I Need This: Nerdween!

Anyone who loves Beetlejuice knows exactly who this little gem is. 

I need this mini Winona Ryder!  

Lydia Deetz was the very first goth girl.  LOVE IT!  

 Funko 

Check out all these other fabulous spooky treats!

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Guest Post: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

A Discovery of Witches 

(All Souls Trilogy, #1)

By Deborah Harkness

Format: Audio Book

Narrated by Jennifer Ikeda

Synopsis: 

Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.

Goodreads
Available for purchase at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Viviana's Review

Where to begin with this book! I really, really liked it! Let’s get some things out of the way first. Yes, it’s long! Yes there are a lot of details. True, that for Diana’s age and intelligence (she has a Ph.d), she seems very naïve and even a bit immature. In fact, I would have liked it better if Diana would have been younger and still had her Ph.D., which I know is very plausible. It would have made her behavior a bit more acceptable and understandable. The good news is that you do grow to like her and you actually forget her age as the book is extremely well written. It was also a bit slow in the beginning and the middle. However, the world that was created and its characters are fantastic!! This is definitely an intellectual read though it’s done in a manner where everyone can follow without feeling ‘lost’.

To read my full review, please visit my blog Viviana, Enchantress of Books

About Deborah

I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and have lived in western Massachusetts, the Chicago area, Northern California, upstate New York, and Southern California. In other words, I’ve lived in three out of five time zones in the US! I’ve also lived in the United Kingdom in the cities of Oxford and London.

For the past twenty-eight years I’ve been a student and scholar of history, and received degrees from Mount Holyoke College, Northwestern University, and the University of California at Davis. During that time I researched the history of magic and science in Europe, especially during the period from 1500 to 1700. The libraries I’ve worked in include Oxford’s Bodleian Library, the All Souls College Library at Oxford, the British Library, London’s Guildhall Library, the Henry E. Huntington Library, the Folger Shakespeare Library, and the Newberry Library—proving that I know my way around a card catalogue or the computerized equivalent. These experiences have given me a deep and abiding love of libraries and a deep respect for librarians. Currently, I teach European history and the history of science at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

For her full bio, please visit her website.

And now for some fun!!! Giveaway time!!!

Double Sided Book Marker/Thong
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Below is information for the next installment in the series "Shadow of Nights"

Goodreads

Available for purchase at 

Amazon and Barnes & Nobles

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Guest Post: A Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton

Hello everyone, today we have Nette from 

Nette's Bookshelf Reviews 

with a very special guest post.

My Favorite Nightmare

The Nightmare Before Christmas (soundtrack) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

       I know.  It sounds crazy.  But I have a favorite nightmare.  Not in the way you’re thinking though…I’m talking about my favorite movie A Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton.   Why is this my favorite movie you ask? Well I’d love to tell you!

       My oldest son, who was 5 or 6 at the time asked to rent this movie from our local blockbuster.  I looked at the cover and was a little apprehensive but I gave it a go anyway.  It turned out to be his favorite movie EVER and mine as well.  It’s now become a yearly tradition to watch the movie on Halloween and Christmas! The cinematography was so eye-catching and the storyline absolutely genius that I was hooked. I can’t leave out the fact that my all-time favorite musician Fiona Apple performed Sally’s Song! Everyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE Fioana Apple…totally devoted fan right here!! *clears throat* back to the movie.   This movie became an instant family favorite for us because of its ability to translate between both Halloween and Christmas.   It’s a perfect blend of both!  Only Tim Burton can produce a dark and creepy musical and make it family friendly…am I right?! Totally!!  From the frankenstien-ish type characters to the dark, creepy feel of the land…it screams Halloween.   And the cleverness of making each holiday its own little land/town/portal…absolutely genius!!

The main characters in The Nightmare Before Christmas from left to right Doctor Finklestein, the Mayor, Sally, Jack, Barrel, Santa Claus, Zero, Lock, Shock and Oogie Boogie. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

     Anyway, this is movie is my favorite nightmare because little did I know on that fateful day, renting this movie would somehow turn into a family tradition.   We seriously watch it throughout the holiday season, and I think we especially enjoy it after we’ve stuffed ourselves to the brim on Thanksgiving.   We watch it after we’ve returned from trick-or-treating, or on a lazy Sunday afternoon while escaping rainy days.   So there’s my nightmare for ya…not so scary after all was it?? :D

Happy Halloween! 

Thank you so much Nette!

For incredible titles and reviews visit 

Nette's  Bookshelf Reviews.

Just in case you find yourself in need of a few books, check out what our

Mega Hallows Madness Cauldron
has in store for one lucky winner and make sure to sign up to Win!

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Remember to watch 

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Please make sure to Sign UP  for you playing cards.

Limited spots available weekly

Every week, Saturday - Wednesday, you will have to fill out the form in order

to have your bingo cards delivered via email for the Bingo Game of that week (Friday) 

Rules and Card will be delivered via email.

 

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Dream Bound by Kate Douglas Giveaway!

Today, we are hanging out over at

Cinfully Wonderful Reviews

Please visit for a chance at winning 

Dream Bound by Kate Douglas 
Below is a sneak peak, but if you want more you will have to visit Cindy!

Mac Dugan has spent his entire adult life and millions of dollars creating the technology he needs to rescue his beloved Zianne--a creature of another world and another time.


Now, he has his team of brilliant telepaths, his amazing array of satellite receivers and a plan. But is Zianne still alive, and will she and her people ever escape their captors?

When a man's dreams are this big, anything is possible.

Read Chapter 1

Dream Catchers Book One

Dream Bound

Chapter 1

IF SHE’D HAD her human body—the one she loved with the violet eyes and long dark hair—Zianne would have wept. This one could only feel sorrow—not physically express it. She’d left Mac only moments ago—a few minutes for her and almost twenty years for him. It had been such a simple thing to make her nightly slip through time, passing from twentieth-century Earth and returning to the Gar’s craft in its stationary orbit behind the twenty-first-century moon.

How had they discovered her absence?

She’d been so careful. Her fellow Nyrians had covered for her, yet somehow the Gar—their captors—knew. The Nyrian elders had warned her as soon as she materialized within the ship. They’d explained that her soulstone was locked away; that the Gar waited, ready to entrap her, should she come to claim it.

Once they knew which one of their captives had been stealing away and visiting Earth, they intended to make an example of her. She would die a very public and painful death, her energy slowly, painfully leached away until nothing was left.

Until even her soulstone crumbled into dust.

 To finish reading this chapter and to win

  Dream Bound by Kate Douglas 

visit 

Cinfully Wonderful Reviews
 Giveaway!
 Best of Luck!

Visit Kate Douglas 
HERE
for more terrific titles.

Just in case you find yourself in need of a few books, check out what our
Mega Hallows Madness Cauldron
has in store for one lucky winner and make sure to sign up to Win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Remember to watch 

  Tonight at @9:00 PM EST

on 

Readaholics Anonymous

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All The Fun Starts After Dark: Guest Post and Giveaway!

It's another Moanday morning!
 Today, Cindy and I will be hanging  out at

All The Fun Starts After Dark

and  Daniel Marks' 

 
All the Fun Starts After Dark has the first chapter and the review of this wonderful YA book.
Stop over for a chance to win  Velveteen and to find your next great read.

Click Here To Win!

Just in case you find yourself in need of a few books, check out what our
Mega Hallows Madness Cauldron
has in store for one lucky winner and make sure to sign up to Win!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Sons of Navarus with Guest Author: Gabrielle Bisset:Giveaway!

 Hello Everyone, thanks for stopping by 

on this fabulous October day! 

 I'm delighted to have the super talented Gabrielle Bisset

 here today chatting it up about her sexy Sons of Navarus series and the paranormal.   

Make sure to visit her site mentioned below to win kewl prizes.

Take it away, Gabrielle.

Thank you to Dana for having me here today!  It's October, so what better month to talk paranormal?  I've always loved all things paranormal, even before they were called by that name. When I was growing up, I remember learning about Greek and Roman mythology. I would read those stories for hours, enchanted by the antics of the gods and goddesses, along with the other magical creatures. Looking back now, I'm guessing I must have had the sanitized version of those myths because those gods were very sexually active. Zeus alone with his conquests could take up an entire week of reading!

When I reread those myths as a college student, they were just as wonderful and as an adult I understood the fuller picture of what was going on in those stories. The sex, the intrigue, the manipulation...it was like a soap opera from ancient times! My professor in my Mythology class attempted to keep it all academic, but it was no use. We knew better. This was interesting stuff.

Fast forward years later and it's time for me to decide on my own mythology—where vampires originated. I had the entire world to choose from, but I went back to those Greek myths that had entertained me for years. I'd remembered hearing the god of the Underworld, Hades, had fathered one child, a daughter named Macaria. Many stories don't even mention her, but for me, I knew I had the mother of my vampires and the beginning of their history. She was a natural. Her father is the god of the Underworld and the dead, and she's the goddess of the blessed death.

Since that beginning, there's been a prequel (Vampire Dreams Revamped) and the first two books in the Sons of Navarus series, Blood Avenged and Blood Betrayed. Now the third book is here, Blood Spirit. For the Sons, the beginnings of the vampire world are starting to become important and the Greek myths that are intertwined with my vampire history will soon come to the forefront. It's all building up to a showdown between the Sons and the Archons, and that godly heritage of vampires is going to make a difference.

Stop over at my blog for a chance to win some great prizes in my Blood Spirit/Sons of Navarus Paranormal Fall Fling! I'll be giving away weekly prizes through October and grand prizes at the end of the fling, including gift cards, ebooks, and Sons of Navarus swag, so don't miss it! 

Visit http://gbisset.blogspot.com/p/paranormal-fall-fling.html to enter!

 Thank you so much Gabrielle for hanging out with us.  

Gabrielle is also our sponsor for tonight's Hallows Madness Bingo, one lucky bingo winner will be able to win an ebook copy of her exciting new book, Blood Spirit.

Sign up for 

can be found here

Bingo Sign UP

Every week, Saturday - Wednesday, you will have to fill out the form in order

to have your bingo cards delivered via email for the Bingo Game of that week (Friday) 

Rules and Card will be delivered via email.

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Origins of "Trick or Treat"

Have you ever wondered where the idea to “trick or treat” came from? 

“Trick or Treat” can be traced back to the Middle Ages, just not by the same name.  “Trick or Treat” is much like medieval “souling”.  The earliest practices originated in Ireland and Britain.  “Souling” was when the poor would ask for food door to door on Hallowmas which was November 1^st. They would receive the food and promise to pray for the dead on All Souls Day, November 2^nd.  The poor would wear costumes and beg for treats.  It was even seen during the Christmas season.   There is even evidence that it was practiced as far south as Italy.

Now, you ask why it was called “Souling”?   Well, the treats given to the poor were these small round cakes that were in fact made to celebrate “All Saints Day” or “All Soul’s Day” in honor of the dead. These little cakes were called “souls”.  Interesting enough, each cake represents a soul being freed from Purgatory. In some parts of England they were known as “harcakes”.  These small cakes came  jammed pack with ingredients, some had nutmeg, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, or other sweet spices, raisins or currants.  Right before they were placed in the oven, each cake was marked with a cross to signify that these were alms. Not only were the poor given a small cake, they were usually served a cup of wine, too.  To the poor, this must have been a true feast, especially during the middle ages where hunger ran rampant.

On Hallows Eve and on All Saints Day the children would go “souling” calling out “A Soalin’ ” instead of “Trick or Treat”!

So, you ask where does “Trick or Treat” come from? It’s an American thing of course!   The earliest evidence of this term being used can be found in print in 1927 from Blackie, Alberta:

Hallowe’en provided an opportunity for real strenuous fun. No real damage was done except to the temper of some who had to hunt for wagon wheels, gates, wagons, barrels, etc., much of which decorated the front street. The youthful tormentors were at back door and front demanding edible plunder by the word “trick or treat” to which the inmates gladly responded and sent the robbers away rejoicing.

“Trick or Treat” really catched on during the 1950’s in the United States,  mostly on the west coast and Canada, and then spreading towards the east.  It wasn’t until the 1980 that the term gained popularity in England.

In 1963 Peter, Paul and Mary wrote and sang a song about “souling”:

Soul, Soul, a soul cake!

I pray thee, good missus, a soul cake!

One for Peter, two for Paul,

three for Him what made us all!

Soul Cake, soul cake, please good missus, a soul cake.

An apple, a pear, a plum, or a cherry, any good thing to make us all merry.

One for Peter, two for Paul, & three for Him who made us all.

Although Halloween is banned in some parts of the world, it is becoming more and more popular as time goes by.

I hope everyone has a great Halloween this year!

Make sure to always check your candy for any signs of tampering or breakage.  

As of today, there has been no announcements of dangerous candy or treats,

 but keep abreast of any recalls by way of the FDA,  Consumer Reports , 

and news outlets.

FYI : Puerto Ricans say:  “Trick or Treat dame dulce no mani!”  (Give me candy, not peanuts) while going door to door.

Read this article about  Halloween CandyTampering Myth

Tomorrow’s post will be all about costumes.

* Souces for this post Wikipedia,  FDA, Consumer Reports.

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Vampires Slay Guinness World Record

Vampires Slay Guinness World Record

Halloween has just begun and there's a great time to be had everywhere!

The vamps have kicked it off in true bloody fashion, slaying records!

Check the words in red for the whole article!

Here are just a few of the wonderful Halloween Hops going on:

Visit Rosey's Reviews 

for some wonderful giveaways and post during the month of October.

Hop on over and find just what you were looking for.

Hop on over to the delightful and interesting 

Fangs Wands and Fairy Dust!

Steph has surprises in store for you!

Hop over to I'm A Reader, Not a Writer

for more fun!

Stay tuned to Readaholics Anonymous all this month 

for tons of tidbits and silly finds during the month October!

Thanks to all for making blogging worth every second!

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