scary stories. So this magazine sits with my pile of Halloween books.

L'Halloween avec Gousto

Depuis l'an dernier, à cette date environ, ma femme cuisine des recettes de Gousto. Ca a vraiment amélioré nos habitudes de vie: nous mangeons plus de légumes, nous prenons le temps de cuisiner et nous avons ebaucoup, beaucoup plus de variété dans notre assiette. Vous voyez ici le tout premier repas de Gousto qu'elle a préparé, bien entendu un repas de l'Halloween. Je ne sais pas encore ce que l'on va avoir cette année, mais j'ai vraiment hâte.

Halloween Afternoon Tea

For today's countdown to Halloween, a bit of a treat I'm considering giving to myself and my family. I mentioned in another post a few days ago that Halloween and tea go hand in hand for me. I guess I associate everything I like with Halloween somewhat, come this time of year. But I'm not the only one thinking that, it seems: the small coffe shop chain Strawberry Grove, which I blogged about before, is making an Halloween Afternoon Tea. And a kid's version. It's not cheap, but I am very tempted to order one, just because of its name, even though there nothing intrinsically Halloweeny about it (except a pair of Halloween glasses). And Strawberry Grove always make good products, especially their desserts.

Les champignons de l'automne

Photo de champignons pris dans par mon père il y a quelques semaines. Parce que l'automne, c'est aussi les champignons en abondance. S'il y a de la "food porn", je crois que je vais  inventer le terme "autumn porn". Ca n'est pas nommé, mais ça existe.

The Killer Origins of the Werewolf | Monstrum

Let's have another countdown to Halloween post for tonight shall we? Because Monstrum recently released a video about werewolves (part 1, there will be more) and I really enjoyed it, and we need more gory werewolf fun in our Halloween countdown (and in horror fiction in general, come to think of it). So anyway, it's not too long and tell me what you think in the comments.

Il a neigé dans le Parc!

Nouvelle météorologique saguenéenne: il a neigé dans le Parc des Laurentides récemment. Et au Mont Valin aussi. C'est une nouvelle, mais pour qui vient de la région ce n'est pas une surprise: c'est ça, le Saguenay. En fait, quand j'ai appris ça, la première chose qui m'est venue à l'esprit c'est: "Si tard?" Espérons que cela annonce un hiver assez précoce. Dans tous les cas, j'aime bien quand les premières neiges sont des neiges automnales.

Splat the Cat: what was that?

Today's countdown to Halloween reading suggestion: Splat the Cat: What Was That? Because sometimes even for an horror aficionado like myself, you just need to share a moment of literature with your young son and you can't go too scary. (Well, I think I could, but my wife would not be happy.) So anyway, this is one Wolfie quite likes. Splat the cat must find his mouse friend Spencer in what may or may not be a haunted house. On Halloween night. After trick or treat. It's kind of cute and in the end the ghosts are just the product of their imagination. Or are they?

La porte de l'Halloween

 Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo. Où mène cette porte? À l'Enfer? Un Autre Monde? Ou "simplement" une maison hantée? Dites-le moi dans les commentaires.

Spooky Spooky the Halloween Gnome

For today's countdown to Halloween post, a quick update on one of favourite Halloween finds this year. You may remember that last month I bought a Halloween Gnome, who was baptised Spooky Spooky by Wolfie. As a guardian gnome, I wondered what he should guard, then I thought he'd look good on the bookshelves, guarding our books. So far, no thief or intruder has showed up, so he must be doing his job well. I'd say he must have a few magic tricks up his sleeves, or in his hoodie, or in his wand. Or maybe he just terrifies baddies and evil critters with his scary demeanour. In any case, we love him very much. And he is doing his duty so well that I am considering keeping him on the shelves all year round.

Les feuilles d'automne...

Des fois mon père m'envoie des photos de l'automne. C'est tout ce que je voulais dire.

Wolfie's Halloween Jumper

For today's countdown to Halloween's post, a little bit more of family life and how we do Halloween this year. When I said yesterday that my wife is getting into Halloween, I truly mean it: she bought this jumper for Wolfie weeks ago. It is so perfectly typically Wolfie, as it has a digger on it (he loves vehicles of all sorts). It is both cute and just a tad scary, with its ghost and skeleton. I also love the cheerful and gigantic jack o'lantern. He's going to wear it at his the school's "spooky disco" today. He could wear a disguise, however Wolfie does not like disguises, but this will do just as well.

Un chat noir pour l'Halloween

L'Halloween ne serait pas l'Halloween sans quelques chats noirs. Je partage donc pour aujourd'hui une nouvelle photo prise par mon père: une décoration gonflable représentant un chat noir près à attaquer. Il a l'air malicieux, peut-être même maléfique,juste assez sinistre. En plus, sur un lit de feuilles comme ça, le tableau a l'air parfaitement automnal.

Boo Tea Ful

My wife went to Sainsbury's yesterday for a quick top up and she bought me this tea mug. This Halloween tea mug. It changes colour when you add tea and it shows more ghosts. I was so happy when I received this. Now I have not one but two Halloween mugs, however one is getting old and the other well... Well the other is fine, but we never, ever have enough Halloween mugs. And this one has ghosts. Halloween and tea go hand in hand in my book (more on that in another post), so I am so very glad to have this new mug. Better still: I'd like to think that my wife is finally, finally, finally getting into the spooky spirit. Well, one can hope. Maybe it is motherhood, but I do think she got more into it this year.

L'automne à Montréal

Nouveau billet saisonnier, rien que parce que jepeux, etau cas où il y en a ici qui n'aiment guère l'Halloween. Je ne crois pas, mais on sait jamais. Donc, des fois je publie des photos de l'automne montréalais que mon père m'envoie, comme maintenant. Je n'ai pas de raison spécifique, sauf que je veux que ce blogue prenne la couleur des saisons, surtout de MA saison préférée. Et c'est aussi par fierté de Montréalais d'adoption et également expatrié. Ici, les couleurs ne sont jamais aussi vives et c'est plus tard dans le mois, sinon au mois de novembre, que l'on voit des changement comme celui-ci.

Crocheted Jack O'Lantern

My mother-in-law does crochet and she is very good at it. Yesterday, we went to see Wolfie's grandparents and she had made this for him. When we arrived, it was merely a pumpkin, but at Wolfie's insistance, she turned it into a proper jack o'lantern. I think she used one of my old designs to create the face. Daddad did the cutting of the features. So now we have a new jack o'lantern that will not rot or go bad, it is a permanent one. We cannot put a candle in it, but it's pretty cool all the same, like a new soft toy for Wolfie. He is very happy with it and very proud for taking part in its creation.

Le vol de la sorcière

On ne fête pas l'Halloween autant en Agleterre, mais je je suis rendu compte en fin de semaine que dans la petite ville de Wallingford, on semble être plus au fait de la fête. Ainsi donc, il y avait des décorations dans certains quartiers et aux vitrines de certains commerces. Comme on dit au Québec, ça a fait ma journée. Cette sorcière a eu de la difficulté avec son vol, en tout cas elle a souffert à l'aterrissage. Sa complice, elle, est tombée tête première. Un classique qui ne vieillit pas.

The (other) Phantom of the Opera (animated)

For tonight's third (!) countdown to Halloween post, a bit of a mystery for the classical horror fan that I am. You may know that The Phantom of the Opera is one of my obsessions. The original novel, NOT the musical. Although I do enjoy the various adaptations of the book. I blogged about my discovery of the novel in this post from 2019. Well, I discovered that there was a fairly recent animated adaptation, dating back from, well, err... I don't think it has been released yet, but here is its IMDB entry and here is its webpage. You will find below the trailer, dating back from 2014. It seems fairly faithful to the novel and the animation does not seem half bad. Has anybody seen it? If so, what did you think of it?

L'été des Indiens cette semaine?

Il a fait frais ces temps-ci, enfin assez frais: aux alentours de 15 au plus doux, températures froides le soir et la nuit. Ce n'est pas le mois d'octobre idéal, mais c'est endurable. Cette semaine, les températures devraient monter à presque 20. L'été des Indiens, en somme. Sauf qu'on avait déjà eu un mois de septembre assez chaud, surtout au début, alors je me passerais bien d'un été des Indiens en octobre. Mais bon, je ne devrais pas me plaindre: les températures devraient baisser dramatiquement au milieu de la semaine, alors on aura une continuation d'octobre comme je les aime.

Two Sinister Witches

For tonight's countdown to Halloween post, I am blogging again about this book, Charlie Brown's Fourth Super Books of Questions and Answers. Not the book itself, but a specific picture in the book. As I mentioned before, I was obsessed as a child with its section on Halloween. I did not have the book myself, a friend of mine had, and I tried to check it every time I could when I was visiting him. He thought very little of it. And there was a picture in there, not of the Peanuts gang but of two witches around a cauldron, tending it, that both terrified and fascinated me. I think it gave me a few nightmares, yet I still wanted to know more about them. I don't know where they took this picture, but I was shocked to see in a book featuring my beloved comics characters something so lifelike and belonging to a horror story. I look at it today and it still gives me shivers. I know there is a scary story or more to be written about these two obviously evil witches.

Le Prince de la Nuit

Des fois, je lis aussi des histoires d'horreur en français pour l'Halloween, même si c'est plus rare. Il y a quelques années, je suis tombé par hasard justement sur la série de bédés Le Prince de la Nuit, que j'ai achetée pour mon petit frère Andrew en cadeau. Lors de mes derniers séjours à Montréal en automne, je les ai relus et je dois dire que j'ai bien aimé. L'histoire n'est pas très originale: son antagoniste est un Dracula du pauvre et elle mélange divers lieux communs de la littérature d'horreur sur les vampires. Cela dit, l'atmosphère était vraiment bien et l'intrigue assez solide. Amener le vampire dans l'Europe des années 30 lors de la montée du fascisme était aussi assez inspiré. Je n'ai lu que les six premiers tomes, je ne sais pas si la série a empiré après ou si elle est demeurée solide, mais si vous voulez de l'horreur de facture classique, très traditionnelle, cette série vaut le coup.

Spooktacular Bookmark

For today's countdown to Halloween post, a bit of literature, sort of. For me, since I am an adult, or even a teenager, Halloween is a lot about horror stories, mostly written horror stories. More than food, more than horror movies, As you may know, I collect bookmarks and things that I use as bookmarks. Back in the days, when I was in Milton Keynes, I found this leaflet in a pub. It was around August or September, I can't remember, but it was advertising some spooky activities for children and adults. I took it and kept it as a bookmark for the season. I use it exclusively for scary stories. It is fifteen years old this year. All collector's considerations aside, I'm glad that I gave this leaflet a second life.

Les fantômes à la courte-échelle

Lors de sa promenade de santé d'hier (enfin je crois que c'était hier, mais il en fait au moins une tous les jours), mon père a pris plusieurs photos des décorations qui commencent vraiment à se montrer à Chicoutimi. Je le dis, le répète, je le maintiens: on fête l'Halloween en grand là d'où je viens. Je ne suis en général pas un grand fan des trucs gonflables, mais ceux-ci sont excellents.

Reese's for Halloween

For today's countdown to Halloween post, something I found in the local sweet shop. They have lots of Halloween sweets (or candies as Americans call it) and a few classics. I don't know much about Reese's, I mean I had some in the past, but I understand this is a classic for trick or treaters in the US. For me, it tastes like a spoonful of peanut butter, coated in chocolate.I do remember having some from time to time, I ate then dutifully, but otherwise I never felt overly impressed by them. Well, it turned out they invented the most perfect Reese's for Halloween: shaped like a jack o'lantern. In milk or white chocolate varieties. It still tastes like chocolated sweetened peanut butter, but all the same, I could not help but buy them. And I really enjoyed eating them. Because they were shaped like pumpkins.

Des ogres pour l'Halloween?

Je reviens encore une fois sur Les dires de Piloé et sur la pièce de théâtre dans laquelle j'avais joué, appelée La Nuit de l'Halloween. Parmi les antagonistes de la pièce, il y avait... des ogres. On associe les ogres aux contes de fées, mais beaucoup moins aux créatures de l'Halloween. Ceux-ci n'étaient pas tant mangeur d'hommes que simples carnivores, voulant dévorer les animaux de la forêt. Ils avaient notamment capturé un cochon de lait qui s'était enfui d'une ferme. Les implications morales m'avaient échappé à l'époque. Enfin bref, depuis j'associeles ogres à l'Halloween.

Kerfol (a ghost story)

 This is my fourth (fourth!) countdown to Halloween post today, but I am feeling inspired. An there is so little time left until my favourite holiday and so much to read, watch, blog about and overall enjoy. So I wanted to recommend a ghost story for you, which I mentioned before here. If you like classic ghost stories and ghost stories that are perfectly seasonal, I suggest you spend some time tonight to read Kerfol by Edith Wharton. It's set in autumn and it is full of atmosphere. It aslo shows that to create unease and fear, you don't need walking corpses. And you'll see there that ghosts can take many forms, even the most inconspicuous.

Question existentielle (373)

Je pose ce soir une question existentielle qui est le pendant de la question 336, datant de 2018:

-À quel âge devrait-on cesser de passer l'Halloween?

Je raconterai peut-être un jour mes deuils quant à cette question.

Is there really a Great Pumpkin?

I blogged back in September about Charlie Brown's Book of Questions and Answers Book series, and the fourth book in particular, which I always wanted to have. There are many reasons for it and I am sharing one now: there is a whole section about Halloween in it. A whole section with a lot of useful information, some strips from Peanuts and some really, really, really gorgeous pictures not related to the comic strip. It has been haunting me, literally, ever since childhood, so I am so, so, so happy to own a copy of the book now. I will probably come back to it another time, right now I just wanted to share with you this very important question about the holiday: "Is there really a Great Pumpkin?" The book provides the best possible answer, based on all the knowledge we have on this subject which is so important for Halloween lovers.

Elsa Dreisig et l'Air des Bijoux

Je sais que j'ai déjà partagé sur ce blogue et pour l'Halloween l'Air des Bijoux de Faust de Charles Gounod. En 2015, pour être précis. Mais je veux mettre plus de musique pour l'Halloween, d'une aprt, et Faust est un opéra halloweenesque. Et je suis tombé sur cette interprétation de la soprano Elsa Dreisig qui est rien de moins que magnifique. Elle fait une parfaite Marguerite, enfin elle est Marguerite comme je l'imagine. Et pourquoi cet aria pour un billet musical de l'Halloween? Parce que ça a une dimension sinistre. Comme je le disais dans mon billet de 2015: "sachant à quel prix Marguerite paiera les bijoux ultimement, il y a une dimension particulièrement macabre à un air qui dans un premier abord semble éclatant et sensuel." J'ajouterais que parfois le Mal et l'horreur se manifestent d'abord dans la lumière.

Halloween Tricks and Treats

For tonight's countdown to Halloween reading suggestion: Halloween Tricks and Treats by S.A. Alba (no idea who she is, I found this book at random on Amazon because it's scary how much it knows me). Described on he front cover as "A collection of haunting Halloween inquiries and short stories." It's a pretty small book with a few supernatural stories verging on horror, divided by a bit of pondering about the holiday or aspects of it. Nothing outstanding, but a quick and pleasant read, that never gives pure frights but a few pleasant shivers, with a bit of humour here and there and sometimes that's just what the doctor ordered.

L'automne montréalais

 Des fois mon père m'envoie des photos de Montréal en automne... Sur le Plateau, bien entendu. Et puis, c'est tout.

A Hobgoblin for Halloween

I took this picture back in 2015 and I shared it on Facebook then. I don't think I ever shared it here. It came back asa memory a few days ago. You can recognize I love Wychwood Brewery's Hobgoblin, in a special bottle for Halloween. Because the brewery claims it is the Unofficial Beer of Halloween. And I tend to agree. Or I used to, anyway, until they decided to change the label and not to make a special edition of the bottles and labels for October. To my great sadness. I blogged about it last year, wondering whatever happened to the Hobgoblin. Well, at leastI have my sentimentality to thank for pictures of the old bottles, so I can still share it on this blog for the countdown to Halloween.

L'Halloween sur le Plateau

Mes parents étaient en visite à Montréal (le sont peut-être encore) pour la fin de semaine de l'Action de grâce et ils ont donc passé quelques jours à "notre" (leur) appart sur le Plateau Mont-Royal. Mon père m'a envoyé des photos du coin, de l'automne et de quelques photos d'Halloween. Parce que les gens ont déjà commencé à décorer, sur le Plateau (enfin certains). Alors ils transforment déjà leurs perrons en cimetières hantés, comme c'est le cas sur cette image. Je sais qu'il fait trop doux à Montréal ces temps-ci, mais je m'ennuie quand même des Halloweens du Plateau.

Dark Halloween

For today's countdown to Halloween reading suggestion: Dark Halloween. A "holiday flash fiction anthology." There's a lot of stories in it and a lot of good ones. Mostly horror of course. While I usually don't read much flash fiction and I think horror and supernatural need some time to establish settings, atmosphere and the subversion brought by the supernatural, I must say I quite enjoyed thus one. You will find plenty of the iconic critters of Halloween, real and fake: ghosts, vampires, witches, zombies, a few murderous maniacs, animated jack o'lanterns (well of course) and quite a few original ones. Not all of the stories are good, but even the bad ones are somewhat enjoyable. There's also a pretty decent series of fanfic of John Carpenter's original Halloween movie. All in all, a solid seasonal read

L'Action de grâce

Je sais que c'est l'Action de grâce aujourd'hui, enfin la canadienne, pas l'américaine. Que je ne fête pas, étant expatrié. Je ne l'ai jamais beaucoup fêtée anyway, mais j'aimais quand même le congé férié, les petites vacances automnales que cela nous donnait et la symbolique païenne larvée. Je veux dire que l'Action de grâce est une fête des récoltes. Je ne sais pas si je la fêterai encore un jour, mais à tous ceux qui peuvent aujourd'hui: joyeuse Action de grâce.

This year's Danse Macabre

As it is a tradition during the Halloween season, I am sharing a version of  the Danse macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns. This particular one is a bit truncated unfortunately, but I loved the story and narrative so much that I wanted to share it. It is both sweet and spooky, with a violin playing friendly ghost, a black cat, witches and Satan himself. In a creepy old cemetery. It's just perfect.

Une Hobgoblin pour PJ

Aujourd'hui, c'est la fête de mon frère PJ et, comme c'est la tradition sur Vraie Fiction, je lui présente une bière virtuelle, la Hobgoblin Gold de  Wychwood Brewery.Avec leurs bouteilles spéciales de l'Halloween, ça date du temps pas si lointain où leurs bouteilles avaient de la gueule. Il y a plusieurs raisons pour laquelle je lui envoie cette bière-ci comme bière virtuelle: 1)l'Halloween approche à grands pas et la Hobgoblin, c'est LA bière de l'Halloween, 2)j'ai toujours associé son anniversaire à l'Halloween et 3)lors de son séjour en Angleterre en 2017 pour la fête de son neveu, la Hobgoblin Gold est la première bière qu'il avait bue. Alors voilà, à la tienne frérot et bonne fête encore.

A haunted house for £5

Last weekend, I went to M&S for a quick top up of food and I was happy tos ee that they have a decent display of Halloween stuff. Among the many nice things they sold, there was a box of cookies that is shaped like a haunted house and that is also a lantern. It looked so cool and for a fiver it was such a bargain that I had to buy one. No but seriously, look at how detailed it is! It has black cats, bats, fiery orange colours and of course Jack O'Lanterns! And this is only one side! Wolfie loves the biscuits (shaped as ghosts, pumpkins, etc), but they are just ordinary butter biscuits. I would have bought the house even if it had been empty. I will take more pictures of it, in all its angles, and share them here. For any Halloween lover living in the UK, this is a must-have.

J'ai la trouille

J'ai pris cette photo sur la page Facebook de la Panthère verte, elle date de 2016. J'ai tojours voulu manger leur spéciaux de l'Halloween, alors je le mentionne ici. Mais je voulais bloguer sur le sujet pour une autre raison: j'ai appris récemment, toujours sur leur page Facebook, qu'ils ont dû fermer leur restaurant sur Mont-Royal. Je crois comprendre qu'ils en ont fermé un autre et j'ai peur qu'avec le manque de main d'oeuvre et la pandémie, ce soit le début de la fin pour eux. Or, c'est mon restaurant végétalien préféré de Montréal. Je serais triste s'ils fermaient, mettons.

The return of the Scarecrow Festival

You may remember that last year we went to a "Scarecrow Festival", organised in a nearby village to celebrate, well, the upcoming Halloween, mainly. But to me scarecrows also represent autumn and harvest. The Halloween aspect of them, and of this festival in particular, is in the end a bonus. So this year again, we will have a nice spooky festival, with monstrous scarecrows, a lot of them sporting a jack-o-lantern and a map of the village which we can buy at the village hall (and where I took this picture). I can barely wait. I think now we can safely say that it is a new local tradition. And I'm very grateful for it.

Les lutins contre les sorcières

Je reviens sur Les dires de Piloé, le livre de français de quatrième année qui avait la pièce La Nuit de l'Halloween, dans laquelle j'ai joué. Je l'ai relu il y a quelques jours et je me rappelais encore des répliques. Je jouais Luco, un lutin qui avec son ami Polo protégeait les animaux de la forêt des sorcières et des ogres, qui voulaient les faire rôtir dans un feu pour ensuite les manger. C'était assez violent, à bien y penser. Luco était le lutin en rouge, je crois. Je ne pense pas gâcher le punch à personne en racontant la scène résoluant la pièce. Les lutins utilisaient du sable pris dans le sac du Bonhonne Sept-Heures afin d'endormir les ogres et le Bonhomme, pour finaleent aveugler les sorcières, afin de les brûler vives dans le feu qu'elles avaient préparé. Une immolation, c'était pas mal barbare, pour une pièce destinée aux enfants. Mais j'adorais.

Dr Jekyll, Mr Hyde and me

For today's countdown to Halloween post, I have decided to blog about a classic horror story that is maybe neglected this time of year:I am referring to The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. Everybody knows it, yet I don't think that many people have read the novella. It inspired many adaptations,yet neither Jekyll nor his alter ego Hyde have an iconic image like Dracula or the Monster of Frankenstein, images which we can transform into Halloween decorations easily identifiable and so on. Hyde is ugly, but in the end he is physically a man. I discovered the book in 1990, in my library, just like other horror classics. That year, I read them many of them: Frankenstein, Dracula, Carmilla. I became a proper horror fan, absolutely obsessed by old horror stuff. Yet I did not develop the same fascination towards Stevenson's classic. I don't know why. I rediscovered it in 2006, during my literary countdown to Halloween and really enjoyed it. I wanted to read it in original English and bought the edition you see here (not the greatest cover, but the Introduction was interesting). I still think it deserves more than it has. My Halloweens are sometimes dominated by different themes or tropes, when I read and watch mostly horror fiction about a certain creature: the year of ghosts, the year of vampires, the year of werewolves, the year of Lovecraftian horror, etc. Maybe I should have the year of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, where I will reread the book, its unofficial sequels (I read one which was great), and watch its many adaptations. And of course blog about it when Halloween comes again.

Dernières frites patio

Je quitte mes sujets sinistres pour l'instant afin de parler bouffe: mes parents on fait sans doutes leurs dernières frites sur le patio de l'année. Ce que, dans ma famille, on appelle des "frites patio". Parce que c'est frit sur le patio. Ce sont pas mal les meilleures frites au monde, je dis ça de manière objective, bien entendu. Mes parents ont titré l'email "dernières frites de l'été". Je leur ai dit que c'est faux: l'été est terminé depuis déjà longtemps. Et les frites, c'est bon à l'année.