Spooky Book for Halloween
I don’t know about you, but I LOVE Halloween! I love everything about it! I love the decorations, I love the spookiness, I love the movies, I love dressing up, I love Halloween parties, I love how excited my kids get with dressing up and getting candy, and I love going trick-or-treating with them!
Now, I’m not trying to claim that my YA urban fantasy series, The Shadow Eyes Series, is in the horror genre or intensely creepy. However, seeing as how the main character sees shadowy figures (demons), I’d say it has its moments. Apart from all of the creepy demons that keep terrorizing Iris’s life and the lives of her family and friends, there’s even a scene dedicated to a Halloween party! What can I say? I guess my love for the holiday somehow slipped on in there. 😉
So, if you love Halloween and spooky things like I do, check out the first book of the series, Shadow Eyes. Below are some of my favorite creepy snippets from the book, as well as part of the Halloween party scene. Enjoy!
Creepy snippets
“…the second shadow tilted its head back and opened the dark abyss of its mouth. What came out was the most horrible noise I had ever heard. It sounded like the echoing cackle of a demon drowning in a deep well. As piercing as nails on a chalkboard yet as murky and surreal as a nightmare.”
“Suddenly, a gush of black water poured from the back seat over my shoulder and into my lap. I barely had time to let out a gasp of surprise before it circled rapidly around my body in a thick spiral, tightening its grip as it climbed up to my face. Within seconds I was smothered, consumed, oppressed, and overcome.”
“With his eyes still fixed in our direction, he continued to flaunt how much he enjoyed her agony. How much he savored the ecstasy of twisting himself around her wrists and lapping up her blood.”
“The voice that swam to my ears was heavy and gradually made me feel loaded down and ponderous. Each word was like a brick piling up inside me while water simultaneously poured into the remaining spaces. Sometimes their edges scraped and hurt. Others danced and sloshed around in the water, making me nauseous.”
“Before long I spotted the large group of intimidating gang members in a loose huddle in front of an aging house. They weren’t moving much but kept scouting out the area as though they were waiting for someone.
The frightening ink-black figures in the air above their heads, however, moved enough for them. They were even more intimidating than the actual gang members, which was remarkable because the humans had guns. But the way the dark masses moved—violent yet methodical—it all screamed of power and control. Their domineering presence would make an army commander cower in submission. They were more than agitated. More than fitfully fighting within themselves. These shadows weren’t ready to cause a fight. They were ready to kill.”
Halloween Party scene
“You look adorable, by the way!” I eyed Nicole appreciatively in the glimmer of Josh’s Halloween lights as we headed to Josh’s front door. The air was bitingly cold and I would have sworn there was snow on the ground if my eyes had been closed. She was wearing a short, black fringy dress with black gloves, black heels, a long, gold beaded necklace, and a black headband with a feather over her short haircut. Deep red lipstick stood out boldly from her powdered face, and her cheeks were rosy red, although that was probably more from the frigid temperature.
“Really? You like it?” Nicole was always so eager for any affirming comment about her appearance.
“Absolutely! That era flatters you. I mean, you already had the classic, short bob and everything.” I reached the door first and rang the doorbell.
“I know, right?”
As we waited in the cold, shivering, I admired the Halloween decor Josh and his parents had set up out front. Orange, green and purple lights draped over bushes and surrounded tree trunks. A graveyard sprawled over half the lawn where skeletons peeked out in front of their tombstones, clawing the earth with their bony fingers. For added visual effect, a creepy green spotlight illuminated the grim scene. A homemade, life-sized mummy with ketchup-bloodied rags had been hung from an awning and was pointing its stained, bandaged finger at us. From the driveway to the door, two flickering trails of small ghosts lit the way up the sidewalk. Cobwebs stretched out and attached themselves to outside walls, trees, bushes and the entryway, and eerie Halloween music crept out the door to the chilled air outside. No wonder his house was a hot spot for trick-or-treaters.
“Hey!” Tyler swung open the door, wearing a black zoot suit and gangster fedora hat. His fake Tommy gun was pointed directly at me. “Whoa! I better not shoot an angel. That’d be bad luck or somethin’, eh?”
Also, check out the creepy BOOK TRAILER here!
Dusty Crabtree 