This is new to Haunted Halloween this year and were REALLY excited that so many authors wanted to help us out with this. Basically we sent out blank bookmarks to authors and they "doodled" on them for us to give to YOU! Every one is totally different from the other. They are fun, interesting and give you a little something extra special from some exciting authors. This is the first giveaway of MANY "doodled" bookmarks, so if you don't win this one, keep checking back throughout the month because we have a TON to giveaway!

In this giveaway I'll be hosting today, there will be 3 winners.

1st Place winner will receive 12 doodled bookmarks from 12 different authors!

2nd Place winner will receive 7 doodled bookmarks from 7 different authors!

3rd Place winner will receive 6 doodled bookmarks from 6 different authors!

Trust me guys, these are some amazing one-of-a-kind bookmarks! I be you're wondering who these authors might be? Well, that would be telling, wouldn't it? No, I think I'll keep it as a surprise. Just know that the authors will be featured though out the month for Haunted Halloween.

Here's the form and how to enter:

You MUST be at least 13 years old to enter.
To enter, please fill out the form provided below.
This giveaway is open INTERNATIONAL
Giveaway ends: November 14th, 2011

Don't forget to stop by and check out who Jessica is featuring today for Haunted Halloween!

REMINDER: *If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry.

Please ready full entry rules >>>HERE<<<

I can't say Thank You enough to each and every author who took time out of their busy schedules to doodle on some blank bookmarks for us... and our readers. You are all epic stars in our world - Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU!

 

I Am Not a Mystery Novel Heroine

Like most authors, I write about what I know.  My books are set in places I've actually lived, my characters similar to people I've actually known, and my heroines often bear a striking resemblance to myself.  But a couple of years ago I had an experience that blurred the lines between my fictional life and my real life in a way that had me shaking in my stilettos. 

At the time I was single and dating and was contacted by a guy through an online dating service.   He was a mixed marital arts fighter, which sounded kinda interesting, so I agreed to meet him for a check-you-out coffee.   Turns out, he was interesting.  And hot, too, which made for  great combo.   We did coffee again later that week, and again that weekend, and it seemed like we were really clicking.  So when he asked me out for dinner the following week, I was psyched.  I agreed to meet him at his house at seven that Friday.

Friday comes, and I get to his place exactly at seven and knock on the door.  Nothing.  I ring the bell.  I wait.  And wait.  Finally his roommate answers, lets me in, then promptly leaves.  So, left alone, I go down the hall to Fight Boy’s room.  The door is open, so I push my way in with a, “Hello?  Anyone home?”  The TV is on, but he’s not there.  I decide to sit down and wait, figuring he's just in the shower or something. 

A few minutes go by, and there's still no sign of him.  I’m feeling a little odd hanging out in his bedroom like this.  I mean, I don’t know him that well.  So I get up, kinda peek around the rest of the house.  He's not in the kitchen, living room, bathroom, or backyard.  ‘K, odd. 

I go back to his bedroom and wait a few more minutes.  He still doesn't show.  And it's getting late now.  So that’s when I really start checking out his stuff.  (Investigating, if you will.)  His keys are on the nightstand, so is his cell phone.  He wouldn't leave the house without those, right?  So he must be someone nearby or on foot.  I try texting him, just to make sure that’s his phone on the nightstand.  Yep, my text (“I’m here.  Where R U?”) shows up on the phone.  So his stuff is here, but where the heck is he?

And that’s when things went from odd into mystery novel territory.

I hear a noise.  It’s coming from the closet and sounds like a sort of something-shifting sound.  I look up.  And, I swear on my life, a body part falls out. 

A.  Body.  Part. 

It looks like someone's knee.  Or elbow.  Definitely covered in flesh, definitely not moving.  I freeze.  Has someone been in the closet watching me this whole time?  I get up and walk out of the room, totally casual like, pretending I didn't see anything.  I'm thinking either a) he's been sitting here watching me from his closet (creepy!), or b) he was doing something totally embarrassing when I walked in and has been hiding in his closet this whole time(double creepy!) or c) there's a dead body in there (so beyond creepy!) 

I wait in the kitchen, letting my pulse return to normal and giving anyone hiding in there a chance to get out and slink away seemingly unnoticed.  I contemplate leaving… but my purse is still in the bedroom.  I take a few deep breaths, then slowly go back in his room. 

Yup, the knee is still there.  Definitely human.  Sticking out of the closet.  Not moving at all.

This is the moment where one of my mystery novel heroines would have peeked in the closet, found out who the knee was attached to, why they were there, and if they were, in fact, dead or alive. 

Me?  I grab my purse and bolt.  Hit the front door, run to my car, lock the doors, peel out of there so fast my tires squeal, then drive straight home.

I know, I’m a total chicken.  It’s a hard thing to admit when I’ve spent my life writing about brave kick-butt chicks who laugh in the face of dead bodies.  Me?  I was lucky I didn’t pee my pants. 

Needless to say, that was the end of Fight Boy and me.  I did hear from him afterward (which was a good thing, because I was feeling just the teeniest bit guilty about leaving my date possibly dead in his own closet), but I never did find out where he was or whose body that was.  I’ll be honest, I didn’t ask too many questions.  There are some situations where it pays to be blissfully ignorant of the facts.  (Witness protection never looked like my cup of tea, ya’ know?)  All I know is he beats people up for a living, and someone’s body was in his closet.  Best case scenario: they were passed out. Worst case: my fingerprints are now all over a crime scene. 

So, as much as I hate to say it, I would never make it as a mystery novel heroine.  I’m going to have to settle for writing about my much braver, much more fictional counterparts.  Truth may be stranger than fiction, but fiction is so much safer.        

~Gemma

Deadly Cool is currently available from HarperTeen!

Synopsis: Hartley Grace Featherstone is having a very bad day. First she finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with the president of the Herbert Hoover High School Chastity Club. Then he's pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And if that weren't enough, now he's depending on Hartley to clear his name. Seriously? Not cool.

But as much as Hartley wouldn't mind seeing him squirm, she knows he's innocent, and she's the only one who can help him. Along with her best friend, Sam, and the school's resident Bad Boy, Chase, Hartley starts investigating on her own. But as the dead bodies begin to pile up, the mystery deepens, the suspects multiply, and Hartley begins to fear that she may be the killer's next victim.

Order Online: 

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository


Find Gemma Online:


Website | Facebook

Enter to win a SIGNED Copy of Deadly Cool!!!

Rules and now to enter:

You must be at least 13 years old to enter.
To enter, please fill out the form provided below.
Giveaway open INTERNATIONAL!!
Giveaway ends: November 14th, 2011

Don't forget to stop by and check out who Jessica is featuring today for Haunted Halloween!

REMINDER: *If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry.
Please ready full entry rules >>>HERE<<<

Gemma, Thank you SO much for sharing this.... truly scary story. I have no idea what I would have done, but I'm sure there would have been some sort of panicking. Maybe even a scream. Yeah, I would have freaked out, without a doubt. Also, thank you so much for donating the copy of Deadly Cool for this giveaway!

*I am not compensated at all for any of the links within this page.

Scarier Than Monsters

This one keeps me up at night. Ever since a friend told me about this I can’t start thinking about it without freaking out, and it’s one of those things I feel like people need to know about just to understand what could actually happen to them.

About a decade ago, a guy and his high-school sweetheart ended up going to different colleges, and after being away from each other for a few weeks he spontaneously decided to get in the car and drive out to see her. It was going to be a great surprise, but it meant driving all night up in the mountains to her little college town.

He ripped a few CD’s, grabbed a Red Bull or two, and went out on his all-night road trip. At about 3am, he was having trouble keeping himself awake. There was still a long ways to go, but he pushed himself to get there. He was out on some back roads in the middle of nowhere when he turned a corner and saw something up ahead in the road. He hit the brakes and stared at the pair of bodies his headlights illuminated.

There were some swerving tire tracks, obviously some kind of hit-and-run. Now two bodies were sprawled across the road ahead of him. Gasping for breath and gripping his steering wheel, he tried to figure out what to do. This was before everybody had cell phones, and he hadn’t seen another car or a town in hours.

The temptation came over him to get out and check on them. He could drive them somewhere and get some help. But he decided he just wasn’t in a position to do anything. He couldn’t deal with this right now, and maybe he’d flag down the next truck he saw or something. Driving around the bodies was tricky, almost forcing him into some bushes by the side of the road. He took a good long look at the bodies as he passed by and then hit the brakes a dozen yards or so past. It would be wrong to just leave them there.

He scratched his chin as he prepared to get out when he glanced in the rearview mirror to find that the bodies in the road were sitting up.

The guy’s eyes widened when people started coming out of the bushes on both sides of the road. There must’ve been twenty or thirty of them, joining the two people who’d been lying dead until just moments ago. The driver didn’t waste a second. He slammed on the gas pedal and got the hell out of there as fast as his little Honda Civic could take him.

I don’t want to think about what those people would’ve done to that guy if he’d gotten out of the car. It’s hard not to wonder why they were all there, and how everybody must’ve been OK with snatching drivers off the road. To me, it gets at something even scarier than monsters: people in large groups.

Sort of like Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” there’s something about groups of normally rational people engaging willfully in violent acts that gets under my skin. How can someone turn a blind eye and just go along with others like that? How does everybody nod and say yes when somebody says something like, “You know what this PTA meeting needs…some human blood!”

Anyway, I don’t want to tell you not to do something to help when you can, because there are times when we do depend on the kindness of strangers. But what I will tell you is to keep your eyes and your wits around you. And be careful. Because you never know what’s hiding behind the bushes.

Suspense, the first book in the Spencer Nye Trilogy is currently available!

Synopsis: Spencer Nye can’t control the rage bubbling under her skin over the world around her. The trouble is, by the year 2102, the world has solved most of its great problems. Without hunger, war, greed, or even money, people obsess over the glamour of the Culture Industry and its mega-celebrity Idols, who vie for followers over the social networks of Connect.

But Spencer discovers there is plenty to fix within the Idols’ competition for more popularity. She becomes a diehard and promises to do anything to help her Idol, a dreamy movie star named Cleary Mintz, bring his vision of hope and purpose to the world. When she stumbles onto a threat against his life, she’ll have to fight harder than she ever thought possible or lose the man who means more to her than any other.

Order Online:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository


Find Jason Online:


Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Don't forget to stop by and check out who Jessica is featuring today for Haunted Halloween!

REMINDER: *If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry.
Please ready full entry rules >>>HERE<<<

Jason, thanks so much for sharing this more than creepy story. I think I'll have nightmares. Seriously, one of the scariest things I've heard.

*I am not compensated at all for any of the links within this page.

This year we added a few new giveaway options for readers. We didn't want to just give away books. We wanted to include many book themed items as well. A few amazing etsy stores were kind enough to donate some of their items. These giveaways will pop up throughout Haunted Halloween. Each item is unique and created by some extremely talented people!

Please read contest rules before signing up. These giveaways, like all Haunted Halloween giveaways, have different shipping requirements. 
 

Black Dagger Brotherhood Book Thong 
(Winner's Choice)

Description

These bookthongs are the perfect accessories to decorate your favorite novels! Colorful durable twisted cotton/poly cords are hand beaded at both ends with an assortment of brilliant Swarovski® crystals, Czech fire polished glass beads and/or natural semi-precious stones, some displaying a charm inspired by famous characters or novels. 

Prize: 

• 1 winner will receive a Black Dagger Brotherhood Book Thong (winner's choice!) Choose from any in the shop!

Rules:

• You must be at least 13 to enter. 
• Name and email must be provided and counts as 1 entry.
• Extra entries are possible and links must be provided.
• Contest is International and ends November 11th.
• Once contacted, the winner will have 48 hours to respond.
• The form must be filled out to enter. 
• NOTE- This is the same form you will find at Confessions of a Bookaholic. Please only fill it out once! 

  I've been a fan of the Stupid Shiny Designs shop for a while. All of the bookmarks are so beautiful! If you'd like a book thong featuring one of your favorite reads, you gotta check out her store.

You can find her store here http://www.etsy.com/shop/StupidShinyDesigns

*Reminder: If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry!

Please read full entry rules >>>HERE<<<.

Do You Believe in Ghosts?

I do.  Well, I sort of believe.  And after I tell you my story, you might sort of believe in them, too.  I used to work as a photojournalist.  One of my jobs was to write articles about museums. 

Now, I’m not much on war museums.  But I’d received five writing assignments about one World War II war museum.  So off I went with a press group, camera in hand, for a three-hour drive to the museum.  I know this is going to sound weird, but when I stepped into the museum, I had the strangest mood-altering sense of sadness overcome me.  

Everything in the museum tugged at my heart.  The thought that ran through my mind was, “War is so ugly.” 

Then I saw a blood-stained kimono on display.  A placard placed next to it stated that an American soldier had removed it from a dead Japanese woman, who’d been a victim of the war.  Tears filled my eyes.  How sad for the woman.  This war really was ugly.
 
Planning on writing this piece with lots of emotion, I snapped a picture.  Oddly enough, though, my new hand-held flash didn’t work. 

Frustrated, I tinkered with it, but it still wouldn’t work.

Unhappy, I walked away from the exhibit.  But as I did, I heard a soft but annoying noise.  “EEEEE . . . .”

I stopped and listened; it sounded close.  Too close.  I pulled my camera to my ear.  Nothing.  I pulled my flash to my ear, and realized the noise came from it.

I made sure the flash was turned off.  It was.  But the noise continued. I opened the battery compartment and was shocked to find several of my batteries had burst.  This had never happened to me before.  The batteries were the expensive ones, and I’d made sure to put in fresh ones before I’d left home.

Okay . . . this was strange, right?  But I figured it was  just faulty batteries.  Out of time, I left without taking any pictures.  I could write the articles but before I submitted them, I’d need photos. 
My hubby  loves war museums and was happy to go with me.  The next month, several photo jobs later, we headed off to the museum.  

 From the moment I stepped inside, I got the same heavy feeling in my chest that I’d experienced before. I only wanted to get my images and leave.  So I snapped a few shots, and then went to the kimono, to capture what I foresaw as my leading picture.  The feeling brought goose bumps on my arms.  I pulled the camera to my eye, pushed the button, and . . . nothing.

I turned the flash on and off.  Nothing.  My husband, immersed in reading the displays, stepped into this small room of the museum and stood next to me.

I turned to him.  “I can’t believe it.  My flash won’t work!”

“Probably need new batteries,” he muttered, keeping his eyes focused on the exhibits.

“They’re brand new,” I insisted, still standing by the kimono.  I didn’t make the connection; it just didn’t occur to me that this could be anything to do with ghosts.

“So they’re bad.”  He took my flash and removed the batteries and slipped them into his jeans’ pocket.  “Let me finish looking and I’ll go get you new batteries from the car.” 

We took a few steps away from the kimono and that’s when I heard it.  “Eeeeeeee . . .”

“What’s that?” Hubby asked.

The truth hit me then and chills ran up my spine.  This was exactly what had happened before when I’d tried to take the picture of kimono--the batteries had burst in the flash.

I pulled the flash to my ear.  Nothing. Then I remembered hubby had put them in his pocket.

I looked at the front of my husband’s jeans, which were growing darker as the noise grew louder.  “I think you’d better go empty your pockets.  Because you’re getting battery acid all over you.”

He looked down and shot off to the bathroom. Four of the six batteries had burst inside his jeans pocket.

I looked at the kimono and felt it again—the ugliness of war. “Okay,” I whispered, “I won’t include pictures of your dress.”

And I didn’t.

I wrote the articles and kept my word; no pictures of the kimono appeared in the magazines. And oddly enough, I never had problems with my flash again.
 
So that’s the reason I sort of believe in ghosts. Do you believe? Sort of believe? Share your stories.  I’d love to hear them.

-CC

Born at Midnight, the first book in the Shadow Falls Series is currently available from St. Martin's Griffin!

Synopsis: Don’t miss this spectacular new series that will steal your heart and haunt your dreams,  Welcome to Shadow Falls camp, nestled deep in the woods of a town called Fallen…

One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever.  Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens, and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren’t just “troubled.”  Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapshifters, witches and fairies train side by side—learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world.

Kylie’s never felt normal, but surely she doesn’t belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either.  Or does she?  They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason.  As if life wasn’t complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas.  Derek’s a half-fae who’s determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin’ hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past.  Both Derek and Lucas couldn’t be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart.


Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear—Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs…

Order the Shadow Falls Series Online:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository

Find CC Online:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Enter to win a copy of BORN AT MIDNIGHT & AWAKE AT DAWN!

One lucky winner will receive a copy of these books, the first two in the Shadow Falls Series!

Rules and now to enter:

You must be at least 13 years old to enter.
To enter, please fill out the form provided below.
Giveaway open US Only, sorry!!
Giveaway ends: November 12th, 2011

Don't forget to stop by and check out who Jessica is featuring today for Haunted Halloween!

REMINDER: *If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry.
Please ready full entry rules >>>HERE<<<

CC, thanks so much for sharing your chilling experience with us. I have to wonder if this happened to anyone else who tried to take a picture of the Kimono? Also a Thank You goes out to CC and to St. Martins Griffin for donating the copies of both books to giveaway.

*I am not compensated at all for any of the links within this page.

I placed the last candle in Tristan’s birthday cake and turned to face Owen.

“So are you going to tell me where he is or not?” I demanded.

Owen shook his head. “You know he wants nothing to do with this day.”

“Yeah, yeah. He doesn’t like to be reminded of how old he is, which reminds him of his previous life. But I’m glad he’s here in my life now so—” I shut my mouth at the peculiar look Owen was giving me. “What?”

“That’s, uh, not the real reason he doesn’t like this day.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s not just his birthday. It’s Halloween, too.”

I rolled my eyes. “I think I’ve brought him around to liking it.”

“I doubt it. Have you ever even spent his birthday with him?”

“Well…I didn’t know it was his birthday at the time. When we first started dating. But we did Halloween stuff together and he had fun.”

“But were you with him at midnight?”

I tried to think back. “It was a long time ago. I don’t remember the exact time he brought me home.”

“It had to have been early. Because at midnight…” Owen’s voice trailed off. His sapphire blue eyes lit up and his mouth twitched with excitement.

The anticipation was killing me. “What?”

 “Well…it’s not just Tristan’s birthday and it’s not just Halloween. This also happens to be the day—” He paused for effect. “—Jordan died.”

“Jordan? As in—”

“As in the Daemoni, the first of Tristan’s kind. And since Halloween’s when the veil between our world and the Otherworld is thinnest—”

“Wait. Do the Amadis believe in that?”

Owen shrugged. “I just know it seems to be true because that’s when…well…” He cleared his throat, again building up the suspense. “That’s when Jordan’s spirit takes possession of Tristan’s body so he can roam the earth again and search for his sister, if just for a few hours.”

I burst out laughing. “Ha! Nice spooky story, Owen. Now tell me where he is.”

“Alexis, I’m serious. And since you look so much like Cassandra, Jordan’s prey, you should probably stay far, far away from Tristan tonight.”

“Now that’s absurd. Fine. Be that way. I’ll find him myself.”

“Alexis, please—”

I didn’t hear his plea but I thought I heard a sigh of frustration just before I flashed. I came to the place where we’d all been just earlier this morning—an ancient stone house in the Greek countryside.  Tristan and Owen wanted to check it out, so I’d left them here to go back and make Tristan’s cake.  He hadn’t come home, so I thought he might still be here.

Darkness filled the dilapidated house, making it even spookier than earlier. Although in remarkable condition considering its age, the house was falling down. A breeze blew through holes where stones had crumbled away and through windows with no glass, ruffling my hair. I tried not to think of the cobwebs in the corners or of the spiders and other creatures that made this place home. Soft light briefly filled the room and I looked up through a hole in the roof to see the moon disappearing behind a thick cloud. The house went dark again.

Then lightning flashed and showed the silhouette of a large figure standing by the window. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Tristan!” I hurried toward him.

But a strong gust of wind blew up around me and whipped my hair at my face. A raspy voice hissed, filling the air around me with “Caaaa-sssssannn-ddddrrrraaaa…”

I froze. The hairs all over my body stood on end and my heart raced. What the hell was going on? And then I remembered a stray bit of today’s conversation between Owen and Tristan—something about this being Jordan’s house. Son of a witch! How I had I missed that earlier?  The story of Jordan and Cassandra and the different paths they chose ran through my mind. We were right on Jordan and his witch’s old stomping grounds!

Was Owen serious? Was this the real reason Tristan had come here today? My whole body began to tremble.

“T-t-tristan?” I said again, my voice small and shaky now. I could barely make out the figure at the window but I sensed the movement as it turned. Lightning flashed again, illuminating his face. And although it looked very much like Tristan, the deep blue eyes and white-blond hair definitely weren’t his.

I opened my mouth to scream. The figure suddenly stood next to me, silencing me.

Lightning flashed. Tristan’s face right before me. Then Jordan’s. Hazel eyes. Blue. Beautiful face. Twisted with malice.

He wrapped his hands around my shoulders. I swung my arms and bucked my body. He tightened his grip on me, holding me still.

“Hello, little sister,” he whispered in my ear. Definitely not Tristan’s lovely voice. This one was sinister, full of horror and threats. “Nice of you to come play. I’ve been waiting for this for a long, long time.”

I closed my eyes and screamed.

No sound came out, though. My lids popped open and bright daylight blinded me. I gasped as I found myself on the couch at home. Owen and Tristan, standing in the kitchen holding plates full of birthday cake, turned to look at me.

“You slept through Halloween,” Tristan said. He held up his plate. “But thanks for the cake.”

“Bad dream?” Owen asked.

I nodded, still unable to speak. A sharp pain shot from the base of my neck to the front of my skull. I winced. They exchanged a glance and I remembered when I’d felt a similar pain—as though someone had jabbed around inside my brain while I slept. Another time I supposedly had a bad dream only to learn differently later.

“Um,” my voice came out roughly. I cleared my throat. “What happened last night?”

Tristan raised an eyebrow and studied me with hazel eyes. “We took Dorian trick-or-treating, came home and you passed out on the couch. You don’t remember?”

Dorian bounded into the room then. “You shouldn’t have eaten so much of my candy, Mom. It made you sick and probably gave you nightmares.”

I blinked, trying to clear the cobwebs from my mind. Of course. What else could it be? Tristan doesn’t really become possessed on Halloween. I peered at Tristan and he gave me my favorite grin. But something flashed in his eyes and not the usual gold sparkles. Was that a hint of blue or just my imagination?

 Happy Release Day Genesis!! And Happy early Birthday Tristan!

Genesis (Soul Savers 0.5) is a Prequale to the Soul Saver Series

Synopsis: A father who reveals his truth.
Twins who take different paths—one light, one dark.
Angels who have plans for them both
And Demons who do as well.
So the Earthly battle for souls ignites…

A tale that is over 2,000 years old, this is the story of the Amadis beginnings.

Order the Soul Savers Series Online:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository

Find Kristie Cook Online:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Also, DON'T forget to COMMENT! COMMENTS for this post will ALSO enter you into the GRAND PRIZE Giveaway that Kristie is hosting on top of all she's asking us to giveaway on our blogs. Want to know what you have a chance to win? Click >>>HERE<<< to check out all the rules and details!

Enter to win an eBook Copy of Genesis!!!

Rules and now to enter:

You must be at least 18 years old to enter.
To enter, please fill out the form provided below.
Giveaway open INTERNATIONAL!!!
Giveaway ends: November 11th, 2011

Don't forget to stop by and check out who Jessica is featuring today for Haunted Halloween!

REMINDER: *If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry.
Please ready full entry rules >>>HERE<<<

Kristie, you have out done yourself with this post! Thanks to Alexis, Tristan and Owen for sharing this spooky Halloween story with everyone. I know I can't wait to read their next book! And to those of you out there who haven't found or read the Soul Savers Series yet, you have NO idea what you're missing! So go out and start reading today! Also, a HUGE thank you Kristie for donating the eBook for this giveaway.

*I am not compensated at all for any of the links within this page.

This year we added a few new giveaway options for readers. We didn't want to just give away books. We wanted to include many book themed items as well. A few amazing etsy stores were kind enough to donate some of their items. These giveaways will pop up throughout Haunted Halloween. Each item is unique and created by some extremely talented people!

Please read contest rules before signing up. These giveaways, like all Haunted Halloween giveaways, have different shipping requirements. 
 

Hunger Games Book Pin Charm Set

Description

My contribution to your contest is a Hunger games Book Pin charm set.This pin features all the Hunger Games Book covers suspended from a three ring pin. Each charm is attached by Swarovski Crystals that are color coded to the book they are attached to. 

Prize: 

• 1 winner will receive The Hunger Games book pin charm set (pictured above).

Rules:

• You must be at least 13 to enter. 
• Name and email must be provided and counts as 1 entry.
• Extra entries are possible and links must be provided.
• Contest is US only and ends November 10th.
• Once contacted, the winner will have 48 hours to respond.
• The form must be filled out to enter. 
• NOTE- This is the same form you will find at Confessions of a Bookaholic. Please only fill it out once! 

Thanks Shawnine for donating such a beautiful item!

My name is Shawnine  and I've been making jewelry for about eight years. I have always had a passion for reading and would always look for jewelry to show my love for books. Unfortunately I didn't find anything that I liked so I decided to make my own. I thought Hey if I didn't find anything that I liked maybe there are fellow readers out there that are having the same problem. This is how The Green Forrest came to be. :)

You can find her store at http://www.etsy.com/shop/twilighter619 or http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/Thegreenforrest

*Reminder: If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry!

Please read full entry rules >>>HERE<<<.

Excerpt from Torn:

A funeral without a body is like a wedding without a bride. Or a groom.

Except this isn’t officially a funeral – it’s a memorial service. Instead of a coffin, there’s an easel with a huge photo. She looks pretty. Hopeful, even.

The church is jam-packed. People standing at the back, craning their necks to get a good look at the family. There were even photographers outside when we arrived. It’s a zoo. A snivelling, wailing zoo. Not that I can talk – I’ve been snivelling too. Dad pressed a hanky into my hand as soon as we got here. Now it’s sodden and snotty, so I’m guessing he won’t want it back.

No one’s wearing black. Black is officially banned. Apparently she used to joke about her funeral, saying she hoped everyone would wear crazy neons and wave glow-sticks around. Well, no neons as such, but I did manage to pour myself into my purple skinny jeans (what was I thinking?).

Sometimes I used to imagine my own funeral. It was nothing like this. And it certainly didn’t involve the school choir singing ‘Keep Holding On’ by Avril bloody Lavigne. Polly Sutcliffe is centre stage. New haircut. Highlights too. She manages to get through most of the first verse before dissolving into tears. Real, actual tears, just like the ones I’ve been crying for days and days.

Tears of shock.

Tears of sadness.

Tears of guilt.

School has been weird since it happened. It’s all anyone can talk about. The first day back, every teacher said a few words about her at the start of each lesson. Some were more convincing than others. Miss Daley hadn’t even known her – not really – but you could tell she was genuinely upset.

Daley arrived at the start of the school year, fresh and new and vulnerable, a tiny bird-lady with I’m a newly qualified teacher, please take advantage of me tattooed on her forehead. So we did what we always do – try to find a weakness, see how far we can push her, wondering if she’ll cry if we take things a little too far. But she held up pretty well .She took everything we could throw at her – even Tara’s major attitude.

I keep looking over at Cass; I can’t help it. She’s picking cat hairs off her skirt, like she always does when she’s bored. Except Cass hardly ever wears skirts. Her mum must have talked her into it. Looks like she’s had a haircut too. It seems like everyone’s got spruced up for the occasion. I catch Cass’s eye and she half waves in my direction. I shake my head, just a tiny bit so no one else will notice. She shrugs and goes back to grooming her clothes. Jesus.

I shouldn’t be surprised that she’s not crying. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her cry. Not even when Boots Mark 3 got run over last summer. And Boots Mark 3 was her favourite of all the Bootses. Boots Mark 4 isn’t quite matching up, apparently. He’s certainly hairier than the last one. I try to steer clear, since I’m sort of allergic to cats. Not properly – just enough to make my face itch when I’m around them.

Cass prides herself on being strong. She thinks girls who cry all the time are pathetic. Crying at the end of a Disney film? Pathetic. Crying because the boy you fancy doesn’t even know you exist? Pathetic. The entire school crying on and off for the past couple of weeks? Pathetic pathetic pathetic.

Luckily she makes an exception for me. I’m allowed to cry whenever I want, and she’ll do anything she can to cheer me up. Which usually involves making me laugh. She can always make me laugh. It’s one of my favourite things about her. Although I hate it when she does it on purpose when I’ve got a mouthful of orange juice or something. That’s just cruel.

The singing is over, thank God. I check the order of service: a reading by the three witches. Of course it doesn’t actually say ‘witches’, but that’s what Cass calls them. They’re not that bad – individually, at least. Just normal girls: Gemma, Danni and Sam. But put them together and they transform into something bigger, something badder. And if you add their fearless leader into the mix, they mutate into a multi-headed monster of popularity. A monster that teachers love, for some inexplicable reason. A monster that boys love even more, for very obvious reasons. A monster that the rest of us bow down to – out of fear mostly, but also a kind of grudging respect. And jealousy.

But their fearless leader is no more.

Torn is available on December 22nd, 2011!

Synopsis: Four girls. One dead body. A whole lot of guilt.

Alice King isn’t expecting the holiday of a lifetime when she sets off with her classmates on a trip to the Scottish wilderness, but she’s not exactly prepared for an experience beyond her darkest nightmares…

Alice and her best friend Cass are stuck in a cabin with Polly, the social outcast, and Rae, the moody emo-girl. Then there’s Tara – queen of mean. Powerful, beautiful and cruel, she likes nothing better than putting people down.

Cass decides it’s time to teach Tara a lesson she’ll never forget. And so begins a series of events that will change the lives of these girls forever...

A compelling story of guilty secrets, troubled friendship and burgeoning love.


 


Preorder Torn Online:

The Book Depository | Amazon UK


Find Cat Online:


Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Enter to win an ARC of TORN!

Rules and now to enter:

You must be at least 13 years old to enter.
To enter, please fill out the form provided below.
Giveaway open INTERNATIONAL!!
Giveaway ends: November 10th, 2011

Don't forget to stop by and check out who Jessica is featuring today for Haunted Halloween!

REMINDER: *If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry.
Please ready full entry rules >>>HERE<<<

Cat, Thanks so much for allowing me to post an excerpt from Torn! Sounds like a great beginning to the new book, and I can't wait to read it! Also, thank you so much for having me host this giveaway for an ARC copy.

*I am not compensated at all for any of the links within this page.

Jessica and I are continuing to have another BLAST this year with Haunted Halloween! We couldn't have asked for more. And the amazing thing about it all... the months STILL not over! Still much more up our sleeves and right around the corner for everyone! We told you we'd have TONS of great giveaways happening throughout the month that were a little more than just book giveaways - that we had many bookish items planned to giveaway all month long and here's another one!

ONE lucky winner will receive a

BOOK LOVERS PRIZE PACK!

Book lovers prize pack includes -

A Mighty Bright Ultra Flex2 Booklight
Barnes and Noble reuseable bag
A Fish Clip-Over the page bookmark from Folio
A Dog bookmark
Some sticky memo/note tabs
And a cute note pad with Pen

Rules and how to enter:

You MUST be at least 13 years old to enter this giveaway.
To enter, please fill out the form provided.
This giveaway is open to US mailing address only, sorry!
Giveaway ends: November 9th, 2011

NOTE- This is the same form you will find at
Confessions of a Bookaholic.

Please only fill it out once! 

Don't forget to stop by and check out who Jessica is featuring today for Haunted Halloween!

REMINDER: *If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry.
Please ready full entry rules >>>HERE<<<

A HUGE Thank you goes out again to Mighty Bright for donating the book light. We can't say thank you enough!! Also, another HUGE thank you goes out to Folio, who donated the clip over the page Fish bookmark. 

*I am not compensated at all for any of the links within this page.

 
Alexander Gordon Smith's True Scary Story!

The most terrifying thing to ever happen to me almost stopped me being a horror writer, but ultimately made me love the genre even more. I was eleven, and had recently made the decision to write horror for a living. I didn't just want to be an ordinary horror writer, though, I wanted to be more like a paranormal detective. The idea was to go out and encounter genuine spooky things – hauntings, monsters and the like – and then write stories about those things. And they would be the scariest stories ever, because they would be based on real life! In short, I wanted to be the Ernest Hemingway of horror fiction.

Close to where I used to live as an eleven-year-old was an abandoned house. This place was huge, much bigger than most of the houses in the area. It was an old manor house, half-timbered and falling apart, surrounded by primeval, overgrown gardens. Nobody really knew why this place had been abandoned but we all told stories in the playground about a family that had been butchered there, or the human sacrifices made inside, or the ghost of a witch. All anybody knew for sure was that this place was haunted.

So I did what any eleven-year-old wannabe horror writer would do: I made the decision to spend a night inside this old house, find out for sure why it was haunted, then write the most terrifying story the world had ever seen.

I didn't want to face this nightmare alone, however, so I recruited my best friend at the time to come with me. His name was Bob*, and he had no interest in being a horror writer. He did, though, want some comics from my collection, so we made a trade – one night of his time for five of my best comics. We did a very silly thing for eleven-year-olds: I told my mum I was spending the night at Bob's, Bob told his mum he was staying at mine, and we met after dark outside the gates of the house, equipped with nothing more than a small flashlight and a bottle of Coke.

This place was seriously creepy. It looked like some of the old houses in the Hammer films I'd just started watching at my dad's. All of the windows had been boarded up, yet it still seemed to be looking at us as we scaled the fence and started hacking through the jungle of the front garden. It took us a good half hour to find a way inside. One of the boards had been pulled away from the window – probably by a squatter or a drug dealer, but we weren't even conscious of how dangerous this might be – and we squeezed inside.

There was nothing in the house but rot and rats. Our tiny flashlight barely illuminated five feet of corridor, and every now and again we'd see a flicker of movement and the scuffle of needled claws on the decaying wooden floors. I was scared, but I forced myself to think 'this is my job now, I am a horror writer and a paranormal detective,' so we set forth one trembling step at a time. And it was all going well until we heard the noise.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

It sounded like a clock, one of those big old grandfather clocks with the swinging pendulum. But how can there be a clock in here? I remember thinking. This place has been abandoned for years! I swallowed my fear and carried on, knowing I had a job to do. After a minute or two we found a huge room, probably a dining room or a ballroom – such a vast space that our pathetic flashlight didn't even reach the far wall. We decided to camp out here until dawn, but seconds after we had hunkered down we began to hear that noise again, only this time it had doubled:

Tick-tick. Tick-tick. Tick-tick.

That did it. I freaked. I suddenly thought this house has a pulse. This house is coming alive. THIS HOUSE IS GOING TO EAT US!!! And the sheer white heat of that terror was so overpowering that before I even knew what I was doing I was running, screaming, out of the room. I heard a horrid, choking, fear-filled shriek behind me and knew that the house had taken Bob, and that just made me run even faster, bouncing off the walls, tripping on the soft, wet wood. Now I know that Bob was only shrieking because I had left him in the dark (I had the flashlight), but back then I was yelling something along the lines of 'You can have Bob, you can have Bob, just let me go!' I ran, stumbling, banging on the boarded windows, unable to find a way out in the maze of rooms and passageways, knowing that my life was over, that this evil house was going to devour me and nobody would ever, ever know where I'd gone.

Eventually I found the window we'd climbed in through and I squirmed into the garden, bolting back towards the road. I have to confess that I was so panicked I was throwing up as I was running, spewing half digested macaroni cheese all over myself until I had scaled the fence and stood by the edge of the road – streetlights, cars, people – feeling more relived than ever before. After a moment or two Bob came screaming through the garden, and for the next few minutes we both stood there panting, sobbing, covered in tears and snot. One glance at Bob let me know that he hadn't been sick over himself, and I was so disappointed. Not only had I failed in my new job, but I wasn't even as brave as my best friend. And I honestly believed that for about five minutes until I realized that Bob had been so scared that he had peed himself.

Despite the small amount of satisfaction I got from being slightly braver than Bob, that experience let me know that I wasn't brave enough to be a paranormal detective. And for a while I thought that meant I wasn't cut out to be a horror writer either. But I started to write stories anyway, drawing on the feeling of terror I had experienced inside that house, and loved it so much that I've been writing them ever since! I still try to capture that genuine emotion when I'm writing scary scenes. As for the house, I never found out what that ticking noise was, and a couple of years later the building was pulled down and rebuilt. It's a pub now, and in the corner of the bar is a grandfather clock with a swinging pendulum going tick, tick, tick, tick...

* Name has been changed so he doesn't get too embarrassed!

The first three books in the Escape From Furnace Series are currently available from Farrar, Straus and Giroux!

Synopsis for Lockdown: Furnace Penitentiary: the world’s most secure prison for young offenders, buried a mile beneath the earth’s surface. Convicted of a murder he didn’t commit, sentenced to life without parole, “new fish” Alex Sawyer knows he has two choices: find a way out, or resign himself to a death behind bars, in the darkness at the bottom of the world. Except in Furnace, death is the least of his worries. Soon Alex discovers that the prison is a place of pure evil, where inhuman creatures in gas masks stalk the corridors at night, where giants in black suits drag screaming inmates into the shadows, where deformed beasts can be heard howling from the blood-drenched tunnels below. And behind everything is the mysterious, all-powerful warden, a man as cruel and dangerous as the devil himself, whose unthinkable acts have consequences that stretch far beyond the walls of the prison.

Together with a bunch of inmates—some innocent kids who have been framed, others cold-blooded killers—Alex plans an escape. But as he starts to uncover the truth about Furnace’s deeper, darker purpose, Alex’s actions grow ever more dangerous, and he must risk everything to expose this nightmare that’s hidden from the eyes of the world.

Order the first 3 books in the Furnace Series Online:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository

Find Alexander Online:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Series Website

 Enter to WIN the FIRST THREE Books in

The Furnace Series! 

One winner will receive the first three books!!

Rules and now to enter:

You must be at least 13 years old to enter.
To enter, please fill out the form provided below.
Giveaway open US Only, Sorry!!
Giveaway ends: November 9th, 2011

Don't forget to stop by and check out who Jessica is featuring today for Haunted Halloween!

REMINDER: *If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry.
Please ready full entry rules >>>HERE<<<

Gordon, Thanks so much for sharing your true scary story! You were/are much braver than I am. There's just no way I'd go into that house! And a huge thank you goes out to Macmillan for providing the books in this giveaway.

*I am not compensated at all for any of the links within this page.