Even More Humor

Yes, there seems to be never-ending supply, thanks to Facebook and Lennon Cartoons. 

Book Discussion: Paranormal Romance

 

No big surprise that the prompt on this challenge for October is Paranormal Romance. This one also had paranormal romance as a prompt, and I immediately decided to wait to till October for that one (the ones on this one can be done anytime). As I said in this post, one of the books I chose for this month is Crave, the first book in the series of the same name. It was all right, and it remains to be seen when I will read the next books, if I do at all. For previous paranormal romance series I'd read, I in most instances, read each book immediately after the next. But the length of this book makes me unsure about jumping into the rest of the Crave series right away. 

The cover of this book is oddly reminiscent of that of the second book in the iconic Twilight series:

That was one of the first, if not the first, paranormal romance series I've read.  Others I have read include the following (not listed in any particular order):

Sookie Stackhouse by Charlaine Harris

The Immortals by Alyson Noel

Shadow Falls by C.C. Hunter

The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith and other series by that author including Night World (I did not know that there is tenth book in this one, though!) I read the three omnibuses, since these were at the library. I'd completely forgotten about these books until now! And this series by Smith as well. And this one. It's all coming back to me! At one point, I thought these books would make great movies. 

These are the ones I can recall off-hand that I have read at some point. No one series I can say is my favorite or I though was better than another. I tend to think that way :)

I got curious about the Crave series when I saw the first book at Target some years ago. I'd been meaning to read at least the first book for some time now, but did not get around to it until this month. I seem to recall trying to check it out one year, but finding it not turned in yet. I gave up then, but knew I could always try again someday. And that was what I did.

On a side note, I don't just read paranormal romances in October. I can recall reading the other series mentioned in other months.

Do you read paranormal romance? What are some series you have read?

13 Movies and Specials for Halloween

Colleen at The Thursday 13 holds a weekly blogging prompt where bloggers make a list of 13 things on Thursdays. The topic is for you to choose. The blog host doesn't have any official graphics to display on the Thursday 13 posts, so I decided to whip one up myself. 🙂  

Here are some Halloween movies and specials I have watched recently and in past years. Some I have rewatched this year again. Some are even new to me, having seen them this year for the first time. As with any topic, just choosing 13 is a bit hard, as there can be a lot to choose from. Right now, I'm going off what I have seen recently and am planning to rewatch before the month is over, if I can get to them! Feel free to share some you have seen and enjoy that aren't on my list here 😉 Movies with sequels are included as one entry. These are in no particular order.

1. Hocus Pocus & Hocus Pocus 2: The Sanderson Sisters. Spells and spell books. A very popular film for this time of year. I think this goes without saying.
2. The Nightmare Before Christmas: I've never been sure whether to watch this at Halloween or Christmas, though I only seem to watch it for Halloween. Though my local library showed it free in 2019 in December, for Christmas.
3. Zombies (Disney film series): I stumbled onto the DVD of this at the library in 2021. I was still hesitant about going out a year after the pandemic shutdown, so I borrowed some DVDs to watch for Halloween then. This was unfamiliar to me then, but looked good. I later watched the next two movies on Disney+. I just learned that there will be a fourth movie in 2025. I will be watching! I'm going to take time to watch the originals again this month.
4. Twitches and Twitches, Too  (AKA The Witches of Coventry): I remembered renting these films from Netflix in 2008 while recently binge-watching Sister, Sister on Disney+. The twins on that series star in this film series, which  is based on a book series. I'd never heard of the books, and as such have not read them. I rewatched both Twitches on Disney+ as well, ahead of this month.
5. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: The definitive Halloween special. I was upset to learn that the Peanuts holiday specials would now be airing exclusively on Apple TV, so I went and bought the DVD a year ago at Target. This seemed to be the only way I'd be able to watch this.
6. Toy Story of Terror:  I decided to watch this again this year after searching on Disney+, remembering having watched it when it first aired in 2013. I've enjoyed all the Toy Story movies.
7. Hubie Halloween: I saw this when it first come out on Netflix in 2020. Last week was my second time watching this Adam Sandler flick. Lots of other SNL alumni appear in this one, as well as Kevin James, Julie Bowen and Steve Buscemi.
8. Halloweentown (Disney movie series): Another I rented when first got Netflix. Rewatched all four movies the first weekend of October. Great movies!
9. Casper: The live action one with Christina Ricci. I'd borrowed the DVD from the library the last two or three years, and am now trying to find where I can watch it on streaming. I was at the library earlier this week and didn't even think of looking for the movie! Movies from the library are only available for one week, so that's one drawback.
10. Phantom of the Megaplex: A Disney Channel original movie that I'd never heard of until I saw it on the Disney+ homepage while searching for movies last Saturday. It sounded good, so I gave it a go. It came out in 2000, and has references to pagers, and to cell phones, which were still pretty new at the time.
11. Don't Look Under the Bed: I was first alerted to this one in April when this A to Z Blogging participant did a theme of Disney Channel Original Movies. This seems perfect for this time of year. It was quite spooky! 
12. Under Wraps: The blogger quoted above mentioned another Disney original movie that is also perfect for the holiday, but is unavailable on their streaming service. A remake from 2021 and its sequel are on the service, however. But I'd like to be able see the original first! And I can, because the 1997 movie is on Youtube. I'm going to have to find time for this one.
13. Corpse Bride: I definitely want to find time to watch this one, after seeing the animatronics at the local Spirit Halloween store. I rented this in either 2007 or 2008 from Netflix for Halloween. 

Still More Humor for the Holiday

 Some more that I just couldn't resist sharing.

Costume Humor

 Some old and new ones:

More Knockoff Costumes

Yes, I found even more of these. A lot of Super Mario and Wednesday Addams off-brands. 

And I don't know if this is supposed to be a knockoff of some character. I just chose to include this one because of a typo on the package. The Spanish translation is correct, however.

And I know there are still more out there. I could be searching for and collecting these things for days! And why so many Mario Bros and Wednesday off-brands?

Book Discussion: Spooky Reads for October

 

For this month, I selected the following spooky reads:

I've been curious about the Dana Girls series. I ordered the first book from Amazon last year, and found this one at a thrift store earlier this year. Since there is ghost involved, I chose to read it this month. I used it for this prompt and this one.

An attempt at reading a classic I've never been brave enough to read. I got this from the library this week. This already seems daunting!

Not sure if this could be considered spooky (I don't think it scared me!) But just having the word "devil" in the title made me choose this it for this monthly prompt. I already had three books from this series I'd gotten at Goodwill, one of which I'd already read.

I have the prompt paranormal romance in at least two challenges this year and I've been curious about this series. It currently has six books, and this is the first. The cover is reminiscent of that of the Twilight series, which is four books. I attempted to borrow this from the library a year or two ago, but it was out and not retuned when due, so I gave up on it then. But I knew I'd get another chance eventually, and that chance is now. I have to see how much I like this first one to see if I want to read the rest of the series. The way I've been going with reading series, though, I probably will read this one sporadically, if I choose to read any more of the series. 

I read the first book in this series in 2021. I barely remember the first one, but decided to read this one and am currently reading it. This book and Crave both have more than 500 pages, so I was hesitant about reading two books of that length in one month. But I'm going to make it work!

Not exactly spooky, but I just had to read the following for this month. Both fit the month. I wanted to get some fun Halloween stuff as well. 

Since the RIP challenge runs in September and October, I got started on it then, with three books for the challenge in September.

Who else has spooky reads planned this month?