I tend to read fiction that is tied to the season I am in. Christmas, Halloween, Autumn, summer, you name it. Helps me enjoy the season. This started many years ago when I would buy a Christmas book and read it in December. It has morphed into every season. Do you do the same thing?
This year I had the intention to read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, but decided to read a Grady Hendrix book. I am a fan of Grady Hendrix after reading the Exorcism of my Best Friend. Amazon Prime has the movie, which I don’t recommend. The book is much better.
Here is a synopsis of the book.
Patricia Campbell’s life has never felt smaller. Her husband is a workaholic, her teenage kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she’s always a step behind on her endless to-do list. The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime. At these meetings they’re as likely to talk about the Manson family as they are about their own families.
One evening after book club, Patricia is viciously attacked by an elderly neighbor, bringing the neighbor’s handsome nephew, James Harris, into her life. James is well traveled and well read, and he makes Patricia feel things she hasn’t felt in years. But when children on the other side of town go missing, their deaths written off by local police, Patricia has reason to believe James Harris is more of a Bundy than a Brad Pitt. The real problem? James is a monster of a different kind—and Patricia has already invited him in.
Little by little, James will insinuate himself into Patricia’s life and try to take everything she took for granted—including the book club—but she won’t surrender without a fight in this blood-soaked tale of neighborly kindness gone wrong.
I enjoyed this book a lot. I love the Southern Women’s choice on how to rid their problem. Makes me wonder what if. A good read, you should check it out.
As you know I love Halloween, so I like to do the front porch and walkway to look spooky or fun each year. This year I took a tumble and fell on my arm and head. My fault, I tripped over a water spigot when chasing a runaway pumpkin. Scabs are all healed and head is hard enough to sustain the injury. LOL. I must say I am getting a tad bit old for this stuff. But every year I get excited and want to display my Halloween stuff. Can’t blame this girl.
This years theme is my crypt and the spooky spiders that guard it. The spider web was a bit weak but those spiders have been in a box a long time, maybe they forgot how to make a good web.
Enjoy the video and thank you for checking out my blog.
When I saw the lineup for the autumn movies this year I actually complained to Hallmark. Believe it or not, they actually said they would pass on my concerns to production management. We will see. I told them that although I love a good Hallmark movie, watching wedding movies is a summer thing. I want haystacks and pumpkins. I want hot apple cider and a hayride. I want autumn leaves, not the Bahamas. Enough said. Onto the autumn Fall in Love movies for 2025.
All the Groomsmen movies (The Groomsmen First Look/The Groomsmen Second Chances/The Groomsmen Last Dance) were nice movies but not appropriate for autumn. I guess these three guys are a “thing” as they also seem to have Christmas movies out there. They must be popular with the viewing audience, but not really my interest. It was entertaining and the three guys had good chemistry. Giving these movie 3 pumpkins out of 5.
The next movie is Mystery Island: House Rules. I assume this is a series also. To be honest they should give it up. The acting was bad, the plot was weak, generally I did not like this one at all. We did not have a good start with this years line up. I give it 1 pumpkin out of 5.
The next movie, Adventures in Love & Birding was a cute movie. I liked the actors and thought the plot was good. I enjoyed the adventure of the birding contest and the conflict with the ex wife. I would give this a 4 out of 5 pumpkins.
This next movie was my favorite out of the group. I thought I would dislike it because it was about football but it was charming. Home Turf was about the school President having to share her home with the football team. Her peaceful quiet life is turned upside down. And the coach is a hottie, so that made it even more pleasant. This movie gets the coveted 5 out of 5 pumpkins.
The next movie seems to be a series also called The Jane Mysteries: Too Much to Lose starring Jodie Sweetin. This was a nice little film but to be honest, I am not that thrilled with Jodie Sweetin as an actress. But more power to her. This movie overall was not bad, just not my favorite. This movie gets a 3 pumpkin out of 5.
The next movie is clearly a Halloween movie which thrilled me. Haul out the Halloween starred Lacey Chabert and Wes Brown. They team up again in their neighborhood embracing Halloween. There were a lot of neighborhood antics and chaos but it kept true to the Halloween theme. However I am only give it a 3 pumpkin out of 4.
The final movie is Haunted Harmony Mysteries – Buried at C. To be honest, I remember nothing about this film. I grew bored quickly with the movie. So by default they get 2 pumpkins out of 5.
I usually watch my Hallmark movies off my Friendly TV subscription since it has all the Hallmark Channels. However I noticed this year that it was limited and required you to go to the Hallmark+ streaming service. I do have the Hallmark+ service but find it generally does not have the new movies on it. Perhaps they are now driving people to the streaming service now but I was confused on where the movies are located. Part of the problem with having only streaming services is finding where things are located so it may be a user issue.
Thanks for hanging with me as I rated the Hallmark movies this year. Just be glad I don’t rate the Christmas movies as there is sooooo many.
Educating myself about random things is just so me. I am known to “squirrel” random comments to learn about them. We were always doing that at work. Someone would say something interesting and I would drop everything and Google the heck out of it. Like a dog that sees a squirrel I am off and running.
I decided to watch the National Geographic documentary about witch trials. It was a six part series that covered various areas (and time periods) in Europe and in America.
Some of the most interesting things I learned was that most of the accusations were from children. If a child fell ill they would blame female elders for inflicting them with illness. Or they would blame neighbors especially if there was petty fights or jealously. Back in those days, most people believed in fairies and believe that their children were snatched and replaced with an “odd” replacement called a Changeling. So if a child acted strange, grew ravished with hunger, or grew ill the parents would think a witch interceded for a fairy. Also when failure of crops or bad weather occurred they would blame witches versus just a bad season.
Women were more likely to be accused versus men. Many believed that women were easily influenced by the dark forces. The women accused during the Salem witch trials were mostly poor, disadvantaged women on the edges of society. If they confessed, they were jailed. If they refused they were killed. Basically a no win situation. The young girls who accused people of being witches were at the trial and when the accused entered the room they would display fits and claim that the specters of the accused were torturing them. Eventually some of the elders felt that the young girls were lying and finally deemed that spectral evidence was denounced. Slowly the trials waned down and the accused were found not guilty. More than 200 people were accused, and 19 were hanged, one was pressed to death, and others died in jail.
It was a dark period in our history. This is what happens when accusations, hysteria and belief in supernatural events run amuck. There is so much more to this story that I could go on forever about the politics and beliefs in this time period. To this day, this part of history is explored when tourists go to Salem to learn about the trials.
Happy Halloween Readers! While waiting for the little ghouls and goblins to ring my doorbell, I took on a murder mystery from Cryptic Killers. The case I solved was called Murder of a Millionaire.
Poor Chloe Whittler, a recent lottery winner was killed in a park in Redmond UK. (Fictional of course)
I sorted thru the police file and read the documents. Let me tell you it was not that easy.
There was quite a lot of documents to sort and compare. The only thing I could not figure out was how to get the email open from the police department. But even with not figuring out the email I was able to guess the killer.
Well sort of. I had two suspects that had a strong motive and the disposition to kill, I took a guess with the first person and was wrong. But my second person was correct.
This was challenging but not impossible to solve. I was a bit thrown off with the military time and the train stations. The pictures from the surveillance cameras were really had to decipher but life (or should I say death) is not always easy.
I would definitely do another crime mystery game next year.
Anyone who knows me, knows that Halloween is my jam. I like the pumpkins, the ghosts, the trick or treaters, the decorations. To me it is all fun. Part of the fun is wearing Halloween attire. What is a shirt without some bats, or a ghost or two.
I have bought a few items from Bloomchic to wear during the season. OK, the pants are for wearing at home, but the tops and sweaters are great to wear out. I usually get a few compliments on the tops and sweaters, especially from fellow Halloweenions.
The funny thing is that I noticed that the bat shirt below has all the bats upside down. I think there is one or two that are right side up. If anyone else notices I will just tell them that “Don’t you know, bats fly upside down.”
Sadly it does not get cold enough in October to wear the heavier sweaters but there is no rule that says I can’t wear them in November or December.
I also wear hair clips of spiders or other Halloween items. Of course there is always a scrunchie in my hair with a Halloween design. Let’s just say I like Halloween. The brand Piper K and Nicole Miller always have cute stuff. I definitely bought the spiders.
To complete the overall Halloween look, I also picked up my annual slippers for my tootsies. These are cute cats that will glow in the dark.
The one thing I looked at but did not buy is the Betsey Johnson Trick or Treat necklace. I talked myself out of it thinking I had more than enough Halloween jewelry. But I have thought about it a few time since, I doubt it is still there.
I am a huge fan of the fun jewelry that Betsey Johnson releases each year and I have several of her pieces.
At TJ Maxx it costs $29.99 but I see it on sale at Macy’s for $103.60. But heck they have free shipping. LOL.
I might go back and check but the store is probably filled with Christmas items by now. Halloween is a blip on the calendar. Move over ghouls, the big guy is coming. Why shop for Christmas in a month, heck let’s make it a three month event. Poor Halloween gets squeezed out every year.
Every year I like to read some of the Amazon Original Stories that has a spooky theme. In case you did not know, Amazon has a collection of these themed short stories written by well known authors that are free for Prime Members. One of the many perks of being a Prime member. If you have an Audible account, it also loads the audio book into your account. So if you like to listen instead of reading, this is a great service. Although free, you are only borrowing the book and it will be returned when you select another free read. I believe the cap is 5 books you can have in your borrowing account.
This year’s collection is called THE SHIVERS.
Synopsis: Ruined by scandal, Dennis Lange is hoping for a comeback. Selling the story of a cursed tree could make his future—if it doesn’t kill him—in this monstrous short story from New York Times bestselling author Joe Hill.
Dennis awakens something evil when he removes a decades-old jackknife from the trunk of a gnarled old sycamore. Once pinned in place—now thoughtlessly freed—the tree returns to its roots. An act of vigilante justice took place under its boughs long ago. But its taste for blood has only grown stronger…
My Opinion: I enjoyed this book, the way this man destroyed his life and was consumed by the tree was intriguing. I wasn’t sure if the tree was really moving or if the man was losing it. You will have to read it to get the answer.
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Synopsis: A helping hand, a fateful cost. In this ominous short story from New York Times bestselling author Owen King, the cost of living keeps rising—and it collects payment from the soul.
Sensing his mother’s failing health, a struggling teenager pours out his worries in a letter and drops it through the mail slot of an abandoned show house. He’s surprised when a response arrives, promising good fortune for the price of just one name: someone he hates. He’d give anything for his mother. But the true cost may be more than he’s willing to pay.
My Opinion: The Slot was not exactly I thought it would be. Oh that Slot. It has a dark side.
My Rating: 4 out of 5
Synopsis: Don’t lose your head over office politics…The horrors of the modern workplace meet actual horror in a fiendishly entertaining short story from New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones.
When the lights go out and the slideshow begins, middle manager Jennifer has a disturbing vision: a headless colleague right across the boardroom table. Is it a trick of the light, or a vision of the future? She tries to brush it off and salvage the afternoon—but when her ex unexpectedly drops off her son at the office after school, suddenly her whole world takes an alarming turn.
My Opinion: I have to admit I was a bit lost in this book. Not sure what really happened but it was a bit intense and a bit grotesque.
My Rating: 2 out of 5
Synopsis: Residents have an unspoken pact with the island’s unnatural inhabitants: ignore them, live happily. But in New York Times bestselling author Grady Hendrix’s thrilling short story, one boy can’t look away—and pays the price.
Jeckle Island offers Rachel’s children the chance to spend summers roaming wild and free, as long as they follow the rules. But when her son comes face to face with a terror they dare not speak of, she must prepare for their perfect world to change. Forever.
My Opinion: I am a fan of Grady Hendrix and enjoy his writing. This had a bit of suspense and a bit of shock. Everyone was so traumatized in this book and so was I.
My Rating: 4 out of 5
Synopsis: In the gloom of her hotel, a mother readies to rejoin her past. Feverish nightmares meet the chilling light of day in this haunting short story from USA Today bestselling author Catriona Ward.
Room 17 was the last stop on her husband and son’s journey. Eight years after their deaths, Stella books the same room, hoping to commune with their memories. But as she tries to sleep, disturbing and urgent visions blur the lines between reality and the supernatural, and the other side sends a terrifying message.
My Opinion: To be honest I cannot remember what happens at the end of this book. Maybe the ghosts wiped it from my memory. LOL
My Rating: 2 out of 5
I also read another short story that was a freebie from the Amazon First Reads selection. First Reads is a free book each month for Amazon Prime members. Sometimes you can get 2 books or a free short story.
Synopsis: Erin tends bar at the last dive left in gentrified Red Hook, Brooklyn, where old-timers spin tales of the bar’s legacy and the waterfront’s crime-ridden past. Her boss, Jimmy, a real estate magnate responsible for much of the neighborhood’s shiny transformation, also has a story to share. Back when he was a struggling beat cop, two neglected boys introduced him to an ancient creature that made Jimmy’s dreams come true. Nightmares too. Erin doesn’t believe a word. The bar is her life. But this bar at the end of the world is also home to a deadly stowaway. And it’s looking for a new host.
My Opinion: This was a good read and I was not sure what was causing the events until almost the end of the book. It was suspenseful and the story kept me reading.
My Rating: 4 out of 5
I highly recommend that everyone check out these stories. There are many collections to choose with different genres. Something for everyone.
Every year I compile a list of movies that I will watch to get into the Halloween mood. Some movies I watch every year like Practical Magic, others I watch every few years like The Shining. I always try to introduce new films into the list. I love the old black and white 1950 films and search for oldies I might enjoy. Normally in making my list, I am choosing either cheesy monster movies from my youth, or suspenseful films of intrigue. But this year I am doing something slightly new. I decided to add more movies I have never seen. They either have been on my watchlist for a few years and never got around to watching or films I never heard of. Of course some old favorites are on the list, but most are new to me.
But I am not restricting myself to this list, if I find something worth while to watch I will go ahead and watch it. I did not add any Korean shows on the list, there may be a great one to watch, so who knows what I will end up watching. Because I will be retired I can watch more shows during the season.
So grab your popcorn and your milk duds and settle in for an exciting season of great films.
Every year I kick off the Autumn Bucket List by posting a poem that inspires me. I was having issues finding a poem that just felt right. Instead I found inspiration from wonderful quotes from famous writers. I felt that each quote captured my thoughts about autumn, from leaves to pumpkins, to the chill in the air. May pumpkin season begin.
Here I am kicking off my bucket list for Autumn during a hot summer day. I have noticed a lot of social media influencers are starting their Autumn posts because they are so over this hot summer. I am too! I am not a summer person, keep your hot sweaty days, your bugs, your expensive electricity bills. I prefer the cool breezes of Autumn, the leaves turning golden colors, the pumpkins lined up on the porch, being dressed in cuddly warm sweaters holding a cup of hot tea and having a bowl of homemade soup for dinner.
I am actually retiring this year at the end of September. I can hardly wait as I have worked a long time to get here. I will now have more time to do my crafts and try new things. As a result, my autumn bucket list has more crafts and cooking than previous years. I have the list broken out between cooking, crafts and other fun stuff. Some stuff is new, others are my tried and true annual “to do’s”. I reserve the right to add more as I come up with cool ideas.
