Don Giovanni's Fall to Hell

Here is another countdown to Halloween post for Halloween, but of a different kind. You may know that I love opera. There are also some of them which I consider suitable to listen to during the Halloween season. Among them, Don Giovanni by Mozart. Incidentally, it is my favourite opera. I find the scene where the titular character is thrown in Hell by a vengeful ghost paticularly fitting. So anyway, a few months ago, I found out that Italian artist Milo Manara had actually published a book titled Penditi, about Mozart, with one illustration depicting the composer and the climax of the opera. I found it so cool I knew I had to share it here. I was actually waiting for the countdown to share it. Of course, as it is Manara, there is nudity. But he's no mere pornographer, this is a great depiction of the protagonist's last moment, giving it a taste of hellfire, setting the Commendator as this powerful otherwordly figure and reminding us of the reason of his punishment. And look at Mozart's expression. Just gripping. I love a good Eros and Thanatos cocktail. Anyway, here is the full scene in music:

Automne flamboyant

 Je partage une autre photo prise par mon père durant sa promenade dans Chicoutimi, parce que.

Halloween Fiend

For today's countdown to Halloween reading suggestion: Halloween Fiend by C.V. Hunt. It's about a quet American town with a dark secret. It reminded me of Dark Harvest, but I enjoyed this one far more for some reason. So the town of Strang is under the curse of a demonic entity who feasts every night of blood sacrifices in the form of small animals provided by the citizens. But on All Hallows' Eve, it's a human sacrifice that is required, provided by a lottery. It's nothing original, but Hunt describes the dying town, its burdened citizens and the ever oppressive atmosphere with skills. Like in many horror stories, the evil in Strang often has a human face and thrives on the trivial and the mundane.

Les couleurs de l'automne

Mon père m'a envoyé d'autres photos de l'automne à Chicoutimi prise durant l'une de ses marches. Je partage celle-ci. C'est tout.

The tractor and the pumpkins

Last Sunday, we went to Hogshaw Farm, a petting zoo that had a special harvest festival on that day. We came in a bit late, as it was a last minute decision and it is not next door, so we didn't do a whole lot regarding the festival. But we had fun all the same. It had a few really nice autumnal displays, such as this tractor with a trailer full of pumpkins. This is harvest and autumn in a nutshell, as well as heralding Halloween. Also, Wolfie loves tractors, so father and son enjoyed the sight tremendously.

La quête des citrouilles

Photo prise à Hogshaw Farm en fin de semaine, je la partage car elle sert mon propos et parce que durant lessemaines menant à l'Halloween, plus je mets des photos de citrouilles, mieux c'est. Toujours est-il que jusqu'ici nous n'avons qu'un seul potiron pour l'Halloween et qu'il est très petit. Trop. Je vais donc tenter d'acheter plus de citrouilles en fin de semaine, de toutes les tailles, afin de les creuser le temps venu. J'ai un peu honte que l'on n'en ait pas déjà deux ou trois. Je suis d'habitude plus prévoyant.

Frightening Jack O'Lantern

Oh the lovely things you find in regional magazines! I stumbled recently upon the Round & About edition for October and lo and behond, there was this gorgeous cover, with the most frightening image of a Jack O'Lantern, with a skeletal body. I had to take it, just for the cover. If it hadn't been free, I would have taken it anyway. Now Halloween content was rather thin, it gave some suggestions of spooky activities for the month and half term, but all the same, what a cover! It will give us inspiration when the time comes for our pumpkin carving.

Guédilles au homard

Petit billet gastro et un brin food porn rien que pour ceux qui veulent un sujet un peu différent. Mes parents ont fait des guédilles au homard en fin de semaine dernière. Pour ceux qui ne savent pas c'est quoi, c,est quand on met autre chose qu'une saucisse dans un pain à hot dog. Sur la page de Wikipedia, ils disent que c'est forcément du homard, mais dans mon souvenir ça peut être tout sauf une saucisse à hot dog. Je ne me rappelle pas avoir mangé de guédilles avant, sauf peut-être des guédilles aux oeufs. Mais que j'avoue que l'idée de rajouter le homard pour gentrifier la guédille, c'est assez intéressant.

Ghosts in the House

For today's countdown to Halloween reading suggestion, I go for forgotten classics: Ghosts in the House: Tales of Terror by A.C. Benson & R.H. Benson. They are the brothers of E.F. Benson, who is nowadays far more famous. These are old fashioned ghost stories in the vein of M.R. James. When they were not writing spooky tales, A.C. was a school master, R.H. a Catholic priest, so they belong to a long tradition of mild mannered British writers with a dark imagination. You will get a few shivers reading the stories, but they are pretty much devoid of the fatalism and cynicism of modern horror. The forces of evil might be a threat, but they are seldom triumphant.

Lulu pour l'Halloween

J'ai trouvé cette photo sur la page Facebook de la Chocolaterie Lulu. Ils se mettent aussi en mode Halloween. C'est vraiment une belle photo, délicieusement macabre. Et pour vendre des sucreries. Pour ceux qui peuvent, je recommanderais d'aller vous chercher du chocolat de chez Lulu pour les Halloweeneux.

The Halloween Ghost

I saw this ghost in the souvenirs shop of Blackgang Chine on the Isle of Wight. It was one of the earliest sign of Halloween I saw this year and the nicest Halloween ghost I have ever seen. The Halloweenest ghost I have ever seen, in fact. I love the colour and the bats on it. Sadly, as it was fragile and we had a long journey back, I did not buy it. It would have been so perfect among our Halloween decorations. Maybe I should have just taken the risk. Because it is one fine ghost. I will try to find it online I think.

Les outardes et les canards

Mon père est allé à La Baie hier et a pris des photos, dont celle-ci. Je peux identifier des outardes, des canards et des goélands (et/ou des mouettes). Je trouve cette photo très automnale.

Haunted Desk

For today's countdown to Halloween post, something cute Wolfie said recently. My six years old son and I were putting Halloween decorations on display on the 1st of October, as it is tradition in this household. My wife is not really into Halloween, so it's a boys' thing here. So we were putting lots of things everywhere in the living room and on the shelves when he looked at my working desk and asked: "Daddy, daddy, can I haunt your desk?" I thought tit was very cute and deserved to be a new homologated Wolfism. So now I have a haunted desk.Not haunted by much, but it looks spookier than usual.

Chouette effraie

Nous sommes allés pour la première foishier à Hogshaw Farm et ce fut une très belle visite. Ils se préparent joliment pour l'Halloween, dans tous les cas, ce qui n'est jamais garanti dans ce pays. J'y ai retrouvé plusieurs animaux que j'aime, dont les barn owls, qu'on appelle en français les chouettes effraies. Parce qu'elles effraient, justement. En tout cas elles effrayaient: leur apparence dans le noir et leur cri ont été à l'origine de bien des histoires de fantômes. Je l'ai déjà mentionné sur Vraie Fiction, mais je le rappelle encore une fois, parce qu'elle mérite de faire partie de la faune de l'Halloween.

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (Discovering Lovecraft)

For today's (first?) countdown to Halloween post, a trip down nostalgia lane and a bit of a reading suggestion. You know that I like reading H.P. Lovecraft. His stories are often part of my spooky reads for the months leading to Halloween. I first discovered it when I was a teenager, learning about the role-playing game Call of Cthulhu. But before I started playing it, I wanted to discover the source material as inspiration, so I borrowed in the library The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. The very version you see here, with the psychedelic cover. The same way I discovered other great horror stories, come to think of it. I thought Lovecraft was a lesser writer than Stoker or Stevenson, but I enjoyed the story and the atmosphere tremendously. I haven't reread it in years, but I might revisit it one day during one of the countdowns to Halloween. You can find it online for free here. It has a Jekyll and Hyde feel to it, even the title is a call back, but in spite of the influences it is very much its own thing, with notions of a vast arcane conspiracy of necromancers that can threaten human civilisation. This is horror on a grand scale. So if you haven't read it, I suggest you make time in the coming weeks.

Les feux de l'automne

 Autre photo envoyée par mon père il y a quelques jours, encore une fois prise lors d'une promenade dans Chicoutimi. Je la partage parce que c'est beau l'automne au Saguenay.

The Frankenstein Game

I already blogged today, but all the same, let's have another countdown to Halloween post. And another nostalgic post. You may remember that I blogged before about the "Dracula Game", in 2011 and in 2021. Well, a year before we played that game, my brothers and I had started another game based on a horror classic. Author J.H. Brennan had written another gamebook called The Curse of Frankenstein, based on, well, Frankenstein. Neither the gamebook nor the game we played based on it were as good as the other. The premisse was simple, even simplistic: the Monster of Frankenstein had escaped to the Arctic, his creator is in pursuit, you either play the Monster or Frankenstein himself. The setting was far less interesting: it had less atmosphere and the horror tropes less frequent. In our make-belief game,we played a team of scientists trying to capture or kill both the monster and put a stop to Frankenstein's activities. I knew nothing of the tragic story of the source material see, so our characters just fought a mad scientist and an ugly brute.As for the Dracula Game, we never finished it. I think we lost interest,partially because the North Pole has far less possibilities than a Carpathian castle. That said, Brennan's got me curious about the original story and it played a role in my discovery of gothic horror. And for all its flaws, what a cover!

L'automne à Chicoutimi

Mon père m'a envoyé hier des photos de l'automne à Chicoutimi lors de sa marche. Il n'y a pas à dire, l'automne n'a pas autant de couleurs ailleurs, pas de sitôt en tout cas. Ici, c'est commencé, les feuilles des arbres commencent à changer et c'est joli, mais c'est en général plus tardif et plus modeste. Je n'ai pas grand-chose à dire à propos des photos, sauf que c'est magnifique l'automne là d'où je viens et que je vais les partager sur ce blogue.

Countdown to Halloween

We are the first of October, so the Countdown to Halloween has officially begun. Officiously, I think I have been counting the days since last Halloween. I took this picture in a shop in Sandown on the he Isle of Wight. I blogged about that... thing here. So for a month, this blog is going to be all about Halloween and all its aspects. To each and everyone of you, old readers and new, happy countdown! Let's have a spooky time.

Le temps des citrouilles

Mes parents ont acheté des citrouilles décoratives, de celles qu'on ne peut pas creuser. Je ne sais pas trop où, mais ils ont pris cette photo et me l'ont envoyée. C'est octobre, le coeur de l'automne, l'Halloween est proche.