Monday, November 1, 2010

v2, d196: All Hallow's Read

So a week or so ago, a guy who sells books for a living got the idea to make Halloween into an opportunity to give books to people.  And he has a Twitter.  So it became an official Thing.

Not self-serving.  At all.

I'm kidding.  I actually really love the idea, obviously, because I think people ought to read more.  Neil Gaiman got the idea and had Twitter followers suggest names.  The winner was All Hallow's Read, and the premise is really simple: for Halloween, you give somebody a scary book.  It can be new, it can be used, whatever.  You don't have to give them out to every kid who knocks at your door looking for candy.  There really aren't a whole lot of rules at all, because it's an idea that's like three weeks old.  The book can be as "scary" as you want.  There's really no point other than just to have fun with it.  I mean, I love holidays, and I love traditions, and I think making gift-giving in book form a part of a holiday tradition sounds like fun.

Of course, I didn't actually do it.  But you know.

Actually, I've started to.  I was a bit busy all Halloween week, what with fever and emergency room and shows and rehearsals and carnival, so I'm getting a late start.  But I'm writing a short story that sort of fits the "scary story" bill.  (Really, it's more fairy tale, but there's a witch, and spells, and a giant spider, so there you go)  I wrote about half of it tonight and could probably keep going, but it's 1:30 and I can tell if I keep going I won't sleep.  Which is bad, because tomorrow is get-up-early-to-vote day.  And Tarvis' birthday.  So, I'll finish it up and post it soon.

Which is probably better anyway.  Because taking part in a Halloween tradition (albeit a new one) on All Saints Day is probably some sort of sacrilege.