Toffee Apple (with a twist)

For today's countdown to Halloween post, a seasonal classic: the toffee apple. Or candy apple, as they call it in the US, but I prefer the British term. Halloween is also about eating, after all and this dessert is one of the . I am not a fan of toffee apples, read this post from 2008 for the details. But this one was different: it was not a real toffee apple. In fact, it was a white chocolate mousse, coated in toffee, with at its very core some genuine applesauce (with chunks of apples in it, see it gave it some authenticity) I ate it in a local restaurant last Sunday. I regret nothing. I loved it, but not enough to make peace with the real thing.

L'Halloween dans un magasin

Photo prise dans un commerce sur le Plateau par ma mère. Je n'ai rien à dire, sinon que j'achèterais tout le magasin.

About Werewolves

For today's countdown to Halloween post, let's talk about a critter that might need a bit more love: the werewolf. Well, maybe it's just me, but I feel like it hasn't been as popular as other horror creatures and maybe has not always been used to its full potential. A few years ago, I read The Howling by Gary Brandner. The rather uneven (but enjoyable) movie adaptation is now far more famous, but I preferred the original novel, although I found it flawed. My full review and recommendation in this post from 2017. Be that as it may, while I recognised novel's shortcomings, I liked it enough to buy its sequel, simply (and rather dumbly) called The Howling II. It had even more shortcomings, but I must confess, I still enjoyed it. There is just something about these bloodthirsty beasts and their relationship to men and civilisation that I find endearing. I find it sad that The Howling's film franchise went stupidly down the drain after each installment and that the original novels are all but forgotten. Brandner I thought had managed to bring the werewolf into a modern setting and give it a certain relevance, but keeping its menace. There is so much to do with werewolves depending on how you develop them: is their condition a curse or do they embrace it, what causes it, how do they deal with mankind, and so on. Werewolves deserve their own series of novels, something Brandner had started, but never quite finished. Anyway, I am rambling, but what do you think about werewolves? Are there any stories featuring them you would recommend? And how would you make them original?

Les outardes

Photo prise par mon père à La Baie. Je crois entendre les chansons-thèmes de Nils Holgersson quand je la regarde. Dans tous les cas, je la trouve bien automnale.

Cool Halloween Gnomes

My mum took this picture a few days ago in a shop on the Plateau Mont-Royal. It seems that the gnomes craze has reached Montreal. I don't mind, I love gnomes and especially Halloween gnomes. These two look like a cool duo of spooky gnomes, what with their shades. Maybe they look more autumnal than Halloweeny, especially the one with the ginger beard, you tell me. Still, this household has the best Halloween gnomes, especially Spooky Spooky, it also has the best autumn gnomes. That said, the more the merrier, and I might buy more gnomes before the end of the month. And you, do you have any Halloween gnomes?

Décorations gonflables d'Halloween

Il y a quelques jours, à ma demande, ma mère a pris des photos des décos sur le Plateau. Elles sont sorties, ce qui est déjà bien (ici ce n'est pas toujours le cas). Mais on trouve des affaires assez laides. Comme ce truc gonflable. Je ne suis pas un fan. J'aime beaucoup l'idée de l'arbre hanté ou démoniaque, c'est une chose qui manque souvent dans le paysage halloweenesque. J'aime aussi le cimetière, un classique. Mais les faire en balloune ça brise l'aspect sinistre. Mais bon, je préfère qu'il y en ait plus que moins, des décorations d'Halloween, alors même celles-ci je les aime un peu.

Haunted Trains

I took this picture from the Facebook page of the the Didcot Railway Centre. We visited it back in 2020, just before the pandemic and lockdown. They are planning some special events for Halloween and I would love to go there, but Wolfie's mother fears it might be too scary for her son. Old steam trains and old stations are the perfect setting for horror stories. From my limited experience, I think they have been used too little. I know of a few and at least one classic, but I would like to discover more and maybe go to the Railway Centre for inspiration.

Pâté à la truite

Ceci est un petit billet gastro rien que pour varier un peu. Mes parents ont fait un pâté à la truite pour mon frère PJ qui est en visite. C'est un tantinet hors saison, mais ça lui manquait. Je ne me rappelle pas quand j'en ai mangé pour la dernière fois. Je crois que ça doit bien faire au moins une décennie. Lors de mon prochain voyage, je vais peut-être en demander, qui sait. D'ici là, je partage la photo du pâté à la truite ici. Avec du brocoli et des patates, c'est aussi bon que c'est santé.

Countdown to Halloween, the book

For today's countdown to Halloween reading suggestion, a book aptly called... Countdown to Halloween. And for once it's not horror but something for the whole family to enjoy. I bought it for Wolfie's birthday and we have been reading it since the beginning of October. it is a sort of Advent calendar for Halloween, with the Peanuts gang, one story a day, including the big day. It's just not Halloween without Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and the rest. And for a North American like me who grew up with them, I find it important to share this with my son.

Rue automnale

 Nouvelle photo prise par mon père à Chicoutimi. Il n'y a pas d'arbre flamboyant comme ça ici.

The First Ghost Hunter?

For today's Halloween post, I offer you another trip down memory lane. You know my love for All About Ghosts, the Usborne book that helped me grow a taste for the macabre when I was a young child. It fuelled my imagination and my desire to read horror stories, it also gave my brothers and I some inspiration for our own make-belief games. As we needed heroes as well as villains, we were happy to discover that British folklore had provided one as a model: the Reverend Dodge. Details on the picture. Dodge may have been one of the earliest ghost hunters, the spiritual ancestor of Abraham Van Helsing, Martin Hesselius, the lesser known (and personal favourite) Baron Vordenburg and so many others. I found fairly little on the Reverend online, but I have not searched much yet. Pretty much all I know about him comes from that small section in All About Ghosts. Still, I always thought he was a badass. I think he became the inspiration for many "player characters" of our games, particularly this one. I promise myself that I will learn more about him for next year's countdown to Halloween. I wonder if there are horror stories written about him. If there are none, someone should write one. Or many more.

Flamboyant automne

Photo prise par mon père à Chicoutimi,lors d'une promenade. Ai-je besoin de dire pourquoi je la partage?

Hill House

This is my third countdown to Halloween post today. When I say I have a lot to blog about, I mean it. Anyway, I blogged before about The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, one of the great "modern" horror classics, now a Netflix TV series. I have been watching the series, irregularly, and I have been enjoying its sober approach to horror. But this is not what I have been wanting to blog about tonight. I wanted to quote the beginning of the novel, the way Hill House is introduced. Here it is: "No live organism can continue to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; every larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stodd by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood  so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone." So there you have it. No monster, no machete wielding maniac, just a setting that oozes unease and malevolence. Read this tonigh before bed.

"Merci pour les raisins"

Bon ben pour les chanceux qui vivent au Québec, c'est l'Action de grâce, donc un lundi de congé. Pour célébrer sur le blogue, j'ai décidé de partager une chanson. Les gens de ma génération reconnaîtront Merci pour les raisins de La fin du monde est à 7 heures. L'un des nombreux classiques instantanés de l'émission.

A Witch as a Birthday Gift

Today is my brother PJ's birthday. He is celebrating it with my family in Montreal. So today's countdown to Halloween is a bit about his birthday, but more specifically about this little lady. You see, as PJ's birthday was fairly close to Halloween, often the celebrations had a bit of a spooky feel to it. So one year, I believe when he turned six or seven, he received this witch as one of his presents. My parents had bought it at an artisan fayre. I was often envious of his birthdays, because he seemed to always get the coolest presents. Anyway, this witch became a staple of our Halloween Game. She was of course an antagonist to our heroes. I don't know if she ever got a name, for us she was always the Witch. She gave nightmares to my brother, but also gave us so much fun.

La galerie décorée pour l'Halloween

Photo prise par mon père lors d'une de ses promenades. L'Halloween à Chicoutimi, elle arrive assez tôt, en tout cas pour certaines personnes. J'envie ceux qui vont passer l'Halloween par là. Dans tous les cas, j'aime les gens qui décorent tôt pour l'Halloween.

Preparing for trick or treat

For today's countdown to Halloween post, let's talk about trick or treat for a moment, I am feeling quite ashamed: I haven't yet bought sweets for the children who will come here for trick or treat. I want to have a few things just in case, although there are never many people showing up. I am also trying to convince Wolfie to do it this year, he is of two minds about it. My parents are already pretty much set, as this picture proves it: they bought chocolates, crisps and even prepared special bags for the children. Small bags for the random kids that will show up, bigger ones for the children of friends. In little baskets too. I am green with envy.

L'Halloween en vitrine

Nous sommes allés en ville hier faire des achats. Certaines vitrines dans les commerces sont décorées pour l'automne et pour l'Halloween. Souvent pas assez à mon goût, en fait déjà certains semblent vouloirs se concentrer sur Noël. Mais il y en avait quelques unes de  vraiment bien. Comme celle-ci, qui appartient à une nouvelle boutique sur la rue principale. Avec les feuilles mortes, les bougies oranges et les chats à l'air rébarbatif, je trouve ça sobrement atmosphérique. Ma photo ne lui rend vraiment pas justice, mais c'est ma vitrine préférée.

The Halloween Store

For tonight's countdown to Halloween reading suggestion: The Halloween Store and Other Tales of All Hallows' Eve, by Ronald Kelly. The stories in question are very seasonal and fittingly gruesome. You have demonic masks, a creepy killer clown, an out of space, organ snatching entity that preys on trick or treaters, a rock star who made a deal with the Devil, the world's most famous serial killer and a Halloween festival that hides a sinister secret. I didn't really buy into the serial killer story, but the rest is solid stuff. And Kelly also gives us two texts that are nostalgic reminiscences of his Halloweens when he was growing up in Tennessee. And I'm a sucker for nostalgia.

Créer son épouvantail

Photo prise à Hogshaw Farm la fin de semaine dernière. Parmi les activités offertes aux enfants (et aux adultes?) il y avait un atelier pour créer son propre épouvantail. Nous sommes arrivés trop tard pour y participer, mais on a pu en voir quelques uns. Avec des citrouilles sur le sol. Elles auraient fait de bonnes têtes, surtout creusées en Jack O'Lanterns. Mais enfin bref. Nous aurons bientôt notre propre festival local d'épouvantails, une belle nouvelle tradition annuelle pour l'Halloween. J'aimerais bien en monter un bien sinistre, un de ces quatre.