Halloween Roundup: Mystery, Suspense & All Things Spooktacular!

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Hehehe, Halloween has arrived! For the past two weeks, we have been working on an array of Halloween-related activities, and now that the actual day is here, we can finally take a look back at some of the most spine-chilling, hair-raising and blood-curdling things that everyone has been doing this past week, which also happened to be midterms week. Boo! (Pun intended).

Alice has finally published to her blog! Her second blog post is her own version of George's Marvellous Medicine, complete with doses of wine, human eyes, stinky socks and creepy crawlies. If you are thinking of cooking up a witch's brew this Halloween, click here for instructions on how you can remake Alice's Fantastic Medicine*.

Coco has written a spooky story about a sweet old lady who really was not so sweet...

Sandy, who loves scary stories, has started working on her own story about a group of teenage computer geniuses who hack for the state. One day when our protagonist was on a covert hacking mission, a mysterious message appears on the screen...

Selina and I spent some time last week reading some Edgar Allan Poe, the master of mystery and macabre and the inventor of detective fiction. After we explored themes of madness and guilt in The Tell-Tale Heart, we watched this excellently creepy UPA animation of the story.

On the note of detective fiction, Selina and I also started reading something a little more challenging but very, very exciting and mysterious and intelligent and wonderful and all the rest (Can you tell I'm a big fan?) – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tales of the eccentric yet fantastic consulting detective who lives on 221B Baker Street that is, none other than Sherlock Holmes himself. After reading The Red-Headed League, Selina has written her thoughts up in a post. Our next mystery will be A Study in Scarlet, as well as other Sherlock Holmes short stories. In the mean time, we have begun watching Sherlock, the BBC's wonderful modern adaptation of the stories and one of my favourite TV shows.

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Finally, we have been collectively working on a tale of mystery and suspense titled Rosebud. I did borrow the word from Citizen Kane but our story turned out quite differently, and thanks to the weird inner workings of the minds of everyone (myself included), much, much more scary. It is still a work-in-progress so keep an eyeball out for how the mystery unravels...

*We are in no way responsible for any injuries that may occur as a result of consuming the fantastic medicine. We also will not be able to help people clean up any vomit (or dead bodies).

Roald Dahl's Birthday & Life Lessons From His Novels

Last Friday (September 13) was the birthday of one of my and I know many of your all time favourite authors – Roald Dahl. He would have turned 97!

The Huffington Post published a piece wishing him a happy birthday with a list of eleven things that we can learn from his novels. Here are some highlights, all courtesy of the Huffington Post.

It's okay to be different

Many of Roald Dahl's protagonists are very different from the people around them. But characters like Matilda, Willy Wonka and James from James and the Giant Peach show us that our differences are what make us human – and quite extraordinary! Be true to yourself. Do what you love, love what you do, and you will find true happiness and success!

Reading is fundamentally important, and it can change your life

Matilda loves books because they transported her to all sorts of exciting new places and introduced her to all sorts of weird and wonderful people. Books are incredibly powerful, and they will change your life. To quote Dr. Seuss, "Oh, the place you'll go!"

It's important to be independent

While our families are probably all a lot nicer than Matilda's, it is important to know that there will be times when people will not be there to support us. Sometimes, people will let you down. While this can be heartbreaking, it teaches us that we need have the ability to be okay with doing things (and having fun!) alone.

Appearances can be deceiving

The BFG is a big and friendly giant, while the witches are "demons in human form." These novels warn us against judging a book by its cover, teaching us to look at other's characters rather than their appearances.

You can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it 

Look at the marvellous things that Roald Dahl's characters achieve in his novels! Roald Dahl would have wanted us to know that with determination, anything is possible. Just like my favourite actress Audrey Hepburn said, "Nothing is impossible, the word itself says I'm possible!"

Sometimes, dreams do come true

Charlie never thought in a million years he would have a chance to win a golden ticket and Matilda never thought she would get away from her horrid family. Luckily – spoiler alert – their dreams come true! Don't stop believing!

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What's your favourite Roald Dahl book?