Are you ready for Halloween? I am finishing up Thorn by Vena Cork which is a psychological thriller. It hasn’t quite spooked me but there is a certain darkness to it which makes for an entertaining read.

If you still haven’t found your spooky book to read for this weekend, check out some of NPR’s Devilishly Good Books. After I finish Thorn, I’m not sure where my reading will take me but I do have several scary books to turn to so we’ll see what I find.

Another book I recommend and is now being discussed is The Woman in Black by Susan Hill. The Slaves of Golconda read this one so head over to the blog or the forum for more info. Unfortunately I didn’t get to read it in time for the discussion but there’s always the next one.

This weekend is also the Texas Book Festival. Yee-haw! I love this festival and am hoping to attend although there is a part of me that’s a bit tired from all the family in town, me being out of town, etc. and a cozy weekend with books and crafting and maybe some scary films at night sounds good. So we’ll see what I end up doing.

For now I’ll leave you with a Halloween poem and more bookish talk soon. Happy weekend and Happy Halloween!

I SPOT
With yellow balls in autumn.
I light the prairie cornfields
Orange and tawny gold clusters
And I am called pumpkins.
On the last of October
When dusk is fallen
Children join hands
And circle round me
Singing ghost songs
And love to the harvest moon;
I am a jack-o’-lantern
With terrible teeth
And the children know
I am fooling.

Theme in Yellow by Carl Sandburg

I’ve been going to the bookstore but believe it or not I haven’t bought any new books lately. Well, I did buy a zine, Sleepercar by Theo Ellsworth and a fun journal at Journalfest but no books. Still, this is Casa de Bookgirl so you know new books have arrived anyway.

The first is a book I won in a giveaway Sandy had, The Spies of Warsaw by Alan Furst. I actually got this one last week but with the madness of going out of town and such I forgot to mention it. Thank you, Sandy!

I also received an ARC of the book Tattoo by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán. This is a mystery series set in Barcelona featuring private detective Pepe Carvalho, and ex-cop, ex-marxist and constant gourmet. Sounds quite original doesn’t it? I’m digging the cover of that one too. Reminds me of old noir books. By the way, if you are into book cover design, here’s an interesting interview with the designer.

The other books I got were via Bookmooch. After Les in Ne mention Losing Julia by Johnathan Hull I had to get my hands on it and luckily found a copy of it. Sounds like a very moving story. I then found L.A. Outlaws by T.Jefferson Parker which is a book for my mystery book group. And, finally the last book is also another mystery but this one of the international variety, Devil’s Peak by Deon Meyer.

And, you know, I did get a little coupon for 40% off a book at Border’s so maybe this weekend I will treat myself to a new book. I think I’ll go think about which book I’d like.

Can you tell I’m ready for Halloween? Seriously, I love this holiday so when I saw that Stefanie had this Halloween meme on her blog I couldn’t resist.

Rules:
Answer the questions on your own blog
Tag 13 others to answer the questions on their blogs and link to them

Here goes:

1. Which urban legend ghost scared the bejeesuz out of you when you were a kid?
La Llorona. I remember everyone talking about her and telling us that she’d appear if any of the kids behaved badly. Not that I ever would of course, hee.

2. Which horror movie has the best premise?
Nightmare on Elm Street. I mean, nightmares really do feel so real in the moment right? So how horrible if they came true.

3. What is the most disappointing “treat” to receive in your bag on Halloween night?
Anything non-candy. I wanted chocolate and other sugary treats so erasers, pencils, toothbrushes, etc. were too boring.

4. What’s the best non-candy item to receive?
Read answer #3.

5. Did a monster live in your closet when you were a child?
Nope.

6. Which supernatural creature sent chills up your spine when you were ten and still does?
Ghosts would be it. I know several people who claim to have seen them and they are so convincing about it, it’s a bit scary to think about.

7. Which supernatural creature makes you yawn?
Mummies. I love the history and have enjoyed the Karloff film many times but I never found them very scary.

8. What’s your favorite Halloween decoration?
I love the Spooky Town decorations at Michael’s. You can build a whole village of spooky buildings. How cute is that?

9. If you could be anywhere on Halloween night, where would you be?
Salem, Massachusetts. I went to Salem a few years back and even though it wasn’t around Halloween there was definitely a different vibe there. I can only imagine what it’d be like for Halloween.

10. What’s the scariest book you’ve read so far this year?
Have not read the whole book yet but have read a story from 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill and  I can say you must read that with the lights on.

11. Haunted houses or haunted hayrides?
Haunted houses. Although, as much as I love scary stuff I am a wimp when it comes to Haunted Houses. I just hate it when the actors reach out for you. Eek!

12. Which Stephen King novel/movie would you least like to find yourself trapped in?
I’ve actually not read or seen that many books or movies by Stephen King so I’m going to go with The Shining because being alone in a haunted hotel would not be a good thing.

13. Which is creepiest: evil dolls, evil pets, evil children?
Evil children, that’s why we don’t have any. Haha.. just joking. No, I think the creepiest has to be evil dolls. Doesn’t it seem like their eyes always follow you?

Now I’m off to see which scary book/story I can find for my weekend read. And, I won’t tag anyone as I’m so behind on my blog reading. I was having some internet issues which I’m going to blame on the evil internets but if you want to do the meme have fun!