A Book of Horrors:

A Book of Horrors Edited by: Stephen Jones
Fiction: Horror, sci-fi/fantasy, Paranormal 427 pages
Book Count: 56


This book is a collection of horror stories by a number of well known authors.  Besides those two things there is no particle theme to tie the stories together.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

ONE DAY until HALLOWEEN!

The Serpent of Venice:

The Serpent of Venice by: Christopher Moore
Fiction: Humor, Classics, Paranormal 326 pages
Book Count: 55

This book is the follow up to the book Fool. (Review here.)  This one being some what based on The Merchant of Venice, Othello and The Cask of Amontillado, which enough King Lear to tie them together. In this book Pocket (the fool)  is in Venice with his sidekick Drool and monkey, Jeff. There is a number of characters from the source stories such as: Othello, Portia, Iago, Shylock, Jessica, Salanio and Salarino.  As well as some that weren't like the Chorus (who people are constantly breaking the fourth wall with), Marco  Polo, a dragon, and a ghost because "there's always a bloody ghost." And like all books by this author crazy things happen, but as it is based on Shakespeare it also includes tons of death and of course both writers agree on the large amount of codpiece jokes in the book.

Ghosts of the Deep:

Ghosts of the Deep By Daniel Cohen
Non-fiction: Paranormal, Children's 103 pages
Book Count: 54

This book is a collection of ghost stories relating to shipping and the sea.  It includes the common story of Ocean Born Mary,  and many stories of sailors who see loved ones at the time that they died.

Nosferatu -

Fun Facts:

-The company that made this film couldn't get the rights to Dracula and that's why there are slight changes in the plot and names.

-All but one copy of this film was destroyed due to its copyright infringements.

-Dracula was never copyright protected in the USA.

-This film is the reason why vampires are killed by sun light: in old legends they sometimes didn't come out during the day, but daylight wasn't necessarily going to burn them up, and in the book Dracula is only weaker in the daytime.

Bites:

Bites: Scary Stories to Sink Your Teeth Into Edited By: Lois Metzger
Fiction: Short Story, Paranormal, YA 103 pages
Book Count: 53

This collection of short stories has a good mix of things that go bump in the night; ghosts, werewolves, vampires and Coyote.  Some are rather typical and some have some good twists.  Also one story does take place in Flint, so bonus.

John Dies at the End:

John Dies at the End by: David Wong
Fiction: Paranormal, Sci-fi/ Fantasy 375 pages
Book Count: 52

This book is by one of the people from the Cracked website.  On one hand it is nothing like what I would expect from someone that writes for the site.  Although, it is funny in spots, it is not mainly a humor book.  It is not a big list of thing where only half of them truly fit the title.  It is fiction.
But on the other hand this book is exactly what I would expect from a Cracked writer.  If a fever dream had a fever dream it's fever dream would almost be as odd as this book.  This book is like a dozen somewhat connected stories that all can't fit in the same time line, but some how do, strung together with penis jokes in between.  It is a story about mind altering drugs, inter-dimensional travel, alternate time lines, shadow people, love, ghosts, and many other things.  Also, John may or may not die at some point(s) in the book.

American Chillers #37: The Underground Undead of Utah:

American Chillers #37: The Underground Undead of Utah by: Johnathan Rand

Fiction: Children's, Paranormal, 174 pages

Book Count: 51

                     ZOMBIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         BRAINSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Happy Mole Day!!

American Chillers #12: Dangerous Dolls of Delaware:

American Chillers #12: Dangerous Dolls of Delaware Johnathan Rand

Fiction: Children's, Paranormal, 163 pages

Book Count: 50

Evil dolls come back to life, (because what other types of dolls do you think would be alive in a series like this?)

Also,

" Or, imagine being magically whisked away to... Delaware.

[pauses]

 Hi. I'm in... Delaware." - Wayne's World

Michigan Chillers #1: Mayhem on Mackinac Island:

Michigan Chillers #1: Mayhem on Mackinac Island by: Johnathan Rand

Fiction: Children's, Paranormal, 170 pages

Book Count: 49

I had forgotten how addictive these stories are: a quick, easy to read book, that you know the main formula used to make it, but still enjoyable, a guilty pleasure type of book.  They are like the potato crisps of books. . . you can't stop at one.  (Although, I'm sure when some one reads this they will remind me that this is the same things I complain about in the reading choices of certain family members, but unlike some people, I don't think that this is a classic or high literature.  I don't have a problem with reading about sparkly vampires or Amish women in love, I have a problem with thinking sparkly vampires is great literature. In short, I would like to admit that I like the modern children's version of penny dreadfuls and pulp fiction but I'm not going to be surprised that it isn't nominated for the Noble prize for literature. [And yes I know some great stories came out of penny dreadful and pulp fiction writers, but most are long forgotten now, often for good reasons.])

Now on to the plot.  A brother and sister summer each year on Mackinac Island, but one year they get sucked into the Island of Mayhem, which is Mackinac in some sort of parallel dimension.  Now they must find a stone key in Skull Mountain to get back home.

Michigan Chillers #15: Calumet Copper Creatures:

Michigan Chillers #15: Calumet Copper Creatures by: Johnathan Rand

Fiction: Children's, Paranormal, 177 pages

Book Count: 48

First, long time readers of this blog might remember that the town of Calumet already has a chilling history.
Second, in this book the author even writes himself into the story, as well as writing in a bit to connect it to another book that he wrote, to hook people into reading it too. (Which they have done in every book, as well as having a couple of chapters of that book in the back.)
Third, as the title gives away this book takes place in Calumet and deals with it's history as a copper mining town.

Michigan Chillers #11: Great Lakes Ghost Ship:

Michigan Chillers #11: Great Lakes Ghost Ship by: Johnathan Rand

Fiction: Children's, Paranormal, 180 pages

Book Count: 47

I am fairly sure that this book could have been a NYR book, except I have no idea where the books I bought for an author signing at the school went to. . . as it's not like they're being read by anyone.  

Anyway this book takes place in Cheboygan, but the kids in it are mostly from Grand Blanc (because what type of scary story would happen in Grand Blanc? The traffic ticket of doom?) This story is about a legendary ghost ship on the Great Lakes. (I didn't bother to look up the see if it might be a real legend or made up like the mummy one, as it's complexly believable in either case.)  Anyway the two kids from Grand Blanc and there friend that lives in Cheboygan go to see the US  Coast Guard Cutter, the Mackinaw.  When they are looking at it the uncle of the local kid who works on the ship invite them on for a tour.  When in the middle of the ship he gets called away and tell them to stay there until he gets back.  They wait until they see a zombie sailor coming to where they are and they know that the legend of the ghost ship must be true and they need to escape. 

Michigan Chillers #10: Mackinaw City Mummies:

Michigan Chillers #10: Mackinaw City Mummies By: Johnathan Rand
Fiction: Children's, Paranormal 169 pages
Book Count: 46

As you can tell from the title this book series is a collection of scary stories that take place around Michigan. In this book a boy finds an ankh when digging for nightcrawlers in Mackinaw City and he and his friend end up on an adventure dealing with ancient Egyptian mummies because Egypt and Mackinaw City are connected by a legendary cave.

Rotten School - Night of the Creepy Things:

Rotten School - Night of the Creepy Things By: R. L. Stine
Fiction: Children's, humor 106 pages
Book Count: 45

This book is book 14 in the series, but as it isn't written anywhere on the book I didn't put it in the title information.  This series seams to be written at a 2nd or 3rd grade reading level, and is the type of story where unusual things are seen as normal, but there isn't any blatant supernatural/paranormal activities in the book.  In this book a graduate of Rotten School who makes horror films starts a contest where the kid with the best homemade horror film will be an extra in his next film.   The main characters try to make many different films with funny results.

Goosebumps Most Wanted: Planet of the Lawn Gnomes Vol:1:

Goosebumps Most Wanted: Planet of the Lawn Gnomes Vol:1
Fiction: Children's, Paranormal, 125 pages
Book Count: 44

Jay has just moved to a new town after an incident in his old town.  His new neighbor is a cranky old man and the town is full of creepy lawn gnomes that always are being moved around when he isn't looking.  So it starts much like the original Goosebumps series.  And it also ends with an ending much like the one that you would expect. But the middle is more layered then I remember Goosebumps being.  The reading level is about the same level as before.

Update:

We  at WNBNI have noticed many new horror/scary stories series in the children's section of the library while certain unnamed peoples play on the computer or pick out books where normal kids write in journals or diaries.  So, having failed in convincing them to read said books, we are reading them our self (not that we wouldn't read them if they checked them out, just that then we would sneak them and not count them as books we read, like how bedtime stories aren't on the list.)

Zombie-Loan Vol. 1:

Zombie-Loan Vol. 1 By: Peach-Pit
 Non-Fiction: Manga, Paranormal,  191 pages
Book Count: 43

Two high school boys survived an accident where everyone died.  Now an orphan girl who can see  the black ring around the neck of people that are going to die finds out the secret of how they "lived" and gets sucked into their world of zombie loans.

Monster on the Hill:

Monster on the Hill By: Rob Harrell
Non-fiction: Manga/ Graphic novel, humor, Sci-fi
Book Count: 42

In this tale of Victorian England every town has their own monster on the hill.  The monster scares the town folk from time to time, helping with tourism and protects the town from Murk.  But the monster for Stoker-on-Avon just mopes around refusing to scare anyone.  So Dr. Charles Wilkie, a disgraced doctor and scientist who has damaged the town more then the monster with his inventions and experiments and Timothy the town's town crier and stereotypical plucky, orphan, street urchin work to help the monster be more monster like.

Famous Last Words #3

(Which might contain quotes from earlier Famous Last Words)

- Either that wallpaper goes, or I do. - Oscar Wilde

- I die hard but am not afraid to go. - George Washington

- I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have. - Leonardo da Vinci

- I feel here that this time they have succeeded. - Leon Trotsky

- I've had eighteen straight whiskies, I think that's the record . . . - Dylan Thomas

- I knew it. I knew it. Born in a hotel room - and God damn it - died in a hotel room. - Eugene O'Neill

- Too late for fruit, too soon for flowers. -  Walter De La Mare, writer

- A King should die standing. -  Louis XVIII

- I see black light. - Victor Hugo

- I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes

- Turn up the lights, I don't want to go home in the dark. -  O. Henry

- I'd hate to die twice. It's so boring. -  Richard Feynman, physicist

- I've never felt better.-  Douglas Fairbanks, Sr

- All my possessions for a moment of time. -  Elizabeth I

- No, I shall not give in. I shall go on. I shall work to the end.-  Edward VII

- The earth is suffocating . . . Swear to make them cut me open, so that I won't be buried alive. -  Frederic Chopin

- I am dying. I haven't drunk champagne for a long time. -  Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

- I am still alive! -  Gaius Caligula

- I am about to -- or I am going to -- die: either expression is correct. - Dominique Bouhours, French grammarian

- I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis. -  Humphrey Bogart

Ghost Under Foot:

Ghost Under Foot: The Spirit of Mary Bell A True Story of One Family's Haunting By: Kenneth W. Harmon

Non-fiction: Paranormal, 272 pages

Book Count: 41

I quickly picked up this book from the library with only a few minutes to run in and out, and so with a quick glance at the title, I was thinking that it was about the famous story of the Bell Witch, forgetting that the haunted family was named Bell and not the ghost.  But this is the story of a former police officer that becomes fixated on learning more about, and interacting with, the ghost of a young woman that died in the 1880's near his house.   He spends most every day since he finds that his house was haunted filming, taking pictures, trying to communicate with and researching the ghost.  I felt sorry for his family who all were to varying levels less enthused about having a ghost.  Also, according to this book once you die you can become a physic, time traveler, who sneaks into movie theaters.   At the end of the book were some questions that he asked the ghost after finding out that they have all these abilities.  The ghost of Mary Bell doesn’t believe in the existence of Bigfoot, Nessie, vampires, the Amityville Horror or evolution.   But she does believe in aliens, Atlantis, Spontaneous Human Combustion, and God.   Also even people that died a century ago think O.J. did it. 

Scooby-Doo and the Night of the Undead!:

Scooby-Doo and the Night of the Undead! By: Paul Kupperberg
Non-fiction: Manga/Graphic Novel, Mystery, Children's 23 pages

After read yesterday's book and this one, I checked the info in both books to see if they were even made by the same company or if there was a vast difference in the ages of the books.  While yesterday's book used old story lines and art styles and removed all mystery from a mystery series, this one had a plot line much like an episode of the show, a modern look and added a page of info on a mythic creature after each story.  It turns out they were both made by the same company and only a year apart.
This one has a story about zombies and swamp monsters.  The zombie story uses the virus reason for zombies and the swamp monster one references hurricane Katrina.

Scooby-Doo and Those Meddling Kids:

Scooby-Doo and Those Meddling Kids By: John Rozum
Non-fiction: Manga/Graphic novel, Mystery, Children's 23 pages

This book has two Scooby-Doo story lines in it.  One that seams to be taken directly from the old 1970's era show.  However, for some reason it is told in such a way that you know who the bad guy is right from the start.

Vader's Little Princess:

Vader's Little Princess By: Jeffrey Brown
Non-fiction: Manga/Graphic Novel, Humor, Pop Culture 64 pages
Book Count: 40

This is the sequel to Darth Vader and Son and is mostly about Darth with Lei.  Instead of just dealing with their relationship as a father and small child, this book starts with her being little as goes up into her teen-aged years.  It includes her dating Han and being a "rebel" teen.

Inherited Magic:

Inherited Magic By: Jennifer Mccullah
Fiction: YA, Paranormal, E-book

From the info at the end of this book it looks like this is book one in a series.  It is a story of a girl that on her 16th birthday starts getting weird visions of the future and things that are happening right then, but at other locations.  She of course hides this information from her grandmother, who she lives with as her mother is dead and her father is not in her life.  But like many YA books there is a ton of foreshadowing so you know that her grandmother already knows more about what is happening to her then she does.

Seven Ways to Die:

Seven Ways to Die By: William Diehl and Kenneth Atchity
Fiction: Mystery, Paranormal, E-book

This book has two interesting premises: one a person that can communicate with animals working as a detective in New York City, and two serial killer(s) who are killing people in a different way each time as well as making each murder look like the victim died from something besides the real cause of death.  In the actual book it came off as if one of the CSI shows was on HBO, lots of detailed info on forensics and then  unnecessary sex talk/scenes that besides reinforcing how big of a perv some characters are, do nothing for the plot.

The Basement:

The Basement By: Chad P. Brown

Fiction: Paranormal, Short Story, E-book

This story is your basic short horror story, girl goes into a haunted house where a murder took place on a dare, scary things happen.  

Saint Francis of Assisi: A Life Inspired:

Saint Francis of Assisi: A Life Inspired By: Wyatt North
Non-fiction: Biography, Religion, E-book

This is a short biography of St. Francis of Assisi with some info on St. Clair as well as how he influenced Pope Francis and others.  The parts that are a biography of Sts. Francis and Clair are okay, but very limited.  When not recounting the lives of St Francis and his companions the author's voice is overwhelming and preachy. For example, he spends almost more time telling us what he will talk about later then actually talking about a subject.

Halloween Is For Lovers:

Halloween Is For Lovers By: Nate Gubin
Fiction: Paranormal, Humor, Holiday, E-book

In a twist on the classic dead bride story, this is the story of a man that died on his wedding day.  He got cold feet and was going to run away to the west coast when he decided to turn his car back around and get married.  As he was hurrying back to the wedding he crashed his car and dies.  Now he is in the land of the dead in a pointless, boring job when he finds out that on Halloween night, as the veil between the living and the dead is weak, he might be able to go back to tell his ex-fiance that he loves her and he was coming back to her when he died.  

Diary of a Fairy Godmother:

Diary of a Fairy Godmother By: Esme Raji Codell
Fiction: Children's, Sci-fi/Fantasy, NYR 170 pages
Book Count: 39

Hunky Dory was going to be the wickedest witch wherever the four winds blow, and then she learned about fairy Godmothers and started wanting to grant wishes instead of give curses.  From there she goes on an adventure of self discovery that includes references to many of the fairy tales and stories about witches from around the world.  There is also a list of lessens from the school book that witches and fairy Godmothers use at the end of the book, a recipe, and a biography of books dealing with witches and fairy Godmothers.

Holidays in October-

(Not counting Halloween)

*Besides date in no particular order.

Month long:

National Pizza Month

National Popcorn Month

National Pork Month

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

National Dental Hygiene Month

National Diabetes Month

National Down Syndrome Awareness Month

National Infertility Awareness Month

National Domestic Violence Awareness Month

National Lupus Erythematosus Awareness Month

National Physical Therapy Month

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Month

World Blindness Awareness Month

Polish American Heritage Month

LGBT History Month

National Arts & Humanities Month

National Cyber Security Awareness Month

Pastor/Clergy Appreciation Month

Week Long:

Mental Illness Awareness Week

National Fire Prevention Week

Holidays:

October 1^st

                Feast of St. Therese of the Child Jesus (of Lisieux)

October 2^nd

                Birthday of Mahatma Gandhi

                International Day of Non-Violence

                National Poetry Day

                Feast of the Guardia Angels

                Start of Haji

October 4^th             

                Feast of St. Francis of Assisi

                Yom Kipper

                Start of Eid ul Adha

                World Animal Day

October 5^th

                        International World Teachers' day

October 7^th

                        Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

October 9^th

                        Start of Sukkot

                Leif Erikson Day

October 13^th

                        Columbus Day

October 15^th

                        Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

                Feast of St. Teresa of Jesus (of Avila)

October 16^th

                        Shemini Atzeret

                World Food Day

October 17^th

                        Feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch

                        Simchat Torah

October 18^th

                        Feast of St. Luke

October 23^rd

                        Mole Day

October 24^th

                        United Nations Day

October 27^th

                        Navy Day

October 28^th

                        Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude

October 29^th

                        National Frankenstein Day

October 30^th

                        National Candy Corn Day

October 31^st

                        Samhain

                Start of the Day of the Dead

Happy Month of Halloween!!

We at Weird News B.N.I. have decided that we will once again work on making the last three months of the year one great big Super Special Edition full of Holiday cheer, fear, and something that rhymes with cheer and fear and relates to Thanksgiving. . . beer?  Anyway, with Nanowritmo we aren't going to promise too much about Thanksgiving anyway, but for now happy month of Halloween!! (Which some people call October, even though it isn't the 8th month, thanks Caesars!)