Check out Haunting Homicides on BookGuide

Looking for a good "Halloween" or "Fall Harvest"-themed murder mystery? Check out the Haunting Homicides booklist on the Lincoln City Libraries' BookGuide readers advisory website.

From Kathie Aaron's Behind Chocolate Bars to Valerie Wolzien's All Hallows Evil, you'll find several dozen reading suggestions in the category of "pumpkin spice slayings"!

The Hits of Halloween (on Hoopla Music)

The Hits of Halloween
by The Taliesen Orchestra [Hoopla downloadable service] 

If you are in the seasonal spirit, you may want to try this album out, as it’s full of Halloween tunes. Classic tracks such as Monster Mash, Ghostbusters, and the Purple People Eater are mixed in with Mars (from the Planets Suite by Holst) and other instrumental tracks, which are quite enjoyable overall. I would recommend it if you are looking for some fun “themed” music this October, although there’s no reason you couldn’t listen to it year round. It’s available on Hoopla to download or stream, either via the app or their website hoopladigital.com.

[ YouTube playlist of the tracks from this album ]

Recommended by Kristen A.
Gere Branch Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Tell Me a Scary Story...But Not Too Scary! by Carl Reiner

Tell Me a Scary Story…But Not Too Scary!
by Carl Reiner, with art by James Bennett [jP Reiner] 

Legendary comedy actor/writer/producer Carl Reiner (the brains behind The Dick Van Dyke Show), brings a goofy sense of humor to this children’s picture book, which is accompanied by an audiobook-on-cd disc, on which you can enjoy him reading the story in his inimitable comic fashion, accompanied by spooky sound effects.

Reiner is the narrator of a tale about a plucky young kid who has a mysterious (and slightly creepy) new neighbor — Mr. Neewollah — move in next door. When a marble that looks like an eyeball falls out of the new neighbor’s luggage — the boy decides to return it to Mr. Neewollah at midnight. But, his efforts to do so lead to a series of misadventures that eventually brings him to a scary basement laboratory and a lesson in first impressions. James Bennett’s overly-exaggerated illustrations provide good scares but also good comic relief. And Reiner’s narrator regularly interrupts his tale to make sure the listener isn’t too scared to continue.

A fun, spooky story for beginning readers, or for parents to share with their young ones during October! This 2003 Reiner & Bennett book was followed up by a sequel, Tell Me Another Scary Story…But Not Too Scary! (2009), and the non-scary Tell Me a Silly Story (2010). Sadly, the libraries do not own either of those two whimsical volumes.

[ Carl Reiner page on Wikipedia ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

The Halloween Tree (on DVD)

The Halloween Tree
[DVD j Halloween]

I’ve been a huge fan of Ray Bradbury’s novella, The Halloween Tree, for several years — its one of my favorite books from Bradbury’s lengthy writing career. In that tale, aimed at youth readers, Bradbury’s creepy main character Moundshroud takes a group of rambunctious youth a trip back in time, to explore the origins of many Halloween traditions — Mummies, Witches, Skeletons, Monsters, death and afterlife rituals — and their adventure becomes a fight for the life of one of their friends. This made-for-television short animated movie manages to capture a lot of the spirit and tone of Bradbury’s story. To a large degree, this can be attributed to the fact that Bradbury himself is the voiceover narrator of the story, and legendary Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy provides the voice of Moundshroud. The art is fairly simplistic — this came from the Hanna-Barbera studio that produced The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Jonny Quest and Scooby Doo. And the story is simplified from the novel. But, I still recommend this for viewing, particularly around the time of Halloween. But nothing can replace the original novel!

[Also available in traditional print format.] [ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Be Careful What You Witch For

Be Careful What You Witch For
by Dawn Eastman [PB Eastman]

A Halloween cozy, full of witches, psychics and others of paranormal abilities, set in a small town in Western Michigan. Of course, there's a budding romance or two, and a couple of very special dogs. The interrelated characters of town provide plot twists that keep the book interesting to the end. It's a fun book, especially for Halloween. -- recommended by Carolyn D. - Polley Music Library

[ official Dawn Eastman web site ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

The Halloween Tree

The Halloween Tree
by Ray Bradbury

This short stand-alone novella, originally published in 1972, is a masterpiece of thematic writing. On Halloween night, in an average midwestern town, in an indeterminate time period, eight rambunctious trick-or-treating boys gather at the haunted house at the edge of town, awaiting the arrival of their ninth friend, Pipkin, to begin their holiday shenanigans. When some unknown force spirits the ailing Pipkin away, the remaining friends soon find themselves on the adventure of a lifetime! The haunted house's owner, Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud takes the boys on a trip through time and space, exploring the historical and cultural origins of many Halloween traditions (embodied by their costumes of Skeleton, Gargoyle, Witch, Mummy, etc.). Bradbury's tale, while an adventure told in language that may be a bit flowery for today's kids, is still engaging -- and does a terrific job of explaining many of the holiday's established lore, from the terror felt by cultures who thought the sun died each night, to the persecution of enlightened individuals in the middle ages by their uneducated and superstitious masses, to the Mexican celebration of El Dia de los Muertos. The adventure soars from Egyptian pyramids, to druidic stone circles, to the highest parapets of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. I have friends who have made an annual tradition of reading this story out loud to each other, and I've now read it in back-to-back Octobers, finding new facets to this little gem with each reading. I highly recommend this title, with the caveat that it can feel just a bit dated, and there are no girls in the story. I should also point out that this was adapted into an animated TV special by Hanna-Barbera (the folks who bring us Scooby Doo) in 1993. This version has both its fans and its haters, and if you choose to track it down, just be aware that a lot has been changed between the book version and the video version! [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try most any other Ray Bradbury work, but particularly Something Wicked This Way Comes.] -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [Subscribe to Scott's monthly booklist newsletter It's All Geek to Me! - on the Books, Movies & More newsletter sign-up page]
 
[ Wikipedia page for The Halloween Tree ] | [ official Ray Bradbury web site ]
 
Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Hocus Pocus

Hocus Pocus
[DVD j Hocus]

Before she and her sisters were hanged for witchcraft in the 1600's, Winifred Sanderson says a curse claiming that when a virgin lights the black flame candle they will come back to life. In modern day Salem, Max tries to impress a girl by lighting the candle, which brings the witches to life. Now he and his sister along with the girl he's trying to impress have to save Salem from the witches. The storyline alone is good but add to it the comic genius of Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker and you've got a great Halloween movie that never grows old. [If you enjoy this, you may wish to try The Witches (DVD j Dahl)] -- recommended by Carrie K. - Bennett Martin Public Library and South Branch Library

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.