Halloween Reading: Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter

 

Want something scary for Halloween reading? 

Several scary books, including Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter, are featured in the Publishers Weekly's Booklife Indie Spotlight for October! 

See my website for details on the book!

Mystery, Fantasy & Halloween Crime Reading List

Some great reads, so make room on your bookshelves and e-reader! 

** Don't forget to check out the Spooky-Horror-Zombie-Halloween Reading List & the October Frights Blog Hop - Oct. 10-15. ** See participants list & my first post and schedule here.  

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                       Anthologies/Collections:  Crime/Mystery

 

Crimeucopia: Say it Again - Sixteen stories of crime and deja vu... Crimes worth a second look...

* These music-inspired anthologies are such fun! I'll have to ask the library to order them!

Friend of the Devil: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the Grateful Dead, Josh Pachter, Editor - Fifteen tales inspired by lyrics from the Dead’s thirteen studio albums and two of their many live recordings. The contributors include some of the finest contemporary authors of short crime fiction, such as award winners Bruce Robert Coffin, James D.F. Hannah, Vinnie Hansen, James L’Etoile, G.M. Malliet, Twist Phelan, Faye Snowden, and Joseph S. Walker. Also on board are Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazineeditor Linda Landrigan (with her first published story!), married couple Kathryn O’Sullivan and Paul Awad, Flemish writer Dominique Biebau, David Avallone (son of the legendary crime writer Michael Avallone), and more.

Harrigan's Price and Other Stories: Tales of Mystery, Intrigue and Horror - Christian Bauer - Reprints and new tales of pilots on a fateful flight, machines with a love for pranks, and more. 

(I Just) Died in Your Arms: Crime Fiction Inspired by One-Hit Wonders - Fun anthology featuring 12 crime stories based on familiar, and maybe not so familiar songs. Includes my story, "Wildfire." (** Now get free shipping anywhere for paperbacks at the publisher site above.) 

Janie's Got A Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Aerosmith, Michael Bracken,editor - Sixteen crime authors celebrate the legendary band with fiction inspired by a career spanning over 50 years. Stories by Ed Ridgley, Bill Baber, Eve Fisher. Avram Lavinsky, John C. Bruening, Jeffrey Marks, Mary Dutta, Tom Mead, Steve Liskow, Joseph S. Walker, Adam Meyer, John M. Floyd, Leone Ciporin, M.E. Proctor, Tom Milani and Jim Winter. (* Releases Nov. 8. Get free shipping anywhere for the paperback at White City Press. Download ebooks at site, Nov. 1.)

Murder, Neat: A Sleuthsayers Anthology, Michael Bracken, Barb Goffman, editors - Twenty-four crime stories set in bars, taverns, and other drinking establishments where crimes can easily occur. From members of the crime writers' Sleuthsayers blog.

Smoking Guns, A Sisters in Crime Anthology - Kaye George, editor - Twelve original crime and mystery tales of revenge, deception, and justice served cold by various authors. (Paperback).

The Skeleton Rides a Horse and Other Stories,  Toni L.P .Kelner -  Sid the skeleton makes an appearance in the title story, plus there are some decent short mysteries to enjoy in this new collection. Includes the Agatha-award winning story, "Sleeping with the Plush." (See publisher site.) Curious about Sid? Meet and learn more about him here.

Twisted Voices: Stories from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine - Award-winning authors including Doug Allyn, Ed Gorman, Barb Goffman, Joyce Carol Oates and others offer stories of crooks and kids, private eyes, struggling artists and more in crimes that often push the boundaries.

Fantasy

IMP: A Political Fantasia, Steven Paul Leiva - Thomas P. Powell thinks his unusual political climb from traffic cop to vice president is because of his own innate moral authority. Then on the cusp of his reaching the pinnacle of success, an impetuous imp climbs from his ear, taking him on a wild, dreadful, nuclear journey. Described as West Wing meets the Twilight Zone.

Kickstarter Ending Soon! Darkworld Anthology - Darkworld is a magical place of dragons and heroes, dwarves and elves, myths and legends. Half of the world is scorched in sunlight and the other half is shrouded in darkness. The dark and the light, good and evil, which will endure? ** Five stories by renowned authors Jean Rabe, Richard A. Knaak, Donald Bingle, Richard Lee Byers and introducing Patrick E. Pullen.

The Dragon's Hoard 3 - Assorted authors including noted mystery and fantasy author Jean Rabe spin tales of all kinds of dragons.

Halloween 

* Something Scary for Halloween Reading: Ends. Nov. 1

Behind the Shadows II - In my story "Blink!", Tommy wakes to a new world and wonders why no one else "sees" what is going on but him.  A little weird and even funny at times! * Get the ebook: various outlets - * Paperback, e-book - Barnes & Noble -* Paperback  - Amazon US

October Screams: A Halloween Anthology - Assorted horror from various noted authors.

 Witches of Halloween: A Collection of Cozy Mystery Short Stories, Amorette Anderson - Four specials featuring witches from her magical worlds: 

The Case of the Cursed Hat: A Hillcrest Witch Special - Witchy PI Penny Banks is looking forward to celebrating Halloween in style. 

Bohemian to the Bone: A Marley the Witch Special -  It’s Halloween in Hillcrest, and Marley and her witch sisters are planning a party!

Gone with the Grimoire: A Marley the Witch Special - When Marley the witch learns about a break-in at a nearby chocolate factory, she vows to help. 

A Moon for Manifesting: A Midlife Medicine Special - New witch Grace Littleton doesn’t know much about the lunar magic, but it’s high time to learn! A local is missing, and it’s up to Grace to follow the celestial clues…

Horror Readers Sale! Through Oct. 30

* Halloween Horror Giveaways: Ends Oct. 31

-- C.A. Verstraete - www.cverstraete.com 

Halloween: Dollhouse Garbage & Projects

What else I have been working on? Garbage! ha!

Sometimes your work turns out to be garbage. Literally. (Click for full size photos.)

What's a dollhouse without a garbage can? Had to make this one for the haunted Van Buren dollhouse. (See last post.) They even threw out some good fruit slices, of course. (They prefer the rotted stuff.) Hey, there's even an eye in there! I may add a skeleton arm sticking out yet. Love doing these!

Some other things I've been working on:

Also made another smaller Philodendron plant; just have to gloss the leaves on both of them. (Kits: SDK Miniatures.)

And it's back to (legal) bookmaking! Fifty so far. Waaay more to go so I have them on hand. Even a dollhouse needs lots of books! (These are half-scale so they're under 1/2" h.)

That's it for now! Thanks again for visiting! Come back for more projects & minis!

Halloween: Spooky Season: Pumpkin Patch

 

Today's the last day of September -- already??? And the last day of the #septemberspookyseason24 prompts via Instagram. Hope you enjoyed the posts!

Today's Prompt: Pumpkin Patch. And since I don't have a formal "patch," I'm sharing some pumpkins again. They're always fun anyway, right? (Click photos for full size.)

Here's some pumpkins outside my half-scale Witch's Cottage again. That really is the house that's mostly decorated now. I should have the Van Buren house (see previous post) finished by Halloween so stay tuned for the final tour and more views!

I really liked decorating this house and making all the gardens as I wanted everything to be in orange, yellow, and the green.

** Today is Day 30 of #septemberspookyseason24 on Instagram. Daily posts and some giveaways via @wyrdworldminiatures. (Click photos for full size.)

* Follow me also - @cwrite12. I'll try to post my daily (hopefully) Halloween inspiration here also with a reminder. Join in! 

* Thanks again for visiting, as always!

Halloween: Spooky Colors of the Season

 

Today's prompt:  Colors of the Season!

For me, that's orange and purple.

Another favorite project: the Halloween Store. The Record Store shown on the same link is also purple, but with magenta. (Click name for more pix. Click photos for full size. See last post, Fortune teller)

First, the Halloween store (above). That was a fun one to do. I need to do one in half-scale yet.

I showed the Fairfield orange bedroom previously. 

So, what else? haa! Yeah, I've done a lot of projects!

More purple: Here's the half-scale Chantilly dollhouse that I leave set-up. I have flickering lights inside.

Orange:

Here's another favorite view of the other end of the Fairfield house bedroom by the fireplace.

** Today is Day 28 of #septemberspookyseason24 on Instagram. Daily posts and some giveaways via @wyrdworldminiatures. (Click photos for full size.)

* Follow me also - @cwrite12. I'll try to post my daily (hopefully) Halloween inspiration here also with a reminder. Join in! 

That's it for now! Thanks again for visiting. Come back soon for more Halloween minis!

Halloween: Spooky Season: Fortune, Anyone?

Today's Prompt is... Somewhere Spooky - hear the eerie music and see the lights flash in the crystal ball??? (Click photos for full size.)

** Today is Day 27 of #septemberspookyseason24 on Instagram. Daily posts and some giveaways via @wyrdworldminiatures. (Click photos for full size.)

* Follow me also - @cwrite12. I'll try to post my daily (hopefully) Halloween inspiration here also with a reminder. Join in! 

I mentioned before (wow, posted back in July!) about getting back to the Van Buren Haunted dollhouse and having this Fortune Teller box kit from Michelle's Miniatures stashed away. 

Bought it quite a few years ago at the Chicago Bishop show. Thought it was a cool kit but wasn't sure about the painting. (*Here's the previous post on the Haunted Van Buren house.)

So I dove in finally! and decided to paint the sides a rust-orange, the front and inside yellow, then accented it with gold and Mod Podge Sparkle for a glittery effect. Really tickled with how it came out! (Oops, I see some spots to touch up! Of course! 😆)

The doll is a porcelain figure I had for a long time, but I confess, I really wasn't crazy about her as she was kind of plain. So I re-dressed her in sparkly attire, used some black yarn for hair ,and added some more "makeup," a red head scarf, and a gold necklace. Much better! The box is about 3.25" h and 1.50" w. 

Then came the fun figuring-it-out part. I decided, well, a fortune teller has to have a crystal ball, right? And... it really should light up!

I happened to find some small Styrofoam (TR) tubes with LED lights in them for $1 each at Goodwill so got a few. They had a red, blue, and green LED inside on long wires. The connector button lets you set it to flicker, blink, or stay on.

I drilled a hole in the bottom back of the kit, put the wires in the bottom near the inner shelf, and then glued on a larger opalescent bead I had. The lights are bent so they'll light from underneath. The only drawback is I have to temporarily tape the battery connector on the back until I can figure out how to hold it on as I have to have access to the on button. I also lightly glued the front of the box so it'll stay on but didn't want to make it where I can't pry it off (carefully) if needed. There is also a wood ceiling painted yellow that I put in but I also have a clear acrylic piece for more light.

Cool, huh? Fun little project! This will go in the haunted house attic for now....

Thanks again for visiting. More spooky and Halloween stuff to come!

Halloween: Spooky Season Pumpkin!

Pumpkin! What says Halloween more than pumpkins!

I seem to keep collecting them, too. I don't have a lot out yet but getting there!

 
** Today is Day 25 of #septemberspookyseason24 on Instagram. Daily posts and some giveaways via @wyrdworldminiatures. (Click photos for full size.)

* Follow me also - @cwrite12. I'll try to post my daily (hopefully) Halloween inspiration here also with a reminder. Join in! 

TODAY'S PROMPT: Pumpkin

 I decided to have a semi-Halloween theme in my half-scale Fairfield dollhouse (above) to go with the dragon wallpaper and this amazing orange fabric on the bed. I fell in love with it! 

The buffet/dresser is a vintage Tootsietoy piece (1920's-1930's) that I repainted brown with gold accents. I love these pieces and try to use them when I can find them reasonable (meaning cheap.) (This is cool - look at the old Tootsietoy ads.) (The Fairfield's girl's bedroom, which has an eerie part-circus theme, also has a Tootsietoy bed.) (Click photos for full size; see archives in left column and  more links on page tab on top banner.)

I also had fun putting quite a few pumpkins outside my half-scale Witch's Cottage. (See more links on the left tab on top banner.) This one was fun to decorate, too.

* More to come so check back soon! Thanks for visiting!

Halloween: Spooky Season: Dressed Up

I didn't have anything to match the previous couple prompts, so I skipped them. But today will work to show the main resident of the Van Buren half-scale dollhouse... the elderly lady is still waiting in the dining room for her lost love....

** Today is Day 24 of #septemberspookyseason24 on Instagram. Daily posts and some giveaways via @wyrdworldminiatures. (Click photos for full size.)

* Follow me also - @cwrite12. I'll try to post my daily (hopefully) Halloween inspiration here also with a reminder. Join in! 

TODAY'S PROMPT: Dressed Up

The doll was one of those generic porcelain figures I had bought cheap somewhere. I painted her fully gray (even her hair), and then redressed her in lace and fabrics I also dirtied-up. Thought she fit here well. Even the vintage "ghost" girls by the window wore their best!

I still have to add a few pictures on the walls and some silverware, plus more Halloween accessories. The spooky table and bench seat is part of the Gothic set from SDK Miniatures.

But speaking of the theme... look there's someone at the door, why it's Mr. Pumpkinhead! Well...and he's wearing his Sunday Best! Oh... do you think it's safe to let him in? We really don't know him very well...

I put the patio temporarily in front of the house and I think it looks really good. I have to make some adjustments and also add more on the outside of the house and the balcony, but I like  how the colors match. It looks so much better with black squares.

One thing I did add that I can't believe I forgot - a couple gargoyles on the top roof. Not a great photo but the best I can do until the whole house is moved. 

There are more visitors coming for Halloween, so stay tuned! Working on the attic and a few things in the kitchen yet so be sure to come back soon!

Thanks for visiting again!

Halloween: Spooky Season Fall Leaves

 I'm behind. Well, I could've done this yesterday so hurrying this morning. I even have a garden utensils kit... somewhere. Grr! I have to organize better! And then Google was acting up and wouldn't let me upload a photo. Frankly, everything seems to act up once Chrome was updated - again!

So, for now, some leaves fell on the  Van Buren half-scale dollhouse patio....

** Today is Day 20 of #septemberspookyseason24 on Instagram. Daily posts and some giveaways via @wyrdworldminiatures. (Click photos for full size.)

* Follow me also - @cwrite12. I'll try to post my daily (hopefully) Halloween inspiration here also with a reminder. Join in! 

TODAY'S PROMPT: Leaves

Halloween: Spooky Season: Fall Picnic

 Hungry???

"Hand" sandwich, anyone? Let me give you a hand...Ok, I'll stop.  haaa!

Considering that these are Halloween posts, this Fall Picnic for today's prompt is going to be a bit, er, different! 

** Today is Day 19 of #septemberspookyseason24 on Instagram. Daily posts and some giveaways via @wyrdworldminiatures. (Click photos for full size.)

* Follow me also - @cwrite12. I'll try to post my daily (hopefully) Halloween inspiration here also with a reminder. Join in! 

TODAY'S PROMPT: Fall Picnic

To me, a Fall Picnic can consist of whatever you like. And when it's Halloween time, well.... 

Let's start with some Bloody Marys, of course! and some appetizers. (All food by me, www.cverstraete.com)

Mmm, crunchy!

Don't fill up! We've got much more for the next course. Lots to eat and drink!

Hope you had plenty to eat! Don't worry, there's plenty more where this came from.... There is a graveyard nearby....heh-heh.... I mean the kitchen! 💀😅

Thanks again for visiting! Don't forget to stop by for more posts.