Time to Dismember September

Already the end of September?!While we are all looking forward to the month of Halloween's reign-the end of this month means the beginning of having to put away all the trappings of summer- beginning with all our summer lawn embellishments, along with salvaging whatever unripe tomatoes the dastardly squirrels have yet to mess with (time for the old "brown paper bag" ripening trick) and preparing one's home for (gasp) cooler weather! At least some nice sunshine and the beginnings of the fall colors emerging makes it a little more palatable. Winding things up also means finally finishing a book I've been getting through gradually from late summer- that I would recommend to fans of horror short stories. I actually picked up this book while on an all-too-brief vacation- and it is appropriately titled "Summer Chills"! It's an anthology of short horror stories that all center around vacation trips, edited by Stephen Jones. I'm a big fan of short stories- they're great for casual reading, in that you can hit the book before bedtime, and get through a whole story. To be honest- the danger of reading these anthologies is- some of the stories you'll really get into- and some you won't- but, that's the risk you take. It's less of a risk when there are authors you know- for instance, in this one, Clive Barker and Harland Ellison- but you also get surprises from names you may not be familiar with. I've got about three stories to go, but among the favorites so far- a couple goes to a remote Greek island and finds that their "landlord" is adding something to the water that makes the old travel saying "don't drink the water" a dire warning- a "boy detective" story written in an archaic style that is pretty funny, but includes a bizarre terror from a pit- a frightening tale of a traveler wanting to be one with nature who gets the chance- and regrets it -and a vacation cabin where a previous tenant who died intends to lure any new occupant to a similar fate. It's a lot of reading entertainment that I got for only a dollar- a good find at a small antique and/or junk shop. I need to finish the book while I still have some time, before my busy Halloween season gets kicked up a notch. I have my worries about the local baseball season not making it much past September-and regret having only made it to one of our ballparks ONCE this summer- only to have the game cancelled due to rain. And so, September winds up- but- as I said- leads us to October. I thought that, this year,since we haven't done anything like this in the past couple years, maybe we can do a "Halloween Horror of the Day" deal here in the Sven blog- each day of October, I'll find a movie monster- well-known or obscure- that will be dubbed the official "Halloween Horror" of that day! For some, it will be a nice reminder of a favorite fright- for others, it could be an introduction to something gruesome that they've never encountered.So, we'll get 31 monsters to inhabit the Sven blogs for the upcoming month- in there along with the latest on my public appearance tour and other Halloween happenings. With all that September stuff being put away-that also means we need to start bringing out the Halloween gear! For me, it's a bit early to start choosing pumpkins, though I see them all over the place (I know- if you don't carve them yet, they'll last- well, maybe- any slight imperfection could make that pumpkin a fragrant science project by the time the 31st arrives!)And- wouldn't the nice warm days coming up this week be PERFECT for starting to put up those dreadful decorations?!