Haunted Halloween 2011: Guest Post - Jo Treggiari + A Giveaway!

Our NY farmhouse predated the 1776 War of Independence by a few years. As someone born in England but raised in the States, this always thrilled me. Crazy King George was still dithering on his throne, and the American rebels were laying their plans and dreaming of their ideal republic when my house was already 10 or 20 years old. People had farmed,  lived and died there, including the eccentric artist we'd bought the house from.

I loved it though the floors slanted and the ceilings were low. Broad beams held up chipping plaster, and heavy split farm doors which had once led outside, now entered into a sun room and a guest bedroom. And outside on a tangled 3 acres of grass, weed and wild flowers, two 200-year old apple trees, gnarled and bent, raised claw-like branches to the sky. On alternate years they still produced apples but they were small, sour and wizened and only the deer and black bears ate them.

We slept upstairs, my toddler son tucked into a bed under the eaves, and my husband and I in a room which spanned the rest of the house but necessitated bending almost double along the edges. It took a few months to get used to the claustrophobic ceiling height but then afterwards it just felt cozy, as if the house was wrapping its arms around us.

Downstairs was the guest room. We had few guests and it was frequently empty, though the cat liked to lie in a pool of sunlight in the doorway. I don't know when I first noticed that she would never go into the room. It was as if an invisible forcefield kept her paws and tail on the dining room side. She never looked altogether comfortable, and normally she was a sprawling, rolling, tail-lashing cat. When the sun had moved on, leaving her on a cool spot, she'd rise and stretch and giving a disgruntled meow would go look for some other warm place. Never once did she turn her nose into that room or jump on the bed.

As soon as you crossed the thresh-hold, you felt it along the hairs on your arms and tapping fingers down your spine. It was always cold in that room. It had the same insulated plaster walls, the same wooden floors, the same caulked windows as the rest of the house. It faced south but it never warmed up. And although we had fine cobwebs all over the house which I could never bring myself to knock down with the broom, all occupied by fat yellow and black banded orb weaver spiders, the webs in that room were dingy and shredded and empty. They flapped in the corners as if a breeze was getting through non-existent cracks. It was as if the cat and the spiders knew nothing could live there, with the deep, biting cold which you could feel through the boards, through the rug, through the soles of your slippers.

Eventually I just closed that door and put a bookshelf in front of it, and the cat found a window-sill in the sun-room which suited her fine.

Ashes, Ashes is available now from Scholastic!

Synopsis: A thrilling tale of adventure, romance, and one girl's unyielding courage through the darkest of nightmares. Epidemics, floods, droughts--for sixteen-year-old Lucy, the end of the world came and went, taking 99% of the population with it. As the weather continues to rage out of control, and Sweepers clean the streets of plague victims, Lucy survives alone in the wilds of Central Park. But when she's rescued from a pack of hunting dogs by a mysterious boy named Aidan, she reluctantly realizes she can't continue on her own. She joins his band of survivors, yet, a new danger awaits her: the Sweepers are looking for her. There's something special about Lucy, and they will stop at nothing to have her.

Order online:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository

Find Jo Online:

Website | Twitter | Facebook

Enter to win a SIGNED Hardback of Ashes, Ashes OR a SIGNED Audio copy of Ashes, Ashes! 
There will be TWO winners in this giveaway! 

*NOTE: First place winner will get their choice of the Hardback or Audio book. 
Second place winner will receive which ever of the two is remaining. 

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 to US/Canadian mailing address only.

Giveaway ends: October 28th, 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<<< 

Jo, thanks so much for being part of this years Haunted Halloween. Loved the story, talk about a creepy room! I think I would have done the same thing. Also, we can't say thank you enough for the donations for this giveaway. Thank you so much!

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