Top Ten Tuesday: Books/Movies To Read Or Watch To Get In The Halloween Spirit

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week they post a new topic that the participants come up with a top ten list for.


This week's topics is about stories that get us in the Halloween spirit

I loooove Halloween, even though we don't celebrate it here! I've always loved spooky and creepy things (I read my first vampire book when I was 8 and my favorite stories were about ghosts and witches), so here are 5 books and 5 movies to get you in the spooky mood :)

Books

Nevermore, by Kelly Creagh
It's Poe-inspired and incredibly eerie! Also, Varen is one of my favorite book boyfriends.

Anna Dressed in Blood, by Kendare Blake
Murdering ghost. Ghost-hunting teenager. With a knife. And plenty of snark.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, by April Genevieve Tucholke
Modern-day gothic including a small town, an old manor, haunted mines, and a boy who is not what he seems.

The Shining, by Stephen King
I don't think this one needs any introduction. But the book scared me even more than the movie. I think the nest of wasps and those hedge animals in the  labyrinth were some of the creepiest parts.

Blackbirds, by Chuck Wendig
Great mixture of gross and psychological horror. Miriam Black is one tough cookie.

I've highlighted many of these before but I just can't help myself when it comes to a great creepy or eerie story...

Movies

The Nightmare Before Christmas (duh)
This one is a classic. And you can watch it on both Halloween and Christmas! The music is so beautiful and I just love Tim Burton's style. I also wanted to include Corpse Bride on this list but since Sleepy Hollow is another Burton movie, I thought that'd be a bit overkill.

The Lost Boys
Sleep all day. Party all night. It's good to be a vampire! It has music by Bauhaus. It's funny. It has young Kiefer Sutherland. It has the Frog Brothers who steal holy water from a baptism to fight off evil vamps (as seen above). This movie may be two years older than me but it's pretty awesome.

photo found here

American Horror Story
I've seen Murderhouse, Asylum, what's out for Freak Show so far and the first few episodes of Coven. So far, I like Murderhouse and Asylum best. And I was definitely plenty freaked out during both of them! Mostly though I just think the actors and the storytelling are amazing. I also love how each season is completely independent from the others but since you've got part of the same cast, you automatically draw comparisons between the different characters an actor has played.

Donnie Darko
This one's a classic. It's not just eerie, it actually features Halloween. And the idea of costumes. And time travel. Sleepwalking. The end of the world. I really need to watch it again.

Sleepy Hollow
Great mixture of creepy and funny. I just love seeing Johnny Depp faint in this one and bumble his way through Ichabod Crane's investigations XD When I read the novella this is actually based on, I was really disappointed. The movie is so much better.


So what do you guys think of my picks? Have you seen/read any of them? I'm also curious about your picks so that I can discover more creepy reads and movies :) Anything that makes me feel like this on Halloween would be great:

Celebration giveaway! INT

Hey guys! This post is WAY overdue! I originally wanted to do a giveaway in mid-June because that was my blog's one year blogoversary. But due to a case of credit-card fraud mixed with being hacked and having to format my harddisc while also needing to meet a deadline for a paper... yeah, it didn't happen.

But this week a mix of things came together and it's about time! 1) I reached 45,000 pageviews! That might not seem like a lot to some of you but for me it's a pretty big deal. 2) I finally got a banner and I looove it! :D and 3) I also made a blog button based on the same design. You can grab the code in the right sidebar. In addition to that, I also got a new set of social media buttons. The Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr are more about other stuff I'm into than strictly about books, but a lot of it is bookish anyway because that's just who I am ;)

I also want to change things around a bit generally and find new types of posts I could do to generally make things a bit more interesting and fun. What would you like to see? I'm open for suggestions. Should I embarrass myself by doing a vlog? Should I try to do more author interviews? Do you have topics you'd like to have a discussion about? Let me know in the comments!

All of this together is reason enough for a giveaway! As always, it's open internationally and the winner's prize will be ordered from The Book Depository.

Below is a selection of books I've read in the past year and really really loved. I definitely recommend them! However, you can also pick another book up to 10$.






Rules

• One winner can choose one of the books listed above or another up to 10$ (as seen from my location)
• Open internationally provided The Book Depository ships to you
• Only one entry per person/household
• If you cheat, I will disqualify and delete all your entries. Make sure to read what to put in the rafflecopter box carefully! Writing 'done' or copying the message of the tweet does NOT count! If I say I want the link, then please copy-paste the link.
• I check all entries BEFORE I choose a winner
• Winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email, after that time frame I will pick a new winner (seriously, use a rafflecopter email that you actually check!)
• You must be at least 13 years old
• I am not responsible for books lost in the mail. Once I've put in the order, I am no longer accountable for what happens to the book.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Stacking the Shelves: Between the Devil and a Lovely Darkness

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews to showcase all the books we got in the past week. Those can be bought, won, gifted, for review, borrowed, print or ebooks... no matter, just share what you got :)


This week brought me two long pined for new releases! Also, as you're reading this I'm spending the weekend in Italy, so I'll get back to everyone on Monday :)

Won

A Darkness Strange and Lovely, by Susan Dennard

Won from Jen at YA Romantics! Thanks again, I've been waiting for it to release for a year :)


Bought

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, by April Genevieve Tucholke

I've been pining for this since before it even had a cover! Can' wait to make it my next read once I finish Robin Wasserman's Book of Blood and Shadows!


Amazon freebie

Madly, by M. Leighton

I've seen some reviews of this one around so I thought I'd give it a try. It was free when I just looked it up on amazon, but you can check whether it still is here.

Also, I have two giveaways going on right now! Both are international and you can check them out in the top left sidebar :)

That's it, and I'm secretly glad because I have soooo many unread books and that always makes me twitchy >.< Have you already read any of these? If so, what did you think? And what's new on your shelves this week?

Top Ten Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2013

Today is already the last day of the Top Ten event hosted by Rachel from Fiktshun,  Lisa from A Life Bound By Books, Jessica from Confessions of a Bookaholic and Jaime from Two Chicks on Books and Mindy from Magical Urban Fantasy Reads.

Since this is also a week of looking forward, this last day's topic is about the books we're most excited to read next year. And again, it's very hard to limit that to only 10...
This list is without a couple books I'm excited about but already have ARCs for, though I haven't read them yet.


  Splintered, by A.G. Howard
I heard about Splintered ages ago and was immediately intrigued. A dark retelling of Alice in Wonderland! And now I keep reading all those amazing reviews and just can't wait to see for myself what it's like and whether I prefer Jeb or Morpheus... 


Clockwork Princess, by Cassandra Clare
Will Herondale. That is... well, not all, but a great deal of it. Will breaks my heart like few book boys can. I would have included him in my book boyfriend post yesterday, but I read Clockwork Prince in 2011. I hurt. I hurt so much I actually cried ugly tears past midnight on Christmas. I just need to know how it all ends, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Will/Tessa though I don't see how it could happen. Don't get me wrong, I like Jem too. He's a wonderful guy, and I don't doubt that he loves Tessa and would do anything for her. I just like Will more and feel that I understand him better.


With All My Soul, by Rachel Vincent
I'm fairly new to this series, meaning I read it all in 2012, but I feel very bittersweet about it ending. I have grown to love Kaylee, Tod, Sabine, Emma, and the others so much! I think there will be a happy ending, though not one without heartbreak, but I will be sad no matter what because I'll have to say goodbye to the world Rachel Vincent created. I'll actually have to say goodbye to two of her worlds, because Oath Bound will be released in April as well. (Did that count as cheating?)


Dance of the Red Death, by Bethany Griffin
 After the way Masque of the Red Death ended, I am extremely curious about and somewhat wary of the sequel. The writing will be phenomenal, I'm not worried about that. But nothing good could possibly be in store for Araby in a world as destroyed as hers, or could there? I hope she and Will can work things out, and I hope Elliott will deboard the airship before it lands *ahem*. I guess you can tell who I'm rooting for...


The Indigo Spell, by Richelle Mead
I thought this would be a trilogy, with The Indigo Spell concluding it all, but I recently heard that there will be more books. I am not at all annoyed with that, because I love this series even more than I did Vampire Academy. It's a bit more... grown up? Also, I really enjoy seeing it all from the alchemyst's point of view. Though how much longer Sydney's POV will be alchemyst-conform remains to be seen. Not all that much, is my guess...
Also: Adrian Ivashkov. Enough said.


The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, by Holly Black
Yup, this one does not have a cover yet. But I've wanted it for the better part of a year already. It'll be out in September. It shares its name with one of Holly Black's short stories that I've read... and re-read. I love that story, and I just can't wait to read a whole novel set in that world! I hope Dante will be in it. He was only a subsidiary character, but I really liked him. I also hope that the cover will be revealed soon!


Sweet Peril, by Wendy Higgins
Kaidan Rowe. Not the only reason I want this book asap, but an important one - especially since we were lucky enough to read a couple scenes from his POV. However, Sweet Evil also had a great heroine in Anna and an incredibly intriguing world that I miss. I'll definitely re-read it before digging into Sweet Peril when it comes out. May the Neph rebellion start soon!


A Darkness Strange & Lovely, by Susan Dennard
I loved Something Strange & Deadly to pieces, and I can't wait to read more of Eleanor and the Spirit Hunters' adventures! Susan Dennard posted a few teasers during NaNoWriMo, so I already know that there will be an airship crash in Egypt, and that part of it takes place in Paris. Yay! And there will be more Daniel.


Phoenix, by Elizabeth Richards
After pining for Black City for a year and then finally getting to read it, I'm already waiting... again. Thank god the sequel will be out in June rather than November. I really need more of Ash and Natalie and the Darklings! Elizabeth Richards dystopian world is just so intriguing, I simply need more of the conflict and plot and romance...


Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, by April Genevieve  Tucholke
Bad, bad boy. The description already makes it clear that River is a liar... but is he demonic in nature, too? And I'll have to wait until August to find out! Dark crumbling houses. Cliffs. Sea. Kisses in cemeteries. A boy crooked smile and a taste for coffee. Dear book fairy, let there be ARCs on NetGalley or Edelweiss...


Honorable mentions:
Gameboard of the Gods, by Richelle Mead 

The Eternity Cure, by Julie Kagawa (I dislike the cover change)

Gods and Monsters #3, by Kelly Keaton

Angel Fever, by L.A. Weatherly

Nevermore #3, by Kelly Creagh


Those last three have no covers, and in some cases also no titles yet. I just hope they really do come out next year, and not in 2014... 

What do you think of my picks, and what are you excited for in 2013? 

Waiting on Wednesday: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine to showcase upcoming releases that we're impatiently waiting for.


My pick this week:

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, by April Genevieve Tucholke

Expected release: August 2013
Publisher: Penguin / Dial
Format: no info yet

Goodreads description:
Violet's grandmother had warned her about the Devil, had talked about him often, as though he were a best friend, or an old lover. But she never told Violet that the Devil could be real. She never told Violet that the Devil could be a dark-haired boy in vintage clothes who takes naps in the sun and likes old movies and vigilante justice.

River West is the seventeen-year old stranger renting the guesthouse behind the rotting mansion on the sea, where Violet lives. And as eerie things start happening in Violet's town, she begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. Is River just a crooked-smiling, coffee-loving liar with rascally eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something else? Something...evil?

Violet's already so knee-deep in love she can't see straight.

And that's just how River likes it.


Click here to check it out on Goodreads.

I know I know... almost a year off, doesn't even have a cover yet, but! The descprition sounds sooo awesome!! Devils or demons. Dark-haired, coffee drinking male lead who just might be a compulsive liar. Rotting mansions. Liars. Mystery and lore. The sea. Intrigues and ploys. Waaaah I need this NOW >_< Can't wait to see the cover!

EDIT:  I wrote this on Monday, when there wasn't a cover yet, but now there is! Look!

I love the font, and the cliffs! It looks so dark and tempestuous! Makes me even more eager about the setting. I hope it's reflected in the writing style as well.
 

Ahem. So what do you think? And what are you waiting for this week?