The rich syrupy smell of sweets filled the bustling house. Louise had laid out apples in new skins of toffee; there were vast bowls of punch fresh-mixed, stringed apples in each door, scooped, vented pumpkins peering triangularly from each cold window. There was a water tub in the centre of the living room, waiting, with a sack of apples nearby, for dunking to begin. All that was needed was the catalyst, the impouring of children, to start the apples bobbing, the stringed apples to penduluming in the crowded doors, the sweets to vanish, the halls to echo with fright or delight, it was all the same.
Now, the house was silent with preparation. And just a little more than that.
Image by Joe Campanella.
Read the short story here.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
The October Game
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5 comments:
Yesss!!!!
I need to start reading some of these.
I'm not much of a reader....
I was the same way. And still am most of the time.
But his October Country appealed to me and got me to seek out the rest of his work. Short stories are great for that, not a lot of time invested, but all the same great payout.
I've only read The Halloween Tree and Something Wicked This Way Comes.
So far.
I've been keeping an eye out for The October Country. I recently found a free copy of R is for Rocket at a bookstore, but I haven't read any of the stories yet. Any recommendations?
My first book was the October Country, then The Halloween Tree.
Then I got my hands on this giant monster:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stories_of_Ray_Bradbury
The Golden Apples of the Sun has some great stories in it.
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