My Spooky Swap package o’goodies came!!!!!!!!

Yay! My Spooky Swap package arrived!!! For the last few days I have anxiously been scoping out the mailbox DYING for my Spooky Swap package to come. I love Halloween and I love surprises so you can well imagine my anticipation level.

So, it final came today! And how surprised was I to see that it was from Amanda over at The Zen Leaf ? Amanda and I are Twitter buddies and quite often chat about books, writing and life in general.

I have to say I giggled with joy when I saw what Amanda sent me. All things I would have picked up for myself.

The little book of Scaredy Cats is so cute! God knows with my crew I could probably write my own.

The skull and crossbones bookmark is wicked cool. And little did Amanda know, but last week I picked up a couple of skull and crossbones  ornaments for what I think is going to be a new collection.

Godiva milk chocolate with almonds. Need I say more?

Ruined by Paula Morris. I’ve been eying this one since it came out. It just looks so wonderfully creeptastic.

Thanks bunches to Travis and Jessica for hosting this awesome swap.

Now to resist the urge to have chocolate for breakfast.

Happy Halloween!!!!!

So yesterday I was moaning about how I totally forgot about Halloween and ended up not reading a Halloween appropriate book this year. Well, the book gods must have heard me, because yesterday afternoon Charlaine Harris’ new book, A Touch of Dead arrived at my doorstep.

Yes, I was excited. Yes, hugged the book tightly to my chest. Yes, I may have blown off the renos to dig into it.

And while it might not be a scary or creepy read meant to scare the pants off of its readers, it is filled with vamps, weres, shifters and fairies, making it an Halloween appropriate read.

A Touch of Dead is a compilation of short stories about Harris’ main character in the Southern Vampire series, Sookie Stackhouse. Each story has been previously published in other anthologies, but this is the first time that they have all appeared together.

I’ve only had a chance to read the first two short stories and I love them. This is one of those series where as soon as I finish a book, I want to read the next. It’s also one of only a hand full of book series that I am so into that I don’t mind doling out the money for hardcover editions.

So in between renoing today and the kids trick or treating tonight I will finish A Touch of Dead. And my Halloween tradition will live on.

My top 5 scary reads

With the major house renos that hubby and I are doing to our new house, Halloween kind of snuck up on me this year. Normally, I pick one or two scary books and read them during the last two weeks of October. Well, I didn’t get a chance to do that this year.

But over the years I have read some pretty scary books. I thought I’ve share with you my top 5 scary reads of all time.

Amityville Horror by Jay Anson– Yes, I know it’s been debunked. Yes, I know it’s pure fiction. Doesn’t make it any less creepy.

Christine by Stephen King– My first horror book ever. My Mom won it in a Halloween contest and, not knowing the subject matter, handed it to 13 year old me. I fell in love with the genre, despite the sleepless nights after reading it.

The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan– Best damn vampire book I’ve read in quite a while. No sparkly teen vamps anywhere. Just pure bloodsucking fiends.

It by Stephen King– Okay, this one freaked me out so much I was in tears when I finished. The premise of a big nasty, evil monster appearing to you in the form that scares you the most is creepy enough. But the ending? Well, without giving anything away, Pennywise’s true form? Yeah, the thing that scares me the most. I was traumatized.

True crime book – I can’t for the life of me remember the name of the book (I think I blocked it from my memory) but I remember reading it while away at university, finishing it and instantly locking my bedroom door and staying awake all night. Why are most victims in these books college-aged girls? Last true crime book I ever read.