A Far Out Fantastic Site

Credit: Pixabay.com I hope you all had a groovy Halloween! I did. But now I'd like to wish you all a Happy Day of the Dead! So did you think all the spirits and dead things end with with October? Well, think again! Day of the Dead, a holiday originating in Mexico and with both indigenous and European roots is celebrated for our deceased loved ones on this day and throughout the month of November. Like the Irish brought their Halloween with them here to the U.S., Day of the Dead came with the Mexican culture in this country. To find out more about this hallowday and its similarities to as well as differences from Halloween, see last week's special Halloween post ! I have a segment on there from an even earlier blog post that talks about these two festivals. As a Dead Day gift to all of you, I'd like to present a free copy here at the Fantastic Site of my short sci fi horror story that commemorates the hallowday. I apologise for any formatting that may be off course. F...

Credit: Pixabay.com I apologise for missing last weekend, especially since it was the third weekend of the month when we normally would have our Book-To-Movie here. However, things were a bit busier than normal and I wanted to give you a really good Book-To-Movie for this month of Halloween. So I decided to include it in this special Halloween post! That said, we have tonight, of course, our Book-To-Movie in which this one reviews the movie adaptation of three Edgar Allen Poe short horror tales. I’ve also included revised segments from the Halloween blog post back from 2014. One segment talks about the early stages on writing the title story to “Boo Brothers”. (Don’t worry, even way back then I made sure not to create any spoilers!) From that same post, I’ve also included an updated book list of Halloween reads and an updated write-up on Day of the Dead. But before we look at these, let me present to you the long-awaited release of “The Boo Brothers” paperback!   ...

Credit: Wikimedia Commons I hope you all had a groovy Halloween and are having an awesome Day of the Dead weekend. Some of you may be asking, “What is Day of the Dead?” To get the answer to that question, check out the short documentary below. It’s an oldie but goodie since the narrator seems to be well informed for the time it was made in (the 1950s). It gives at least the basics of this holiday which is, contrary to many of the people’s belief in my own Latino culture, similar to Halloween although it has it’s own unique flavour. Speaking about flavour, like on Halloween people who celebrate Day of the Dead hand out candy, particularly candy skulls. Are they candy-covered, real human skulls? Well, watch the video and find out! Speaking about skulls, that’s one unique difference between Mexico’s holiday and the U.S.’s (not to mention Northern Europe’s) holiday—whereas Halloween uses a Jack-o-lantern as its holiday icon a skull serves that purpose for Day of the Dead. Like H...

A tin jack-o'-lantern the blogger bought at a thrift store and put up in his living room. This mini pumpkin was made and hand-painted by an unknown Indian artist. Photo Credit: Steven Rose, Jr. Tomorrow is my favourite day of the year as a fantasist and so I have been extra busy preparing. I meant to do several blog posts leading up to the holiday but got so busy with other projects and even non-writing duties that I decided it would be best to write one big Halloween post. That includes Day of the Dead which is 2 November. Halloween Horror Fiction I’m Writing For this Halloween, I’ve been revising a short horror story fitting for the season. I actually wrote it last year about this time but it was too close to the holiday so I didn’t bother revising it until just this month. It’s a juvenile story. I say “juvenile” rather than young adult in this case because I’m trying to target it at a tween audience as well a teen one. Yet I’m hoping it can be enjoyed by a...

Warning:  This post may contain content or links to content considered to be obscene/objectionable by some viewers.   Credit: PDClipart.org Just a friendly reminder: you have until midnight tonight, the witching hour, Pacific Standard Time, to play The Fool’sIllusion Trick-Or-Treat Giveaway . You have a chance at winning my book of short fiction and therefore not having to pay to own a copy. In fact, if you win you get two copies—one the Kindle version, the other print. Now, if you really want free stuff without having to depend totally on chance, here is my Halloween treat to you: I have included in this post an excerpt from The Fool’s Illusion . So you can get a sweet taste of what the book is like with out having to pay a single penny. Better yet, the excerpt consists of an entire story. It’s not just a scene that suddenly drops off at the end leaving you hanging on the noose of knowledge and curiosity. The story is definitely fitting for the season,...