Halloween Week 2013: An Introduction

Happy Thursday, boys and ghouls!

There are only 7 more days until October 31, which means that it is…

HALLOWEEN WEEK!

At Book Smugglers Headquarters, the last week of October is reserved for Halloween. Every year, we celebrate all things spooky – book reviews, guest posts, giveaways, and movie marathons – and 2013 is no exception.

Here’s what we have planned for the next 7 days:

Today, Thea kicks off the week by celebrating horror written specifically for middle grade and young readers – she reviews Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror by Chris Priestley, and lists a few of her other favorite MG horror picks.

On Friday, it’s time for our annual Halloween Dare! We have a joint review of a new bindup from an author we hold in very high regard: The Small Hand and Dolly by Susan Hill.

Then, it’s time for our annual Halloween Movie Marathon! You see, every year, Thea entreats (forces) Ana to watch a few horror movies or television shows in the spirit of the season. This year, we’re doing the movie marathon in real-time – we’ll be live tweeting the event on Saturday starting at 10am New York / 3pm Cambridge time. And here’s the lineup:

10AM/3PM – 11:41AM/4:41PM Halloween (1978)

12PM/5PM – 1:57PM/6:57PM Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

2:10PM/7:10PM – 3:46PM/8:46PM Hocus Pocus

If you’d like to join in on the fun, we’ll be on twitter and facebook, using the hashtag #halloweenweek. We hope you’ll join us for some of the marathon!

On Sunday, we celebrate horror short stories (the only short stories Thea likes, in truth). Thea reviews The Grinding House by Kaaron Warren (published as The Glass Woman in the United States), meanwhile Ana reviews A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman.

Monday, we turn to horror novels for teens and young adults with a guest post by Lucy Christopher, author of the psychological horror/thriller The Killing Woods.

Tuesday, Thea dives into one of her most highly anticipated new releases of 2013: medical horror thriller Parasite by Mira Grant.

And then, folks, it is Wednesday – which means that it is time for our monthly Old School Wednesday Readalong! We discuss Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey.

Thursday marks Halloween at long last! We celebrate All Hallows Eve with our contribution to a roundtable review of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson (also our recommended All Hallows Read pick) hosted by The Other Ana over at Things Mean a Lot. We’ll also have a big ol’ Halloween Giveaway to close out the week with a bang.

That’s it for now! Until tomorrow, we remain…

~ Your Friendly Neighborhood Book Smugglers