Haunted Halloween 2011: Guest Post - Janice Hardy + A Giveaway!

A Hardy Halloween

Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday. Which means I’m disappointed that nothing paranormal or spooky has ever happened to me. No weird banging in any closets, no cold spots, no apparitions at the foot of my bed. The only thing that comes close is once during high school, the local radio station switched from the rock music it was playing to 30 seconds of this weird screaming and chopping sound like some woman was being hacked to pieces. Totally freaked me out, but it was gone fast and nothing was ever said about it (and I looked). I still have no idea what that was all about, but it was creepy.

 This ghostly shunning has not dampened my love of the holiday though. Every year as October 1^st rolls around, I head into the garage for the decorations. House knick-knacks are replaced by Halloween ones, with jack-o-lanterns and black cats and witches on shelves and cabinets. I even have a Halloween village (like a Christmas village, but spooky), complete with a haunted pirate ship. They all light up and play music and everything.

For outside the house, the graveyard goes up on the lawn, surrounded by skull fencing. Purple, orange, and green witchy lights dangle from the roof. Spider web balls and my cocooned corpse hang on the porch. I lug out several dozen jack-o-lanterns and arrange them in a patch along the garage. Seriously, I go all out. Half my garage is devoted to Halloween decorations.

The house isn’t the only thing that gets decorated, though. I have a vast selection of Halloween shirts and, of course, socks to wear all month. I even have the most awesome skull and crossbones shoes you’ll ever see.

When the 31^st rolls around, I’m definitely the house you want to Trick-or-Treat at. Not only do I hand out candy by the handfuls, I also have toys, stickers, tattoos, glowing jewelry and other fun things in the cauldron of goodies. In fact, the trick-or-treaters often bypass the sweets for the toys, picking out what they want. I guess they get enough candy from everyone else.

Dressing up is part of the fun, and I have a box full of costumes. My favorite has got to be my zombie, even though it takes a long time to do the makeup. (And needs two people to get the rotting flesh to look just right)

Speaking of zombies, the very best part of my Halloween is Cadaver Dan, my yard zombie. But what’s fun about him is that he’s not just there for Halloween. Cadaver Dan is in my front flowerbed all year long. He likes to dress up for holidays, and even has his own Facebook page. He’s quite popular, though I think he has freaked out a few delivery folks. But the neighbor kids play with him, so how scary can he really be?

 He’s the perfect symbol for Halloween: a little scary, a little wacky, and a whole lot of fun.

DarkFall (Healing Wars Book #3) is Currently Available from HarperCollins!

Synopsis: War has come.

Nya’s the one who brought it. And the people love her for it.

With Baseer in shambles and Geveg now an impenetrable military stronghold, Nya and the Underground have fled to a safer location—without Tali. Nya is guilt-ridden over leaving her sister behind and vows to find her, but with the rebellion in full swing and refugees flooding the Three Territories, she fears she never will.

The Duke, desperate to reclaim the throne as his own, has rallied his powerful army. And they are on the move, destroying anyone who gets in the way.

To save her sister, her family, and her people, Nya needs to stay ahead of the Duke’s army and find a way to build one of her own. Past hurts must be healed, past wrongs must be righted, and Nya must decide: Is she merely a pawn in the rebellion, a symbol of hope—or is she ready to be a hero?

Order The Healing Wars Trilogy Online: 

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository

Janice Hardy always wondered about the darker side of healing. For her fantasy trilogy THE HEALING WARS, she tapped into her own dark side to create a world where healing was dangerous, and those with the best intentions often made the worst choices. Her books include THE SHIFTER, BLUE FIRE, and DARKFALL from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins.  You can visit her online at www.janicehardy.com or chat with her about writing on her blog, The Other Side of the Story. blog.janicehardy.com.
 

Enter to win YOUR Choice of ONE SIGNED BOOK from the Healing Wars Trilogy + Swag!

Rules and now to enter:

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Giveaway open INTERNATIONAL!!
Giveaway ends: November 7th, 2011

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Janice, thanks so much for sharing how you celebrate Halloween. I LOVED the pictures of Cadaver Dan! I've been dying to see them since that first email you mentioned him. Also, thanks so much for donating the book to giveaway.

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