A little about myself.  I am the kind of person who finds a link out of season and then clings to it for months on end, just waiting for the right time of year to pop up. As such, I've had this link to the skeletal systems of cartoon characters for almost a full year. Totally worth it too. 

Also, back in February Saints and Spinners had a piece on literary tombstones and suggested epitaphs.  Who was I to pass it by?

And then there are pumpkins to consider. Nutty, remarkably difficult to create pumpkins. As I see it, you have two choices. You can go with the complex works of true pumpkin art at Villafane Studios. This was found via bookshelves of doom. Or, if you prefer pumpkins a person could actually make, check out these Extreme Pumpkins and their various accouterments. Thanks to Your Neighborhood Librarian for the second link.

Some of us live in places where carving a pumpkin is one thing and displaying it something else entirely. For all the fun of carving without any of the potential goo and eventual smashing, Elizabeth Dulemba drew my attention recently to a site where you can carve your own pumpkin. Mine tend to look about as good as my own real pumpkins. Crooked eyes and all.

As for costumes, the one I spotted this year that makes me happiest... well, let's just say that it involves Mr. Toast. Thanks to Children's Illustration.

None of these are very frightening, though. So let's look at two felines that strike fear in a woman's heart. The first one is a cat that, quite simply, is not meant to be. That's just wrong wrong wrong. And then there is the Halloween Kitty Staredown (thanks to Sam Riddleburger). Go, kitties, go!

And I'm really enjoying the fact that I am no longer the only blogger to report on NYC events. Leeza Hernandez has a great recap about a special Halloween authors book signing event at Books of Wonder this past week-end. Perhaps I shall be able to persuade her to move here permanently and we can dole out the events to talk about from week to week. That'd be cool, eh? After all, she's much freer with her camera than I.

Finally, this is me promoting my buddies in the podcasting field. How many of you used to watch MST3K back when it was on Comedy Central (and, later, the Sci-Fi Channel)? I did. And ever since those space-age yuksters left, there have been three little holes in my heart just waiting to be filled by fellows with opinions about bad movies. Well, now my prayers have, perhaps, been answered. I am now going to link to a little show called The Flophouse. For this Halloween season, if you want something completely profane, inappropriate for children under the age of (oh, let's say) 25, and funny, you should check out these three fellows' take on Saw III. They were less than entirely impressed, let us say.  Let us call them the Judd Apatow of podcast commentaries. Truly disgusting at times, and freakin' hilarious. And no, this has absolutely nothing to do with children's literature. In fact, if you have any kids at all, DO NOT let them listen to this podcast.  Seriously, dude.  None of that.