“Heads Will Roll” on Halloween

Happy Halloween, everybody! In case you couldn’t guess by my Twitter feed today (or really, this month), I’m a big fan of Halloween-ish music. Who needs Christmas carols when you have classics like “The Monster Mash” and the Ghostbusters theme song?

One of my current favorite creepy songs is “Heads Will Roll” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The video is really fun, too:

Similarly, I like when Halloween pops up in books/movies otherwise not about Halloween. The Chance You Won’t Return has a Halloween scene, and has been there since the first draft. So much of the book is about who you present yourself as and who you really are, which meant that having a Halloween scene seemed necessary. Other favorite books with Halloween scenes include:

  • Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
    Class halloween parties are great until there’s a troll in the dungeon. Who doesn’t love the moment when Harry, Ron, and Hermione become friends?
  • To Kill a Mockingbird
    So much of the book feels like summer to me, but the last terrifying and beautiful scene is set on Halloween night.
  • The Egypt Game
    Halloween is when the group takes its full form, with Toby and Ken joining. This book feels like fall to me.

Hope you all have a fun and spoooooky night!

Links Galore

A few more spooky links for Halloween:

Get Your Costume Ready

Tomorrow is Halloween, which is one of my favorite holidays. At the beginning of the month I like to break out spooky songs like the Ghostbusters song, “Werewolves of London,” and “Thriller.” And how many other holidays let you eat candy and dress in costume? So awesome!

My costuming occurred on Saturday, when I went as Maru the cat (my favorite internet cat). I also got to thinking about fictional characters who’ve dressed up for Halloween. Two I could think of were Scout Finch as a ham in To Kill a Mockingbird and Molly McIntire as a hula dancer in Meet Molly. Any others to add to this list?

In case you still need inspiration for your own costume, here are lots of TV characters dressed up for Halloween:

My favorite is the Buffy crew, of course. Feel free to share your favorite Halloween costume ideas (from your life or fiction) in the comments!

Friday Fifteen

Happy Friday, everybody! It’s almost Halloween, so this Friday Fifteen is brought to you by the world of creepy books. (Spoiler alert: I get scared really easily.)

1. Howliday Inn by James Howe
A sequel to Bunnicula, Harold and Chester go to a kennel where animals go missing.

2. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
Trisha ends up alone in the woods with something creepy. Reason #45 not to hike.

3. Coyote Moon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Book 3) John Vornholt
Say it with me, everyone: “Carnie were-coyotes.”

4. The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
No, it’s not just a musical. Erik, the phantom, alternates between sympathetic and totally creeptastic.

5. Clifford’s Halloween by Norman Bridwell
Who’s that under the ghost costume? He’s house-sized, but I dunno if it’s Clifford.