"L'Halloween au Québec"

Il y a un an, j'ai découvert par hasard qu'il y avait un livre pour enfants, pour enfants très jeunes, appelé L'Halloween au Québec. Je parle d'un livre pour enfants d'âge préscolaire. Petit loup est déjà trop grand pour que ce soit un livre pour lui. Qu'à cela ne tienne, je l'ai demandé en cadeau pour Noël (!) juste pour moi, parce que je veux une bibliothèque bien remplie de bouquins sur l'Halloween pour tous les âges. Dans tous les cas, je le reocmmande parce que c'est très éducatif.

Soon the Scarecrow Festival

For today's countdown to Halloween post, a bit of news: as you may know, a nearby village hosts every year a Scarecrow Festival. Well, I have seen the banners on display advertising the upcoming event. So it will happen again. Scarecrows are a staple of Halloween and autumn to me: they represent harvest, of course, but they also have that unsettling appearance, not quite human, especially when their head is a Jack O'Lantern, like for their mascot. The festival is just as much about Halloween as it is about scarecrows. Watching them always fire up my imagination.

Une Hobgoblin pour PJ

C'est aujourd'hui la fête de mon frère PJ. Comme c'est la tradition sur ce blogue, je partage une photo de la a  Hobgoblin de  Wychwood Brewery. Une vieille bouteille, qui date de 2018, dans le temps qu'ils avaient des étiquettes spéciales pour l'Halloween, dont ils se déclaraient la bière officieuse. Et ils ne faisaient pas dans les demi-mesures, comme vous pouvez le constater sur cette photo. PJ a bu de la Hobgoblin lors de son dernier voyage ici en 2017, c'est une des raisons pour laquelle je souligne son anniversaire avec cette photo. Mais c'est aussi que, la fête de mon frère étant en octobre, je l'ai toujours associée avec l'Halloween.

The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight (meh)

For today's countdown to Halloween post, I wanted to share a first reading experience for me, but unfortunately an underwhelming one. A few months ago, I found in a books sale at Wolfie's school, from the Goosebumps series. I remember back when I was a teenager, a lot of kids, barely out of childhood, reading the series eagerly. In my case, I was already reading adult horror, especially old classics. So I thought little of it. But the book, as you can see on the picture, has for title The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight. And I love scarecrows in horror stories. Especially when, like you can see on the cover, it has a Jack O'Lantern as a head. So I bought it, out of curiosity and because even though I never judge a book by its cover, I do buy them sometimes because I like the cover. If nothing else, it would be seasonal, or so I thought. Well, no. It's set in the middle of summertime. Halloween is thus not featured at all. And, while there are lots of scarecrows, none has a pumpkin head. Furthermore, it's really poorly written, really aimed at children and not scary at all. In faxct, I don't think I would have enjoyed it when I was among the Goosebumps series target readers. But hey, cool cover. Anyway, I promise I will give a proper reading recommendation next time.

Première Moisson en mode Halloween

J'apprends via la page Facebook de Première Moisson qu'ils ont leur propre "pumpkin spice latte". Ou, comme ils le traduisent, latté à la cétrouille épicée. Je ne bois pas de café (je déteste), alors non, je n'ai pas l'impression de manquer quelque chose. Mais ma femme elle est une grande buveuse de café et de latté à la citrouille, alors ce sera une autre marque à essayer pour elle lorsque nous serons à Montréal en automne (à notre retraite? lorsque Wolfie sera à l'université?). Dans tous les cas, je suis heureux que Première Moisson se mette encore plus en mode automnal et aussi en mode Halloween.

Jack O'Fanta

For today's countdown to Halloween post, something a bit different, as this post is about... sodas. As in soda drinks. A couple of weeks ago, I stopped in one of the local shops for a quick top up. I was happily surprised to see that the Fanta soft drinks were already embracing the spooky season: their cans of lemon sodas had a Jack O'Lantern on them. Rather creepy and menacing, actually. A shame I find the taste of the drink rather akin to cough syrup. Surely, it should have been orange, as the website advertises. Or better still: pumpkin flavoured (even though pumpkin does not taste much by itself). Be that as it may, this is unironically one of the best Jack O'Lantern designs I have seen this year. So I might use it as inspiration for our own pumpkins.

Le Viennois durant l'Halloween

L'Halloween, c'est aussi le temps des sucreries, et on n'attend pas le 31 pour en profiter. Enfin bref, j'ai remarqué que sur le site en ligne de la pâtisserie de Chicoutimi Le Viennois, il y a toute une section sur l'Halloween. On y trouve notamment ce gâteau à pâte blanche, avec une citrouille dessus. "Indisponible pour le moment," enfin alors que j'écris ces lignes, alors je coupçonne qu'ils n'en offrent pas depuis un bout de temps déjà. Mais quand même, je me paierais bien une visite rien que pour voir, si je vivais toujours à Chicoutimi.

Fearsome Witch

 For today's countdown to Halloween post, I wanted to share a picture my father took during one of his walks. There are already Halloween displays in front of houses, like this one, ready for trick or treat. You might have seen this witch before, because it's on display every year and every year I share a few pictures of her. She is just deliciously sinister. And this year, she is putting a Jack O'Lantern in a cauldron. God knows what she is stewing in there. I think there is a story to tell about her. Maybe one day.

Des Jos Louis à la citrouille?

C'est mon frère PJ qui a pris cette photo, à ma demande. Des Jos Louis, mais à la citrouille et aux épices. Je savais que Vachon faisait des variations de leurs classiques, mais je ne savais pas qu'ils se mettaient en mode automnal et Halloweenesque. Ce n'est pas moi qui m'en plaindrai. Je ne crois pas que ce soit aussi bon que les originaux (le Jos Louis n'est pas un classique pour rien), mais je serais curieux d'en essayer, rien que pour voir.

Scarecrow Bookmark

For today's countdown to Halloween post, I wanted to blog about one essential item of my spooky season: the bookmark. I try as much as possible to read the scary stories (or cute Halloween stories, because I read those too) I read this time of year with selected Halloween bookmarks. I buy them in bulk, sometimes I use leaflets and similar things as makeshift bookmarks for the season. So yes, among the one I have been using this Halloween, the bookmark here might be my favourite. I just love a Jack O'Lantern as the head of a scarecrow, they just go so well together. This is a perfectly seasonal Halloween image. Beautifully macabre and atmospheric. So yeah, I wanted to share it today. And you, do you have special bookmarks for Halloween? Tell me in the comments.

Countdown to Halloween!

 It is the first of October, therefore the Countdown to Halloween has officially begun! To say that I love this time of year is an understatement. Vraie Fiction will be exclusively focused on my favourite holiday for the rest of the month, I will post about all its aspects, but especially its spooky nature. Expect to read about a number of scary stories or tropes of scary stories. If you are curious, this picture was taken two weeks ago or so at the Cancer Research UK shop of Wallingford. I just loved the display, so perfectly perfect, even better than the window display of our local one. I suspect Wallingford to be a great place for Halloween. In any case, happy countdown everyone and watch this space.

M&S in Halloween Mode

Okay, so the Halloween countdown starts tomorrow, but all the same, I have been in the mood for it since AUgust at least. And I have been happily surprised that many shops are also preparing in advance. Our local cMarks & Spencer had this window image in the window.A  Jack O'Lantern (or two), a vampire, a witch (with her bubbly, creepy cauldron), a ghost, a black cat, a skeleton... It's like the perfect gathering of Halloween critters. It will almost make me forgive them for having Christmas stuff already. Otherwise, going there this time of year is a treat.

"It's that time of year..."

I found this meme online and I had to share it. This is of course very me. The books, the warm clothes, the blankets, the tea especially. And soon I will be buying pumpkins. Now if only the weather could be cooler, so I could wear said warm clothes all day...

Halloween at the Vet

We went to the vet recently, because Domino needed a check-up. And I was happily surprised to see that they had already Halloweenised the place. They had a few decorations, but what was striking was the amount of toys and treats for cats and dogs that were pumpkin coloured or had Jack O'Lanterns or other seasonal classics, like bats and witches. There was nothing macabre, every little critter was fluffy, plush and smiling. All the same, more than a month before Halloween, it's a fairly rare sight around here. I was tempted to buy Domino these "Pumpkin Pals," cute smiling Jack O'Lanterns, but we had to get home, so in the end we left without buying anything. I might stop by or try to find the Pals elsewhere.

I'm a Cryptkeeper

I wonder if you have noticed, but I have a new badge on the sidebar. As we are getting closer to Halloween, I have registered again to the Countdown to Halloween as a Cryptkeeper. So I got the new Cryptkeeper badge. I love the new badges, this one is my favourite. So come October, you will have me blogging almost exclusively about my favourite holiday. In all its aspects, but I will especially focus on scary stories. So watch this space, things are going to get spooky.

Halloween and a September Memory

I found this meme online, at the beginning of the month. I wanted to share it today before it gets too deep in the month. My wife would agree that this is very me. It also reminded me of an anecdote from my childhood. My brother PJ's birthday is in October. Because of this, we prepared his birthday during the month of September. When we went to the shop to buy decorations and accessories for his birthday party, we often took the opportunity to check and buy Halloween decorations too, as they had starting getting on sales. One Saturday after lunch, around mid-September, before going to the shops, my brothers and I first stopped to talk to my best friend, who lived on the same street as me. I was all enthusiastic about the afternoon's plans, so I told him we were going to go Halloween shopping. My friend looked at me disdainfully and said: "It's way too early for Halloween!" His father had the same disdainful reaction, using the exact same words. I changed the topic, but the conversation felt awkward and my friend remained cold and aloof, borderline rude at times. After a few minutes, we excused ourselves and went shopping. Years later, we ended up growing apart. It's nothing dramatic, it happens to a lot of childhood friends, they rarely all survive teenage and adulthood. But I always suspected that it had started that day. My friend had no interest whatsoever towards my favourite holiday. Fair enough, but he didn't have to be so dismissive about it.

First Sign of Halloween

Last Sunday, we went to town. As we were walking on the high street, we saw the window of the local Cancer Research UK shop. And it made me very happy. See for yourself. It's full of pumpkins, leaves, it has a few small Jack O'Lanterns and, well, it's just a great display. The first proper sign of Halloween to come since the beginning of September. I love the attitude: whatever some people may say about autumn starting only with the equinox, the season truly starts with the month of September. And now is not too early for Halloween.

Augtober (You Are Here)

 I found this meme online and I thought I would share it. Because mentally, I'm here. It is not August, it is Augtober. Yes, it's not time to pick up pumpkins yet, but all the same, Halloween is on my mind: I am reading horror stories already and I am this close to decorate the house with autumnal stuff. It's far too hot, the worst summer we had in decades, nevertheless I am looking for signs of autumn. Anyway, that's me. And for you, is it Augtober too?

Summerween is a thing

A few days ago, while she was doing a grocery shop online, my wife saw some Halloween articles on sale: Jack O'Lantern cushions or something. It must be a manifestation of Summerween. Yes I know the term, which is our word of the day. Do I think it's too early to think about Halloween? No. Do I do Summerween? Well, yes and no. I don't really put any Halloween decorations out, but some of my autumnal ornaments remain on display all year round. And I do long for Halloween all year, so I make a countdown to the countdown. I start reading horror stories in summertime (albeit maybe not that early) and watch horror related stuff. It helps me cope with the heat and the long days. Be that as it may, I'm glad I'm not the only one to be in a spooky mood already.

Time to grow a pumpkin patch?

 I found this meme a few days ago in one of the Halloween pages I follow. Now is the time to grow pumpkins, apparently. I am not so sure I should: last time I did was catastrophic, the slugs ate them all, no matter what I tried to keep them away. It broke my heart, it really did, and crushed my hopes of becoming a half-decent gardener. That said, I love this meme because it reminds me I am not so far away from spooky season. I just need to be patient.