Before I actually write anything, here are the details of the Coffin Hop, though I'm sure that you already know them:
1) HAVE A SPOOKY FUN TIME!
2) INVITE YOUR FRIENDS AND SPREAD THE WORD!
3) THIS TOUR STARTS: Monday, October 24, 2011 at Midnight (PST)
THIS TOUR ENDS: Monday, October 31, 2011 at Midnight (PST)
Winners will be drawn and posted November 1, 2011
4) MEET AND MINGLE WITH THE AUTHORS! EXPERIENCE A NEW DESTINATION AT EVERY STOP! PARTICIPATE IN EVERY SITE'S CONTEST AND BE ENTERED FOR CHANCES TO WIN MULTIPLE PRIZES! EVERY BLOG VISITED IS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO WIN!
5) PARTICIPATION AT ALL SITES IS RECOMMENDED, BUT NOT REQUIRED. THE MORE SITES YOU HOP, THE BETTER YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING PRIZES.
6) DID I MENTION TO HAVE A SPOOKY FUN TIME?
And don't forget to return to http://www.coffinhop.blogspot.com/ to visit for participants.
So, us participants were asked to do 2 things:
- Write a Halloween-related blog and
- Give away some prizes.
First things first, what do I want to say about Halloween. We'll start with the picture below and go from there. By the way, I'm the one on the left, the dead guy, not the one with the boobs. That was... let's see... 16 years ago, back when I was a Freshman in college. Back when I was young and thin. Ahh, those were the days.
Anyway, that picture was taken in a street car on the way down to the French Quarter. Next to Mardi Gras, Halloween is the wildest night in New Orleans. And I got to see four of them. If you went wandering around the french Quarter on Halloween without a costume, you got crap thrown at you. Simple as that. You better be dressed up when you went down town.
Best costume I ever saw down there?
Yeah, I know this isn't a costume... and for those of you who aren't familiar with the devil above, it is Tim Currey from the movie Legend, which also starred a young Tom Cruise. Anyway, my first year down there, I saw this guy wandering around. Well, a guy in this costume. But it just wasn't a simple costume. I don't know if the guy wearing it was just very tall or if he was on stilts, but he was TALL. And he was wandering around the French Quarter towering over everyone else. It was neat to see. And kind of scary.
Back to me... as you can see from the first picture, I liked dressing as a zombie for Halloween. Why? Not out of any innate love of zombies. It was... well... cheap. New Orleans is filled with thrift shops, and an old suit could be had for $10 or $15. And makeup was $5. Even a pre-bagged vampire costume was more expensive. So for four years in a row, I was a zombie. My Junior year, I didn't even have to buy a used suit- I got a pair of scrubs for free at the hospital where I volunteered. And I was a zombie doctor.
Ah, I miss New Orleans. I miss Halloween in New Orleans. But I've moved on to the next stage in my life, and now I am taking my two kids, 2 and 4, trick or treating instead of getting dressed up and partying. Oh well.
My 4 year old son is going to be Optimus Prime. My wife gave my 2 year old daughter a choice between a monster and a chicken from Old Navy.
She chose the chicken.
I'm thinking of putting a little red paint around the beak. Make her a killer chicken. Pictures next week.
On to contests. I'm a busy man. I am a poor man. Nothing fancy here. All I'm doing is giving away a digital copy of each of my novellas, one "Dogs of War", one "King of the Merge", in any digital format you desire. Only $.99 at Amazon but a copy can be yours for free. If you are interested, just leave a comment on this post with your e-mail address. I want to know you're most embarrassing Halloween costume, or experience. Winners will be chosen the night of October 31, 2011, and winners will be announced the following day. If you're a horror fan and tired of the over the top gore and violence and yearn for the more psychological styles of King and Koontz, you may very well enjoy my works. And don't forget to follow my blog, Like me on Facebook (Bradley Convissar author), and follow me on Twitter (@bconvisdmd).
And don't forget to floss.
Hey, I'm a father and husband first, a dentist second, and then a writer. Hopefully one day I'll be able to flip those last two.
Anyway, that picture was taken in a street car on the way down to the French Quarter. Next to Mardi Gras, Halloween is the wildest night in New Orleans. And I got to see four of them. If you went wandering around the french Quarter on Halloween without a costume, you got crap thrown at you. Simple as that. You better be dressed up when you went down town.
Best costume I ever saw down there?
Yeah, I know this isn't a costume... and for those of you who aren't familiar with the devil above, it is Tim Currey from the movie Legend, which also starred a young Tom Cruise. Anyway, my first year down there, I saw this guy wandering around. Well, a guy in this costume. But it just wasn't a simple costume. I don't know if the guy wearing it was just very tall or if he was on stilts, but he was TALL. And he was wandering around the French Quarter towering over everyone else. It was neat to see. And kind of scary.
Back to me... as you can see from the first picture, I liked dressing as a zombie for Halloween. Why? Not out of any innate love of zombies. It was... well... cheap. New Orleans is filled with thrift shops, and an old suit could be had for $10 or $15. And makeup was $5. Even a pre-bagged vampire costume was more expensive. So for four years in a row, I was a zombie. My Junior year, I didn't even have to buy a used suit- I got a pair of scrubs for free at the hospital where I volunteered. And I was a zombie doctor.
Ah, I miss New Orleans. I miss Halloween in New Orleans. But I've moved on to the next stage in my life, and now I am taking my two kids, 2 and 4, trick or treating instead of getting dressed up and partying. Oh well.
My 4 year old son is going to be Optimus Prime. My wife gave my 2 year old daughter a choice between a monster and a chicken from Old Navy.
She chose the chicken.
I'm thinking of putting a little red paint around the beak. Make her a killer chicken. Pictures next week.
On to contests. I'm a busy man. I am a poor man. Nothing fancy here. All I'm doing is giving away a digital copy of each of my novellas, one "Dogs of War", one "King of the Merge", in any digital format you desire. Only $.99 at Amazon but a copy can be yours for free. If you are interested, just leave a comment on this post with your e-mail address. I want to know you're most embarrassing Halloween costume, or experience. Winners will be chosen the night of October 31, 2011, and winners will be announced the following day. If you're a horror fan and tired of the over the top gore and violence and yearn for the more psychological styles of King and Koontz, you may very well enjoy my works. And don't forget to follow my blog, Like me on Facebook (Bradley Convissar author), and follow me on Twitter (@bconvisdmd).
And don't forget to floss.
Hey, I'm a father and husband first, a dentist second, and then a writer. Hopefully one day I'll be able to flip those last two.
Hmm... In was about.. 8, dressed up as a butterfly [my costumes used to be my ballet recital costumes.] and as we entered the biiiiiiiig room, filled with stalls, people and candy... The shift of being outside in the cold to inside... I barfed. yep. Thrilling memory. The next year, or the year after, I also got lost. Did what no one said I could do. They had two HUGE rooms for people, and I managed to get out of one and into the other.
ReplyDeleteMy most embarrassing Halloween costume...well...I did have the skirt of my day of the dead costume rip up the back last year at a party. Damn those Target costumes! For me I think part of the beauty of Halloween is to dress up and not be embarrassed about it, just be a goofball. To cover the rip last year, I just shifted the apron. At least the Target costume planner included that apron :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Halloween and Happy Coffin Hop!
Julie
julie.jansen(at)yahoo(dot)com
Thanks to everyone that has shown interest so far. And on Tuesday, I'll be posting pictures of my daughter dressed as a killer chicken. Or a plain chicken, depending in whether or not my wife will let me put some fake blood on her beak!
ReplyDeleteMy most embarrassing costume happened right in the midst of my trick-or-treating as a vampire. My cape broke, I had to run home and get the only other "costume" I had....a Ninja Turtles mask. So I was a vampire ninja turtle, yeah, it sucked.
ReplyDeleteAt 6, I've put on thick make-up, a really bad wig, an old 50s dress too big for me and said I was my mother.
ReplyDeleteprettyprettyproductions (a) yahoo (dot) ca
Happy Halloween and blog hop:)
No embarrassing Halloween stories to share, I'm afraid, as we didn't celebrate it growing up in Malaysia. It's kind of taboo to want to celebrate and make merry on a day associated with the dead. But hey, I've been to a couple of Halloween parties here in the UK. Nothing embarrassing, but I'd like to share my favourite ever costume: not mine, but my friend's.
ReplyDeleteHe dressed up as a roadkill zombie, complete with tire-tracks on his T-shirt and painted on his face with a stencil! He even went as far as to chop off chunks of his hair for that undead scruffy look! The simplest but most effective costume ever!
J.C.
Coffin Hopper
Read my Coffin Hop post HERE
Okay kiddies, thanks to everyone who participated here. Very entertaining. Anyway, since I'm not giving away anything physical, and since I appreciate your interest, I've decided to just give away coupon codes here for my 2 novellas for everyone if they are interested. Please don't post these everywhere, please. Anyway, coupon code for Dogs of War is FZ76Z and it expires 12/1/11 and the code for King of the Merge is WE84T and that expires 11/9/11. If you decide to download and read either of these stories, I hope you enjoy them. And if you enjoy them, please, write a review at Amazon. I hope everyone had fun hopping around. Thanks.
ReplyDelete