Eerie Tales from Transylvania

I found the reading for tonight's countdown to Halloween in an Oxfam in Bath more than ten years ago. So it is a rarity which you might struggle to find. The book is titled Ghosts, Vampires, and Werewolves: Eerie Tales from Transylvania. And boy does it deliver! Not all tales are scary but those who are... Apart from the creatures of the title you'll find in it the guardian spirit of a forest who is not shy of killing with extreme prejudice to fulfill his duty, devils in all forms and a number of other critters and weird primitive customs. It's chilling but fascinating, giving you a lot of information about the land and its people's culture that is free from the "contaminations" of a certain Gothic novel (which I nevertheless love). Special mention to The Red Emperor's Son, a bizarre dreamlike fairy tale that is literally the stuff of nightmares.

Le poème de la citrouille

J'ai pris une citrouille
J'en ai fait un lampion
Lampion couleur de rouille
Le nez en tire-bouchon
(...)
De gros yeux immobiles
Et le sourire fade.

J'ai déjà blogué sur ce poème. Je l'ai appris par coeur en troisième année, je ne me souviens plus du milieu du poème, seulement de son début et de sa fin. La troisième année n'a pas été ma préférée, mais tout ce qui concerne l'Halloween à l'école, je m'en rappelle et ce sont des bons souvenirs. Je ne crois pas qu'il y ait aucune trace du poème de la citrouille, malheureusement. À part sur ce blogue. J'ai cherché en ligne, je n'ai rien trouvé, je ne sais pas où mes profs de troisième année l'avaient dégotté, peut-être était-ce leur propre imagination, mais j'en doute un peu. Enfin, si par hasard vous connaissez le reste, faites-le moi savoir dans les commentaires.

"Never too old for trick or treat"

This is my third (!) countdown to Halloween post in a day and my fourth post all in all. Sometimes it happens, even in my busy life. Anyway, I commute by bus and in the morning I share part of my commute with teenagers going to school. Last week, one of the boys, about 13-14 I'd say as saying to his friends that he loves Halloween and going trick or treating, although his mother finds that he is too old for it. One of the girls said: "You are never too old for trick or treat, never too old to disguise yourself and knocks on strangers doors to ask for sweets!" I thought it deserved to be quoted here as a new great unknown line. Because it is so true. She is wise beyond her years.

Vous qui faites l'endormie...

Quand l'Halloween approche, j'ai un programme musical assez précis et éclectique. J'écoute notamment le Faust de Gounod. Je n'aime pas tous les opéras du XIXe siècle, mais celui-ci disons qu'il a de la gueule. Et puis la légende de Faust est en soi fascinante. Je partage donc ici ce soir l'un de ses arias. Que j'ai déjà partagé. Mais comme ça fait quasiment une décennie... Enfin, partager des arias de Faust est un peu une tradition sur Vraie Fiction.

Ghosts and green tea

Quick blog post for Halloween. It is both a reading suggestion and a warning and sorry if there is no spooky picture to accompany it. So anyway, I have recently rediscovered Sheridan Le Fanu by reading In a Glass Darkly. For the third time in my life, I read Green Tea, the story of a clergyman haunted by a demonic black monkey which may be an hallucination triggered by... green tea. Or else green tea is the drug used to unleash the forbidden gates of Hell, or something. I strongly suspect that the monkey was embodiment of Darwin's theory of evolution, but nevermind that for now. You can read this spooky tale online here. As for green tea, it appears that it was like heroin or a powerful sort of LSD for the man of God of the Victorian era. So drink it in moderation. That was my warning.

Des oies dans la brûme

Je voulais partager cette autre photo saisissante de ma cousine Amy l'artiste-photographe. Parce que c'estvraiment une photo superbe, à mettre dans la catégorie célébration de la quintessence de l'automne sur Vraie Fiction. J'aurais aimé y être.

Haunted portraits

This is today's countdown to Halloween post. I mentioned before and more importantly in this post the Golden Fleece Inn in York, which has the reputation to be the most haunted pub in England. Or at least it boasts itself to be. We had a pleasant evening there, but we never saw any ghost of any kind.Or, I should say, we did not see any real, supernatural ghost. There were plenty of made up ones, or some strange occurrences that would have fooled the inebriated customer. Such as some portraits in the pub. At first sight, they are black and white pictures of ordinary people, maybe upper middle class from another time, early 20th century or maybe late 19th.

Then you look at the portrait under a different angle, and this is what you see: deformed features, cracked faces, fangs, horns, disgusting grin, devil's eyes. The best or most gruesome face I saw is the one that accompanies this post. I have read a thing or two about haunted portraits, but never imagines they could be like this. One can only be glad this is a mere image and that the abomination on it cannot escape the frame. Or can it? It is cheap parlour tricks, but I think there is inspiration here for a good horror story or two.

Comme un air de famille...

Pour bien vous faire commencer la journée, voici un gag de Mafalda qui m'a toujours bien fait rire. C'est parce que c'est pas mal de ça que j'ai l'air chaque matin, surtout les matins de semaine: échelevé et hagard. Ça me rejoint donc beaucoup.

The Halloween Interview

Quick countdown to Halloween post for those who do not know: I have been interviewed on Halloween by AEIOU. You can read the interview here. What can I say, fame at last! Please do tell me what you think in the interview's comments section and here as well. And next time I will blog something more substantial and less self-referential for the countdown, promise.

Pas de photo du mois...

Tiens, je m'en suis rendu compte hier: ça aurait été le temps de la photo du mois, mais je n'y participe plus depuis quelques temps déjà. Je ne sais pas si ça m'attriste ou non. Je me sens plus libre, cela dit la photo du mois permettait à Vraie Fiction de se faire connaître par toute une communauté de blogueurs (francophones surtout) et forcément je pouvais découvrir beaucoup d'autres blogues. Et ça me forçait aussi à être créatif. Je serais tenté de me réinscrire, sauf que je ne crois toujours pas avoir le temps.

The Officious Beer of Halloween

Quick countdown to Halloween post for tonight, as I had a very busy Sunday. My apologies if it looks familiar with my long time readers and if it sounds a bit like a plus you already read recently here. But in any case, I cannot neglect mentioning my favourite ale for Halloween, my poison for the season and the officious beer of Halloween: Wychwood Brewery's Hobgoblin. Good all year round, but especially this time of year. And while you cannot judge a beer by its label, let's face it, they went out of their way to have a truly cool bottle this year and really put you in a spooky mood. If you drink one beer for Halloween, it has to be this one.

Question existentielle (314)

Une question existentielle dominicale:

-Le dimanche, vaut-il mieux sortir pour s'amuser ou rester à la maison pour faire des tâches ménagères?

The Werewolves of Miller's Hollow

For today's countdown to Halloween post, I am plugging a game which ironically I never played. But I was always fascinated by The Werewolves of Miller's Hollow. I bought it for my brother Andrew in its original French version, then to Blonde Tickler for her birthday, even though it's a bit old for her. It's not a role-playing game per se, but it's pretty close and the perfect game for Halloween. You can play a werewolf, one of its potential victims and/or a series of stock characters (the witch, the little girl, the hunter, etc.) that would easily find their place in an old Hammer movie. If you are a werewolf, your goal is to eat all the villager and survived their wrath. If you are a villager, it is to survive yourself and kill all the werewolves (and not be mistaken as one!) It could really make for the basis of a series of scary stories.

La sauvagine en automne

On va trouver que je ne varie pas vraiment les sujets de mes billets ces temps-ci, mais je n'ai pas pu résister: voici une photo prise par ma cousine Amy l'artiste-photographe. Des bernaches en automne. En une image, vous pouvez voir pourquoi c'est ma saison préférée.

Friday the 13th, black cats and Halloween

Halloween this year falls on a Tuesday, which is not great. But we can console ourselves that it means that we have one Friday the 13th this month. Which is today. For those who like Friday the 13th anyway. But in any case, it's a good excuse as any to show pictures of black cats. There cannot be a Friday the 13th without black cats, Halloween would not be Halloween without black cats either, so I am sharing a picture of our beloved cat Odin, who sadly passed away four years ago. I shared this picture before, but I don't have so many of them.

La momie

J'ai pris cette photo à l'entrée d'un pub mal famé de la ville où je vis. Car aujourd'hui, j'aimerais parler de la momie comme personnage d'Halloween. Le cinéma lui a fait une assez belle part, mais pas autant que d'autres créatures comme les vampires ou les loups-garous. Et les zombies donc, qui ont franchement moins de personnalité. Dans la littérature, elle est plus absente. Je me souviens avoir lu à l'université Le roman de la momie de Théophile Gautier et avoir été déçu que ce ne soit pas un roman d'horreur. Comment se fait-il qu'elle ne soit pas un peu plus populaire comme monstre?

First Pumpkin!

This is the first pumpkin I bought this year for Halloween! A bit later than I usually do, but hey. And whatever it says on the label, while it is a large pumpkin, I have seen bigger ones, so I am not sure if it deserves the title of Monster Pumpkin. Anyway, little Wolfie was very curious about it and amused. It is not his first Halloween, or his first pumpkin, but it is the first time he is conscious about it.

Un canard

Je voulais encore une fois partager une photo de canards sur ce blogue, une photo qui a été prise par ma cousine Amy la photographe. Parce que l'on n'a jamais assez de photos automnales et qu'elle sait vraiment comment faire des photos atmosphériques. Vous me direz qu'elle aurait pu être prise n'importe quand, cette photo. C'est vrai, mais 1)je sais qu'elle a été prise en automne et 2)un canard, je trouve ça automnal.

Haunted Mansion Survival Kit

Well AT LAST, David's Tea has released its Halloween collection for 2017. It was about time. You may say that it's pretty pointless of me to say at last: there is none of their shops here so I cannot buy and enjoy their products. But I will plug their products anyway, as this is part of the countdown to Halloween traditions on Vraie Fiction. Quick word: the design of the Nordic tea mug with ghosts is absolutely cool! And it glows in the dark too! I want one. And what you can see here with the mug is the Haunted Mansion Survival Kit. Excellent idea and I had it myself: it always made perfect sense to me that you needed something to drink to remain alert and focused. Not to mention warm: old mansions tend to get cold, haunted mansions even more so, as temperatures drop dramatically when ghosts appear. So have tea in your arsenal against the forces of darkness, not alcohol as you must stay sober. Preferaly in a glow in the dark mug, because it's cool.

Gâteaux aux pommes

Si j'aime les pommes et les pommes en dessert, je n'aime guère la tarte aux pommes, qui est sans doute. Cela dit, en automne, j'aime manger des desserts aux pommes, parce que la pomme c'est le fruit de l'automne et tout ça. Or, mon café local préféré fait d'excellents gâteaux peu usités, dont ce gâteau pommes et érable (et noix aussi, si je ne me trompe pas). Il est absolument délicieux et parfaitement automnal.

Et je suis encore plus chanceux: le café italien local, qui est peut-être mon second café préféré fait aussi un gâteau aux pommes. Il n'a pas de glaçage et a de la canelle, ce que j'aime moins (mon frère PJ déteste). Mais il est fort bon aussi, alors je peux aussi profiter de ça si la fringale me vient un après-midi et ça me tente de gâter la petite famille dont moi.