KinderScares is packing up...

...but don't worry. We're not packing it in.

We're going to live with the big boys (and girls) over at the awesome new Dreadful Tales, your one-stop spot for scary literary goodness! This is great news for all you horror fans - you'll be able to get your up-to-date news on spooky stuff all the way from blood-curdling novels to baby board books all in the same place.

We're excited...you should be too!

Drop on by Dreadful Tales as we get settled in over the next few weeks and see what it's all about! As always if you have questions or concerns, feel free to drop me a line at kinderscares@gmail.com.

Horror for Hanukkah!

Yup, we pretty much completely neglected November, didn't we? Call it post-Halloween burnout. Call it 'Havewaytomuchtodo-itis' (my new disease of choice). Our book backlog sits in epic piles awaiting us, surrounded by the piles of stuff for the new baby we really ought to be getting set up, and overshadowed by the foot-long Christmas-related to-do list. Because it's DECEMBER, people! When did that happen? Who invited the LAST MONTH OF THE YEAR without telling me?! Uncool. It's all right, though, I suppose. I shall avoid hyperventilating by surrounding myself with an impermeable wall of denial. Everything is under control...

What was I talking about again?

Ah yes! Before we drag ourselves out of book-blogging hibernation and start piecing together posts about all the awesome spooky stuff you need to be checking out this Christmas, I wanted to take a moment for a different holiday and remind you all about this fantastic picture book:

Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel is one of those books I happened upon by accident. Oh, fortuitous accidents. It's an awesome tale with incredible illustrations. Check out the review we posted about it last year for more info. Happy Hanukkah everyone!

S.

*crickets*

I can't believe we've had full radio silence here at KinderScares for the entire first half of November. What can I say? October drained us!

Rest assured we'll soon be pulling out the enormous box of books awaiting attention and the long list of things to talk about. Until then, keep it spooky!

Photo contest winners!

Well, it's finally time to announce the winners of our 2010 Halloween Kids Photo Contest! We got so many fantastic entries, I wish we could give a prize to everybody! Since we can't (at least not this year...who knows what madness we'll dream up for next...), here are our top three, decided upon after much agonizing and begging people for their expert opinions. ;)

In third place (winning a copy of the fabulous Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich by Adam Rex). Mike sent us this picture of Emily as the world's first 'Buzzette' Lightyear. Awesome costume! Check it out:

Phil and Vicki sent in this too-cute-for-words picture of trick-or-treating with their 4 month old and took second place (a year's subscription to the Crow Toes Quarterly ezine and a copy of Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich). Hilarious, check it out:

And here you have our first place winner! (Lucky recipient of a year's subscription to the Crow Toes Quarterly ezine, an adorable Baby's First Boo trick-or-treating bag, and a fantastic piece of original art by the talented Chris Zenga)

Kimberly sent us this photo of her son Cody dressed as Chucky (from Child's Play). Absolutely adorable and terrifying at the same time, love it!

We had a lot of fun with this contest, I think we'll definitely run it again next year! Congrats to the winners and a huge THANK YOU to everyone who participated, all the pictures were amazing!

Halloween 2010 - pics, overview and general rambling...

How'd our favourite holiday come and go so fast?! We had an awesome Halloween this year, the kind that lasts from the moment you wake up until you fall into bed exhausted at the end of it. We covered the kids in spooky rub-on tattoos, gave scary books to friends, made tons of delicious food (and gorged on candy too), dressed up and trick-or-treated, hung out with various fun folks, and still made it home in time to watch The Walking Dead.

Here's our eldest, who decided after much indecision to be a vampire this year:

If you think THAT'S scary, you should have seen her when she wanted to be a zombie at age three. Terrifying stuff. From this year's costume we learned that even child-sized fangs are too big for little 6-year-olds...she lasted about five minutes before ditching them for being too uncomfortable.

Colum was our resident zombie this year:

That's the same expression on his face as when he has to get up early for work.

And here's our toddler, the bat to accompany his sister's vampire:

Being a child of very strong opinions who doesn't like hoods, masks, or wearing anything bulky, we had to get creative in making his costume. Wings on his sweater and ears on his hat? THAT we managed to convince him was acceptable (that sweater is covering up a coat and many layers of clothing...it SNOWED here repeatedly yesterday...blech!). This was his first year really trick-or-treating. He was unsure until realizing that the strange people at these houses were giving him CANDY - then he was on board 100%. Go figure. ;)

The number one thing we learned this year is that it takes an awful lot of coffee to get through a full day of Halloween fun at our house...

Tell me that wouldn't make the very best coffee ad ever.

So...it's over now. Our month of madness, come to an end. I'm sure we're not the only Halloween enthusiasts to be left with a "Now what...?" feeling when the holiday comes to a wrap. Colum got inspired and decided to make this the start of his very own new year. He's calling it New Fear's Day, and celebrating complete with new horror-themed resolutions. Check out @paperbackhorror on Twitter to see where he ends up going with that (or if he forgets by the end of the week!)

Ahh, November. Some people will be growing a mustache this month. Some people will be writing a novel. SOME people will probably need at least half the month to undo the household chaos caused by October (that would be me).

And the rest of YOU have until the end of today to send us your favourite Halloween photos of your kids, or yourself as a kid, for a chance to win some awesome spooky prizes!

So how was everybody else's Halloween? Tell us all about it in the comments!

S.

A tradition we can get behind!

Few people love scary books as much as we do. With two websites dedicated to horror in literature and a personal library that's terrifying in size as well as subject matter, I guess that's a little obvious. We read them, collect them and write about them. Our big kid writes and illustrates them in her spare time.

The only thing we like MORE than the books themselves is sharing them with other people, which is why we've fallen instantly in love with All Hallow's Read, a newly thought-up tradition of giving people scary books for Halloween.

Author Neil Gaiman came up with this awesome plan recently when it occurred to him that there just aren't enough traditions that involve giving books. He posted about it here on his blog, and has since managed to put together an official All Hallow's Read website.

We hope all you book and/or horror lovers out there will join in to spread the word and give someone a spooky book this year! If you need suggestions, don't hesitate to ask! Happy Halloween!

A blast from KinderScares' ancient past!

For your amusement this Friday evening, we pulled out a few of our OWN Halloween photos from the distant past. Here's pirate Colum at 2 years old (so we're talking the distant, DISTANT past, heh heh).

(In case you're wondering, he still looks pretty much exactly like that, but taller and with a beard.)

And here is me (Shelagh) at age 7 or 8. I was a witch, in case you couldn't figure that out on your own:

Rest assured that I now have all my teeth and even brush my hair once in a while (whether I feel like it or not).

Feeling inspired? Go pull out the old Halloween photos - of you or your kids - and submit your favourites to our photo contest for a chance to win awesome prizes! We'll be accepting entries until November 1st.

Happy Halloween weekend!

S.