Welcome to Day 5 of Halloween in Miniature 2014!
(If you missed the beginning, go to Day 1)
Finally! It's the day of the big party. I hear everyone's been cackling and trading their best witch's brew recipes for the Halloween bash today and they've been cooking up a storm! Let's see what they have to offer...
We'll start in the kitchen. Oh, look, it's Witch Lucie and she's invited us for tea! (Doll and scene by Lucie Winsky, Lucie Winsky dolls. Doll kit - Nancy Cronin.)
She said it's been one of those days, you know, when the mice keep running off with things and the ghostly helpers simply won't pour into the cups and not all over the table!
Have a spot of willow bark tea while you wait?
All right, we'll head to the back now to... wait... do you feel like you're being watched? (Original oil painting by Lucie Winsky.)
Oh, don't worry. Esmeralda insisted that Mona goes by the motto of "what happens in the haunted house, stays in the haunted house."
Now, watch your step in case the cats are about... no, that step on a cat thing is NOT true!
Wow, that's quite the gathering! Looks like everyone is having fun. Don't tell me, Uncle Ernie wants to play strip skeleton poker -- again! Ignore him, please! (Though judging from their lack of clothing, we're already a little too late!)
Lucky for us, Witchy Wanda has a spell to take care of such things. Oh-no, now what? What is that smoke?
"Sorry," she says. "Guess I'm a little rusty."
(Witch doll and party by Lorrie's Little People. Lorrie has been selling individual dolls like Wanda from her collection to help homeless cats. Since the shelters are so full, she's built a space in her garage to house them come winter. She also gets them spayed and helps find homes for others. She recently found five abandoned, starving kittens and has helped them survive. The party scene is not for sale.)
I think we better move on.
Wait. did you hear that? A-a screeeeeam? It looks like Esmeralda is torturing pumpkins again. Don't look, hurry, keep moving! (Kitchen witch by Nancy Cronin.)
Maybe we can visit with Hagatha, who says she's been slaving over a hot cauldron for hours, just waiting for us to come out. Yeah, she does tend to exaggerate!
(Witch doll and hand-sculpted frog by Lucie Winsky, Lucie Winsky Dolls. Rat/cat - Nancy Cronin.)
Do you think we dare ask what's in that pot?
So, Hagatha, what have you been cooking for us?
Oh... "Frog Stew" you say? You're not going to use that frog in your pocket, are you?
Whew, that's a relief. I'm glad to hear the frog is actually the rat/cat's play companion. I'm really glad for the frog (on both counts!)
Sit down and have some snacks now. I hear Hagatha has some other goodies cooking up in the other pot...
Wait, where are you going? Come back - come back!!
Heh - heh. That's one way to get guests to not overstay their welcome! Bye! Thanks for stopping by!
SPOOKY READS:
Death stalks the night... and the day. Psychic detective Abraham Stroud faces a lonely battle against monsters no one else believes in.
Werewolf's Grief: Archaeology vs. Supernatural (Bloodscreams Series Book 2)
- by Robert W. Walker
A madman heads to Chicago, leaving behind a trail of corpses Only psychic detective Abraham Stroud dares to think the most forbidden names, and faces the most terrifying truth of all - wolves travel in packs.
Thank you for coming by and see you next year! - Chris Verstraete, author, GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie
(Please do click like on the author's page - my name link - on Amazon!)
What happens when you're 16 and turn part-zombie?
Sixteen-year-old Rebecca Herrera Hayes faces every teenager's biggest nightmares: bad skin, bad hair, and worse . . . turning into one of the living dead.
Becca's life changes forever when her cousin Spence comes back to their small Wisconsin town carrying a deadly secret—he's becoming a zombie, a fate he shares with her through an accidental scratch.
Thank you to all of this year's participants:
Artisans:
Authors:
, by Margaret Grace (Camille Minichino) coming out April 7. (Pre-orders are open for print copies now.) (Here's the Barnes & Noble link.)
- by 
- 10 paranormal stories by various authors
- various authors, Crystal Lake Publishing
.