Blogiversary Giveaway: Win a bundle of Halloween themed goodies

As it's Halloween this week it seemed only fitting to include a Halloween themed giveaway as part of this year's blogiversary celebrations but as per usual it took me until the last minute to decide what to include.

In the end I settled on including a copy of Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie (Confession time I have never read an Agatha Christie book although have seen many of the Miss Marple and Poirot films adapted from her books).

When a Hallowe’en party turns deadly, it falls to Hercule Poirot to unmask a murderer…

During a night of party games, Joyce Reynolds boasts that she once witnessed a murder. No one believes her, but then she is found drowned, face down in an apple-bobbing tub.

Set against a night of trickery and the occult, Hercule Poirot and Ariadne Oliver must race to uncover the real evil responsible for this ghastly murder.

Blogiversary Giveaway: Win a Spooky 👻 themed bundle

Over the years I have run a few Halloween themed giveaways so decided to include another one as part of this year's blogiversary celebrations but as always the hardest decision was what to buy to include in the prize bundle. 

I narrowed the book choices down to 2, The Whistling by Rebecca Netley and The Haunting Season, a short story collection featuring new and original tales from Bridget Collins, Imogen Hermes Gowar, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Andrew Michael Hurley, Elizabeth Macneal, Natasha Pulley and Laura Purcell. So to help me choose I ran a poll on Twitter and the winner was...  

Long before Charles Dickens and Henry James popularized the tradition, the shadowy nights of winter have been a time for people to gather together by the flicker of candlelight and experience the intoxicating thrill of a ghost story. 

Blogiversary Giveaway: Win a Halloween 🎃 bundle

I haven't done a Halloween giveaway the last few years but when I was browsing for bookish items for my blogiversary giveaways I saw this Jack Smiley tote bag that was perfect for Halloween 🎃 so decided to buy it as well as a few other items as well to make up a giveaway bundle as who doesn't love a bag, book, bookmark and sweet combo 😍

I've decided to run it early to finish on Sunday night so that I can post the bundle to the winner to arrive in time for Halloween night (well if the winner is in the UK, might arrive after Halloween if winner lives internationally). 

Blogiversary Giveaway #17: Win a Halloween Bundle

Happy Halloween 🎃👻🕷👻🎃  When I was planning my blogiversary celebrations the first prize that I had decided on was to do a Halloween bundle so I then went about looking for some items to include in it and I have to confess I love the tote bag and skeleton BookBandz so much that I was almost reluctant to give them away!

Bundle includes:

• Happy Halloween tote bag
• Skeleton BookBandz
• Packet of Haribo TangfasTricks
• White Chocolate Ghost lolly
• Milk Chocolate Skull lolly

Blogiversary Giveaway #18: Win a Halloween bundle & spooky book of your choice

It's time for the final giveaway of this year's blogiversary celebrations and it's only fitting that since today is Halloween to have a Halloween themed prize package of some Halloween sweets & chocolate, mini Horror themed bookmarks but have also decided to offer the winner a choice of a spooky/horror paperback book of their choice.

As I'm not a fan of scary books I asked on Twitter for some suggestions so these are just a few of the book that were suggested that you might want to consider or you can ignore all of these and choose a different book (up to a value of £7.)

Say Her Name by James Dawson

Drip...drip...drip...In five days, she will come...

Roberta 'Bobbie' Rowe is not the kind of person who believes in ghosts. A Halloween dare at her ridiculously spooky boarding school is no big deal, especially when her best friend Naya and cute local boy Caine agree to join in too. They are ordered to summon the legendary ghost of Bloody Mary: say her name five times in front of a candlelit mirror, and she shall appear...But, surprise surprise, nothing happens. Or does it?

Next morning, Bobbie finds a message on her bathroom mirror - five days - but what does it mean? And who left it there? Things get increasingly weird and more terrifying for Bobbie and Naya, until it becomes all too clear that Bloody Mary was indeed called from the afterlife that night, and she is definitely not a friendly ghost. Bobbie, Naya and Caine are now in a race against time before their five days are up and Mary comes for them, as she has come for countless others before..

This House is Haunted by John Boyne

1867. On a dark and chilling night Eliza Caine arrives in Norfolk to take up her position as governess at Gaudlin Hall. As she makes her way across the station platform, a pair of invisible hands push her from behind into the path of an approaching train. She is only saved by the vigilance of a passing doctor.

It is the start of a journey into a world of abandoned children, unexplained occurrences and terrifying experiences which Eliza will have to overcome if she is to survive the secrets that lie within Gaudlin’s walls…

Blogiversary Giveaway #22: Win a Halloween Bundle

And now it's finally time to come to the end of the blogiversary celebrations... and it's only fitting that since it's Halloween to have a Halloween bundle.

One winner will receive all of this:

• Say Her Name by James Dawson
• 3 ghost clip bookmarks
• Sour Tricks jelly sweets
• Sack of Crunchy Bones chocolates
• Sack of Gooey Brains chocolates 

Extract from The Boy in the Cemetery by Sebastian Gregory

It's publication day for Sebastian Gregory's latest novel The Boy in the Cemetery which is perfect timing for all of you who are looking for a spooky Halloween read. 

To get you in the mood I'm happy to be able to share with you a short extract below.    

This is the story of a girl who lived but was not alive…

Carrie Anne is desperately unhappy. Tangled in a web of abuse, she seeks solace in the cemetery that backs onto her garden. But something creeps between the gravestones. Carrie Anne is not alone… 

…and a boy who was dead, but could not die. 

The cemetery is home to a boy. He has guarded these forgotten bones since meeting a gruesome end two hundred years ago. Neither dead nor alive, he has been watching for a long time. And now, he finally has the visitor he’s been waiting for… 

EXTRACT ONE

The boy had to push branches to one side as he approached. It was as if the trees themselves were trying to deter him from his path. The boy could not be deterred and the scratching of the trees was nothing to the pain that fate had already inflicted upon him. He reached out, pulling the ivy from the door. The plant resisted but was torn aside nonetheless. The wind blew harder and the trees shook harder as the boy pushed at the creaking doors. They opened with no resistance. As the boy took his steps into the tomb the wind howled.. It sounded like a mother crying.

What will you be reading this Halloween?

Those of you who are regular followers of my blog will probably have noticed that I'm not a fan of anything paranormal/horror but as it's Halloween soon I decided to take a look at some recent and future book releases that would make perfect reading for those of you who do like a spooky read...

Witch Hunt - Syd Hunt

A chilling, haunting ghost story that delves into the dark past of the 16th century Essex witch trials.

Sadie Asquith has been fascinated by the dark past of Essex’s witch hunts for as long as she can remember. And for good reason: between 1560 and 1680, over 500 women were tried for witchcraft in the county of Essex. But as she researches a book on the subject, Sadie experiences strange, ghostly visions. She hears noises at night, a sobbing sound that follows her, and black moths appear from nowhere. It’s as if, by digging up the truth about the witch hunts, she has opened an unearthly connection to the women treated so cruelly and killed centuries before.

And something else in the modern world is after her too: Sadie is sure she’s being followed, her flat is burgled and she finds clues that reveal her own past isn’t all that she believed. Can she find peace for the witches of Essex’s history and can she find a safe path for herself?

Pick up your copy today at Amazon in paperback or Kindle format.