22 Oct / The 13 Nights of Halloween by Guy Vasilovich
I think someone clearly pushed the ‘fast-forward’ button and jammed it … because holy moly, it’s almost Halloween! And, because I’m not good with numbers, I’m posting this nine days before the spookfest when I should clearly have done so last Monday, oh well … but good things come to those who wait, even when such things are slightly slimy and scary.
TV and comic veteran Guy Vasilovich makes his kiddie book debut with this colorful celebration of all things … well, sorta mostly dead. But don’t despair, because the whole book is meant for lively singing to the tune of perennial holiday favorite, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” with an extra verse, of course. Forget that been-there, done-that ‘partridge in a pear tree’ … get used to “a bright, shiny, Skeleton Key.”
Who needs 2 turtle doves, 3 French hens, and 4 calling birds (Wikipedia actually says “colly birds” – huh?), when you’ve got “a 2-headed Snake,” “3 Baseball Bats” (of the flying variety), and “4 Icky Eyeballs”? Of course, things only get more playfully gruesome from there with “Marching Mutants,” “Demons Dancing,” and “Corpses Caroling …”
With a tiny little witch-girl as guide – she who sports anime-like giant eyeballs filled with wonder and two pigtails that stand up perfectly curly-Qed and tied up just-so with crisp bat-ribbons – innocent young readers will have a delightful romp through all things Halloween. Here’s to ghoulish giggles for the young ‘uns, and little risk of get-up-again-in-the-middle-of-the-night-lasting trauma for us oldsters. Whew!
Readers: Children
Published: 2011