blogtoberfest – Page 2 – Dahlia DeWinters

Blogtoberfest – Scary Stories – Pet Sematary

Horror is different for everyone. I don’t think the “experts” can agree on what horror is and thus there are tons of movies and books that represent the horror genre, as it should be. I also believe that horror is different depending on where you are in your life. What’s represents horror for a twenty-year-old might be old-hat to a forty year old. Books that resounded for me in my twenties are just “eh” now that I’m a lovely seasoned woman of a certain age. But Stephen King’s Pet Semetary broke that mold. It’s just as frightening now as when I first read it many years ago. Here’s the blurb “Sometimes dead is better….”When the Creeds move into a beautiful old house in rural Maine, it all seems too good to be true: physician father, beautiful wife, charming little daughter, adorable infant son — and now an idyllic home. As… Continued

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Blogtoberfest – Urban Legends to Keep You Up at Night – Part 2

The Thousand Steps Behind a rusty, broken gate at the top of the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi in Eagle Point Park (Clinton, Iowa) is an ancient set of steps plagued with tragedy and wrought with mysteries and fables. Locals call them the “Thousand Steps”, and they were built in the 1930’s along with the rest of the neighboring park to allow access from the top of the bluffs to the beach below. Although originally used frequently by families and other people looking for a scenic hike, the stairs soon fell into disuse and began to decay- becoming filled with holes, structural cracks, and covered in slippery moss, making them very dangerous to use. But of course, nothing compels children to do something more than being told not to do it. In the 1960’s, it soon became a right of passage to descend the stairs and live- which many children and

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Blogtoberfest – American Gothic Roots Music – Rachel Brooke

Welcome to today’s Blogtoberfest post! It’s another dark country/roots song by artist Rachel Brooke. “Take everything you think you know about country music and throw it out the window. That pop rock crap y’all call country is nothing compared to what Rachel Brooke is laying down. She’s an old soul in the way Hank Williams and Memphis Minnie were, culling together both country and country blues into an album that is easily digestible for anyone who gets scared off by real country music. Etta James once said that the blues and country music were kissing cousins. Rachel Brooke is their love child.” -Chip McCabe and “Producing and playing most of the instruments herself, Rachel demonstrates her immense talent and diversity on this album. (Down in the Barnyard 2011) The song writing is top notch, her voice is eerily old-time-authentic, and the whole album has the ability to

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Blogtoberfest – Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

In another life, I was an elementary school teacher, which meant nearly every holiday was a par-tay. Valentine’s Day parties were the most stressful, because, as a teacher, you really had to sit on the “who likes whom” bit and keep it all nice and friendly. Christmas was nice, but the overabundance of cookies was a little much. The party that hit the perfect spot (besides the end of school party) was Halloween. Between the Halloween-themed worksheets, coloring sheets, Halloween parade and Charlie Brown, the whole day was a whirlwind of costumes and candy. The best part for me, and I hope the class, was when I read from Scary Stories to Read in the Dark. First of all, take a look at this cover. It’s the stuff of nightmares, sorry. I’d keep the book face down on the desk if I had a softcover, and remove the dustjacket if

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Blogtoberfest – Dark Country Songs – Lincoln Durham

Combining music and Halloween isn’t that hard – there’s plenty of scary music to go around. However, in my Internet search, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon Lincoln Durham a country (?) artist. I say “country artist” because that’s the easiest category to drop him in. In reality, he’s a combination of Gothic, dark country, blues, gospel….but in all, he makes some damn good music. Even the title of one of his albums “Exodus of the Deemed Unrighteous” is enough to give you the down-home chills. Check him out. Exodus of the Deemed Unrighteous – Ballad of a Prodigal Son

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Blogtoberfest – It's Back!!

OCTOBER….OCTOBER…OCTOBER!! Hang with me for ….. Blogtoberfest! Terrible, isn’t it? But fun, right? The month of October is special to me. It’s not because of Halloween, although that’s part of it. October marks the month in which I had my first e-book, “Kitty Wishes” published with Evernight Publishing. In honor of this occasion as well as a personal challenge, I will be posting something Halloween related every single day of the month. If I get frisky, I might post some snippets of the sequel to “Loving Among the Dead”…..”Among the Dead: One More for the Road”. I certainly hope that you will join me for Blogtoberfest – keep me honest with these posts! Leave a comment! Share! Above all, read and have fun! Dahlia