Verrrrrrry Scarrrrrry….

Posted by Jeanne Adams Oct 31 2009, 4:24 am in Books and Movies, Halloween, Jeanne Adams, Scary stories, T-shirts

by Jeanne Adams

BOOO!!!

Did I scare you? BWAH-Ha-Ha-HA!!! It’s Halloween! Tonight is Trick or Treat! Tomorrow, All Soul’s Day…Are you ready?

Oh, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Grins.

All of you know, by now that I ADORE Halloween. Almost every year we have an annual Addams Family Halloween party – in hiatus this year because I was on deadline, alas.

*huge, long-standing pout*

However, it is an event like no other. We’ve had up to 65 people in our house and garden for this affair. One year, early on while it was still just “Jeanne’s Annual Halloween Party” (i.e. Pre-DH) I did a scary movie fest.

That was a strange one – not that they all don’t have their strange character! – but this one struck me as odd because half the group was in the family room of my then-condo watching the scary movies, devouring popcorn, beer, and cupcakes with the same abandon as the monster on the screen devoured people.

The other half were in my miniscule kitchen talking as loudly as they could so as not to hear the scary noises or gasps of the populace from the TV screen.

Hmmm. I drew a frightening conclusion. Some people are really frightened by scary movies! Imagine that!

Did I mention that I’m REALLY missing the party this year? Can you tell? So I thought we could have a Virtual Halloween Party here.

Let’s talk about Scary Movies! And Scary Books, Shaaaaall we?

The scariest movie I ever saw (nightmare producing scare and I was an adult!) was Aliens II. The one on the ship. *shudder* Something about that one just gave me the flat out willies. I literally did have fall out of the bed nightmares after that one. Could’a been the cold medicine too, but jumpin’ heebie jeebies, Batman! That one was a doozy.

Second to that one in the “gives Jeanne the collywobbles” category is American Werewolf in London. Now before you go all Hollywood Critique on me and tell me it’s a parody, I’ll say that yes, I do know that. Doesn’t matter. That scene, where the werewolves are dressed as Nazis and bust in the house? Huh-uh, oh no you dinnna!?! I truly did walk out of the theater. Well, run on wobbly legs might be a more writerly description. Ha!

Others that were on the “Sleep Disturbing” list are : Jagged Edge; Body Heat; and Wait Until Dark.

Alien (the first one) didn’t get me. The Halloween movies didn’t bother me. Neither did any of the Elm Street movies. Frankly if you are boneheaded flat out stupid peabrained enough to get yourself IN to that situation? Damn if you don’t deserve to get dead. Snork!! And hey, Jamie Lee Curtis? If you go in the house to get something, come back out and the car doors are locked and the windows fogged?

GET. THE. HECK. OUT. OF. THERE. Yeeesh. Too Stupid to Live. Seriously.

What really seems to get me are not the slasher/gore movies. No, it’s the pscyological ones. Hitchcock. The Birds.

I still have an unnatural fear of things that flap.

Gaslight. Are you mad, or are you being “gaslighted?” Grins.

Then there’s the books and movies-from-books like The Exorcist and The Omen and Rosemary’s Baby. Oh, and all the Anne Rice books.

Ohhhh yeah. Scarwy.

So I knew what scared me. I figured I’d ask some of the Banditas.

For Suz, it’s the old school thriller – Rear Window; Midnight Lace; Charade; and the aforementioned Gaslight.

For our own AC, The Talented Mr. Ripley made her shiver, along with the end of the world flick 28 Days.

Nancy says Wait Until Dark had her covering her eyes. She also cited Dead Again and Terminator as among the collywobble films. (Now, with passing time, she’s decided Michael Beign made all the Terminator fear worth it.)

Joan, despite her love of blood thirsty Romans, assures me she does NOT watch scary movies. Of course, she went on to list three….Exorcist (the mere discussion of it had her worried); Jurrassic Park (especially the part with the raptors in the kitchen…but you know, she doesn’t watch scary movies); and What Lies Beneath. I’m sure she saw this for Harrison Ford, never THINKING it was a scary movie. Right JT? Grins.

Our own Anna says the first Halloween scared her to death, along with The Shining. “Daddy’s home!” *shudder!* Anna likes thrillers. Movies like Fatal Attraction, Dressed to Kill, Sleeping with the Enemy, Seven, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle and Suspect. Suspect’s one of my favorites, but Anna says Notorious is one of the best.

Tawny too refuses to see the scary ones, but says her kids think the REAL scary movies are: Dead Alive, Sixth Sense, the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Quarantine, The Grudge and the Evil Dead.

So what about you? What’s YOUR scary movie?

Any of them give you nightmares?

Do you get more frightened by the psychological stuff – Jagged Edge, Mr. Ripley, Gaslight, and so on – or the blood guts and gore, like Saw, and Halloween and Elm Street?

What about books?

Lisa Gardner’s Say Goodbye had me seeing spiders everywhere. *shiver!!* and I certainly wouldn’t want to meet any of Linda Howard, Karen Rose Smith or Lisa Jackson’s villains in MY town!

Last but not least…I always buy at least three new Halloween books for my children each year. This year, the best is:

Tell Me Another Scary Story by Carl Reiner
Now….last but not least, for all my Pagan Pals…

Blessed Be and HAPPY SAMHAIN!!!!

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Halloween Tricks and Costumes

Posted by Jo Robertson Oct 30 2009, 4:25 am in Halloween Tricks and Costumes, Jo Robertson, T-shirts

by Jo Robertson Halloween isn’t really an official “holiday,” but you wouldn’t know that by the antics of high school and elementary students during the week of the big event. They come to school dressed in all kinds of getups and engage in all sorts of antics as they prepare for the Big Day. I always got a kick out of my seniors getting in the spirit. Since they were high on some kind of pre-Halloween candy anyway, I figured I’d try to turn the holiday into a learning lesson. Orson Welles’ classic radio broadcast of HG Wells’ “War of
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Lucky Winners

Posted by Nancy Northcott Oct 30 2009, 3:59 am in Bandit Booty, Berta Platas, Lucky Chica, Miami Heat, T-shirts

Thanks to Berta Platas, we have three books to give away to commenters on her blog, Life, Love, and the Lottery. One copy of Lucky Chica goes to Eilis Flynn, and one copy goes to Joan Kayse! The lone copy of Berta’s rare debut book, now out of print, Miami Heat, goes to p226! Please email Nancy via the link on the blog page and put “Berta’s winner” in the subject line. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone who stopped by.

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Mystic Winners

Posted by Nancy Northcott Oct 30 2009, 3:58 am in Bandita Booty, Patricia Rice, T-shirts

We have booty to give away! The winners of one copy (each) of Patricia Rice’s Mystic Warrior goes to Blodeuedd and Ms. Hellion! Please email Patricia directly: price100@aol.com Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to everyone who stopped by!

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Cleaning up the Confetti!

Posted by Anna Campbell Oct 30 2009, 3:00 am in Anna Campbell, Bandita Booty, Captive of Sin, Launch Party, T-shirts

Wow, what an incredible day in the lair! I’ve been sweeping up confetti and streamers all day. But I’ve managed to tear myself away to draw the winners. And guess what – clearly I drank too much because instead of three winners, there seem to be FOUR WINNERS!!!! Yes, for over 200 comments, I threw in another copy of CAPTIVE OF SIN! So the lucky wedding guests are:Eva S Drew Mariska Debbie Congratulations to all of you! Please email me on anna@annacampbell.info with your snail mail details and I’ll get your books off to you. Seriously, I couldn’t have asked
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Top Three Signs Your Manuscript May Be Possessed/Undead/A Zombie/In Terrible Trouble:

Posted by Susan Sey Oct 29 2009, 4:35 am in revisions, Susan Sey, T-shirts, undead

by Susan Sey 1) Your plot bursts into flame when touched by daylight.Not good. Your characters should be taking your plot out to play at least once every couple of chapters. It should NOT be hanging upside down in the cellar all day while the hero and heroine exchange witty quips, drink coffee and compliment each other’s shoes. 2) Your villain is far and away the most sympathetic character in the book.This is especially troubling if your villain is a vain, selfish predator who lures underaged girls into (ahem) inappropriate activities. (If you made him a hottie, though, you had
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LORRAINE HEATH RETURNS TO THE LAIR

Posted by Suzanne Ferrell Oct 28 2009, 6:15 am in Dickens, historical romance, Lorraine Heath, Suzanne Welsh, T-shirts, The Scoundrels of St. James series

by Suzanne Welsh We love to visit with repeat offenders…er… our favorite return guests, so please pull up a chair, pillow or cabana boy and get comfortable as we welcome NYT bestselling author and my dear friend, Lorraine Heath back in the Lair to discuss her newest release, MIDNIGHT PLEASURES WITH A SCOUNDREL, which just recieved 4 stars from Romantic Times magazine! Suz: MIDNIGHT PLEASURES WITH A SCOUNDREL is the fourth in your Scoundrels of St. James series. While each is a stand alone book, each one has built upon the first and gives us a glimpse into the lives
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A Captivating Launch!

Posted by Anna Campbell Oct 27 2009, 4:30 am in Anna Campbell, Bandita Booty, Captive of Sin, Launch Party, Marriage of Convenience, T-shirts, weddings

by Anna Campbell HUZZAH!!!!! HOORAY!!!! YIPPEE-YI-O!!!!! What? You didn’t know? Today is the day CAPTIVE OF SIN is released. Hmm, that sentence looks rather odd. Now he’s released, can he still be a captive? Aaaaarrrggghhh! It’s all too much to think about! When we’ve got a…WEDDING to plan! More about that to come. Hmm, I must be excited. I seem to be restricted to one-sentence paragraphs! Always a sign of rising agitation in a writer. First, here’s the blurb for CAPTIVE OF SIN: He pledged his honor to keep her safe . . . Returning home to Cornwall after unspeakable
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Life, Love, and the Lottery

Posted by Nancy Northcott Oct 26 2009, 4:17 am in Berta Platas, costuming, Lucky Chica, T-shirts

Today we have a guest who’s familiar and yet not. Berta Platas, better known in the Lair as half of Gillian Summers, makes her first solo appearance today. We’ll chat about writing and life and her St. Martins release, Lucky Chica, which is about life, love, and winning the lottery. Welcome, Berta! Thanks for inviting me! I love you guys. Can’t wait to see who gets the rooster this time. As you know, we love call stories. We’ve had Gillian’s. I think. What’s Berta’s? I had written a thriller set in Miami, thinking to submit it to Kensington for their
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Bandita Booty!!

Posted by Anna Sugden Oct 26 2009, 3:43 am in Anna Sugden, Bandita Booty, Kate Walker, T-shirts

by Anna Sugden Time to announce the lucky winner of Kate Walker’s fabulous book, Kept For Her Baby! As Sid was still sulking about not being able to get his paws on that pesky rooster, my cat CC decided to take over the reins for prize selcetion. Her muddy paw landed on … Michelle!! Congratulations, Michelle. Please send your snail mail details to me at Anna@annasugden.com and I will pass them on to Kate.

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