Haunted Halloween: Shaun David Hutchinson + A Giveaway!

I like being scared but I also scare very easily. I'm the kind of guy who will read a scary book right before bed but then have to sleep with the lights on. It's a little masochistic I think. But the scariest thing that ever happened to me happened in an actual haunted house.

My friend Jon was having a birthday, and more than anything he'd wanted to spend the night in a haunted house. I didn't enjoy the idea of spending the night in some crazy abandoned house, so I got together with another of his friends and we found a really great haunted bed & breakfast in this tiny little town called Micanopy. The Herlong Mansion was supposedly haunted by the ghost of the previous owner, Inez. It was the most stylish haunted house I'd ever seen.

To make it even better, I scheduled our stay to coincide with Friday the 13th, two days before Jon's birthday. When we arrived, he was really excited to spend the night in the haunted house. According to the manager, there was only one other group booked for the night, so we essentially had the whole place to ourselves. Throughout the night we told ghost stories and played with a Ouija board. The regular scary stuff. But the real scares didn't happen until later that night.

Around the witching hour, we began to play hide & seek. There may have been alcohol involved. Okay, there was definitely alcohol involved. Either way, we split up and ran through the house. I was hiding under a bed when a storm moved in. Being from Florida, fast and furious storms were nothing new to me, but whether it was my overactive imagination or the ghost of Inez, I began to feel distinctly unnerved. The storm raged outside, a symphony of thunder and wind and tree branches scratching against the windows. From my hiding spot under the bed, I could feel my heart pounding against the floor and I wanted nothing more than to run out and hear my friends talking. But I stayed where I was.

Then the power went out. The room was plunged into darkness and I began to panic. What had I gotten myself into? I was in a strange haunted house on Friday the 13th, hiding under a bed in pitch black darkness.

I waited under the bed as long as I could but I was gripped with fear. I heard whispers and taunts. Voices in the dark telling me to run, flee, get out of the house while I still could.

I shot out from under the bed and felt my way to the door and into the hallway. I thought I was going to tumble down the stairs but I ran into someone and screamed at the top of my lungs. It turned out to be both of my friends. The lights came on and we all had a good laugh. I don't know if I ran into a ghost that night, all I know is that I didn't sleep a wink.

Title: The Deathday Letter

Synopsis: The clock is ticking?

Ollie can't be bothered to care about anything but girls until he gets his Deathday Letter and learns he's going to die in twenty-four hours. Bummer.

Ollie does what he does best: nothing. Then his best friend convinces him to live a little, and go after Ronnie, the girl who recently trampled his about-to-expire heart. Ollie turns to carloads of pudding and over-the-top declarations, but even playing the death card doesn't work. All he wants is to set things right with the girl of his dreams. It's now or never?

Available now from Simon Pulse!

Order online here: Amazon | Borders | Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository

BOOK SIGNING: Exciting information for anyone in New Your City! Shaun and 10 other debut authors will be at Books of Wonder signing and talking books on Oct. 10th, 2010 at Noon!!! Anyone close should go check it out! Sounds like a great time with a bunch of great authors. Check out Shaun's blog post here for some info on the event and a list of who'll be there ready to sign your books and answer questions! Oh, how I wish I could go.

Books of Wonder

18 West 18th St., between 5th and 6th

212-989-3475

Find Shaun online:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Official Book Website | Read an Excerpt from the first chapter at Amazon

Enter to win a Finished copy of The Deathday Letter and Bookmark! Both signed!

Here are the rules and how to enter:

You MUST complete the form to enter. No entries in comments please they won't count. Comments are welcome, so share your love with Shaun!

You must be at least 13 years old to enter.

This contest is open to to US residents only. Sorry!

Contest ends: Oct. 19th, 2010

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!!

ENTER HERE

Good luck to everyone who enters. If you have any questions, please see my

policy page or feel free to email.

Also, a HUGE thank you to Shaun for his time, story and donation.

Check out Jessica's Haunted Halloween post with Shannon Delany + A Giveaway for a Signed copy of 13 to Life and some swag!!

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