A long time ago (1994?) I was in Scotland and we walked down a long muddy track to see Slains Castle. Slains Castle which sits on the edge of a cliff over the sea is reputedly Bram Stoker‘s inspiration for Dracula‘s Castle.
Here‘s a great video from YouTube if you want to experience it for yourself. Sadly, no cellphones when I went, only my 35mm camera https://youtu.be/VO6XUTO6bwo
#Scarathlon
#TeamStoker
#Dracula
If anyone has been enjoying my #Scarathlon posts, & my only-a-bit-scary Halloween movie posts, please feel free to head over to @TheReadingMermaid and sponsor my team. I‘m on #TeamStoker and what that means is you can contribute to our teams overall score if you plan on reading next weekend during the #24B4Monday oct 25-27.
So if you are not taking part in the#Scarathlon this season, but what to jump in that weekend, check it out.
Next up for me in Melissa‘s-not-super-scary-Halloween-movie-pile: Young Sherlock Holmes
Murder, mystery, creatures, bells, phantoms, gargoyles, and menacing stained glass knights!
When I was a kid, this one was creepy.
#TeamStoker
#Scarathlon
@TheReadingMermaid
There are two kinds of people in this world, those that loved E.T. and those who thought he was scary.
“He's a man from outer space and we're taking him to his spaceship.”
“Well, can't he just beam up?”
“This is REALITY, Greg.”
Still one of my favorite Halloween movies, that still holds up really well today! 😉
#Scarathlon
#TeamStoker
I should do what I usually do, which is plead the 5th here! If I‘ve learned nothing from science fiction or horror, it‘s never name what you fear or want the most; the destroyer (Ghostbusters) is guaranteed to take that form to destroy you, the Twilight Zone will give your fondest wish & then destroy your glasses, & every form of trickster, djinn, fae, or under sea witch will grant your heart‘s desire, but with a killer clause in the small print.
pickBram Stoker wrote a few chapter‘s to his famous Dracula that were cut from the final story for length and story flow, after his death one of those was published as a separate short story titled Dracula‘s Guest. This graphic novel tells that story, of a close call Jonathon Harker had on his way to Transylvania with “The Lady in the Tomb”, which according to the after-notes was a bit of a nod to the earlier vampire Carmilla by Le Fanu.
#TeamStoker
#ChillingPhotoChallenge
I‘m still trying to “mostly” satisfy these with books I own in some format, even though I‘ve gone askew a few times.🤷♀️. Although after a very musical post for Poison by @DaveGreen7777 I was sorely tempted to post Bell Biv Devoe! 😂
Oct 14th: Poison
Status: I own this one in paperback, picked up at the library sale. Sadly haven‘t gotten around to reading it yet.
#Scarathlon
#TeamStoker
pickI‘ve read Stoker‘s Dracula a few times over the years, so when it was selected for #Scarathlon #DraculaBuddyRead I started looking for a new way to experience this old classic. With a bit of research I found a Dracula comic based on Stoker‘s original, & luckily it was on Hoopla. I definitely enjoyed this story again with new graphics, not sure if it would have been as good if I‘d read it without reading the original book first though.
#TeamStoker
With part of it set during Halloween, with an extra Freddy Krueger reference thrown in later, I think I can count this one as a Halloween read.🤷♀️
So +5, plus 1 for posting? So 6
#scarathlon
#TeamStoker
pickI wasn‘t sure how they‘d ever wrap this one up, but they did and I can‘t believe it‘s over! I‘ll miss this twisted little time-warp back to the future, way future, past, prehistoric past, future again, etc story of friendship and growing up!
Some Garlic Lemon Pepper Pasta with some Garlic Bread!
You‘d think I‘d be protecting from vampires, but I‘m really trying to ward off the dreaded beginnings of a cold. Those germs can really suck you dry too!🧛♂️ 😉
#Scarathlon
#TeamStoker
One more movie in for me!
From Melissa‘s “only sort-of” scary collection: The Brothers Grimm!
#TeamStoker
#Scarathlon
#teamStoker #Scarathlon
1. Seth Green/Rutger Hauer/Gary Oldman/Bill Skarsgård/Danny Trejo
2. Ghosts/Hobgoblins/Ogres/Succubi/Troll
3. Goblin/Hell Hounds/Ogres/Succubus/Tarantula
4. Godzilla/Hydra/Octopus/Sphinx/Tribble ?
5. Neill Gaiman/Joe Hill/George Orwell/Mary Shelley/T ?
6. Gremlins/Hollow Man/Octopus/Shallows/Tremors
7. In Comments ⤵️
8. Graveyard/House/Ocean/School/Trunk
9. In Comments ⤵️
10. Graveyard/Hospital/Opera/Ship/Train
#ChillingPhotoChallenge
Oct 13th: 13
Status: I own this one on audiobook, I really enjoyed this whole series about a goofy sassy Grim Reaper. Hopefully we‘ll see a spin-off series someday.
#Scarathlon
#TeamStoker
Almost caught up #ChillingPhotoChallenge
Oct 12th: Graveyard
Status: own and read
I really enjoyed this whole series about a goofy sassy Grim Reaper.
#Scarathlon
#TeamStoker
I just realized I‘m behind on my #ChillingPhotoChallenge
Yesterday: Oct 11th: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Status: own and read
#Scarathlon
#TeamStoker
Movie tonight: The Devil‘s Advocate
#Scarathlon
#TeamStoker
More photos from the Hallo-Fun setups, most of these are from along the newly tricked out train ride.
#Scarathlon
#TeamStoker
At Knoebels Amusement Resort for their Hallo-Fun.
We even found a dog dressed up!
#Scarathlon
#TeamStoker
At Knoebels Amusement Resort for their Hallo-Fun, kids are dressed up, even the rides are dressed up. Check out the bumper cars!
#Scarathlon
#TeamStoker
It‘s beginning to look a bit like Fall!
Photo from outside the library this morning!
Finally! Because the beginning of Oct it was in the 90‘s.
#TeamStoker
#Scarathlon
I am so bummed! This version of Dracula was in the free books under Audible channels, but now channels is GONE as an option from my app. 🤨.
I‘m very disappointed! ☹️
#TeamStoker #Scarathlon @TheReadingMermaid
Only 4 left!
And I have all 4 picked out, unless I change my mind of course.😏
Just keep swimming, just keep swimming 🐠
#Booked2019
pickThrough a series of unfortunate events & realistic family issues, 12 yr old Felix & his mom lose their apartment. The story follows Felix as he initially loves the adventure of van living, to realizing something might not be alright, to hiding his situation from family & friends, to trying to find a way to help his mom. It dealt very believably with Felix‘s shifting emotions & coping mechanisms, I wish the resolution was typical too. #MiddleGrade
Next in Melissa‘s not super scary Halloween movie pile! High Spirits!
Off to Castle Plunkett, the most haunted castle in Ireland....
#Scarathlon
#TeamStoker
pickI picked this book up & started reading it in April, then I put it back down & didn‘t touch it again until Sept. It‘s an in-depth, intense, frustrating succinct & disturbingly accurate history of race relations with African Americans in the U.S. from the start until today. I‘ve read books that focused on parts of the problem, specifics snapshots of time, but this is the first book to brilliantly bring all that together into a complete picture! ⤵️
One of my favorite comebacks was Jon Stewart to Bill O‘Reilly ....as he was railing against giveaways and socialism, Jon reminded him that he grew up and was raised in Levittown, a suburb for returning servicemen (only white returning servicemen) where the housing was subsidized and purchased cheaply, and now resold for gains in family wealth. But you know, “it‘s not the same”🤦♀️
😟
“...around an election or two.”
I always knew that FL was one of the worst states for denying ex-felons the right to vote for years after they served their time...they have to wait 14 years after all their sentencing requirements are completed and then petition the governor to restore their voting rights. Which is crazy for any citizens who has paid their dues, but that includes felonies for letting a helium balloon float up in the air and walking in a construction zone! 😱
As I watch the Ukraine call news, and now our abandonment of our Kurdish allies... I‘d say he‘s accomplishing his goals and then some. 🙁
Oh god, I want to finish this today....but I‘m at the afterward, added to the paperback AFTER the election.
Book dilemma: Put it down to process / recuperate or just rip off the bandaid and finish it now!😱
Tough tough call!
I‘m going in....
😢. More than ever I can see why people need to run for office at all levels of government local, county etc... because this level of disenfranchisement starts locally.
🙄 if you thought deep down that the fix was in and the deck was stacked against you, this will make you realize just how deep that feeling really goes.
“... a utility bill. More than 20% of African Americans, as compared with 3% of whites, do not have a bank account.” “almost 6% of all families in the United States are in multigenerational households. (...) Regardless of the number of adults in a home, only one name appears on the utility bills, making it difficult for the others to prove they actually live there.”
Even my local mini-mart is getting into the act!
And I drank the soda‘s! Who knows what might happen 🧟♀️🧟♂️
#Scarathlon
#TeamStoker @TheReadingMermaid
#ChillingPhotoChallenge
Still picking from books I own!
The 10th: Grim
Status: I have this one in hardcover, it was originally my mom‘s and I scarfed it, putting it onto my shelves years ago.
#Scarathlon
#TeamStoker @TheReadingMermaid
![[tagged book]](https://pics.cdn.librarything.com/pics/litsy_webpics/icon_taggedBook@3x.png){kind=icon}
