Happy Halloween!

 It is here at last: Halloween 2022! Sitll a long way until it is time for trick or treat. To my readers: Happy Halloween! I may not have time to blog more about it today, because I will be busy making memories with my son. He will go for trick or treat for the first time. I will relive my Halloween of yesteryear, albeit by procuration, but more importantly I will share a lot with him.

Le matin de l'Halloween

 Joyeux Halloween à tous! Le jour est enfin arrivé. Ou peut-être devrais-je dire: déjà? À chaque année je trouve que ça passe trop vite. J'ai sans doute déjà blogué sur le sujet, mais j'aimerais que mes lecteurs songent un instant à la longue attente avant la nuit de l'Halloween, la journée qui commence et le jour qui semble ne jamais tomber. C'était long avant de pouvoir passer l'Halloween. Je sais que Wolfie est très impatient et son impatience me rappelle la mienne lorsque j'avais son âge.

Carving Jack O'Lanterns

We got busy today, Wolfie and I: we carved no less than six Jack O'Lanterns! Tomorrow I will place them for in the entrance trick or treat. This one you see here was designed by Wolfie himself. Iwas not too sure about it at first, but I think it looks really good. It reminds me of the ones my dad carved when we were children: they also had square teeth. Oh and tomorrow is the big day. Wolfie is getting really excited: he kept asking when was Halloween coming when he went to bed. He fell asleep asking this. Tomorrow will be the first time he goes trick or treating, so it is a big moment for him. He really developed a spooky mind this year.

La première citrouille

 Nous avons eu une journée chargéa aujourd'hui, petit loup et moi: nous avons creusé six citrouilles, des petites et des grosses. Ceci est la toute première. Le design était de lui. Les miens sont plus effrayants. Cela dit, je trouve qu'il a beaucoupde talent. Demain, il ira passer l'Halloween pour la première fois.

Witches: sense and nonsense

For today's fourth(!) countdown to Halloween post, a bit about witches, from English Heritage. They published an article called Witchcraft: Eight Myths and Misconceptions. I don't want to sing my own praise, but I know a lot of them already. Be that as it may, as I am a little bit of a historian myself, I am happy the article sets a lot of things straight. I would also like to add that I have been working (very slowly) on a horror story involving a witch. I haven't finished yet, but you can find in this post from 2018 the basic idea. Maybe I will have something for you for next Halloween.

L'heure des chauves-souris

Bon, je partage une autre photo des chauves-souris de papa un peu arbitrairement, pour mentionner une chose: c'est le changement d'heures aujourd'hui. Ma femme n'aime pas, moi j'adore. Je gagne une heure de sommeil. Et je suis heureux que le changement arrive à temps pour l'Halloween.

The Scarecrow Festival this year

 Yesterday, we went to the Scarecrow Festival of a nearby village. The third one since 2020. Wolfie loves it, for him it is like a scarecrow hunt. It is a festival that is just as much about Halloween and Jack O'Lanterns than it is about scarecrows, so it is also for us a Halloween tradition. A tradition that emphasises the autumnal aspects of Halloween as well as its association with harvest. We did not spend as much time as we wanted, but enough to see that the friendly scarecrow with the pumpkin head on the promotional leaflets is now also real one. He looks quite friendly, I must say. It is pretty much their mascot. Maybe we should give it a name. Make your suggestions in the comments.

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.

Three Jack O'Lanterns

My father got ahead of me and carved his pumpkins yesterday. He carves three, a big one and two small ones. Sadly we will not be able to go trick or treating that side of the Atlantic, but Wolfie and I might start carving pumpkins tonight.

Les chauves-souris

 Photo envoyée par mon père: il a décoré le portico avec des chauves-souris. Ca a un air gentiment effrayant. Ici nous n'en avons quelques unes, une gonflable (grosse erreur), une autre en plastique avec un cordon que l'on pend, une autre en feutre, etc. Et nous en avons aussi des vraies dehors qui volent la nuit. J'avoue que j'aimerais en avoir autant pour mettre dans l'entrée, il y a jamais assez de chauves-souris à l'Halloween. Je crois que j'en achèterai pour l'année prochaine. Je me demande si elles vont effrayer les jeunes halloweeneux qui vont passer par le portico.

Brio's Spooky Train Station

For today's countdown to Halloween post, a toy I wish I had bought me... errr, I mean, for Wolfie. Anyway, you know our son loves train sets, especially Brio designs. My wife found a few weeks ago that they sold a Spooky Train Station, with a zombie action figure (they say ghostly conductor, but I think he looks like a zombie, albeit a more gothic one), ghostly sounds and all. We didn't buy it, for some reason, but I have been kicking myself since then. It could become a new Halloween tradition for next year. I keep thinking trains and train stations are pefect settings for horror stories. We could create our own spooky stories, we'd have our inspiration and prop.

Des monstres sympathiques

Autre photo prise par mon père lors de ses promenades. Ah, l'Halloween qui approche! Cela dit, je me trompe ou ce n'est guère macabre? C'est un peu bonbon, pour ainsi dire. Me semble que je me rappelle d'un temps ou c'était beaucoup plus sinistre.

About Dracula's Castle

For today's countdown to Halloween post, yet another trip down nostalgia lane. My longtime readers may remember that I sometimes blog about the Dracula Game, a make-belief game my brothers, my friends and I played when we were young.As we hadn't read the original novel, we used  J.H. Brennan's gamebook Dracula's Castle as inspiration. Now as I wanted to blog about it again, I discused with my brother PJ about the reasons why this make belief game worked so well that we still talk about it to this day. One of the reasons resides in the antagonist himself: Count Dracula is not only a vampire, but a centuries old nobleman and ruthless warrior, who dabbles into sorcery and whose ultimate ambition is world domination. This is a worthy adversary for a group of vampire hunters, suitable for the ensemble cast that we made with our friends. The other reside in the setting itself: a Carpathian castle and its surroundings, especially as described in the gamebook, had plenty of atmosphere and was also very suitable for a classic "dungeon crawl", with lots of monsters to fight, and not only vampires. Ghouls, zombies, all sorts of undead, demonic entities, wolves under Dracula's control. There is one last element that made the game memorable: it allowed our characters to have all sorts of cool weaponry and equipment. We had of course stakes, crucifix, garlic, holy water, as well as conventional weapons: guns, knifes and the likes. Anyway, as we never finished the game, I hope this blog will encourage some of your children who have a spooky mind to make their own "Dracula Game". No Halloween could be complete without a bit of Dracula in it.

Le passage secret

J'ai blogué sur le "passage secret" (l'allée entre le jardin et la rue) en automne en 2017 et en 2020. J'en ferai peut-être une tradition chaque automne et chaque Halloween. Car notre passage secret prend un air un peu inquiétant, de jour comme de nuit. Je l'ai déjà dit: j'aimerais en faire le lieu d'une histoire d'horreur. Il me semble que ce serait l'endroit parfait pour de l'horreur diurne. J'y pense à chaque fois que je le traverse. Mais si j'ai le lieu, je n'ai toujours pas d'histoire.

The Ideal Haunted House

For today's countdown to Halloween post, another trip down memory lane and another post about Usborne classic All About Ghosts, a chilchood favourite of mine. There is a whole section on haunted houses, two pages back to back, with lots of phenomenons one could expect in such places. This is, in essence, an ideal haunted house, with enough ghosts or manifestations to fill a whole neighbourhood. The house has an uncanny resemblance with the Victorian house I lived in during my time in Liverpool. The surroundings are a bit different, but the basic architecture is similar. But anyway, when I was a child, this haunted house because the haunted house of our games. I once said that the problem with haunted houses in horror stories was that one could just leave the darn place. That said, I wonder if one would just live there just experiencing paranormal activities. Maybe it is my spooky mind talking, but isn't this place a dream house, haunted or not? Be that as it may, this haunted house in All About Ghosts became the inspiration for many, many games and will one day I hope be the inspiration for one ghost story or two.

Photo automnale

Je partage une nouvelle photo de l'automne à Chicoutimi, rien que parce que c'est vraiment superbe. La photo a été prise au début d'octobre. Les feuilles doivent être tombées en bonnes quantités maintenant et l'arbre doit être plus dénudé.

A Book of Horror Stories and its Cover

Yesterday, I finished Frankie Abbott's Great Big Book of Horror Stories. Generally, that means I would recommend it for one of your spooky reads, but I am only doing it with caution. In fact, I am not certain that I can recommend it, in all honesty. Not that the stories are bad: they should give you a few chills and maybe a few laughs too, as he is not devoid of dark humour. The problem lies elsewhere: its cover. Because yes, the cover lies. Not a single one of these stories is set during or around Halloween, the holiday is not even referred to and there is no Jack O'Lantern or pumpkin. This got me disappointed. With thirtheen stories and 123 pages, it's not eactly a big book, but I'll let it slide. I bought it for the cover. My mistake. If you read it, I recommend that you read it near the beginning of your countdown. Which is end of July for me. Anyway, for the days left, I will reread old tried and true Halloween stories. I should share a few here.

Un squelette dans un hamac

Il y avait bien des décorations pour l'Halloween lorsque nous sommes allés au zoo pour enfants en fin de semaine. Moins que les années d'avant, mais quand même. Peu étaient vraiment effrayantes et certaines étaient humoristiques. Dont ce squelettes dans un hamac. Se faisait-il bronzer? Il avait le teint bien blafard. Outre sa pose plus humoristique, je le trouvais bien macabre. Moi, je l'aurais mis dans un cercueil. Enfin bref, j'ai bien aimé le squelette (ou le squolette?) et j'ai donc pris une photo afin de le partager sur le blogue.

The witch in the tractor

We went to a petting zoo this weekend, a place Wolfie loves a lot. They make something special for Halloween, with lots of spooky decorations. As it was one of the last time in the year when we could do it, we went for a tractor ride. And they had spookified (spelling?) it: we saw this lurking in the driver's cabin. A bona fide witch, with a nasty smile and shining malevolent eyes. She looks deliciously sinister. So I had to take a few picturesof it, which was quite a challenge in a tractor in motion. But I got a few decent shots. I'm surprised Wolfie did not get scared. I shivered a bit when I saw her, but I think it was more excitement than anything else.

Les citrouilles cette année

J'ai pris cette photo dans le zoo pour enfants en fin de semaine. Il y avait un champ de citrouilles où on pouvait aller cueillir les citrouilles. Wolfie en a choisi deux. Avec celels que l'on a achetées avant, cela nous en fait six en tout, si je ne me trompe pas. Des petites, des moyennes et des plus grosses. Pas autant que celles que l'on trouve au Québec, mais ça fera l'affaure et ce sera joli pour les halloweeneux. Petit loup a très hâte de les creuser. je songe aussi à en acheter des toutes faites en céramique, comme celle-ci. Pour être certain de ne jamais être à court de citrouilles.

Wolfie's trick or treat

I bought this bag for trick or treat years ago, when Wolfie was still a little baby. He has yet to use it. I have been wanting him to do trick or treat, but he never wanted to before. He does not like to get disguised, for one, I think he has always been a bit scared about it. Until this year, that is. Because for some reason, he is eager to do it and this Halloween might be the year where he follows this tradition. I think the idea of getting lots of sweets finally convinced him. Maybe it was the context with his friends at school. His mummy is not too happy about it, but I am really glad I will finally be able to share this Halloween experience with him. And also, this is a really gorgeous spooky bag.

Araignée géante

Nous sommes allés dans un zoo pour enfants hier, un "petting zoo" comme ils disent ici et ils avaient décoré l'endroit pour l'Halloween. C'était moins décoré que les années d'avant, mais il y avait quelques beaux trucs, dont cette araignée. L'Halloween a besoin d'araignées bien patibulaires et effrayantes. Petit loup était fasciné, alors que sa mère s'en tenait loin. Ma femme a peur des araignées, voyez-vous. Wolfie en a eu peur un peu au début, mais il a passé beaucoup de temps à l'observer et à essayer d'y toucher.

Trick or Treat, Snickers and the Reaper

Here's another countdown to Halloween post for tonight. I saw this comics and I found it very funny. So I am sharing it here. I also happen to love Snickers, so the Grim Reaper's attitude makes complete sense to me.

Nouvelle tasse de l'Halloween

Il y a quelques semaines, j'ai acheté cette tasse. J'ai déjà des tasses pleins les armoires, mais j'ai décidé de faire une exception et de l'acheter. Parce que c'est une tasse de l'Halloween, parce qu'elle est délicieusement macabre. Elle est en métal avec le col recourbé, alors pas très pratique. Jusqu'ici, je n'y ai bu que du lait. Je l'utiliserai peut-être avec des soupes? Dans tous les cas, c'est ma toute nouvelle tasse de l'Halloween et je l'aime beaucoup.

A Time to Harvest

 Earlier this year, searching for topics for my posts for the countdown to Halloween, I stumbled upon an image for a campaign of the role-playing game Call of Cthulhu. Based on the horror stories of H.P. Lovecraft. It was aptly called A Time to Harvest and it has such a cool cover. I haven't played Call of Cthulhu in more than twenty years, but I have always wanted to play a Halloween-centered campaign, on top of my other rituals (mostly binge reading and binge watching horror). I know nothing about this campaign, apart from its title and the image, but it struck me that it would be perfect to play in the weeks leading to Halloween. Mainly because the holiday is closely associated with harvest. In any case, I think it would be fun role play in our own horror story in October.

L'automne rouge

Je suis très mauvais pour identifier les arbres. Alors je le confesse tout de suite: je ne sais pas de quel arbre il s'agit. Mais je partage encore une fois une photo prise par mon père d'un arbre de Chicoutimi en automne. Je ne sais pas ce que c'est, donc, mais je m'ennuie des automnes parfaits de ma région. Je ne sais pas si les températures sont parfaites (nos automnes étant hélas de plus en plus chauds), mais en tout cas les couleurs sont toujours làet on ne boudera pas notre plaisir.

Fiendish Fancies

My wife bought this for me recently. I rarely  if ever eat French fancies, except when they change their name for Halloween and Mr Kipling rechristens them Fiendish Fancies. With the box looking very spooky. I don't know why, but I find them the perfect Halloween treat, at least in this country. If you look at the sugar content if a single cake, you can see why fiendish is fitting.

Automne chicoutimien

Chicoutimi en automne, une journée ensoleillée. Ici il a plu toute la journée. C'est quand même joli, mais c'est moins joli. Et puis, on n'a pas de couleurs comme mon chez-moi d'origine.

Of Ravens and Halloween

I took this picture early in October at Hogshaw Farm, a petting zoo we quite liked and that had lots of Halloween stuff already. It is a true raven. It struck me that because of their cultural depiction, often with sinister associations, ravens are perfect birds for the Halloween season. But they are seldom used, sadly. Of course, there is Edgar Allan Poe's poem/horror story(ish) The Raven, but since a certain program made a parody of it, I cannot take it seriously anymore. As much as it made me laugh, it is a shame. I think ravens should return in horror stories and in Halloween imagery.

Les fantômes

 Photo prise par mon père lors d'une de ses promenades. Des fantômes avec une sorcière. J'adore.

New Jack O'Lantern

 Yesterday, we were ow on bread, so I went to buy a loaf at a nearby petro station. Surprise surprise, the shop in there, although small, was selling some Halloween stuff. Among them, a colour changing "Led Pumpkin Head". As it was not too expensive and I never have enough Halloween decorations, I bought it. It's not very big and it looks silly rather than scary, but it's a welcome addition to spookify the house. At the moment, we don't have enough real pumpkins, a situation which I hope to correct soon. But until then, this grinning Jack will do nicely.

Les fantômes de Chicoutimi

 Mon père a pris une marche il y a quelques jours et m'en a ramené des photos. Chicoutimi semble être de plus en plus au diapason avec l'Halloween qui s'en vient. Je n'aime pas les décorations gonflabes en général, mais celle-ci je l'aime bien, avec ses fantômes, sa tombe et sa citrouille. Surtout les fantômes, j'aime leur gueule patibulaire et les linceuils rapiécés.

Halloween Activities

As Halloween approaches, I am on the lookout for activities to do as a family. Things I would of course then report on this blog. Well, I found this "local" magazine earlier this month, showing activities in and around Milton Keynes and Buckingham. While we are not very close to neither towns, we are not too far either and we could maybe spend an afternoon in one of the petting zoos or parks there. I mean it's a big maybe and in the end we will probably go for something nearer. Nevertheless, I'm glad I got this magazine, because of the cool picture on the cover. I love the twojack o'lanterns and the witch's outfit of the bigger one.

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.

About the Phantom of the Opera

For today's countdown to Halloween post, another trip down memory lane, sort of. I had been wanting to reread The Phantom of the Opera  by Gaston Leroux. I am one of the few people who discovered the character through the novel and not the overrated musical. I had in mind to read it this year and share my impressions during the countdown. I wanted this year to be about le Fantôme, as it is sometimes about vampires or Jekyll and Hyde, or whatever. So I checked about all the versions available in French on Amazon and settled for one with an image of the original cover. It was cheap, but hey, I thought it should not be an issue. Big mistake. This is a terrible edition: the pages are not numbered, the editing is dreadful and while the text is in original French, biographical notes on Leroux are in English. You can see it was roughly patched together for suckers like me. And I can't read such poorly edited book, it's against my principles. I will return it. A darn shame, I wanted to rediscover the Phantom of the Opera and make you my readers discover the real deal, it will have to wait. But you can read how I first came to the novel in this post from 2019. Oh well, maybe next year. But at least you can enjoy a cool cover.

"Ah, je ris", etc.

C'est devenu une quasi-tradition dans le temps de l'Halloween, je partage ici un extrait de Faust de Charles Gounod. Le même aria que l'année dernière, mais cette fois-ci interprété par Lisette Oropesa, une cantatrice que j'aime beaucoup(pas seulement parce qu'elle a une voix superbe, mais parce qu'elle est vraiment sympathique). S'il y a un opéra qui joue un peu dans l'horreur et se prête bien à l'Halloween, c'est bien Faust. Je vais essayer de bloguer plus en détails sur le sujet dans mes prochains billets, en 2022 ou peut-être pour 2023. Pour le moment, sachez que l'image plus haut était celle du CD que l'on avait de l'opéra, que j'ai écouté et réécouté sans jamais me lasser. L'image me fascinait quasiment autant que l'opéra.

Jack O'Lantern on the chalkboard

 For today's countdown to Halloween post, I want to bog about the great iconic character of Halloween, Jack O'Lantern. We went to a restaurant a week(end) ago and what was drawn on the chalkboard, instead of the special menu? A ghostly, spooky Jack O'Lantern, with the body of a scarecrow. Apparently, they change the décor like this, every season or so, depending of the holidays. I love it. Too often, businesses here are on a Christmas mode, it is nice to have one that embraces Halloween. And Jack here looks just scary enough to give you a nice shiver, kind of hiding in the chalboard like a spectre. You don't notice him at first, but when you do, you cannot keep your eyes off him. So I had to share it today.

Chicoutimi automnal

 Nouvelle photo de Chicoutimi en automne.

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

Photo prise dans un commerce sur le Plateau par ma mère. Je n'ai rien à dire, sinon que j'achèterais tout le magasin.

About Werewolves

For today's countdown to Halloween post, let's talk about a critter that might need a bit more love: the werewolf. Well, maybe it's just me, but I feel like it hasn't been as popular as other horror creatures and maybe has not always been used to its full potential. A few years ago, I read The Howling by Gary Brandner. The rather uneven (but enjoyable) movie adaptation is now far more famous, but I preferred the original novel, although I found it flawed. My full review and recommendation in this post from 2017. Be that as it may, while I recognised novel's shortcomings, I liked it enough to buy its sequel, simply (and rather dumbly) called The Howling II. It had even more shortcomings, but I must confess, I still enjoyed it. There is just something about these bloodthirsty beasts and their relationship to men and civilisation that I find endearing. I find it sad that The Howling's film franchise went stupidly down the drain after each installment and that the original novels are all but forgotten. Brandner I thought had managed to bring the werewolf into a modern setting and give it a certain relevance, but keeping its menace. There is so much to do with werewolves depending on how you develop them: is their condition a curse or do they embrace it, what causes it, how do they deal with mankind, and so on. Werewolves deserve their own series of novels, something Brandner had started, but never quite finished. Anyway, I am rambling, but what do you think about werewolves? Are there any stories featuring them you would recommend? And how would you make them original?

Les outardes

Photo prise par mon père à La Baie. Je crois entendre les chansons-thèmes de Nils Holgersson quand je la regarde. Dans tous les cas, je la trouve bien automnale.

Cool Halloween Gnomes

My mum took this picture a few days ago in a shop on the Plateau Mont-Royal. It seems that the gnomes craze has reached Montreal. I don't mind, I love gnomes and especially Halloween gnomes. These two look like a cool duo of spooky gnomes, what with their shades. Maybe they look more autumnal than Halloweeny, especially the one with the ginger beard, you tell me. Still, this household has the best Halloween gnomes, especially Spooky Spooky, it also has the best autumn gnomes. That said, the more the merrier, and I might buy more gnomes before the end of the month. And you, do you have any Halloween gnomes?

Décorations gonflables d'Halloween

Il y a quelques jours, à ma demande, ma mère a pris des photos des décos sur le Plateau. Elles sont sorties, ce qui est déjà bien (ici ce n'est pas toujours le cas). Mais on trouve des affaires assez laides. Comme ce truc gonflable. Je ne suis pas un fan. J'aime beaucoup l'idée de l'arbre hanté ou démoniaque, c'est une chose qui manque souvent dans le paysage halloweenesque. J'aime aussi le cimetière, un classique. Mais les faire en balloune ça brise l'aspect sinistre. Mais bon, je préfère qu'il y en ait plus que moins, des décorations d'Halloween, alors même celles-ci je les aime un peu.

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

Ceci est un petit billet gastro rien que pour varier un peu. Mes parents ont fait un pâté à la truite pour mon frère PJ qui est en visite. C'est un tantinet hors saison, mais ça lui manquait. Je ne me rappelle pas quand j'en ai mangé pour la dernière fois. Je crois que ça doit bien faire au moins une décennie. Lors de mon prochain voyage, je vais peut-être en demander, qui sait. D'ici là, je partage la photo du pâté à la truite ici. Avec du brocoli et des patates, c'est aussi bon que c'est santé.

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

 Nouvelle photo prise par mon père à Chicoutimi. Il n'y a pas d'arbre flamboyant comme ça ici.

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.

Flamboyant automne

Photo prise par mon père à Chicoutimi,lors d'une promenade. Ai-je besoin de dire pourquoi je la partage?

Hill House

This is my third countdown to Halloween post today. When I say I have a lot to blog about, I mean it. Anyway, I blogged before about The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, one of the great "modern" horror classics, now a Netflix TV series. I have been watching the series, irregularly, and I have been enjoying its sober approach to horror. But this is not what I have been wanting to blog about tonight. I wanted to quote the beginning of the novel, the way Hill House is introduced. Here it is: "No live organism can continue to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; every larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stodd by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood  so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone." So there you have it. No monster, no machete wielding maniac, just a setting that oozes unease and malevolence. Read this tonigh before bed.