31 Days of Spooky - Happy Halloween!
31 Days of Spooky - Happy Halloween!
We made it!
Happy Halloween everyone! It is at last the big day and I am stocked up with snacks, movie plans, sweeties for visitors, and preparations for remembrance and reflection.
I really hope you have enjoyed celebrating Spooky Season with me over 31 Days of Spooky, and have made use of the writing prompts to add a creepy twist to your creativity.
The happiest of Halloweens to you. Blessed Samhain. ¡Feliz Día de Muertos cuando llegue!
Normal service will resume in November and then, for Spooky Season Jr in December (also known as Christmas), I’ll be doing something completely different with the Twelve Days of Ghostmas. Yule not want to miss it!
Mysterious ancient tunnel dubbed ‘entrance to the underworld’ found under church
This story is going a little bit viral, mostly because the headline pretty much implies you can walk into the Underworld through a tunnel. Spoiler alert: you can’t. As Kaos showed us, you get to the Underworld through a bin…
The mysterious tunnels and chambers in question are below a church in Mexico which dates back to the 16th century. The city of Mitla, where the church is located, was previously linked to the Zapotec god of death, Pitao Bezelao.
Spanish invaders stole the site of a key Zapotec temple for the sixteenth century church, as a deliberate and exploitative display of their power over the land and its people. But the ancient tunnels, which the Zapotec people believed led to the Underworld, survive.
Poison apple brownies
Snow White is my favourite fairy tale and I love apples, so I couldn’t resist picking up these cute little cakes from the Co-op.
The brownie is the squidgy fondanty kind and the apple decoration has a sweet and sour flavour. The apple is a little overpowered by the chocolate, but they’re very nice overall, and mixing chocolate with apple is pretty unique. It’s not something I’ve ever seen before and I think it’s definitely an upgrade to the usual orange.
These are a lovely Halloween treat and something that would easily carry through to Bonfire Night in place of (or as well as) toffee apples.
My Samhain traditions
As I said yesterday, I don’t consider Samhain to be a “New Year” type festival, but I do see it as the proper start of hibernation and cosy season. It’s also an opportunity for remembrance and appreciating the life that we are living.
I keep memory boxes with mementos of people I have lost and reflect on these each Samhain. I also light candles for my ancestors and reach out to people in my life who I haven’t spoken to recently.
In light of the changing season, I also do a card reading and think about the things I would like to change and achieve over the coming darker months. Obviously the rest of this autumn and winter will feature a lot of theatre work for my upcoming performance in Gaslight and I have some work to do on my haunted hotel novel which has a submission deadline for early next year.
We also do more popular Halloween things, like giving sweets to trick or treaters, and watching on theme movies.
In addition, I have a hospital appointment, so that’s an extra treat…
My Dead by Peter Orner
Another thing I love to do on Halloween is read spooky stories. I know, shocking…
This flash fiction isn’t exactly a ghost story, but there’s a seance, and that’s all I’ll say to avoid spoiling it.
Enjoy!
Writing prompt - Think about it
Reflect on what you’ve written over October and think about what’s worth pursuing further in November.
Some tips to rescue work you’re not sure about:
Retell the story from a different character’s perspective
Retell the story as a ghost who’s linked to the living characters in some way
Turn a poem upside down and add layers to the meaning
Write what happened ten years earlier or ten years later
Take something you’ve written and add a pumpkin, a ghost or an enchanted necklace
I’d love to see anything you have written over 31 Days of Spooky and hear about anything you did to celebrate Spooky Season!
I’ll see you on the other side.
Sending all the tricks and treats,
Donna
PS for those of you who like the numbers:
31 Days of Spooky featured 31 writing prompts and 124 spooky recommendations
The most popular post was Day 17, which featured reflections on Heathcliff’s identity, a forgotten pioneer of Gothic literature, Scottish ghost stories and a spooktastic light trail
Most of you are right here in the UK, but there are also people reading in Washington DC and France! Salut! (I would personalize a hello to America, but as you speak English, there’s an American spelled word in this sentence for you)
Over a thousand of you have read along. Please subscribe to keep hearing from me and tell everyone that you are a proud Beware of Creepy Houser, so I can keep spreading the spooky word!
Beware of Creepy Houses is free to read, but if you would like to support my work, you can buy me a hot chocolate