Monday 31 October 2022
Happy Halloween!
Le matin de l'Halloween
Sunday 30 October 2022
Carving Jack O'Lanterns
La première citrouille
Witches: sense and nonsense
L'heure des chauves-souris
The Scarecrow Festival this year
Danse Macabre
Avant que j'oublie, il est passé minuit, nous sommes dimanche, c'est donc l'heure de la la Danse Macabre, que jepartage à chaque année. Je me suis dépêché de trouver une version avant que l'Halloween ne se termine. Elle est assez récente.
Saturday 29 October 2022
Three Jack O'Lanterns
Les chauves-souris
Friday 28 October 2022
Brio's Spooky Train Station
Des monstres sympathiques
Thursday 27 October 2022
About Dracula's Castle
Le passage secret
Wednesday 26 October 2022
The Ideal Haunted House
Photo automnale
Tuesday 25 October 2022
A Book of Horror Stories and its Cover
Un squelette dans un hamac
Monday 24 October 2022
The witch in the tractor
Les citrouilles cette année
Sunday 23 October 2022
Wolfie's trick or treat
Araignée géante
Saturday 22 October 2022
Trick or Treat, Snickers and the Reaper
Nouvelle tasse de l'Halloween
A Time to Harvest
L'automne rouge
Friday 21 October 2022
Fiendish Fancies
Automne chicoutimien
Of Ravens and Halloween
Thursday 20 October 2022
New Jack O'Lantern
Les fantômes de Chicoutimi
Wednesday 19 October 2022
Halloween Activities
Les Lutins de l'Halloween
Alors que l'Halloween approche, j'ai lu et relu la pièce de théâtre qui se trouve dans Les dires de Piloé, mon livre de français de quatrième année. Il y avait deux lutins, Luco et Polo, les héros de l'histoire, qui protégeaient les animaux de la forêt des sorcières et des ogres, qui voulaient les bouillir dans un chaudron le soir de l'Halloween. Je jouais Luco (celui à gauche sur l'image). Je relis l'histoire et je suis impressionné par l'intrigue simple mais efficace, ainsi que par la qualité du vocabulaire. Et puis avoir des lutins de la forêt comme protagonistes, c'était assez bien pensé: des enfants pouvaient plus facilement s'identifier à eux et on montrait que la ruse et l'intelligence étaient aussi des forces. Je crois que je vais lire La Nuit de l'Halloween (c'est son titre) à petit loup.
Tuesday 18 October 2022
About the Phantom of the Opera
"Ah, je ris", etc.
Monday 17 October 2022
Jack O'Lantern on the chalkboard
Sunday 16 October 2022
Toffee Apple (with a twist)
For today's countdown to Halloween post, a seasonal classic: the toffee apple. Or candy apple, as they call it in the US, but I prefer the British term. Halloween is also about eating, after all and this dessert is one of the . I am not a fan of toffee apples, read this post from 2008 for the details. But this one was different: it was not a real toffee apple. In fact, it was a white chocolate mousse, coated in toffee, with at its very core some genuine applesauce (with chunks of apples in it, see it gave it some authenticity) I ate it in a local restaurant last Sunday. I regret nothing. I loved it, but not enough to make peace with the real thing.
L'Halloween dans un magasin
Saturday 15 October 2022
About Werewolves
Les outardes
Friday 14 October 2022
Cool Halloween Gnomes
Décorations gonflables d'Halloween
Thursday 13 October 2022
Haunted Trains
I took this picture from the Facebook page of the the Didcot Railway Centre. We visited it back in 2020, just before the pandemic and lockdown. They are planning some special events for Halloween and I would love to go there, but Wolfie's mother fears it might be too scary for her son. Old steam trains and old stations are the perfect setting for horror stories. From my limited experience, I think they have been used too little. I know of a few and at least one classic, but I would like to discover more and maybe go to the Railway Centre for inspiration.
Pâté à la truite
Wednesday 12 October 2022
Countdown to Halloween, the book
For today's countdown to Halloween reading suggestion, a book aptly called... Countdown to Halloween. And for once it's not horror but something for the whole family to enjoy. I bought it for Wolfie's birthday and we have been reading it since the beginning of October. it is a sort of Advent calendar for Halloween, with the Peanuts gang, one story a day, including the big day. It's just not Halloween without Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and the rest. And for a North American like me who grew up with them, I find it important to share this with my son.
Rue automnale
Tuesday 11 October 2022
The First Ghost Hunter?
For today's Halloween post, I offer you another trip down memory lane. You know my love for All About Ghosts, the Usborne book that helped me grow a taste for the macabre when I was a young child. It fuelled my imagination and my desire to read horror stories, it also gave my brothers and I some inspiration for our own make-belief games. As we needed heroes as well as villains, we were happy to discover that British folklore had provided one as a model: the Reverend Dodge. Details on the picture. Dodge may have been one of the earliest ghost hunters, the spiritual ancestor of Abraham Van Helsing, Martin Hesselius, the lesser known (and personal favourite) Baron Vordenburg and so many others. I found fairly little on the Reverend online, but I have not searched much yet. Pretty much all I know about him comes from that small section in All About Ghosts. Still, I always thought he was a badass. I think he became the inspiration for many "player characters" of our games, particularly this one. I promise myself that I will learn more about him for next year's countdown to Halloween. I wonder if there are horror stories written about him. If there are none, someone should write one. Or many more.