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FEATURED
AUTHOR
- LESLEY PRATT BANNATYNE
 Lesley Pratt Bannatyne is an American author who writes
extensively on the subject of Halloween, especially its history,
literature, and contemporary celebration.
As one of the nation's foremost authorities on
Halloween, Lesley Bannatyne has shared her vast
knowledge of the holiday by contributing to the World
Book Encyclopedia entry for Halloween, has appeared in
numerous television specials including the 1997 History Channel (A&E) documentary
“The Haunted History of Halloween” and will be featured
in the update, “The (new) Haunted History of Halloween”,
scheduled for release in 2010.
She is
currently writing, "Halloween Nation. Behind the Scenes of America’s Fright
Night", set for publication in 2011.
You can visit her web site here |
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Halloween: An American Holiday, An American History.
The fastest-growing holiday in America may now
claim its very own definitive history. Discover
the fascinating and diverse origins of the
traditions, celebrations, and superstitions
surrounding All Hallow's Eve in the only book
that tells the whole story.
Halloween, which began more than 2,000 years ago
in ancient Druidic and pagan celebrations, has
drawn from the traditions of various American
ethnic groups to evolve into its modern
incarnation.
Young readers and adults alike will
enjoy learning the odd facts about pumpkins,
witches, and ghosts. |
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A
Halloween How-To: Costumes, Parties, Decorations and
Destinations.
In this entertaining romp, Bannatyne discusses
Halloween trends past and present, dissecting
such fun topics as costumes, recipes, movies,
parties, myths and expeditions (Salem or bust!).
She even closes with an up-to-the-minute chapter
on "what's next" in Halloween observance.
(According to the author, disguising yourself as
a pillowcase ghost is so very last year, but you
can't go wrong with classic monsters such as
vampires and witches.)
Bannatyne also addresses
some of the myths surrounding Halloween.
Bannatyne claims, for example, that the
razor-blades-in-apples-scare is merely an urban
legend with no basis in fact. |
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A
Halloween Reader. An Anthology of Poems, Stories and
Plays.
Spooky writing for a literary celebration.
This anthology contains the works of writers
from the sixteenth to the early twentieth
centuries who evoke the night to set a scene,
twist a plot, or explain something inexplicable,
like madness or time travel.
Here is Halloween as it was imagined: a joyous
time for games and storytelling, a portentous
time to make amends and wishes, a solemn time to
remember the dead. Included are the works of
Robert Burns, H. P. Lovecraft, William Butler
Yeats, James Joyce, and many more. |
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Witches’ Night before Halloween.
A group of witches prepares the nearby town for
the visit of their offspring on Halloween. They
decorate the buildings with cobwebs and dribble
green slime down "every porch stair." Of course,
lots of black bats, newts and spiders figure
into their plans.
With visions of moist, creeping things in their
heads" their parents happily call on ghosties,
skeletons, zombies, and banshees to help with
the preparations. They even take rather
strikingly-depicted photographs of their antics
before they head home to rouse the sleeping
witchlings, who are exhorted to fly off "toward
the just-risen moon." Of course, the story ends
with the young witches' exhortation: "Happy
Halloween to all and to all a good fright!" |
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