Mince Pies (an anniversary)

 Who likes mince pies? I don't like them particularly, yet I always have some this time of year, and on this very date. You may know why, but for the people who are new to this blog, let me tell you the story again. So this evening 22 years ago, after spending ages on my PhD thesis, I went to the kitchen on my hall of residence to eat a mince pie, because I was feeling peckish. Why did I buy mince pie? I can't remember, because it's not my kind of dessert. Maybe I was curious, because they're everywhere in England this time of year. Anyway, as I was indulging my Québecois sweet tooth, in walked Veggie Carrie. In the kitchen and in my life. So since then, I have a mince pie to celebrate.

Le passage secret

J'ai pris il y a quelques jours cette photo de l'allée qui mène de notre jardin à la rue. Comme je l'ai dit déjà mentionné par le passé, j'ai surnommé l'allée notre "passage secret". Enfant, j'aurais adoré en avoir un comme ça. Nous avions certains passages entre la clôture de la piscine et les cèdres, ou entre les cèdres et la remise, qui étaient utilisés comme des passages secrets chez nous. Enfin bref, le passage secret fait encore très automnal.

First Snow (don't laugh)

Well, I was hoping for it, but I was skeptical. However, to my surprise, it did arrived, and sooner than expected: we had our first snow on Monday morning. Barely any, as it melted when it touched the ground, but it did fall. I took this picture the way back from the school run. You cansee some. Don't laugh, I know it is barely any. Still, we are still in November, we are still in autumn. An autumn that is looking more and more like winter, at least when it comes to this country: it is cold in the morning, it went below zero in the last few days. So yes, I am quite happy at the way things are shaping.

Verre de Noël

 Bon, on dirait bien que Noël s'en vient, même dans cette maison. Je trouve ça encore tôt un peu mais bon, ma femme a acheté ce verre de Noël. Avec des Pères Noëls, ou en tout cas des gnomes de Noël (des petits lutins?), du gui et des arbres de Noël. Ma femme s'en sert maintenant à chaque fois qu'elle veut boire un verre d'eau. Je crois que nos décorations des Fêtes vont sortir avant peu de temps.

Gingerbread Jewellery

 It is sitll far too early for Christmas, but I hope you won't mind me publishing of Yuletide today. Anyway, we went to e little town of Marlow recently and its main street was already full of Christmas decorations. Some businesses were rather impressive. This was the case of a jewellery shop. I could not resist and I had to take a picture. I am not a big fan of gingerbread as food, I mean I can eat it, but it is not my go-to sweet. But I love the atesthetic of gingerbread men, gingerbread houses and the likes. It's old-fashioned and not tacky. Anyway, here it is, I hope you enjoy.

La cuvée Ciné-cadeau 2024

 Je bloguais samedi dernier sur Ciné-cadeau, m'inquiétant un peu de l'absence de nouvelles. L'an dernier, l'horaire était connu dès le le milieu de novembre. Un lecteur, TeddyBeer, que je salue, m'a rassuré dans les commentaires, donnant une réponse à un courriel envoyé à Télé-Québec. Et le hasard fait bien les choses, la programmation de Ciné-cadeau a été dévoilée pas plus tard qu'hier. Ce que j'appelle la cuvée Ciné-cadeau. Je bloguerai plus avant sur le sujet, mais je trouve que c'est une bonne cuvée cette année, somme toute. Beaucoup de classiques, bien entendu, mais aussi quelques nouveautés susceptibles de plaire à petit loup. Oui, les films plus obscurs et marginaux me manquent, ceux qui venaient d'Europe de l'Est par exemple, mais malheureusement je crois que cette époque est révolue.

Getting Cold

As November goes on, temperatures here are slowly turning from autumnal into wintery. Slowly, but surely: there should be a serious drop this week and we should get to the freezing point. But no snow has been forecast, sadly. My wife is not too keen about the cold weather, but I love it. Time to wear layers and layers of warm clothes. I find winter to be comfortable and comforting. Sometimes, I step outside for a few minutes just to feel the cold air. So yeah, I am looking forward to properly cold days and I am tempted to almost hope for snow. Almost...

Plus de détails sur le Cinéma de 17 heures

J'ai écrit en mars 2019 un billet sur Le Cinéma de 17 heures de Radio-Canada. Je m'en rappelle beaucoup et peu à la fois, puisque ça passait alors que j'étas très jeune. Mais j'adorais. Enfin bref, quelqu'un a commenté sur le sujet la semaine dernière, de manière anonyme. Voici son commentaire: "Moi je m en rapelle très bien, avec Jean Ducharme et les 2 roues, une rouge et une bleue, mais je ne sais plus à quoi elles servaient 😅 il y avait les dents de la mer, à la recherche de la perle noire (film de pirate je crois? ) et des westerns". J'espère qu'il va commenter à nouveau et donner plus de détails. Anonyme, si vous me lisez, laissez-le moi savoir. Et en passant, les deux roues servaient à gagner des montants d'argent, si je me rappelle 100 dollars était le gros lot.

Secrets of Salamonis

Oh the treasures you can find in bookshops! During our last visit to the local bookshop, I stumbled upon Secrets of Salamonis, a Fighting Fantasy Gamebook. As far as I understand, the latest Fightning Fantasy Gamebook, published to celebrate their 40th anniversary. Which doesn't make anyone any younger. Be that as it may, I had to buy it, if only because I love gamebooks since I was a child. And because I need inspiration for our current D&Dr campaign. I haven't started it, but will do it soon.

Pain choco-canneberges

Nouvelle gastronomique d'importance trouvée sur la page Facebook de Première Moisson: le pain choco-canneberges est de retour. Autrement dit, ils font du crack. Dans les semaines avant Noël, c'est pas mal un de mes desserts préférés.

D&Dr for November

November means a lot of things to me: autumn turning into winter, Noirvember (thus crime fiction), but it also means medieval fantasy. And also playing Dungeons & Dragons. Back when Iwas a teenager, November might have been our busiest month, because none of our friends were on holiday and we had little family obligations during weekends, not to mention that the weather was often auspicious to it. So we spent most of our afternoons and some of our evenings playing D&Dr. This is a pleasure that I am rediscovering, as Wolfie has started playing too this year. So for the first time in decades, I am playing D&Dr in November.

Qu'en est-il de Ciné-cadeau 2024?

 J'ai fait un peu de recherche et je ne trouve nulle part, pour le moment, la cuvée Ciné-cadeau de 2024. En tout cas, pas au moment où j'écris ces lignes. C'est peut-être un peu tôt pour s'en inquiéter ou s'y intéresser, après tout je ne suis pas très porté sur Noël au milieu de novembre. Mais l'an dernier, la filmographie était sortie dès le 15 novembre. Alors donc, que se passe-t-il avec Ciné-cadeau?

Rooikat (word of the day)

The things you learn when you read crime fiction, particularly crime fiction from a different continent. So as you may know, I am currently reading South African  Deon Meyer's last novel, Leo. So I learned the existence of a wild cat called caracal or, in Afrikaans, rooikat. Which sounds darn cool. It's also the name they give to a South African tank. Now I love all cats, including wild cats, and I just love the name rooikat. I don't remember hearing about them before reading the novel, maybe I did, but did not notice, but anyway, I feel more cultured now. And rooikat (or caracal) is the word of the day.

Neiges de novembre (2)

 Autre photo de la neige tombée chez mes parents. Quand novembre annonce l'hiver.

Japanese Trains

My brother PJ is taking holidays in Japan at the moment. His second trip. I am not a fascinated as he is, or as I should be, towards the cultures of the Far East, but I do envy him for one thing: he has been traveling by train. I love all sorts of trains.  My favourite are the old fashioned steam trains, but Japanese trains, with their out of this world speed and high tech, well, they must be something too. So I watch this picture he took, the picture of a trin taken from a train, and I hope I can experience it.

Neiges de novembre

 Il neige en novembre chez mes parents. Donc, mon père m'envoie des photos. c'est quasiment l'hiver.

Poppies at the Gate

 Today is Remembrance Day. To commemorate, I am sharing a picture of the poppies on the fence at the entrance of the biggest local park. Every november they put it by the gate of the park, since at least 2020. This picture dates back from 2021, as we haven't been to the park in a long while. But anyway, I thought it was the proper way to commemorate the 11th of November.

La guerre de 14-18

Parce que nous sommes le 11 novembre, Jour du Souvenir, je partage blogue La guerre de 14-18 de Georges Brassens. Je l'ai déjà fait en 2015, mais bon... Je crois que je peux me le permettre à nouveau.

The smell of (future?) snow

 It often happens, come November: the air cools down dramatically and suddenly I start smelling something in it. Something that isn't here. I am talking of the smell of snow. I know it must be wishful thinking: it's much colder this month, but we are still ten degrees to warm, give or take, for any snow drop. Yet I can smell it, especially at night. This is something quite distinctive about November: it is still autumn, but winter is coming and, to a degree, already there. Sometimes I consider the second half of November a de facto winter. Be that as it may, it is one of the reasons why I have started loving this month. But if it snows in November, here, in the South of England... Well, that would be highly unusual.

Ryokan (mot du jour)

 Mon frère PJ est en voyage au Japon (le chanceux). C'est la deuxième fois qu'il s'y rend, il semble donc vraiment aimer ça. Il nous a envoyé des photos de son voyage. Celle-ci est celle du ryokan où il réside. Un ryokan est une auberge traditionnelle japonaise. Je ne connaissais pas le terme, c'est donc le mot du jour. La photo a beaucoup impressionné son neveu. Moi aussi, je dois dire. J'ai fait ma part de séjours dans des hôtels luxueux, mais celui-ci est en plus exotique.

Leo (#Noirvember)

I have been wanting it for at least a year, now I got it: South African crime writer Deon Meyer's latest novel,  Leo. Its English translation was released in October, I got it then, just on time for #Noirvember. I have been reading it at a fairly slow pace, not because I am a lazy reader, but because I really want to savour it. So far, so great. I should come back to it soon, because there is a lot of little things in it I want to blog about, aspects of African and South African life and so on. But for now, suffice to say that this is my book for November and Noirvember.

Clémentines

 Une amie a partagé cette photo dans un groupe de clavardage que l'on a sur Messenger. Je la partage ici avec sa permission. En novembre, c'est le temps des clémentines. Je m'en veux d'avoir presque oublié. AU Québec, on les vend en grandes boîtes.

"If you are the dealer, I'm out of the game"

I blogged this very song in 2016, from a fellow Montrealer, one of the greatest that lived. Because of similar circumstances. That's all I will say about it for now. Because it beats doomscrolling.

Aimer novembre

 Bon, si comme moi en ce moment vous avez soudainement novembre morne (pour une raison quelconque), un petit billet pour vous redonner un peu de bonheur. J'ai lu récemment deux articles dans la grosse Presse. Un sur pourquoi on déteste novembre et un autre sur dix raisons d'aimer novembre. Dans mon cas, j'aime novembre, bien que ça soit relativement récent comme sentiment, alors ça me concerne moins, mais il semblerait que ce soir le plus impopulaire de l'année. Mais je donnerais ma raison principale: c'est encore l'automne et c'est en général un mois calme et calmant. Mais lisez les deux articles, surtout ce lui sur les dix raisons d'aimer novembre, ça devrait vous faire du bien et vous inspirer.

The smell of bonfire in November.

Tonight is Bonfire Night. After living about twenty years in England, I sitll cannot get used to the noise of fireworks, which goes through the whole month. I am not the biggest fan, except for one thing: it also means this month is the month of, well bonfires too. So it smells of bonfire all thought November as well.And I love the smell of bonfire.I love it at any time, but especially in November, where it mixes with the cold air and makes it so very soothing. This is one of the many reasons why I now love the month.

Hockey bottine

 Mon père a pris cette photo d'enfants qui jouaient dans la rue au hockey bottine (hockey bottines?). Nous y avons joué enfants, mes frères et moi, dans la même rue. Pas tant que ça, mais quandmême, nous avons eu notre moment hockey bottine, pas tant en novembre que quand l'hiver était pris. Et c'est donc notre mot du jour.

Welsh rarebit

 We went to Waitrose recently and had lunch in their café. I was surprised to see that they served Welsh rarebits. I love a good Welsh rarebit, especially on a cold day, it is comfort food at its best, so I had to try it. Especially since I hadn't had one in ages, maybe in years. Just seeing it on the menu made me crave it. It was a decent one, albeit tasting a tad too much of mustard (even though I love mustard). All the same, it's been a long time, so I enjoyed it a lot.

Noël en novembre?

 J'ai lu hier un article dans la grosse Presse, appelé: Pourquoi Noël arrive si tôt? C'est une excellente question. Dès novembre, les commerces prennent les couleurs de Noël. Quel'on commence à magasiner des cadeaux pour les Fêtes, passe encore. Je le fais dès que la fête de ma femme est terminée, et elle arrive au début du mois. Mais est-ce bien nécessaire d'en faire autant déjà? J'en ferai peut-être une question existentielle, mais mettons que ça m'agace.

November is #Noirvember

 I used to dislike November, not so long, then I came back to my senses and ended up embracing the month. One of the reasons why is that I discovered the concept of #Noirvember. It's a yearly, month long celebration of Noir movies. But I extend it to Noir novels and crime fiction in general. So yes, instead of feeling gloom and doom for November, I embrace the month's gloom and doom and I binge read crime fic. It's grim, it's bloody, it's violent, it's just so much fun. I will keep you posted of course. And I hope I will convince some of you to join me and enjoy #Noirvember.

Le temps du feu de foyer

 Il y a des gens qui n'aiment pas novembre. J'en faisais partie, mais j'ai pris du mieux. Et je vous donne ici des raisons pour aimer novembre: 1)c'est toujours l'automne, 2)c'est toujours l'automne, 3)c'est toujours l'automne, 4)c'est le temps parfait pour les feux de foyer. Je n'ai pas de foyer, mais j'envie ceux qui en ont. Et ici, avec la tradition anglaise du Bonfire Night, c'est tout le mois de novembre qui sent bon la fumée.

Post. Halloween. Blues.

 Today is the first of November, All Saint's Day, the one and only day in autumn that I don't really like. Because Halloween is over, of course. And that it is Friday does not make it any less painful. I have made my peace with November. I used to dislike the month, now I take it as another autumnal month and I enjoy it almost as much as the others. But its very first day is always, always, always painful. Nevertheless, I will not spend the rest of the month moaning. Watch this space, I will blog more and I will be more cheerful, promise.

Tarowean (Toussaint)

 "

"Je suis l'océan Pacifique et je suis le plus grand. On m'appelle ainsi depuis très longtemps, mais ce n'est pas vrai que je suis toujours pacifique. Je me fâche parfois, et alors je donne une raclée à tous et à tout. Aujourd'hui par exemple, je viens de me calmer mais hier, je dois avoir tout raflé sur trois ou quatre îles et autant de coquilles de noix que les hommes appellent bateaux... Celle-ci... Oui, celle que vous voyez ici, je ne sais pas comment elle a pu s'en sortir. C'est peut-être parce que le capitaine Raspoutine connaît son métier et que ses marins viennent des îles Fidji. Ou bien parce qu'ils ont fait un pacte avec le Diable. Mais cela n'a pas d'importance, aujourd'hui c'est "Tarowean", le jour des surprises, le jour de tous les Saints, le 1er novemvre 1913."

Parce que c'est la Toussaint, je cite le début de La ballade de la mer salée d'Hugo Pratt. Une tradition sur ce blogue depuis quelques années déjà.

Halloween explained to children

Halloween is here and before it is over, I wanted to share with you two pages from Charlie Brown's Fourth Super Book of Questions and Answers. A friend of mine had it and thought little of the book (or Halloween). I was fascinated by the book and had been wanting it since then. As it is out of print, I am sharing it here today.

Les provisions pour les Halloweeneux

 Les provisions pour ce soir, faites par mes parents, pour les enfants qui passent l'Halloween dans le quartier. Ils ne font pas les choses à moitié... Et j'espère pouvoir être aussi extravagant un jour.

Happy Halloween!

 Well, it's finally here: Happy Halloween everyone! It is finally here, yet it arrives too soon: I don't feel like I have done enough. I haven't read enough, or watched horror movies. But I carved seven Jack O'Lanterns! Which is quite a feat in itself. With Wolfie's help, of course. He designed a lot of them. But this one is designed by me, as you probably guessed, I try to make them scary. I will try to blog more and visit yours, but will be busy with trick or treat. So much to enjoy, so very little time.

La pizza de l'Halloween

 Ma femme a fait une pizza pour petit loup,tirée d'une recette d'Hello Fresh. C'est une pizza de l'Halloween, avec des olives pour faire des araignées. Elles ont l'air vraies en plus. Petit détour nostalgique: la pizza était ce qu'on mangeait, mes frères et moi, avant de passer l'Halloween. Et c'est sans doute de la pizza que l'on mangera ce soir.

First Jack O'Lantern

We started carving pumpkins yesterday, Wolfie and I. We have seven pumpkins all in all. Maybe I should have started earlier, but I know if you carve them too early pumpkins can start rotting and we don't want that before the big night. So anyway, Wolfie chose the pumpkin and the design. I did most of the scooping after he got bored taking off the squeeshy bits and the seed, then the carving. What do you think? I hope it looks good tomorrow for trick or treat.

Les chauves-souris

Mon père a décoré le portico avec des chauves-souris, pour quand les enfants du quartier viendront passer l'Halloween. Ce n'est pas l'Halloween sans quelques chauves-souris.

The Werewolf and the Train

For today's countdow to Halloween, a post about our visit to the a "Scarecrow Festival",which is held in a nearby village. It is now a family tradition come Halloween. I don't know who had the idea, but one of the scarecrows on display had a spooky train and a werewolf next to it. With pumpkins in the surroundings. In the train, a dino(!) and the Grim Reaper. There's a horror story to be written about it, I`m sure. Either way, this looks so darn cool.

Première neige

 Il a neigé au Saguenay avant-hier. Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo.

A druid for scarecrow?

 We went to the annual Scarecrow Festival held in a nearby village recently. You know that I love scarecrows, especially round Halloween: they represent autumn, harvest and they do have a sinister side too. Read this post from 2009 to see what I mean. So they are fitting for Halloween and for horror stories. I was happily surprised that some of the scarecrows we saw were thus properly scary. This one in paritcular. I might get it wrong, but I believe it is supposed to be a druid, with the bottom of his white robe bloodied. It might be a direct allusion to a horror movie, but having not seen them all, I cannot be sure. Tell me in the comments. In any case, Halloween being at its origins a Pagan and Celtic holiday, it is all the more fitting.

L'Ankou

Cette image a été prise dans la Bible pour l'Halloween, enfin un bouquin qui est pour moi comme un livre sacré lorsque vient ce temps de l'année. J'ai nommé Halloween: Sorcières, lutins, fantômes et autres croquemitaines.. L'image est bien entendu celle de l'Ankou, le psychopompe breton qui mérite de faire partie des personnages de l'Halloween. J'aimerais bien le retrouver dans une histoire d'horreur ou deux également.

Rowan Trees (against the Forces of Darkness)

For today's countdown to Halloween post, I thought I would mention a weapon against supernatural forces that is seldom seen or used nowadays in horror stories. If at all. I am talking of course of the rowan tree. This one on the picture (dating back from 2009) is of the family's rowan tree. I mentioned it before, here and here. Because in mythology and folklore, rowan trees are meant to provide protection against malevolent beings, particularly against witches. So I could easily see rowan trees used to protect homes against witches, devils and ghosts and its branches, leaves and fruits be essential elements of protective magic. Maybe also turn the branches into blunt weapons. To top it off, with its fiery colours in autumn, rowan trees add great seasonal atmosphere for Halloween stories. So they should be featured in horror fiction. I guess I might have to be the one reintroducing them.

Feu de foyer

 Mon père a allumé un feu de foyer le jour de sa fête. Ah, les joies de l'automne qui me manquent ici!

A thought on Dracula

 For today's countdown to Halloween post, a thought about J.H. Brennan's gamebook Dracula's Castle, the original novel Dracula, and of course the Dracula Game. I think one of the appeals of the novel and what makes it stand apart to this day from other horror stories and make its title character such a terrifying antagonist is that he is not merely a monster in the shadow, but a bona fide conqueror. Because Count Dracula's scheme is to actually invade the British Empire and then the world. He has ambitions. That's what makes him such a great villain and such great antagonist for a make belief or role-playing games. This is what so many adaptations miss, because of limited budgets or because they simply don't get the character. Dracula wants to invade, subdue, conquer, dominate human civilisation. When he is in a story, the stakes should be high.

Danse macabre à l'orgue

C'est une tradition sur ce blogue: je partage une vidéo de la Danse Macabre de Camille Saint-Saëns quand l'Halloween approche. Assez récente et jouée à l'orgue. L'orgue étant peut-être l'instrument de musique officieux de l'Halloween, plus que le violon.

Monstrum on slasher movies

Quick countdown to Halloween post as I really wanted to blog about it: Monstrum made a video recently about slashers. It is very good and I had to share it. To be honest, I only ever truly love one slasher movie. While I love horror, I prefer old Gothic stories with ghosts and vampires, but I digress. All the same, as always, it's fascinating.

Les loups-garous de Thiercelieux en film

Petite nouvelle ciné française et d'horreur: j'ai appris il y a quelques semaines que le jeu de société Les loups-garous de Thiercelieux a été adapté en film et qu'il est disponible sur Netflix. Je compte le regarder d'ici à l'Halloween. Mais il faudrait vraiment que je m'achète le jeu et que j'y joue un peu. Il est disponible ici, alors je n'ai aucune excuse.

The old man fighting the Forces of Darkness

For today's countdown to Halloween post, I wanted to talk not about the monsters and devils of horror stories, but about the heroes fighting them. I took this picture from Where the Shadows Stalk of the Forbidden Gateway  gamebook series. This is Professor Charles Petrie-Smith, one of these heroes. In the gamebooks, he is the one asking your character for help when the story starts and he is a provider of vital information regarding the mysteries and dangers you must face. He is, in essence, the Van Helsing character of the series. He has many equivalent in other stories: Baron Vordenburg, Dr Samuel Loomis, the Persian, etc. Sadly, you don't see them much anymore in modern horror stories, in films or in literature. And I think it's a loss. Our fictitious world needs more Petrie-Smiths, especially when there is someone or something hiding in the shadows.

L'Halloween à Chicoutimi

Autre photo prise par mon père lors d'une de ses promenades. Les cours deviennent vite des cimetières quand vient l'Halloween.

Reese's Pumpkins

 It's a staple of the season: Reese's chocolates. Especially the ones shaped like pumpkins. I see them from time to time in the local sweet shop, but come October, they are everywhere. They are among the earliest sign of the season. I don't see Reese's given for trick or treat anymore, probably because of peanut allergies. As a child, I don't think I ever ate them except during Halloween, after trick or treat. Now, as an adult, I always buy some when I see them. I share them with Wolfie of course. Hey, it's not so bad: the peanut butteris full of proteins.

La citrouille de (grand-)papa

Mon père a creusé sa citrouille. Il m'a envoyé des photos. J'en partage une ce soir. À un peu moins d'une semaine de l'Halloween, j'espère que ce n'est pas torp tôt. Mais mon talent pour les citrouilles, je le dois à mon père.

October Pumpkin Patch

 As you probably remember, I am currently reading October Screams. So far it's a great read. And something struck me recently: the back cover of the book is just as good, maybe even better, than the front cover. You can see a field of pumpkins, or rather of fully lit Jack O'Lanterns, and a spooky looking scarecrow in the background. Scarecrows truly are a staple of Halloween, especially if they have a Jack O'Lantern as a head. Which I am sure is the case there. And I had to share it here.

Les fantômes et les araignées

 Autre photo prise par mon père lors de ses promenades. Avec l'éclairage orange, c'est sans doute plus effrayant encore.

The Weird Sisters

I am sharing another picture taken by my father during one of his walks. This time, it is three witches, who of course reminded me of the Weird Sisters in the Scottish Play. By the way, it's a great play to watch come Halloween.

L'Halloween à Chicoutimi

 Photo prise par mon père lors d'une de ses promenades. C'est tout pour le moment.

Beware the Witch

My father went on a walk recently and he took a few pictures of some lawns decorated for Halloween. This photo is maybe my favourite. I just love that witch! She is so deliciously scary.

L'automne au Saguenay

 Des fois mon père m'envoie des photos de l'automne à Chicoutimi...

Werewolf Mask

For today's countdown to Halloween post, another post about werewolves. I did some rambling about them in 2018, so I might repeat myself here, sorry if that is the case. Anyway, I saw this werewolf maks (for half the face) in the local toy shop and it kind of inspired me. As an amateur of traditional, classic horror stories and trope, I am surprised that I read fairly little werewolf fiction. Most of the time, I stumbled upon werewolf stories. I will try to find more, partially because I love wolves in general, but also because I might try my hands on a horror story or two featuring lycanthropes. I would like to use elements that we don't see anymore, like people becoming a werewolf through something else than infection after being attacked by one. Although I don't know how to proceed from there. But hey, I think we need more werewolves in spooky stories. Don't you? Let me know in the comments.

Champ de citrouilles

 Nous sommes allés dans une ferme pour enfants locale en fin de semaine. Comme à chaque année, ils ont un "pumpkin patch", ou un (faux) champ de citrouilles où on peut se servir. C'est une activité que l'on fait quand vient le temps de l'Halloween. Elles ne sont pas toutes belles, certaines citrouilles sont ou bien abîmées ou bien un tantinet mangées par les limaces, mais on peut en trouver quelques potables. Et puis c'est pour le plaisir de participer, un peu, aux récoltes. Petit loup adore. On en donne une gratuite par enfants et si on a des abonnements on a un rabais en plus. Alors ça demeure pas trop cher comme activité.

Scarecow Jack

I saw this Jack O'Lantern on the window of a local business. It was fairly small and well hidden, but I have an eye for it. I love it, it is all shadowy and it is also a scarecrow. The mix of Jack O'Lantern and scarecrow always work, IMO. A perfect image of the season and the Season. It is autumnal, it is Halloweeny and it also represents harvest. Oh and by the way, the Scarecrow Festival will start soon, so you will see more of these critters.

Soupe à la citrouille

J'ai acheté de la soupe à la citrouille à Laurent il y a quelques jours. Parce que c'est l'Halloween et donc le temps de la citrouille, parce que c'est l'automne et donc le temps de la soupe. Je ne l'ai pas encore mangée, si elle est bonne j'en achèterai d'autres. Je ne mange pas de soupe assez souvent, ce qui est étrange parce que j'en suis assez friand, surtout quand arrive l'automne, surtout pour la soupe à la citrouille. Je n'en fais pas, au lieu de ça j'en achète quand j'en trouve dans les commerces qui ont l'air d'avoir de l'allure. J'avais une coloc, dans mon année à Liverpool, qui avait fait une grosse batch de soupe à la citrouille juste après l'Halloween, ça m'avait sustenté pendant des semaines.

Gibbet Hill (a "new" ghost story by Bram Stoker)

For today's countdown to Halloween, some great news for the amateurs of gothic horror, like myself. Especially those, again, like myself, who are fans of of Dracula. My wife pointed me to this article: they found a long lost ghost story by Bram Stoker, after 134 years. It is titled Gibbet Hill and I hope to find a full copy online soon. Until then, I don't want to read too much about it. Stoker had written just when he had started working on his most famous novel, so that ought to be interesting not only as a bona fide horror story, but on a genetic perspective: there might be some tropes or themes common to both short story and novel. Or not. Either way, what a timely discovery, just before Halloween.

Tourtière

 Mes parents ont fait une tourtière la semaine dernière, pour mon frère, sa femme et ses deux garçons. Il faut bien leur fairedécouvrir leurs racines saguenéennes. Je n'avais pas la photo, mais mon père me l'a envoyée pour que je la partage. Parce que chaque repas de tourtière, bien entendu, est une excuse pour partager la photo, puisque je ne peux pas la savourer. En plus, c'est pas mal le temps idéal pour manger de la tourtière.