Happy Halloween

Hope everyone has a Spooky Evening!

What's on the iPod? - Doctor Who Forever Autumn

Sorry I haven't checked in for a while guys. Didn't have a new flash idea and kind of wanted to keep the flash at the top of the blog for October. I will get a jump on next year, and I hope we can do the round-robin again. That's a great idea Charles had.

I have been busy mostly working on things for school or watching too much political coverage.

School has devoured a lot of my time. I also finished a graphic novel script in and around writing a portion of a prose novel for school.

It's good to be blogging. I've just popped a Doctor Who novelization to the top of my playlist for Halloween time. It's called Forever Autumn, written by Mark Morris and read by Will Thorp who sounds a lot liked David Tennant.

The scares will all wind up being scientific, but the Doctor can often edge into the horror realm.

It's about two hours, so it's perfect to get me through to the 31st. The synopsis reads:

It is almost Halloween in the sleepy New England town of Blackwood Falls. Autumn leaves litter lawns and sidewalks, paper skeletons hang in windows, and carved pumpkins leer from stoops and front porches.

The Doctor and Martha soon discover that something long-dormant has awoken in the town, and this will be no ordinary Halloween. What is the secret of the ancient chestnut tree and the mysterious book discovered tangled in its roots? What rises from the local churchyard in the dead of night, sealing up the lips of the only witness? And why are the harmless trappings of Halloween suddenly taking on a creepy new life of their own?

As nightmarish creatures prowl the streets, the Doctor and Martha must battle to prevent both the townspeople and themselves from a grisly fate...

Sounds like fun!

Horrortober 2 - Halloween Horror Fiction

Here's another piece of flash fiction in keeping with the Halloween-month celebration started by Charles and now including: Avery, Stewart , Miladysa, L.A. Mitchel and Laughingwolf.

This one might not be for the squeamish. If any of these tales are.

Jack-O-Lanterns

You need sharp tools for carving. It helps with the detail. I won't carry on any pretense that I'm talking about a pumpkin. You're too smart for that.

You've seen Tales from the Crypt, or you've even heard of EC Comics and William M. Gaines and those tales of revenge. In those stories you'd have to watch or read until almost the end for the twist, in which it's revealed that the carving involves not a pumpkin but the head of my wife's lover.

"The Revenge of the Cuckold" it might be called, and the build up would be all about the pumpkin carving and all of the careful, precise cuts.

Only in the last frame might it be revealed that the lover's head was the stand-in for the more traditional choice for Jack-O-Lantern.

The wife might return home to see the lover's ruined face, staring at her from the front window, eyes hollowed out, a permanent grin carved into the lips, a candle shoved up through the throat.

Quite a story, but not the one on the agenda. I've already done that carving. It's the head of my wife's ex-lover, the one before you. I wanted a little practice.

If I put it in the window,  she might not come in, and we wouldn't want that. We'll want her here--stop struggling, it will do you no good.

We'll want her here, so that she can watch when the carving begins on you, so that she can see the detail work even as you scream.

And she'll know that after that work is finished...she'll be next.

Now included in my collection Scars and Candy or here for Amazon UK

Horrortober - Halloween Horror Fiction

Since Charles has been posting some cool Flash horror stories in celebration of October, and Avery, Stewart , Miladysa, L.A. Mitchel and Laughingwolf are joining in, I feel inspired and compelled to join the fun. Halloween's my favorite holiday, too.

All right, Gramlich. I'll play your little October game. This is inspired by Charles's "Spot."

Having His Say

Shuck is my only friend. The old man dragged him in by the scruff of the neck one day when he was just a little squirt and tossed him in the corner beside me.

He’s not the first dog I’ve had. That was Blue. I loved Blue, but he messed the floor until he had to be punished.

The old man didn’t do the punishing. He made me do it. He said Blue and I both had to learn.

Shuck has been a little better. I knew what the cost would be if he didn’t learn, so I made sure he was paper trained quickly. He knows now he should only make when we go into the back yard—we’re only allowed to go in the back yard. The fence is electric there. The old man knows we can’t get past it.

But, yeah, Shuck is a fast learner, especially now that he’s not a puppy anymore. He’s grown big. He’s getting bigger, and I think he understands real words.

He’ll fetch the ball I throw, and he’ll heel.

Pretty soon we’re going to test a new word he’s learned.

“Shuck, THROAT,” I’ll say.

Then we’ll go out the front door, and the old man won’t have any say any more.

He literally won’t have any say.

Food for the Soul

I'm a little delinquent in reporting on a book I received via the Library Thing Early Readers program, so let me tell you about this interesting title. It's called Food for the Soul by Chana Rubin, RD. It carries the tag line "Traditional Jewish Wisdom for Healthy Eating.

It really includes practical food advice for anyone interested in staving off eating-related health issues, though it does sprinkle in epigrams from sacred texts and address matters such as "Diet and Health: The Jewish Connection" and "Jewish Women: Setting the Tone With Food."

Topics covered also include everything from Jewish holiday meals to the complexities of carbs with sub points such as: "What happens when you eat a bagel?", "Drinking for your health," and the place eggs fit into the diet.

The final section is Recipes with everything from stuffed bake potatoes to chocolate chip cookies.

I'm going to be trying some of those.

End of the Week Humor

Well, it's been quite a week. A little humor for the weekend seems like a good thing, especially since I've been focused a little on surrealism this week in my schoolwork.

A bill passes

Well, this week has been sobering.
I think this animation which helped me with civics when I was younger left out a few stages in the process.




They don't mention the failing in the House, going to the Senate for a few billion in sweeteners, then riding back to the House on another bill for another vote.

Sweet land of liberty!