Wereland: Queen of Hearts

W E R E L A N D
This Character Connection post is part of Helluva Halloween Character Connection hosted by The Introverted Reader whereby one must...

The challenge:
Write a post (non-bloggers can use each week's comments) about any character from a horror/thriller type novel OR a villain from any type of book. I'm talking about the real baddies on that villain thing. I know horror/thriller is a gray area, so if you think it's appropriate for Halloween, I'll count it.

You too, can join this contest which ends Oct 30, 2010. Enter here for week 3.


Queen of Hearts
My pick this week is this MAD MAD MAD woman.


Queen of Hearts: The Queen of Hearts is a foul-tempered monarch, that Lewis Carroll himself pictured as "a blind fury", and who is quick to decree death sentences at the slightest offense. Her most famous line, one which she repeats often, is "Off with their heads!"

One of the Queen's hobbies - besides ordering executions - is croquet, however it is Wonderland croquet, where the balls are live hedgehogs and the mallets are flamingoes.

~*~
This Queen lives in Wonderland across the border from Wereland.

If you find yourself in Wonderland take heed of my warnings...

She likes her tarts, so don't even think about them.


Off with his head!

She won't put up with much guff from anyone.


Off with her head!

She is relentless and you won't be able to get a word in edgewise.


Off! OFf! OFF!

Possibly the only redeeming quality is that she has the makings of an excellent zombie slayer!


Off with its head!

This Queen can be found here...


Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll

Alice in Wonderland Freebies:

Read Alice online here.

Read Alice via email here.

Listen to Alice here.

~*~
* description of the Queen per wikipedia

* source for zombie

*Leave a comment here for an extra point to go towards the
Alice prize pack giveaway

* for Misty's event...

-+0+o+ October Trix-n-Treatz schedule +o+0+-

Wereland: WerePumpkin

W E R E L A N D

In Wereland there are artists who have captured creatures of this world in various art forms.

The drawing above depicts a classic scene from a popular Wereland folktale.

The WerePumpkin rides atop his unicorn stead while wreaking havoc amongst those in other lands.

~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~
by Giada
~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~

* Giada's entry for the Halloween Craft off! for Misty's event...



* And, leave a comment here for an extra point to go towards the
Alice prize pack giveaway


-+0+o+ October Trix-n-Treatz schedule +o+0+-

Mish Mosh: WereRaven

M I S H - M O S H
This post is part of Helluva Halloween II Contest: Choose Your Paranormal Character/ Story hosted by DeRaps Reads
(go check out her zombie, Mrs DeadRaps).

The challenge:
Pretend that you are a character in a paranormal YA book. What is your paranormal identity? Are you a vampire? A werewolf? A zombie? Something else? Give a name to your character and a bit of your story.

Meet my paranormal character:

Vaelerya - the WereRaven
Vaelerya was born in Wereland - stick around and you will find out about the likes of this place later this month.

She is a WereRaven and can shift from human to raven form at will. She likes sparkly things as most ravens do and has an incredible need to horde such items. Because she has such an obsession she has the skills of a thief and can break into banks and safes to acquire precious jewelry pieces for her collection - or yours, if you hire her. Her shifting comes in handy when escaping sticky situations.

OK, c'mon your turn. Enter the contest here.

Join in and make sure to let me know so's I can check you out.

~*~
* special thanks to the daughter, svb, for usage of her mask

* for Misty's event...

-+0+o+ October Trix-n-Treatz schedule +o+0+-

Mayhem: Mr Croup and Mr Vandemar

M A Y H E M
This Character Connection post is part of Helluva Halloween Character Connection hosted by The Introverted Reader whereby one must...

The challenge:
Write a post (non-bloggers can use each week's comments) about any character from a horror/thriller type novel OR a villain from any type of book. I'm talking about the real baddies on that villain thing. I know horror/thriller is a gray area, so if you think it's appropriate for Halloween, I'll count it.

You too, can join this contest which ends Oct 30, 2010. Enter here for week 1.

Mr Croup and Mr Vandemar
My picks this week are a couple of thugs, Mr Croup and Mr Vandemar, from Neverwhere written by Neil Gaiman. These guys also fall in well with my mayhem theme today as they cause much pain. They carry out the orders from the head honcho and have no mercy. They are quite like zombies just following orders without a care of your comfort. Although with this pair it could be quite painful just to be in their presence and observing their mannerisms.

Mr. Croup: The talkative half of the pair of assassins, the Messrs. He is short, fat, and speaks in a pompous and verbose manner. Like his partner, Mr. Vandemar, he seems to be able to simply move from one place to another very quickly despite his ungainly appearance. He is the brains of the pair and seems be the one calling the shots, and he apparently has a taste (literally) for fine china. Much of the imagery used to describe him is that of a fox.

Mr. Vandemar: Dull-witted, tall, and gangly, Vandemar is Croup’s polar opposite. He does not speak much, and when he does, his statements are often laconic and blunt. He is quite brutish and seems to enjoy nothing more than killing and destroying things (even practising his golf swing with live toads). He also has a tendency to eat live animals. The descriptive imagery likens him to a hound or a wolf, and he even howls at one point when catching up with his mark.

These fellas can be found in here...

Neverwhere
by Neil Gaiman

Based on a TV series that first aired on BBC Two in 1996 and later adapted to book form.

Description from the amazon:
Richard Mayhew is a plain man with a good heart -- and an ordinary life that is changed forever on a day he stops to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk.

From that moment forward he is propelled into a world he never dreamed existed -- a dark subculture flourish in abandoned subway stations and sewer tunnels below the city -- a world far stranger and more dangerous than the only one he has ever known...

He has fallen through the cracks of reality and has landed somewhere different, somewhere that is Neverwhere.

Per Wikipedia, Neverwhere can also be found in these formats:

Comic book: written by Mike Carey with art by Glenn Fabry

DVD: TV series

Film: in-development

Stage: coming in Spring 2011 by The Northwest Academy in Portland, OR with High School actors

Previous stage productions:
2006 by Cardinal Rep in Savannah, GA
2008 by Actors Gymnasium in Evanstan, IL
2010 by Lifeline Theatre in Chicago, IL

~*~
* image source for the thugs

* source for thug descriptions

* for Misty's event...

-+0+o+ October Trix-n-Treatz schedule +o+0+-

Zombie crafts: vvb creation

Prince Zeee
my zombie craft entry for
Misty's Zombie Craft Challenge
enter to win a prize

Behold, made from my hands.

A freshly made zombie in my daughter's craft laboratory.

Newly dubbed, Prince Zeee.

He is not yet bloodied with his first taste of brains.

But he's learning.

Arms outstretched.

Listen to him...

Br... Brrrra... Brrrrraaaaiiiii

Poor Pinkie Piii doesn't know what's coming...

~*~
* zombie ingredients: floral wire, yarn, embroidery thread, wooden bead, misc notions, mystery-super-secret dust


=== September Zombies schedule of events ===
with links to posts and giveaways from the other Zombiettes

Vampire Diaries: The Awakening by L. J. Smith

The Vampire Diaries:

The Awakening

by L. J. Smith

Published: 2009

Genre: Romance, Vampire

Paperback: 272 pages

Rating: 4

Description from the amazon:

A deadly love triangle

Elena: beautiful and popular, the girl who can have any boy she wants.

Stefan: brooding and mysterious, desperately trying to resist his desire for Elena . . . for her own good.

Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him.

Elena finds herself drawn to both brothers . . . who will she choose?

Description from widipedia:
The first volume of the series introduces the reader to Elena Gilbert a popular and beautiful high school student in Fell's Church, Virginia and her best friends Bonnie and Matt. A former childhood friend, Caroline, is also introduced and revealed to be Elena's antagonist. As their senior year at Robert E. Lee High School begins, Elena meets and becomes involved with a mysterious new student, Stefan Salvatore. As Elena and Stefan fall in love, strange attacks begin to happen in the town and Elena discovers that Stefan has a dark secret—he is a centuries-old vampire. Soon after Elena and Stefan meet, another charismatic stranger later revealed to be Stefan's estranged elder brother, Damon Salvatore, begins to make appearances. The reader learns that the brothers both fell in love with a young vampire named Katherine in Renaissance Italy. Fueled with rage at Katherine's refusal to choose one brother over the other and her subsequent suicide, Stefan and Damon kill each other in a sword fight. They are interred in the family crypt but soon awaken as vampires, at which point they part ways until they encounter each other once more at the beginning of the novel. The Awakening ends with Elena seeking out Damon, whom she believes to be the prime suspect in Stefan's disappearance after the townspeople begin to suspect him for being behind numerous violent animal attacks and the recent murder of the high school's subst history teacher.

My thoughts:

In-a-word: selfish

Finally, finally finished reading this. It was tough going while watching the TV series. The book has a different feel with characters that don't totally match up with the TV series characters. I read the book with this cover and found that it just does not match the innards. The cover with Stefan below is a better fit. The cover posted above with the crow works too, but has a xmas-sy feel to it. Anyhoo if you'd like to have my copy, let me know in comments below.

At first I did not like how this story was going mainly because I had the TV version warring with it in my head. But, as I continued the read I began to get into the story and accept the book characters as they are.

The story does have a different take on a vampire love story. An unusual love triangle where the girl/woman has the upper hand.

The book ends with a cliffhanger so I must read book 2 to continue the story. The big question I have is what is the connection between Katherine and Elena other than their appearance? You can say that this story also fits into the Mystery genre.

Interesting European folklore (from Scotland?):

One of the characters mentions a way to find out who your future spouse by way of old ritual called the Dumb Supper. You create a place setting at dining room table with one plate, one glass, and one set of silverware without uttering a word. Then you light a single candle in a candleholder in the center of the table and position yourself behind the chair with the place setting.

According to Bonnie, on the stroke of midnight she was supposed to pull the chair back and invite her future husband in. At that point, the candle would blow out and she would see a ghostly figure in the chair.

-page 175

Zombie sighting:
Several zombies turned as Elena came in. Their grinning skulls visible through the rotting flesh of their faces.
pg 187

Series:

The Awakening

The Struggle - my review

The Fury

Dark Reunion

The Return: Nightfall

*part of my Vampire Diaries challenge

*part of my R.I.P. challenge

*part of my Helluva Halloween challenge

Hook-Hand Killer Tale

I'm featured in a Halloween Week special feature
by Harry of the Temple Library Reviews

His entry called “Gather the 13” poses a question about horror, myths and lore and thirteen bloggers from different cultural background and genre preferences will answer this question from their cultural background.

The questions asked of me was:

What scary stories about monsters and ghosts did you grow up with?

I'll preface my post with an excerpt below as you'll have to go to Harry's site to read the rest of my contribution. BTW, I'm number 6.

I grew up in the United States so my background is very American. I had parents who got into the whole assimilation process that I hardly have any touches of my ethnic background of the Philippines. I would like to share Filipino scary folklore but all I can give you are some lumpia and pancit recipes. However, I did do a post on the Wak-Wak that may be of interest. I recently encountered this deadly Filipino paranormal creature while trolling the internet.

Yeah, so like many Americans all I have in my scary knowledge base are the the fly from The Fly, shark from Jaws, zombies from Romero's Night of the Living Dead, Jason from Halloween, Freddy from Nightmare on Elm Street and Chucky from Child's Play. Sorry to say, I haven't seen any recent stuff in the theatre except for Zombieland.

I have been exploring horror films from other countries though. Interesting perspectives.

OK, back to the question at hand...

Excerpt from Harry's site:
Below is a campfire ghost story my Uncle told me in the 70's that I thought at the time was unique and one that he created. I'd get the shivers after listening to this story every time he told it. For he repeated this tale many times during my childhood as I have younger siblings and cousins who were introduced this tale. read more here

After you read my entry it's pretty tame. I know. But, actually it is a good thing that I haven't really encountered anything so traumatic. For me, all things scary are found in books and film.

And, I'm curious to know if you have come across the scary story I mentioned.

How would you answer Harry's question?

What scary stories about monsters and ghosts did you grow up with?

*image source

Ring by Koji Suzuki

Ring
by Koji Suzuki

Published: 2003 (American edition)
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Paranormal
Hardback: 288 pages
Rating: 5

Description from the amazon:
The novel, which tells the story of a journalist investigating the apparently simultaneous deaths of four teenagers, begins as a traditional mystery. But it glides smoothly into horror when the journalist discovers that all four victims watched a videotape that guaranteed their deaths in one week if they did not do a certain thing (details are missing from the tape).

If the journalist can't figure out what happened, he, too, the tape prophesizes, is doomed. Told with a minimum of horror cliches, the novel creates a sense of slowly mounting dread, as though something unpleasant is inevitable, and we are powerless to stop it.

My thoughts:
In-a-word(s): psychic energy

I was exposed to both movie versions of Ring before reading this. Both the Japanese and American versions were horrifically terrific and different in their own ways.

The book is no different. The pacing is slower but lots more sleuthing and character development goes on in the book.

The book also gets into describing and breaking down the meaning of the individual scenes that flash by in the infamous video. The movie versions explain some but not all of the scenes.

And, lots more interesting info about psychic paranormal activity.

What it is comes down to is a human need. You'll have to read the book to find out which. We humans are so needy... even in the afterlife.

OMG, there's more to the ghostie Sadako than meets the eye... literally.

Yes, so lots to uncover in the book version.

Ring Trilogy:
Ring
Spiral
Loop

*check out my book fashion dress for Loop

*read the first part of this review which includes a bit of trivia on Japanese Female Demons

*part of my R.I.P. challenge

*part of my Hello Japan! challenge

*part of my Helluva Halloween challenge

Woman in the Snow movie

Kaidan (1964) movie
aka Kwaidan

I watched the second of four Japanese ghost stories.

The Woman in the Snow

another female ghostie

Director: Masaki Kobayashi
Screenplay: Yôko Mizuki
Based on book by: Lafcadio Hearn

Description from the amazon:
Stranded in a snowstorm, a woodcutter meets an icy spirit in the form of a woman. She spares his life on the condition that he never tell anyone about her. A decade later he forgets his promise. (duh-duh-dum-dumb)

My thoughts:
In a word: brrrrr

Actually the woman in the snow was a ghost, goddess, vampire combo. She drained one victim of blood (like a vampire) before disappearing into the snow (like a ghost). She spares another's life because he is "young" and "pretty" (human-like feelings). Then later turns herself into human form to be with the young man (goddess-like powers).

Woman in the snow says:

I intended to treat you like the other man. But I cannot help feeling some pity for you, -- because you are so young... You are a pretty boy, Minokichi; and I will not hurt you now. But, if you ever tell anybody -- even your own mother -- about what you have seen this night, I shall know it; and then I will kill you... Remember what I say!

You know the man is doomed. Because being human, it is inevitable that the promise would one day be broken. Why do gods toy with humans so?

I liked the snippets of a woodcutter's life in this story. From preparing meals to making sandals, it is portrayed as a simple one but rich with love - for awhile at least.

I wanted to mention that the Criterion Collection film version is colorized. The colors are amazing and add so much to the story. I originally saw this in black and white and some of the scenes didn't come across as effectively.

Kaidan tales includes:

Black Hair - my review

Woman in the Snow

Hoichi, the Earless - my review

In A Cup Of Tea - my review

Blogosphere bits:

Wikipedia says:
Yuki Onna (snow woman) is a spirit or yōkai in Japanese folklore. She is a popular figure in Japanese animation, manga, and literature. Yuki-onna is sometimes confused with Yama-uba ("mountain crone"), but they are not the same.

and

Some legends say the Yuki-onna, being associated with winter and snowstorms, is the spirit of someone who perished in the snow. She is at the same time beautiful and serene, yet ruthless in killing unsuspecting mortals. Until the 18th century, she was almost uniformly portrayed as evil. Today, however, stories often color her as more human, emphasizing her ghost-like nature and ephemeral beauty.

and

What Yuki-onna is after varies from tale to tale. Sometimes she is simply satisfied to see a victim die. Other times, she is more vampiric, draining her victims' blood or "life force." She occasionally takes on a succubus-like manner, preying on weak-willed men to drain or freeze them through sex or a kiss.

*part of my Hello Japan! challenge

*part of my Helluva Halloween challenge

Black Hair movie

Kaidan aka Kwaidan (1964) movie

I watched the first of four Japanese ghost stories.

Black Hair

Director: Masaki Kobayashi
Screenplay: Yôko Mizuki
Based on book by: Lafcadio Hearn

Female ghostie

Description from imdb:
In ancient Kyoto, a samurai decides to leave his poor but beloved wife and become rich marrying a wealthy wife. He misses his first loved wife, and years later, when he returns to her, he finds a surprise waiting for him.

My thoughts:
In-a-word(s): flying hair

Not a usual haunting. The ghost in the story is of a gentle sort that haunts through daydreams. She inserts herself into her ex-husband's thoughts in the most odd times like when he is on horseback in the middle of a bow and arrow competition.

The constant haunts eventually guides the ex-husband back to his home town and first wife.

After an evening of sweet reunion, the reality of the ghostly situation is revealed and the ex-husband is undone in a horrifying way. eeek!

Kaidan tales includes:

Black Hair

Woman in the Snow - my review

Hoichi, the Earless - my review

In A Cup Of Tea - my review

Blogosphere bit:

The second wife in the movie was from a wealthy family. Not knowing much of Japanese history I was curious as to what was behind her black teeth and shaved eyebrows.

Found out why here:

Women: "In Junichiro Tanizaki’s ‘Ineiraisan’, one of whose themes is the traditional Japanese aesthetic sense, the reason why a married woman wears ‘ohaguro’ is to emphasize ‘oshiroi’ (white powder). During the Edo Era, women of the middle class lived in a dark house. Only candles lit up the rooms. The room was dark, a woman’s kimono was also dark, as well as her teeth. And women applied ‘oshiroi’ to their faces in order not to show their expression.

It is thought that ‘ohaguro’ is effective in making an expressionless face. The black of ‘ohaguro’ was in sharp contrast with the face white with ‘oshiroi’ and had the effect of emphasizing it. ...

By shaving her eyebrows and dyeing the teeth black, the changes of feeling do not appear in her expression. Thus expression is extinguished. That is, one may say that ‘ohaguro’ is the culture which hides expression[,] which was thought to be one of the elements of a beauty. ‘Ohaguro’ came to distinctly represent age, occupation, and marital status. This meant that a woman became obedient as a subordinate to her husband because black cannot be dyed with other colors. It is clear that black has a deep connection with the idea of fidelity.

*part of my Hello Japan! challenge

*part of my Helluva Halloween challenge

Zombie Haiku by vvb

it may be too late for me

~~~

shuffling towards them

i join the horde of zombies

i will miss my books

~~~

but there's always hope

*part of my Helluva Halloween challenge

*last Halloween treat for the month

Ring by Koji Suzuki (started)

Japanese Female Demon

The Hannya mask with its horns and sharp fangs is probably the best known of all Noh masks. The mask expresses the fury of a woman turned demon through jealousy and anger and who revenges by attacking.

-Noh Mask

Ring

by Koji Suzuki

I read the first part of this Japanese Horror just to get a flavor for the book. The mask pictured here was mentioned so I googled to see what it looks like. The image was effective is giving a boost of adrenaline. Scary demon!

The description of the mask sets up the story up pretty well for me. I watched the American version of the movie and remember an angry female spirit.

I'll finish up with this book by the end of the week for a proper review.

*part of my Read-a-thon challenge

*part of my Hello Japan! challenge

*part of my Helluva Halloween challenge

*total pages read: 56

*my review here

This Year's Class Picture by Dan Simmons

This Year's Class Picture

by Dan Simmons

In a zombocalyptic world what becomes of the kids?

This short story presents the kids of the future and the tale of an extraordinary gun-toting teacher.

This story also goes to show that if a teacher's worth their salt, they can teach anyone and anything.

This short story is part of:

The Living Dead (short stories)

edited by John Joseph Adams

*part of my Read-a-thon challenge

*part of my Helluva Halloween challenge

*source image of teacher

*total pages read: 21

Shapeshifter Wak-Wak

Inspired by Misty of Book Rat's Helluva Halloween Spotlight On: Shapeshifters

-and this post is also part of my Helluva Halloween challenge

Wak-Wak aka Aswang
or tik-tik
or soc-soc

To my ears these names are funny. ooo, beware of the attack of the wak-wak. tee-hee.

Upon a little reading about shapeshifters at Wikipedia, I discovered the Aswang. Fascinating!

Being of the Filipino descent but born and raised in America, I grew up more American than Flip. Never knew the folktales and legends of the Philippines so these creatures are totally new to me.

The aswang is a supernatural creature who looks like a beautiful human by day but develops wings and a taste for blood by night. An aswang has a long, slithering tongue, which it inserts into the victim's throat, draining its blood until it becomes full. It appears bloated, as if pregnant, after feeding. -excerpt from Suwarnabumi

Eeek! that slithering tongue!

Wikipedia excerpt:
Philippine folklore includes aswang, a cannibal capable of transforming itself to either a huge black dog or a black boar to stalk human beings at night. The folklore also mentions other beings, i.e., Kapre, Tikbalang, and Engkanto, that change their appearance to woo beautiful maidens. Also, talismans, called "anting-anting" or "birtud" in the local dialect, can have the power to give its owner the ability to shapeshift.


The Aswang Inquiry
by Frank Lynch, S. J.

I have to see if I can procure this book somewhere. There is an interesting review of it here.

Excerpt:
According to Lynch, folks are afraid of the aswang "because of its craving for human flesh and blood." Despite the ostracism faced by people who are suspected of being aswangs, many still choose to learn to become one because they "can get anything they want. They take many long trips withou being noticed. They pay nothing because they fly on their own. And they have power over their enemies."

A bit confusing eh? These shapeshifters are pretty versatile. I'll have to read more about them and do another post on them.

*image source

Shapeshifter Alien

Inspired by Misty of Book Rat's Helluva Halloween Spotlight On: Shapeshifters

-and this post is also part of my Helluva Halloween challenge
Another non-werewolf shapeshifter that comes to mind that I like is:

Odo of Star Trek's Deep Space Nine tv series

For his appearance in book form, there are a slew of non-canon Deep Space Nine novels released since 1999 to present.

As you may guess being in the sci-fi world, Odo is an alien. He is pictured here in humanoid form but when in his natural state which is a sort of goo he resides in his bucket.

Have you come across any alien shapeshifters in your reads? Do tell.

*image source

Shapeshifter Collie

Inspired by Misty of Book Rat's Helluva Halloween Spotlight On: Shapeshifters,

-and this post is also part of my Helluva Halloween challenge

I would like to share my current favorite shapeshifter.

Sam Merlotte in HBO’s ‘True Blood’ tv series based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris.

Sam lives in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, and is the owner of a bar named Merlotte's. Sam has strawberry blond hair with blue eyes. He is both a close friend of and the employer of mind-reading barmaid Sookie Stackhouse. Sam is a shape shifter and likes to spend some of his time as a collie. Although his preferred shape is that of a collie, he can change into any animal he sees. On nights when the moon is full, Sam - like all shapeshifters - feels a strong urge to change, the rest of the time he can do it at will. - wikipedia excerpt

What I like about Sam is his loyalty towards Sookie.

What shapeshifter encounters in books, tv or film have you come across that you like?

*image source

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman
illustrated by David Mckean

Published: 2008
Genre: Coming of Age, Ghosts, Paranormal
Hardback: 320 pages
Rating: 5

Inspiration: love Gaiman's work and to fulfill my challenges for R.I.P. iv, Helluva Halloween and Newbery Awards

Description from amazon:
Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy.

He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead.

There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy-an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer.

But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family. . . .

Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, the graveyard book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.

My thoughts:
In-a-word: Jack

Very Gaiman. Very entertaining. Very.

Life lessons spun into a graveyard setting. What a concept! and it works!

And, the velvet count was high! Some authors have favorite words they like to incorporate in their works. I noticed that Gaiman uses velvet at least once in all the books I've read to date. I love it! Of course, being that my name is Velvet I'm a bit biased.

Blogosphere bit:
When Neil was on tour last year he recorded the readings of each chapter of the book. I had the pleasure of listening to him live during the San Francisco reading of chapter six, Nobody Owens School Days.

If you don't have the book or would be delighted to hear Neil read Go listen to the whole book. It's free. GO.

Side note:
I couldn't help it. I was reminded of this poem I learned in Jr. High every time I came across Nobody's name.

I'm nobody! Who are you?
by Emily Dickenson

I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us -don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

Boy Eats Girl (2005) movie

Boy Eats Girl (2005)

Director: Stephen Bradley

Writer(s): Derek Landry

Genre: Comedy, Horror, Zombies

Rating: 4

Inspiration: Weekly Zombies - check out September Zombies for more zombie posts and this work for my Helluva Halloween challenge too

Description from imdb:

A boy declares his love for his girlfriend, only to die the same night. He is brought back to life by his mother as a flesh-craving zombie, who sires more teen undead while trying to control his, er, appetite for his beloved.

Zombie speed: fast

Zombification: first zombie created with voodoo and then others formed by being bitten

Zombie mode: feral except for the voodoo one who zombifies at a slower rate

My thoughts:

In-a-word(s): nothing like a mother's love

Teen raging hormones and zombie flesh eating tendencies are no different in Ireland. Yes, along with fairy inhabitants there are zombies in Ireland. ;-D

This flick had enough zombie action to keep you entertained. The gore factor was low but funny in keeping with its campy feel.

Ewww moment: lawn mower segment

Interesting to note: the girl the guy ends up falling for in this movie and in the German film I reviewed earlier, Night of the Living Dorks, are non-white. I like seeing these racial mixes.

*Forgot to mention: there is a cool part I liked which was when zombification of the main character takes place. Flashes of scenes and sounds were used effectively.

Zomovampolf

Zomovampolf

Zombie + Mosquito + Vampire + Werewolf

This sketch was created by daughter, Sydney. She was inspired by the peculiar stack of books her mother has been recently reading. I think the mosquito was thrown into the mix for its bloodsucking abilities.

*this week's Halloween goodie

Japanese Female Ghosts

For my first Hello Japan! challenge entry, I read the article, Ghosts, Demons and Spirits in Japanese Lore by Norman A. Rubin which was suggested by challenge host, In Spring It Is The Dawn.

First, I should point out that the challenge post by In Spring It Is The Dawn stated this interesting bit on the release of horror movies in Japan:

Summertime is actually the peak season for horror movies in Japan. Apparently the idea is that watching a frightening, spine-tingling, chilling movie helps cool you down from the oppressive heat and humidity of the Japanese summer.

Hmmm, it would be interesting to test this out next Summer with some J-Horror DVDs. When the adrenaline is pumping, wouldn't one be warmer instead of cooler?

OK, back to the Rubin article. This is the paragraph that caught my attention:

Most creatures in stories of unfortunate spirits were women. They were vengeful ghosts, and the greater the misery endured by the woman during her lifetime, the more threatening her ghostly spirits would be after her death. Cruelty to women is a recurring theme in Japanese lore and legend.

After which, I did a little googling on Japanese women ghosts and came across this statement:

...the onryo is the particular type of female ghost that is so popular in Japanese horror—a vengeful spirit that takes revenge on the society at large. While onryo in the past may have taken out their aggression only occasionally on the outside world, these modern onryo are now pitting themselves against an entire patriarchal society with no remorse for who gets in their path.
-Japanese Ghosts and Feminist Theory by the Rice Cracker Review

and also found this:

Wikipedia says:
that Japanese female ghosts traditional portrayed wearing white clothing, which is the color of funeral garb in Japan. They have long, often unkempt black hair, which comes from Kabuki theater where each character has a particular type of wig that identifies them to the audience.

After reading these articles, my Women Studies background was triggered. I decided to take a deeper look into the Japanese female ghost world for the October challenge.

Before venturing into a current J-Horror flick (like Ju-on or Ringu) involving female ghosts, I've put in my Netflix order for the classic Kaidan (1964) which I should get sometime next week. It houses four ghost stories which include a famous female ghost, Snow Woman. I remember watching this movie on TV with subtitles in black-n-white. I don't remember it too well. But I do remember getting spooked by it. I'm looking forward to the re-watch. Also looking forward to the colorized version and wonder if it will be as effective in the scariness factor.

Care to join me?

*image source of Kayako from movie Ju-on

*part of my Hello Japan! challenge

*realized this works for my Helluva Halloween challenge