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.