Five Great Books/Series For Halloween (And The Raven)

To me, curling up with hot apple cider and a good Halloween-themed book is one of the best things to do on a cold October night. If you agree with me, than this is the list for you. Here are five books (novels, series, and one author) that I must have to set the mood of the month for me:

1) Halloween by Silver Ravenwolf
Yes, this book was written by a Pagan author BUT it is not just a Pagan book. This fun book tells of the history of Halloween from a serious religious time to its modern form as a night of fun and frolic. It also includes recipes for the holiday and for those of you who are Pagan there are ritual suggestions included. But if you are not Pagan you can still enjoy the majority of the book and you can easily skip the small section that includes rituals if you choose to do so. This book can be enjoyed by anyone who loves Halloween regardless of their religious beliefs.

2) Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (The Series)
If you are a 90's kid like me, you know these books and you might know them well. They were very popular back in our day. Why? Because they were fucking awesome! Now that I am grown up I will still read them to the children I love in my life or by myself because they bring back great memories and they continue to be fun ghost stories even after all of these years. So read them to your kids (and don't forget...when the book instructs you to do something like scream, do it. Scares the hell out of the kids, then they always laugh, and that will make you laugh. It's great fun for everyone.) or read them by yourself. 

3) The Haunted Ohio Series
To me, this is sort of like Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark for grown ups. I don't know if they are available outside of Ohio...I assume they are. Maybe they are best enjoyed by Ohioans because we know the places that are talked about in the book (it's that whole 'Oh my god...I always knew there was something off with that damned house' thing) but the stories surrounding the ghosts are the main focus and they can be enjoyed by anyone. I've read the books every October since I was about 17 and I continue to read them every year.

4) The Widow's Broom
When I was a little girl I loved...loved...LOVED this book. Not only was the story great, the pictures were amazing. At 25 years old I still love this book and most of the kids who have been around me have heard the story because I will use them as an excuse to read it. (I'm shameless, I know.) The story is about a widow who finds a witch who has crashed in her garden. The woman ends up with the enchanted broom of the witch and her neighbors are none too happy about the diabolical thing that sweeps floors and carries water by itself. Want to know what happens to the woman and her magic broom? Well, then, you have to read the book. :) Gather the kids, heat up some cider or cocoa, and read them this great story. Don't forget to show them the pictures. 

5) Almost Anything by Stephen King (for you) and The Berenstain Bears Halloween Books (for the kids)
In my opinion, there is no one in our modern culture who does horror quite as well as Stephen King. I think of him almost like the Poe of our time in that aspect. So it seems fitting that books like Pet Semetary, The Shinning, and Bag of Bones should be a part of this list. The man is a master in his genre and for some his books may give you nightmares but it's worth it. And even if you are harder to scare like me, his amazing style will keep you up long into the cold October night. 

The Berenstain Bears has kept two generations entertained so far and I have no doubt that the stories of the most infamous bear family will continue to stand the test of time because they are fun, they are educational, and the adorable bears are sort of hard to resist. When I was little my favorite book from the series was Trick or Treat. I believe they have a couple of Halloween books but that was the only one I ever read and, true to my nature, I got it from a book fair when I was seven and I read it every Halloween until it got lost in a move when I was twelve. Again, these are books that the whole family can enjoy.

Edgar Allan Poe isn't officially on the list (because I am going for 31 items with the movies, the books, and the songs...Type A personality, ya know?) but how can I leave him out? He should really be number one. The Black Cat, The Raven, The Tell-Tale Heart...his stories (and some of his poems) were horror before there was really a genre for it. In many ways, he is the father of the horror genre. And October would not be complete without his literary genius, twisted as it was. And speaking of Poe, The Raven is out on DVD. Add it to your fun this month. It was one hell of a movie. :)

And because I adore you all, here is The Raven in its entirety. (Just like I said when I posted The Black Cat, I mean no copyright infringement and I am confident that Poe doesn't mind if I post his beloved poem.) Taken from http://www.heise.de/ix/raven/Literature/Lore/TheRaven.html

The Raven

[First published in 1845]

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. `'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door - Only this, and nothing more.' Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore - For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore - Nameless here for evermore. And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating `'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door - Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; - This it is, and nothing more,' Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer, `Sir,' said I, `or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore; But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, That I scarce was sure I heard you' - here I opened wide the door; - Darkness there, and nothing more. Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before; But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token, And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, `Lenore!' This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, `Lenore!' Merely this and nothing more. Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning, Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before. `Surely,' said I, `surely that is something at my window lattice; Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore - Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; - 'Tis the wind and nothing more!' Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter, In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore. Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he; But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door - Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door - Perched, and sat, and nothing more. Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore, `Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, `art sure no craven. Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore - Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!' Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.' Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly, Though its answer little meaning - little relevancy bore; For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door - Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door, With such name as `Nevermore.' But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only, That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour. Nothing further then he uttered - not a feather then he fluttered - Till I scarcely more than muttered `Other friends have flown before - On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.' Then the bird said, `Nevermore.' Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken, `Doubtless,' said I, `what it utters is its only stock and store, Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore - Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore Of "Never-nevermore."' But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling, Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door; Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore - What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore Meant in croaking `Nevermore.' This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core; This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er, But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er, She shall press, ah, nevermore! Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor. `Wretch,' I cried, `thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he has sent thee Respite - respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore! Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!' Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.' `Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! - Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore, Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted - On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore - Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!' Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.' `Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore - Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn, It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore - Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?' Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

Happy Birthday, Anne Rice

The Queen of the Vampires turns seventy-one today and of course I believe she deserves a blog post here to commemorate it. She did change my life with her words, after all. My first experience with Anne came in the form of Interview with the Vampire...the movie. I was seven the first time I saw it and I was absolutely amazed. No one told me vampires could be like that. I was madly in love with Lestat, I related to Claudia, and I went around the house drinking cherry Juicy Juice out of a wine glass for a month or more because it looked like blood. I watched the movie every chance I got from that point on. And I always wondered about the woman who spoke at the beginning of the original film. I don't know if anyone remembers that introduction but Anne had on her black dress, her hair was black, and she was sitting in this ornate room (I think it was in her house in New Orleans). Who was she? And what was it like to be inside her mind?

      Fast forward five years. My great-grandmother gave me twenty dollars completely out of the blue. It was the first and last time she ever gave me money (we were not close the way I was with my grandmother's mom) and I tried to give it back because I didn't feel right taking it. But she insisted and she said something along the lines of, "Do something special with it." That evening I went to Kroger's with my grandmother and I had that money in my pocket. I planned to blow it on candy bars and Dr. Pepper until I found myself in the book and magazine aisle. There was the book Interview with the Vampire alongside The Vampire Lestat and The Queen of the Damned. I had seen the movie to Interview with the Vampire and it was Lestat that I loved. So I figured I would know enough from the movie to know what was going on if I bought his tale. I spent a week that summer (1999) reading the words of our beloved Brat Prince, completely absorbed in it even though there were parts I didn't understand. 

      I still have that book. It is lovingly held together with a rubber band now just like the copy of Interview with the Vampire that Lestat reads at the beginning of The Vampire Lestat. One day I will have to replace it. It's been through hell. But I will never ever part with it. Because that hot steamy week in my room with the words of Anne Rice gave me direction. I always knew I wanted to be a writer (well, since the third grade) and I knew I wanted to write novels but I had no idea what I would write novels about. From that book I got my inspiration. Vampires. Not Dracula-style vampires. Not cheesy dorks with black and red capes who slept upside down. Hell no. Vampires with souls, vampires with hearts, vampires who had to deal with eternity in the dark...and feeding off the blood of the living. I started writing my first "book" two months later. It's terrible. I mean, really terrible. If I ever decide to have that thing published it will have to have a completely overhaul. Same goes for the second book I started a year later. But they were a start. A good start considering I was only twelve. And without them, without The Vampire Lestat, without Anne...I don't know that I would be here now querying agents for two books while writing what is technically my fifth. My vampire version of Beauty and the Beast. 

      I will never compete with Anne, published or unpublished. I will never reach her greatness. She has the sort of writing style that Stephen King has. They can write ANYTHING and keep readers enthralled. I don't have that. But even if the day came when each vampire novel I wrote went to number one (and that, by the way, is highly unlikely indeed) I wouldn't want to compete with her. There is only ONE Queen of the Vampires. There is only one Anne Rice. And no one will ever replace her and what she gave to vampire fiction with her work. You cannot top a pioneer. Frankly, any good vampire writer that will grace the literary world from here on out (yes, that definitely excludes Stephanie Meyers, my friends) will only be building upon the foundation she laid out almost four decades ago with Interview with the Vampire. 

Anne had an unusual life from the moment she was born. Her birth name is not Anne at all but Howard Allen O'Brien. Yes, she was named after her father. No, she was not born a man. But she was one of four girls and there were no sons. Even though she isn't the youngest, her mother must have had a premonition. At the tender age of six Anne renamed herself (headstrong much?) and I suppose that was the beginning of her journey as the woman we know and love today. Anne started querying agents before she hit high school...like wayyyy before. Her first queries were written in long hand and sent out with short stories. Her mother died when she was quite young after a battle with alcoholism that touched Anne's early years in many ways. Anyone who has read Violin can see the biographical touch that was added to it and you can see the effect that her early years had on her. Eventually she borrowed money from her sister Alice and she left her beloved New Orleans. She married her high school sweetheart, Stan Rice, and they moved to Berkeley, California where he became a teacher at the university there. They had a little girl, Michelle, and the young family was like any other happy little family at the time for a while. And then the unthinkable happened.

At six years old Michelle Rice was diagnosed with Leukemia. Anne and Stan both started drinking heavily to deal with their daughter's illness as she slipped away and when she passed away, Anne did what many parents do in that situation. She lost her mind for a little while. From this Interview with the Vampire was really born. It started out as a short story but when she started working on it a few years after Michelle's death, it turned into her place to get it all out. Lestat was Stan, Louis was Anne, and Claudia was the child they had lost...immortal forever on the page. Writers would understand this, I think. Writing is how we deal. Writing is how we work out life. It's our therapy. In Anne's case, her therapy changed her life completely. At first she couldn't get anyone in the literary world to take Interview so she said that she actually thought about binding it herself and selling it on street corners. But an agent eventually grabbed it up. And the rest, as they say, is history....

Anne has had her share of heartbreak, losing Stan almost ten years ago to a brain tumor shortly after he was diagnosed with it. Her son, Christopher, has followed in his mom's footsteps and he has become a literary force in his own right. Her life, like most, has been a series of ups and downs but through it all Anne always found her way on the page. The way that she has overcome challenges is as inspiring as her work. She remains upbeat, she keeps in touch with fans every day on facebook, and she is always down to earth. She is an inspiration. So here's to many many more birthdays for the amazing woman who has touched so many. We love you!

My Favorite Halloween Movies (Kicking off October)

It is officially October, folks. And I am kicking off my month-long celebration with sixteen of my favorite Halloween movies. Some of them are scary, some are fun, but all of them, in one way or another, inspire the spirit of what is the most wonderful time of the year for me.

1) The Nightmare Before Christmas
For years I have loved this Tim Burton masterpiece almost to the point of obsession. Jack and his boredom, Sally and her angst, and Zero, the coolest friggin' dog in the world, are often relied on to entertain me all year long but when it comes to Halloween movies, Nightmare is number one for me. As soon as I hear the opening notes of 'This is Halloween' I know the season has officially begun!

2) Hocus Pocus
Winnifred, Mary, and Sarah Sanderson are three witches hanged in 1693 who are accidentally brought back thanks to Winni's quick thinking at the gallows and a virgin who couldn't resist lighting a candle three hundred years after the ladies saw their last sunrise. I was about seven the first time I saw the movie and I absolutely loved it. Especially Winnifred. She was the one with the guts and the attitude and...well...I appreciate that in a woman and/or in a witch. ;) Like Nightmare, Halloween isn't Halloween for me without this movie. Although it has lost just a little bit of the magic it once held for me because now I am grown up, I still watch it and love it shamelessly. 

And speaking of witches I loved even before I rode a broom myself...

3) The Witches of Eastwick
I honestly don't remember a time in my life without this movie. My mother was obsessed with it and because I idolized Cher, I was ok with her watching it over and over again. She would often rent this with Hocus Pocus so to me the two sort of go hand in hand and what better time of year is there than October to watch Hollywood witches who, in the case of these three wonderful women, actually have no witchy attributes, Hollywood or otherwise, going for them? Well, besides their intimate relationship with Mr. Van Horn of course. But...in the words of the ladies themselves...
"If we're going to have it, let's have it all." Classic case of be careful what you wish for and a great Halloween movie. 

4) Interview with the Vampire
I could honestly do an entire post on this movie because I have so many memories of it and it changed my life so completely in a way...but I won't subject you to that today. I will say that as far as vampire movies go, it does not get any better than Interview for this self-proclaimed vampire snob. It has the blood, it has the violence, but it also has the heart and the loneliness that even the hardest bastard would feel after walking the earth for a small eternity. Scratch that. Lestat doesn't feel it after all. But that's what makes him our beloved Brat Prince, right? haha It isn't Halloween without these creatures of the Undead and Anne Rice's vampires are the best of the best. 

"Louis, Louis...still whining, Louis? I've had to listen to that for centuries!"

"Don't be afraid. I'm going to give you the choice I never had."

Tied for number 5:
The Crow and The Crow-City of Angels

Of course, The Crow is better than The Crow-City of Angels. You just can't top the original. But the second movie was good. Now, every Crow movie that came after it? Forget about it! They were just terrible and a little painful to watch. But we're not talking about those are we? Brandon Lee as Eric Draven was perhaps the best thing to happen to the Undead (no, he wasn't a vampire but yes, he does still count as one of the Undead...he is just a different breed) since Lestat even now...18 years after The Crow was released. To me, aside from the violence and the death, there is a truly beautiful (dark) story of complete and total love there. He didn't let death stop him from avenging his death or his fiance Shelly's death and he didn't let death stop him from loving her totally. This is how I do romance this time of year, ya know? You can't leave out the love in the holiday. lol
As for City of Angels, it is little Sarah all grown up and again finding herself face to face with a man who has come back from the dead with a crow as his guide. This time the man in question, Ashe, is avenging the deaths of his son and himself and Sarah is trying to help him by relying on what she remembered from the two nights that her beloved Eric came back years before. Again, it is no where near as good or intense and Ashe is no Eric by any means...but it's not bad and I watch it every October.
"Buildings burn and people die but true love lasts forever...."

6) The Addams Family & The Addams Family Values

     

I would like to start this off with a confession: Everything I know about fashion I learned from Morticia Addams and half of my personality was influenced by Wednesday. haha If you want a great Halloween movie you can watch with your kids or if you happen to be a '90's kid like me and you view Halloween as a great time to regress, spend some time with the First Family of Goth. You will be very glad you did. :)

(Pssttt...is the theme song playing in your head now? lol)

7) Sleepy Hollow

Johnny Depp is in it. Do you need a better reason than that to add this movie to your holiday to-do list? :)

This is another Tim Burton film and it is, in my opinion, the best re-telling of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow that has been made to date. Between the brilliance and the darkness of Burton and the amazing acting of Depp (No, he's not just a very pretty face) the story of the incredibly awkward  and, at times, down right dim witted Ichabod Crane trying to save the village of Sleepy Hollow comes to life. Like his work on Alice in Wonderland, Burton took a story and he put his own touch to it until he made it his own. The plot, the headless horseman, and the sinister plans of certain folks in the quiet little village make it a Halloween must.

8) Pet Sematary

Would I leave my beloved Stephen King off this list? Of course not. This was the last movie that ever truly scared me. I was about six years old the first time I was able to talk my mother into letting me watch it (I was obsessed with scary movies as a small child and by that point this movie had become like the Holy Grail to me) and it wasn't all of the burying the dead to make them come back to life stuff that got to me. No. It was Rachel's...fucking...sister. Now that I am all grown up and I no longer get scared by scary movies...that scene still gets to me. haha I love this movie unconditionally (although it was child's play compared with the book) and I couldn't imagine a single Halloween without it. 

"First I played with Jed...then I played with mommy...now I wanna play with youuuu!" 

Don't leave poor little Gage hanging this October. :)

9)

"Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!"

(And if you remember the cartoon as well, you get ten bonus cool points. Congrats. lol)

Yes, I know, it's another Tim Burton movie. But that is not my fault. I never told him to be so damned great at making amazing Halloween movies. :)

This movie is perfect for those October nights in with the kids. I honestly have yet to meet a small child who didn't like it and it sure beats watching Spongebob. Everybody wins. :) 

When Barbra and Adam take a drive that their bodies don't return from, they call in the completely insane "bioexorcist" (he is for the dead what a Catholic Priest is for the living) to get the new people out of their house. But in the process of trying to evict their living house guests they end up discovering that Beetlejuice can be quite a pain in the ass and that Olivia, the family's teenage daughter, is just what they needed to make their own family complete. Heartwarming, huh? 

10) Insidious

If you love scary movies and you have found that somewhere along the way scary movies just stopped...scaring you...this is the movie for you. I do not jump over horror movies anymore. I haven't in years. I literally jumped while watching this. The way that they did ghosts in this movie was completely different from the way they are typically shown in movies. Not their physical appearance (well...yeah...in some cases, that too) but in the way that they show themselves. This is a new Halloween addition to my tradition but I absolutely love this movie for finally...FINALLY...giving me a little taste of the old thrill that scary movies used to give me once upon a time.

11) A Nightmare on Elm Street

I know that there was a slew of Nightmare movies made but to me the only one worth watching is the first one. This was the first horror movie I ever watched and the begging and pleading I had to do in order to talk my mother into that one (I was all of four...maybe five...) was really incredible. But I wanted to get my hands on this movie that everyone was talking about. I...wanted...to...get...scared, damn it! And I did. For months I wouldn't take a shower without covering our heating vent in the bathroom because I was afraid that Freddie was going to stick his sharp appendages right up through that vent and gut me as I came out. However, while I stood in the shower I couldn't cover the drain and he was so crafty...what if I was actually dreaming and not showering at all...then he could come up through the drain and...

Yep, that was the way my brain worked back then. And I loved it. I had my first taste of horror movies, I had the shit scared out of me, and I wanted more! Of course it's not really that scary. But if you are like me and you can remember a time when it seemed like Freddie was lurking in every corner waiting to strike, why not relive those beautiful moments this month?

12) The Haunting in Connecticut

This is another somewhat recent addition to my Halloween movie marathon that I have every night in October. I absolutely loved this movie. Why? Well, let me ask you this...if you moved into a very old house, could you be one hundred percent sure that there were no bodies in the walls and no tormented souls walking the halls? If you just said yes, you lack imagination and I am just...*sigh* disappointed in you. I usually get nothing out of slasher movies. They don't scare me. They don't make me wonder 'what if' and I tend to be bored by them. But a movie like this? Right up my alley, my friend. I have no doubt in my mind that ghosts exist, I don't doubt that a very sick person who is in between life and death could become a target for spirits, and I think anyone who has ever lived in an old house knows that they have decades of history you know nothing about. Was there a morgue in your basement once? Seances held in your dinning room one hundred years ago? Some madman who lived where you are now that refused to give up the house or his insanity long after death? The Haunting in Connecticut is just the sort of movie to make you wonder...

13) Rob Zombie's Halloween

I actually don't have too much to say about this one except that I normally dislike Rob Zombie's movies, slasher films, and the entire Halloween franchise BUT I watched this movie last October and I actually enjoyed it. I was shocked. So, by my logic, if you do like Zombie's movies or Halloween you will probably really enjoy this movie.

14) The Amityville Horror

I hated the original Amityville...all of them, actually. I mean, the dramatic hell in the basement bit in the first movie, the creepy incestuous bit in the second movie...the one with the replica house...or was it a haunted clock...I can't even remember anymore...the point is, I hated them. So were my hopes high when they re-made The Amityville Horror? Not quite. But it's amazing what thirty years and a new perspective on the whole thing did for that movie. Did it scare me? No. But at least it was interesting. And it's great to watch with the lights out just days before Halloween. 

15) Casper

Again, if you remember the cartoon you get ten additional cool points. I wasn't alive when the cartoon was on the air originally. However, I was fortunate enough to grow up without cable and stations like the WB showed old shows when I was little. It is because of that that I first became acquainted with everyone's favorite friendly ghost. When they made this movie I could not wait to see it. And I have loved it ever since. It is another one of those movies that might seem a bit cheesy if you are not a small child or if you do not have amazing childhood memories of it, but if you find that your kids want to see it and you watch it with them sometimes an amazing thing happens. You see the movie through their eyes. And that? Well, that makes you realize how fun this film really was.

16) The Exorcist

This movie actually belongs higher up on this list of mine but I sort of forgot about it and I thought it might be easier to just stick it down here. Go with it. lol Ah, The Exorcist...scaring the shit out of people for nearly forty years. Now, I must admit, I think I waited too late in my life to watch this because I have never been frightened by it. I was eleven the first time I saw it and my reaction has been the same each time I've seen it in the fourteen years since. I think it is pretty hilarious. Except for the highly disturbing crucifix scene(Let god fuck you indeed...what the hell?), the demon/devil/whatever was hysterically funny. I mean, yes, he was evil. But his sarcasm was impeccable.  Despite the fact that it is a horror movie that makes me laugh, it is still a damned good movie and one that I think everyone who is old enough to handle it should watch around this time of year. What is a Halloween Movie Marathon without this classic that so changed the genre of horror. Oh, you don't agree that it did? Think about movies like The Blob or the original Night of the Living Dead...how...completely un-horrific (Yes, I think I just made that word up) they were...and then imagine that we had not had the last four decades of newer, scarier, crazier horror and you were sitting in a dark theater watching it when it premiered. That would have been quite a jolt to the psyche I believe. So while I may not find it scary today, I can certainly see how it changed the way that Hollywood did horror. Which is something to be thankful for. Imagine what a life it would be if The Birds was the scariest movie you had ever seen. Truly frightening indeed....

The few videos I added are full movies, by the way. Enjoy them while they last because stuff like that tends to be jerked off of youtube quickly. 

I hope you have enjoyed this cinematic trip through the journey we are on this month. Next week? It's on to books. Yes, I am such a dork that I even have books for Halloween. If you are around my age, you will most likely recognize at least one from our delightful youth. lol 

In the meantime...HAPPY OCTOBER!!!! Break out your pumpkins and your scarecrows, your black cats and your ghosties...and don't...forget...the witches. :) And if you find yourself searching for something to do one night this month, heat up a glass of apple cider, grab a caramel apple (better yet...grab one for each hand), and kick back with one of your favorite Halloween movies. 

Mabon/Fall is Here!

Well, it's Mabon...the first day of fall. Am I incredibly excited? Yes, I am. Often times here in Ohio the first day of fall feels much like summer but today Mother Nature is providing us with very fall-like weather to give us a taste of what is to come. The only thing that could make this day any better would be a homemade caramel apple and some hot apple cider. But alas, I will have to wait for my favorite fall treats. The leaves have just started to turn and there are still far more green than red, orange, and yellow but one has only to step outside to see that autumn has come to stay. 

Mabon is the Pagan celebration of this day, the second in the three harvest festivals. In our lore the Goddess is now pregnant and getting bigger by the day while the God (who is associated with the sun and whose power ebbs and grows accordingly) is getting weaker every day. On Samhain (October 31st-November 1st) he will die and already the first signs of death are apparent. 

The celebration of the first day of Autumn goes back thousands of years to the ancient Pagans who relied on the earth for everything. This was seen as an abundant time, a time to be grateful for a good harvest, because a good harvest meant that the people would not go hungry during the barren winter months. It was a time for the people to gather together and feast, to give offerings to the Gods of the land that had provided for the people. It was a happy time (assuming the harvest was a good one, of course. I doubt there was much celebration if something went wrong with the crops). The autumn months were also a busy time as everyone worked to prepare for the winter. 
Here are some of the things associated with the Mabon holiday courtesy of wicca.com:


Mabon
Autumn Equinox, 2nd Harvest, September 21st

Mabon, (pronounced MAY-bun, MAY-bone, MAH-boon, or MAH-bawn) is the Autumn Equinox. The Autumn Equinox divides the day and night equally, and we all take a moment to pay our respects to the impending dark. We also give thanks to the waning sunlight, as we store our harvest of this year's crops. The Druids call this celebration, Mea'n Fo'mhair, and honor the The Green Man, the God of the Forest, by offering libations to trees. Offerings of ciders, wines, herbs and fertilizer are appropriate at this time. Wiccans celebrate the aging Goddess as she passes from Mother to Crone, and her consort the God as he prepares for death and re-birth.

Various other names for this Lesser Wiccan Sabbat are The Second Harvest Festival, Wine Harvest, Feast of Avalon, Equinozio di Autunno (Strega), Alben Elfed (Caledonii), or Cornucopia. The Teutonic name, Winter Finding, spans a period of time from the Sabbat to Oct. 15th, Winter's Night, which is the Norse New Year.

At this festival it is appropriate to wear all of your finery and dine and celebrate in a lavish setting. It is the drawing to and of family as we prepare for the winding down of the year at Samhain. It is a time to finish old business as we ready for a period of rest, relaxation, and reflection. 
Symbolism of Mabon: 
Second Harvest, the Mysteries, Equality and Balance.

Symbols of Mabon: 
wine, gourds, pine cones, acorns, grains, corn, apples, pomegranates, vines such as ivy, dried seeds, and horns of plenty.

Herbs of Maybon: 
Acorn, benzoin, ferns, grains, honeysuckle, marigold, milkweed, myrrh, passionflower, rose, sage, solomon's seal, tobacco, thistle, and vegetables.

Foods of Mabon: 
Breads, nuts, apples, pomegranates, and vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, and onions.

Incense of Mabon: 
Autumn Blend-benzoin, myrrh, and sage.

Colors of Mabon: 
Red, orange, russet, maroon, brown, and gold.

Stones of Mabon: 
Sapphire, lapis lazuli, and yellow agates.

Activities of Mabon: 
Making wine, gathering dried herbs, plants, seeds and seed pods, walking in the woods, scattering offerings in harvested fields, offering libations to trees, adorning burial sites with leaves, acorns, and pine cones to honor those who have passed over.

Spellworkings of Mabon: 
Protection, prosperity, security, and self-confidence. Also those of harmony and balance.

Deities of Mabon: 
Goddesses-Modron, Morgan, Epona, Persephone, Pamona and the Muses. Gods-Mabon, Thoth, Thor, Hermes, and The Green Man.

Mabon is considered a time of the Mysteries. It is a time to honor Aging Deities and the Spirit World. Considered a time of balance, it is when we stop and relax and enjoy the fruits of our personal harvests, whether they be from toiling in our gardens, working at our jobs, raising our families, or just coping with the hussle-bussle of everyday life. May your Mabon be memorable, and your hearts and spirits be filled to overflowing! 

So whether or not you are Pagan, get outside today and enjoy the beauty of Nature, the bounty of the autumn season. Be grateful and be happy for another year of good health, good people in your life, and for any form that abundance has taken for you since the spring. :)

Blessed be!

My New Favorite Things

Ah, I can feel fall in the air. It's getting very very close, isn't it? And I cannot wait! Perhaps it is because we are so close to my favorite season that I've been in a better mood than usual. Probably. Just wait until October. I will be a far cry from my normal self, I assure you. haha

Since my last post I have discovered a book, a movie, and a singer that I want to say great things about because they made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. So follow me on this little trip into some of my new favorite things...

Seasons of Witchery is a book I heard about just before it was available in June. It's by an author named Ellen Dugan whom I had never read before but the description of the book intrigued me. It is a book about the Wiccan Sabbats with a great deal of information on each one concerning its history, its symbolism, and even Esbat rituals for the full moons that occur around the time of each Sabbat. I typically use the ritual suggestions Silver Ravenwolf provided in Solitary Witch and I have copied into my BOS the history of each holy day that appeared in Scott Cunningham's books, most recently in the book Book of Shadows. The information Ellen Dugan gives seems great to use with what I have already, to expand on my normal tradition a bit. I read the entire book in one night and I have no doubt I will read it many times over in the future. In fact, I will probably be checking out her other work in the future as well because I love her style. She made me laugh on numerous occasions. Aside from the ability to provide information in general, the ability to put personality into a book pertaining to Wicca is the most important thing for me and she nailed it.

You can find this book on ebay and amazon among other places because, as I said about Hedgewitch, there are also numerous online Wiccan shops and book shops that also have it.

My favorite movie of the month (which may not be so much a surprise considering I am me) is Paranorman. Now, I am sure many of you are wondering why I am watching a cartoon but I blame it on my Tim Burton obsession. Cartoons like Paranorman amuse me and I loved it. I loved that it was about a little boy dealing with a very big gift, a little boy made an outsider because of his gift, I loved the take it on the witch (you'll have to watch it to see what I mean), and I love that at the very end there was a reference I have never heard in a "kid's" movie before that sort of made me realize how far we've come as a society from my childhood, which was not so long ago. So, no matter your age, if you want to see a cute movie that also has very serious undertones about the power of hatred, the reasons that tolerance should be promoted, I recommend this movie to you. 

Yes, Elle King is my new musical obsession. Like most people I first heard the above song thanks to commercials for Mob Wives Chicago (I don't like the show...they just don't have the umph I love about the original Mob Wives) and I have had this song on a playlist for a while now because of that but it wasn't until today that I bothered checking out her other songs. This chick writes songs like I wrote poetry when I was a teenager and not only does she have a bad ass bluesy voice I can't get enough of, her lyrics are ballsy and real. She tells it like it is, something I never get tired of hearing from women in music. I have listened to her all day. I just can't stop. Considering it is only about once or twice a year that I find a new artist I actually like, that should tell you how great she is. 

Need I say more? I don't think so. Her talent speaks for itself.

She has the talent and the attitude of Adele with perhaps a little more of a punch if such a thing is possible. What's not to love about that? :)

Hedgewitch

For the second year in a row yours truly is working through Silver Ravenwolf's fourteen day Hedgewitch ritual "program". I started it Monday, one year to the day since I started it last year. Why am I doing it again? Well, I am glad you asked. Because last year I was in a really bad place mentally when I bought the book. I had had my eye on the damned thing for nearly two years at that point but I always had other obligations to fulfill when my always-much-needed student loans came but last year I was finally able to scrounge up the fifteen bucks or so to get it. And like Silver's books always seem to do, it came into my life at just the right time. By the time I performed the last ritual I had my head straight. I knew what I needed, what I wanted from my life. I had the clarity I needed so much. And for the past year I have been happier, more in tune with my spiritual self, than I can remember being since childhood. I have no doubt that this is due, at least in part, to the workings I did last year with Hedgewitch. So if it worked, of course I'll do it again. 

I have a very long history with the work of Silver Ravenwolf. I know that there are some witches who do not like her. Of course there are. No one can agree on everything. We're not supposed to. But for me, Silver was like a teacher through the past fourteen years. Her books, along with the work of Scott Cunningham, taught me many of the things I know today about magick, about Spirit/the Gods, about Wicca and to be honest I feel as if she is an old friend. As I said before, her books always seem to come to me at the right moment, teaching me whatever I need to know at that time. Then again, I found that is true about most magick books. However, she does more than write books that guide me and many others who, for whatever reason, can not find physical teachers or who study both with teachers and alone. She writes in such a way that it is as if she is there physically. In addition to this, I was eleven the first time I read one of her books (To Ride a Silver Broomstick...it was the third Craft book I ever read following Scott Cunningham's Wicca and Living Wicca) so I have, in a sense, grown up with her in my life. I remember reading her books when her kids were still...well...kids. Now they are grown and she is a grandmother. Because her life, her personality, is evident in each book she writes I almost feel as if she is not some stranger a state away who writes books I enjoy but rather as if she is, like I said, a dear old friend.

But I've completely gotten off topic, haven't I? We were talking about this book in particular...

I recommend it, clearly. If you are Wiccan and you've been practicing awhile and you are looking for something new, this might be something you want to look into. You can preview the book on google. It was actually through the preview I stumbled upon that I first decided I HAD to have the book. 
http://books.google.com/books?id=0ANO1oe_aBsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=silver+ravenwolf+hedgewitch&source=bl&ots=kFikMci-GJ&sig=rzhyNniOXs5kCgeh0L-vQiVxktE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gTtIULC4D-fk0QGTtoDADQ&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=silver%20ravenwolf%20hedgewitch&f=false

If you preview it and you decide you also HAVE to have it, there are a couple of options for you. You can get it pretty cheap on ebay depending on when you look. For instance, right now you can pick it up for less than six bucks. But who knows what the average price will be a month from now.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=silver+ravenwolf+hedgewitch&_sacat=0

If amazon is more your style, you can also look there. That is where I purchased mine last year. In addition to that, there are always Wiccan shops with websites that sell the book and things of that nature. 

Some of the things you will learn from this book are things like stating what you want in primordial language. Silver explains in the book that the universe doesn't speak as we do but rather in simple terms. It does not understand words like "not" so if you are constantly sending out the message 'I do not want to lose my job' the Universe will hear only 'I want...' and you will, in effect, bring toward you the very thing you did not want. The book also teaches you that in order to bring new things into your life, whether they be material or things like accomplishments, you have to get rid of things you no longer need to make room for it. 

The rituals themselves (the above mentioned things are from the introduction) are all related to nature and using nature to enhance yourself. The first night is the Rite of Wind; Night two is the Rite of Fire; Night three is Rite of Earth; followed by the Rite of Starry Sky; Rite of Rain; Rite of the Mountain; Rite of Lightening; Rite of Thunder; Rite of Metal; Rite of Stone; Rite of Celestial Power; Rite of the Enchanted Wood; Rite of Silence; and the final night, the dedication. If you are a nillionaire like me and you can't afford the herbs and things needed, you can do what I've done and switch it up a bit using substitutes with the same magickal properties and things of that nature, tailoring it to fit your needs. 

The reason I am posting about this is because it is something that really helped me this time last year when I was at a cross roads and I wasn't sure what path to take. This year things are better...much better. Not perfect, no, but I am happier, I feel wiser and yet I know that I have a lifetime of learning ahead of me, and I feel like I am closer to being who I want to be than I was twelve months ago. If it worked that well for me, perhaps it will work well for you too. 

I hope all of you, my beloved blogger pals, have an amazing week and that you remember to smile. And I will leave you with a quote that has become part of my life motto thanks to the lessons and the results of Hedgewitch...

Katrina And Isaac...Then and Now

                           

Who can forget the horrible imagine of New Orleans seven years ago today? I know I never will. I spent the entire night up flipping between news channels as Katrina advanced upon the city. Anderson Cooper, bless him, stood inside the storm longer than the other anchors as I recall, nearly being blown over at times to keep everyone informed. And at the end of it we all breathed a sigh of relief. The eye of Katrina had not hit the city as everyone had feared and it was not the Category 4 or 5 that some had feared it would be....and then...

The city's levee systems failed and we all watched in a sickened sort of horror as the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas were engulfed in water. And no one came. For days the people left in the city were abandoned, dying of dehydration and drowning, and everybody talked...but no...one...came.

The problems began before the storm hit. There were many people in the city who stayed because they did not have the money or the transportation to get out. There was an offer to bring in trains to get people out and the mayor of the city said no. Without consulting the people, without asking anyone, Nagen said no. That is what makes me so angry about those who have said in the last seven years that the people were stupid for not leaving. How do you leave when you have no way to go? That was the first way that the people were failed but god knows it was not the last. I could focus this entire post on the crap that took place in the days that followed, the way that Bush flew over the city and saw the people on the bridge begging for help and waited two more days to send in supplies, the way that FEMA fucked everyone, the way that people were shot dead for trying to take food and water for themselves and their families...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI_5-frn4EE 

Watch that. It's a youtube video, a documentary, made by people who stayed behind with people who stayed behind. There are other documentaries like this and that is what I advise you to watch. Not what the media puts out but things done by those who were there, those who have nothing to cover up. I am only twenty-five but in my life this is the biggest atrocity I have seen in America. Not just the storm, not just the flooding, but the complete lack of give-a-damn that was shown toward the people of New Orleans. They say 1,500 people died. I don't believe that. I think the number was much higher. There are still people who never found the remains of their loved ones. How could they get a death toll on something like that? 

                      

                       

                                     

Seven years later the city is still not whole again. Seven months before Katrina we were one of the first nations to respond to the Tsunami that hit Asia but this is the way we treated our own people right here in the United States of America? The truth was so distorted in so many ways in the media. You had reporters like Anderson Cooper and the man on Fox News (I believe it was Fox) trying to tell the world what was happening and no one would let them speak. No one would give them answers either. The truth is, no one in office gave a damn. Most of the people, American citizens, that died did not die because of the storm. They died because of the heat and the lack of water. But yet we can do drops to foreign nations immediately. I can't forgive that. And I wasn't even there.

So why do I care so much? Well besides the fact that I cannot stand injustice and human suffering, New Orleans is the hometown of my soul. I belong there. I have felt that way for most of my life. I should be there. Not in Ohio. But life dealt me hands I did not anticipate. I haven't given up my dream. I will get there. Yes, I know that during Katrina New Orleans wasn't the only place that suffered. But no where else was like New Orleans. My heart still goes out to EVERYONE...but it wasn't like New Orleans. 

As I sat last night watching Isaac's progress on CNN I had the most terrible feeling of deja vu. Even though we knew it wouldn't be as big or bad as Katrina, knowing that seven years before I had been sitting around doing the same thing, watching the same channel, as Katrina came in was almost overwhelming. Today I awoke to the news that the Parishes outside of the city had been flooded and I was happy to see that people were responding quickly to get folks to safety but I was pissed off by the way that the reporters kept talking about the people underestimating the storm...only one Louisiana city was told to evacuate. The rest were told to hunker down. Again, it seems like the people will be blamed for any damage that is done, any suffering they endure. And in that way history will repeat itself.

Pray for the people who were lost seven years ago. Pray for the people suffering tonight, displaced from their homes again by the force of Mother Nature, and never forget what happened in the Gulf during those terrible days of Katrina. But be grateful that Isaac was not as bad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgwJx8l97Bo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzYRDPVGbFg