MOONBOW MYSTERY BOX
A GIVEAWAY! (Plus a few other creepy things.)
Halloween weekend is here! To celebrate, I’m giving away a Moonbow Mystery Box to one lucky subscriber (or unlucky, it’s a mystery!). It’s a curated box of children’s books that are Moonbow-approved! These will primarily be used books, but I may include a new book (again—mystery!) Keep this in mind if you participate. If you win, you’ll receive vintage books you may already own. No returns accepted.
How to win!
You must be a Moonbow subscriber.
Leave a comment with your favorite scary character from a children’s book.
The winner will be announced on November 4th and the Moonbow Mystery Box will be shipped within two weeks of the announcement. You must live in the U.S. (Sorry!)
Some of you may not be interested in this giveaway. I get it—you don’t even know what it is! So I’ve included a few other fun things for you to enjoy.
Do you remember the PBS Mystery! series? Check out this opening sequence by Edward Gorey. Gorey’s first storyboard attempt was considered too long, so they had animator Derek Lamb tweak it into the version we’re most familiar with.
“When we first started talking about it, I gave them a scenario for the credits, but they said, 'Thank you, very much, dear, but this will take half an hour.' I told them it wouldn’t if they put in on at a reasonable rate of speed, but they didn’t seem to care for that idea very much. So Derek Lamb or somebody concocted the final scenario and I had very little to do with it.” — Edward Gorey
I wish we could see what Gorey would have done had it been up to him.
Here's a fun video that talks more about Edward Gorey’s animations for Mystery! And take a peek at the Sherlock Holmes episode, “Sign of Four.”
“Illustrating horror stories is one of the nightmares of my existence.” — Edward Gorey
Watch Dick Cavett’s 1977 interview with Edward Gorey. It was Gorey’s first time being on television. I enjoyed his smart, snarky comments and all the times he looks at his fingernails.
I recently found Games, Anyone?: A Witty Collection of Adult Games (1967) written by Robert Thomsen and illustrated by Tomi Ungerer. Which is full of fun party games—some with spooky titles like “Ghosts,” “Murder,” and “Tombstones.” But I mainly bought it for its fantastic cover!
In case you missed it, I shared my favorite scary and not-so-scary children’s books. Four On the Shore (1985) by James Marshall wasn’t on the list, but I reread it last night, and it’s perfect for kids who like ghost stories but don’t actually want to be scared and would prefer to laugh!
Although, if you want to scare your little ones, read Slugs (1983), written by David Greenberg and illustrated by Victoria Chess (who, in my opinion, draws the creepiest illustrations). It’s silly and gross. Those evil slugs terrified me as a kid—actually, they still do!
Happy Halloween!
(Don’t forget to enter the giveaway.)
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The Grand High Witch still sends shivers down my spine. Also Heckedy Peg who turned children to food!
I was absolutely terrified by Heckedy Peg! As an adult I still find it creepy!