Halloween Countdown Day 27: Last of the Spooky Books!

This will most likely be my last Halloween book related post for the season so I'm tossing a bunch of stuff in here I just didn't have the time or inclination to include in earlier posts. 

First up The Dancing Skeleton which tells the tale of an ornery old man who nobody likes when he's alive and everyone likes even LESS when he's dead. Because he stubbornly refuses to stay in his coffin! His poor widow (who didn't like him that much either) has to deal with her dead husband sitting in a rocking chair, refusing to get back in his grave. Luckily a gentleman suitor who happens to play the violin helps her find a solution... and this story is just great. It made it into our regular rotation just this year and makes for a great Halloween tale. It's not really scary at all except for the inclusion of the skeleton, and my kids laughed when the story was resolved at the end. I paid .99 cents for this one. 

I made it through the first story in this book before setting it aside. It was kind of disturbing. I've read one anthology of stories written by Ramsey Campbell in the past, and his stories are pretty scary. These stories are supposedly ones that he collected into an anthology because they scared him. I kind of think that statement may be true. .99 cents. 

This is one of those dry-looking books that looks like it came out in the 60's or 70's (I didn't bother to look at the publishing date before writing this, so be my guest...) but I've suddenly found myself in the mood to check out more and more books like that in recent times. So finding this for 1.99 was pretty fun! I mean, look at that cover alone! Facing off against that skeletal apparition with crucifix in hand... classic horror! 

I did not know that there was a series of licensed Universal Monsters novels. Did you? I didn't find any more of the series kicking around when I found this, The Devil's Night was a must-have. Looking it up on Amazon later, I discovered mixed reviews, especially for the sequel to this book, Devil's Brood. Should be interesting to see if it is any kind of satisfying read. Maybe I'll set it aside for next year's Halloween read pile. 

Couple of younger books here that I plan on sharing with my boys. The Time Spies: Rider in the Night book is a chapter book, but my older son is almost ready to start having those read to him. And it features the Headless Horseman!!! I couldn't resist that if I WANTED to. The Ghost with the Halloween Hiccups is a perfect read-aloud book for them right now, and they loved it! 

Finally, here's a great Halloween pop-up book I just recently found: A Visit to the Haunted House. It's cute and was in pretty decent shape! 

The menace of the haunted house was slightly down-played by the kitten book-plate on the first page... but the kitten's eyes appear to follow you around the room so the effect is still quite haunting. 

There's a lot more to this book, but the three pages I feature here are the most impressive of the pop-up pages. Most of the others are of the "pull the tab" or "slide this thing up and down" variety and so don't demonstrate well in photographs anyway. 

Well that's it for tonight kids!!! Halloween night is only a few more days away! In some ways I'll be happy to have the countdown done with... but in even more ways I'll be sad that the Halloween season is over. It's my favorite time of the year, and a time of year when I really try to kick everything into high-gear reading, viewing, listening, and collecting-wise when it comes to spookiness, horror, and Halloween.

I'll be back soon with more Grody Goodwill Goodies! Until then, Happy Haunting!