THE Scarecrow

So for today's countdown to Halloween post: scarecrows. So we went to the Scarecrow Festival two days ago.And there was a lot to love and blog about, but I wanted to share the best scarecrow we saw. This one. Many were cute and inventive, but I thought not enough of them were scary. Then, walking back to our car, cutting through the woods, we got slightly lost, then quickly found our way back to the village. And we saw this scarecrow. A Jack O'Lantern as the head, surrounded by actual crows, punpkins at its feet, the evening was falling down, a quintessential autumnal image... I could have watched it until night time. Then again, maybe he'd have started moving and chasing us. This scarecrow belongs to a horror story, which I hope to write one day.

The Grim Raker

For today's countdown to Halloween post, first, a bit of news: the annual Scarecrow Festival will start again soon, so get ready to see a lot of scarecrow pictures on Vraie Fiction. I took this picture last year at the very Scarecrow Festival. A Grim Reaper that truly is a Rake Reaper. I found it deliciously scary and perfectly autumnal, even if the rake gives it a comical touch. A lot of the scarecrows featured at the festival are funny, many are scary, some are both. I would love to write a story about this Reaper. Well, I'd probably change the rake for a scythe, but I would keep the white shroud and the pumpkin.

Le perroquet d'or?

 En passant près d'un lot de jardins, il y a quelques jours, j'ai vu ce perroquet doré, enfin je crois que c'est supposé d'être un perroquet, c'est peut-être autre chose, peut-être un oiseau imaginaire. Je suppose qu'il est utilisé comme épouvantail, ou alors c'est rien qu'une décoration. Mais je l'ai pris en photo dans tous les cas, parce que j'ai trouvé qu'il avait une allure intéressante et qu'il avait retenu mon attention. On voit souvent des épouvantails originaux dans les jardins, je n'en avais jamais vu comme celui-ci.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Halloween Choco-Lollies

I bought these recently at Lidl. They have a great section of sweets and food for Halloween. Not so much because of the taste of the food, but because of the wrapping and packaging. They have scarecrow Jack O'Lanterns as their sort of mascots and I love it. It's just spooky enough, it's atmospheric and not gory at all. I bought some stuff for trick or treat, but these I might keep for the faily. I would keep the wrapping if I could.

I'm a Cryptkeeper

 It is not officially the countdown to Halloween, but I have been counting the days since last Halloween. And, more specifically since August, I have started the preparation. Because yes, the Halloween season starts as early as possible for me. So anyway, you may have noticed that I put up the Cryptkeeper badge for 2024 already. There was a wide choice, I went for the one with the scarecrow Jack O'Lantern. Scarecrows, especially with pumpkin heads, are a staple for Halloween and they are great in horror stories. This one is suitably spooky.

Little Scarecrows

 Well, it seems that I'm not the only one thinking of Halloween already. We were walking by the local allotment yesterday and we saw these: two tiny, child size scarecrows, one boy, one girl, one holding a little plastic Jack O'Lantern thingie. (Can you see the Jack, by the way? It's hanging on the left hand side of the boy scarecrow). They looked cute, yet deliciously creepy. Must be their size. Anyway, whoever made them, I love the way they are thinking. And I think there is at least one scary story to write about these little scarecrows. What do you think?

Halloween Passenger Car

 I might come off as obsessive, but I simply could not wait until October for this one: I saw on the Twitter account of : LGB hasa new wagon, a Halloween passenger car. I want it. I really, really, badly want it. It might be even better than the other Halloween trains they have made before. It is just so perfectly spooky, with its scarecrows and the witch in the full moon and the evil ghostly tree. Oh if storage space and money were no objections...

May Fayre's Scarecrows

Last Saturday, our family went to the local May Fayre,one of my favourite yearly events. They had a few stands, selling lots of things, some useful, some just cute, including these scarecrows. I love scarecrows. They are for me some of the creatures of autumn, reminding me of the coming harvests. Even in May, they are a sign that my favourite season will eventually arrive. It helps me to stay patient. Sadly, as we were rushing, I didn't buy one this year. But I took this picture.

The Spider and the Witch

For today's countdown to Hallwoeen post (the post in English anyway, I already wrote one in French), another picture taken at the "Scarecrow Festival." They had so many great entries this year. And it is kind of a shame that there is so little time to share them all. Anyway, one of the critters I particularly loved is this gigantic spider. If you look at it carefully, you can see there are the feet and the broomstick of a witch peeking out of the spider's mouth: she is literally eating the witch. I suspect the witch used her spell and some accursed potion to increase the size of a common spider, to use the arachnid for some nefarious plot. But the beast turned wild and out of control and took the witch for a fly. There is definitely a story to be told about this and I might just write it one day.

No More Scarecrows?

For today's countdown to Halloween post, a bit more of the "Scarecrow Festival."This was one of the cutest displays: one sympathetic to the crows. The only scarecrow there was, well, this faux scarecrow.

Well, crows need love too. And we need to see more of them come Halloween, they bring their own spookiness to the season. We found the display very sweet in any case.

Trois épouvantails...

Photo prise lors du "Scarecrow Festival". Il y en a des comme ça, des épouvantails qui ne sont pas faits grâce à un artisan amateur, mais achetés. J'en ai trois à peu près pareils sur mon bureau. Cela dit, pour moi l'Halloween et l'automne, ça veut dire des épouvantails et plus il y en a, mieux c'est. Des gentils, des sinistres, des avec citrouilles, des sans citrouilles comme tête. Juste de voir ça rend l'environnement plus automnal et je crois que l'on devrait avoir des épouvantails partout, dans la maison et sur le terrain. Donc, je tenais à partager la photo de ces trois-là.

Macabre Butler

For today's third(!) countdown to Halloween post, another picture taken from the Scarecrow Festival. Which uses the term scarecrow rather liberally, but that's all right. Some "scarecrows" were no scarecrows at all and were rather macabre. Take this charming fella, for instance. A skeleton butler who looks like the Grim Reaper's cousin. Some Halloween decorations deserve their own horror story. Because I think there is a story to be told about this guy: elegant, probably polite, even amicable, but definitely oh so sinister. Like the villains in old Gothic stories. Somebody wants to imagine his life (so to speak) story? Write your ideas in the comments.Starting perhaps with a name.

L'araignée dévoreuse

 Je partage encore une fois une photo prise au "Scarecrow Festival" d'un village pas loin. Comme je le disais avant, certains épouvantails ne sont pas vraiment des épouvantails, en tout cas l'interprétation était assez large. Cela dit, il y avait des horreurs, sans faire de mauvais jeu de mots. Des trucs vraiment propres à l'Halloween. Dont cet "épouvantail", une araignée géante qui a pris dans sa toile un homme et qui le dévore. Épouvantable.

A Headless Horseman for Scarecrow

 For today's countdown to Halloween, a bit of local news. Last weekend, we went to a nearby village's "Scarecrow Festival," a tradition started in 2020, which is also a bit of a Halloween festival before the big night. It was a perfect autumn day when we went, sunny and cool. They had lots and lots of scary scarecrows, some not so scary, some just funny, others sweet. One of them was this one, a headless horseman of sorts, with his "head" a Jack O'Lantern, held under his arm. And with the autumn wreath by the door, it was just perfect.

Les crayons de l'Halloween

 Nous sommes allés au "Scarecrow Festival" hier. J'ai pris beaucoup, beaucoup, beaucoup de photos et je crois que je vais les partager encore longtemps après l'Halloween. Que voulez-vous, j'aime les épouvantails et ce sont des créatures que j'associe avec l'Halloween. Il y avait beaucoup de créatures qui avaient peu à voir avec un épouvantail, mais le travail était impressionnant. À l'entrée de la salle communautaire du village, il y avait donc ces Craoylas, entourés de citrouilles pour éviter toute ambiguïté. Le rapport avec les épouvantails, le rapport avec l'Halloween? Aucun. Nous avons songé à aller prendre un verre dans la salle communautaire, qui est un pub sans en avoir le nom, mais le décor intérieur était passablement plus sinistre (macabre en fait) et petit loup n'a pas beaucoup aimé. Comme quoi il ne faut pas se fier à l'apparence externe d'un lieu.

Les arachides de l'Halloween

 Oh des fois l'Angleterre offre des trucs cools pour l'Halloween. Ce n'est pas encore assez célébré à mon goût, mais il y a de l'espoir. Toujours est-il que j'ai trouvé à Lidl une gamme de produits spécialement conçus pour l'Halloween, avec un emballage parfait: un épouvantail à tête de citrouille en guise de mascotte avec une maison hantée en arrière-fond. J'ai acheté pleins de trucs, de desserts surtout, mais aussi ce sac d'arachides à différentes saveurs. Pas si tant génial, je préfère les arachides salées "ordinaires", mais ça se prend bien avec une bière et je l'ai acheté rien que pour l'image.