Spooky Scares: Scary Stories Spectacular! IT'S A FRIGHTFEST!

Welcome, my prey, the Wake Up at Seven's first annual FRIGHTFEST!

And without furthur ado, Kaede presents:

Ah yes, the beauty of a story that can scare the shit out of you. I was never fond of them. *laughs*

So why did I decide to torment myself by reading all different kinds of scary books, from the ones with only spiders and bugs crawling around in a few scenes to the ones where murders and death are a common thing, you may ask.

Because of you.

Yes, you. You there who made me read scary books to review during Halloween. Yes, all of you who requested these scary books to be read that I absolutely just can't stomach. So I altered your request slightly - just slightly! And the result? A FRIGHTFEST! Oh yeah, that's right. So this is the product of certain people - I'm not naming names - constant bugging about reading a semi-scary book because apparently if I don't, I'm a chicken. *shakes head*

Whatever. Not like I care... pfft.

So this is how it's gonna work. This little post today will be longggggggggg. No point avoiding saying that. But I'll make it easy on you (see how much I love you people? And all I get in return is mean friends trying to force me to read Stephen King's scariest book written. *huffs*). This post will be split up into different sections, and at the very end, well I have everyone's favorite thing. A giveaway! Oh yeah, that's right. Kaede is gonna stop being a cheapo now...mostly. More to come on that later, my friend.

First, we must move on to the first section of this Festival of Fright. Which is...

Death and His Prey! Halloween Themed Interviews with Awesome People! 



Unfortunately, since this was kind of a last minute thing, I didn't have much of a chance to ask anyone to participate. So I truly appreciate the awesome people (hence the title) who put in the time to respond and answer my questions.

So who do I have for you guys today?

I have participation from my ridiculously nice best friends Aria & Lily and fellow anime fanatic Kristina!

ARIA:

Kaede: What is your favorite thing to do during Halloween?

Aria: Egg Kaede someone. That's always fun. [Insert Kaede rolling her eyes here.]

K: Favorite paranormal creature?

A: Vampires! EDWARDDDD!!! Only bad thing is that he sparkles. Bleh! Vampires aren't suppose to sparkle! >_<

K: Top three favorite scary books or movies? You can do a combination of both, or one.

A: Number three is a movie: Night of the Living Dead. Two and One are books: And then there were none and all the Goosebump books. Oh those where classics. And no, I did not cheat by saying all the Goosebump books. I DENY YOUR ACCUSATION.

K: Currently reading any horror, love?

A: Because Ten was soo good, I'm reading Possess by the same author, who is Gretchen McNeil! Check her outt! She's awesome.

 Thank you Aria! And of course, she has me to thank for recommending her Ten by Gretchen McNeil, which is in fact, pretty damn awesome.

LILY!

Kaede: Scariest Halloween experience?

Lily: There was a time when I was 4 and I was playing in the attic with my brother and then suddenly he disappeared. Since I was young I got really scared and started running down the stairs. Then my stupid brother appeared behind me and yelled FREAKING, "BOO!". I'm pretty sure I started crying. Not that you're sharing this answer. :l

Kaede: Do you believe in ghosts?

Lily: Hell to the no. What am I? 2? And if I did, I have mom to blame for telling me all those scary stories when I was really small.

K: Do you watch scary movies often?

L: Nah. Only when there are people over who want to. And since KAEDE *glares* NEVER wants to because she's too scared to *rolls eyes*, I rarely do. But I do love them!

K: Do you enjoy doing any traditions during Halloween that don't include teasing me and trying to strap me to a chair while you play a horror movie that runs for like 5 hours of plain torture?

L: Haha. Well, I have to say, other than craving pumkins, N-O. Cause teasing you is the funniest thing to do.

Ah well, thank you Lily! Guys, ignore her! She's rude and mean! -_-

And last but certainly not least,

KRISTINA:

Kristina has a Goodreads account, which you can find here.

Kaede: Are you huge on the creepy?

Kristina: It depends! I luv trick or treating but I can't go near any house that has any sort of bug deco. cause I'm really scared of them!

K: Favorite scary book?

Kristina: I just finished Velveteen and it was AMAZINGGGGG!!:D So I'd say that one.

K: Do you have any Halloween traditions?

Kristina: Does trick-or-treating count? Becuz I have to do that or it's not really Halloween for me!! It doesn't matter how old I am! :D

Thanks so much Kristina for participating! And yes, trick-or-treating does count. I used to love taking all the candy from people.

Well, that was that, now on to the next segment!

So I've read quite a few scary books over the course of this month. And I've read some pretty good ones, some dude-this-freaking-blew-me-away ones, and ones that were...not so blew-me-away. And I realize I can't review them all here. So what I decided to do is give some excerpts and quotes from the book or reviews you can expect coming in these next two weeks. Books are organized from level of enjoyment starting from the lowest rating - Indentured servant.

INDENTURED SERVANTS {3 stars}:

Damn right, that board is empty. All books I've read for the FRIGHTFEST! this month were FOUR stars and UP. I'd say October was a fangtastic (DO NOT roll your eyes) reading month.

THE CROWN PRINCESSES {4 stars}:

Here lies the four star books written by female authors.

*RATINGS MAY CHANGE*



DAMN THIS BOOK. Why must you be so good, book? I'm 99% certain this will be a 5 star review when the day ends. IT WAS SO. SO. GOOD! DJ;ADAS.

“Naughty John, Naughty John, does his work with his apron on. Cuts your throat and takes your bones, sells 'em off for a coupla stones.”

This book wasn't as scary as I had originally planned it to be. But it was still kinda creepy and I did need to read it with the lights completely on at night. Plus, the scene when Anna's first introduced. OH MY GOD. *shivers*

“Move, hunt, kill. Like lather, rinse, and repeat.” 

Yet another book that'll probably be bumped up to a five, if not a 4.5. The first half was the shit, yo. The second half was not as good, but still freaking amazing. As expected from Michelle Hodkin. However, there were multiple scenes in which I wanted to load up twitter and ask Michelle, "Uhm, where here the heck did this come from exactly?" That's not a bad thing, by the way... ._.

"We are far too screwed up for a goddamned love triangle.”

CROWN PRINCE {4 stars}:

Here lies the prince of this year's FRIGHTFEST event! Ladies and gentlemen, may I present:

“She walks a tightrope between psycho and smokin'.”

Ah, this book, this book. What can I say other than the fact that it was flipping awesome. Should I push this up to a 5 too? I'm thinking it's more of a really high four though. Perhaps 4.5. After reading this book, if I get to meet Velveteen there, I'd happily visit purgatory. Okay, well, maybe not happily.... But I'm forced to live in purgatory forever, and Velveteen's there, I could always make her and Nick be my BFFs FOREVER and I'd be able to get my happily ever after. But I'd need to tie them down first, though. Cause I don't think this idea would sit well with Velveteen. Anyone got rope?

THE KING {5 STARS}:

See this month, there were so many possible choices I could've made. But this book, this one, made it impossible for me to select another book to fill this spot. And that's when I knew I had to give it the big prize.

With utmost pleasure, I present to you, my friends, a book that will change everything:

“You think I tell you stories to teach you lessons? the monster said. You think I have coming walking out of time and earth itself to teach you a lesson in niceness?”

Oh, Patrick Ness. How you never disappoint. I expected something amazing out of this book, and boy did I get it. I really didn't realize what I signed up for when I sat down three days ago and cracked open the first page. A Monster Calls isn't a long book, with stunning and haunting artwork woven through the stories, filling up multiple pages. And really, there isn't much I can say that hasn't been said about this fantastic work of literature. I think A Monster Calls is a book that can sell itself simply by being in your hands. Just take a look at what awaits within the pages, I encourage you:

A Monster Calls is written with a young audience as it's primary target. But it's written in the way that the respective work of J.K. Rowling and Roald Dahl are, where the surface provides a compelling story, but underneath it all, it tales the tale of loneliness and uncertainty and how a young child tries to cope with it all.

CURRENTLY READING:

 

OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. DUDE. You know how you're certain you found your soulmate in the realm of fictional male characters. Well you're WRONG. Cause if your choice isn't Jeb, you obviously...well...I don't know what's wrong with you. *sequel* JEBJEBJEBJEBJEB. He really brings me back to all those times I annoyed my mom with questions to why I still don't have a big brother. And even now, I crave a big brother. And Jeb's character provides me with all I need to satisfy that yearning. THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD. PUT IT ON YOUR PRE-ORDER LIST. I'd make this Queen of all books today but I'm not quite yet finished. I must savor this book, since I believe it isn't a series. *grumbles in disbelief*





And that ends that! One more segment before the giveaway I know you are all so interested in seeing, if you didn't already skip to the bottom, that is.

So what's the last event?

A GAME of course. Duh. Because what's a festival without a game? Especially a FRIGHT festival. So how this game works is simple. I have two contestants here, the ever so lovely Hailey and Kristina. And as judges, we have Aria, Lily, and me (of course)! What one of the judges is gonna do is give a sentence, and our two contestants have to come up with a book that they believe is most fitting to the sentence's meaning. Sounds easy? It's really not. Especially since Aria is the world's strictest judge.

"One by one, away they go, off to some place yet unknown." - Kaede



Only one choice here. Both contestants chose the same book.

"Go," said the ghost. "Death today does not suit my taste." - Lily

 
  



The Space Between - Hailey
Anna - Kristina

"Oh, sticks and stones may break my bones but chains and whips excite me." - Aria





Kristina's choice



Hailey's choice

After careful precision, the judges have come to the conclusion that Kristina is the winner! Our sincerest apologizes to Hailey, as what Aria did have in mind for her part was in fact Twilight and she was ridiculously impressed that you were able to guess it. However Kristina did manage to perfectly score Lily's too, and have a very close guess for Aria's. But Lily apparently never heard of The Space Between. *sigh* Sorry Hailey! You were so close! Mine? I was going for the more modern version of And Then There Were None, which is Ten by Gretchen McNeil.

You were awesome, Hailey. Really.

Congratulations Kristina! You won a signed copy of Across the Universe by Beth Revis! I'll be contacting you shortly after this.

Lots of thanks to everyone who was able to participate in Wake Up at Seven's first annual FRIGHTFEST! We hope you enjoyed.

And of course, I can't leave without presenting the giveaway!



So what can you win?

What better than a scary book to celebrate Halloween?

All you need to do is comment down below, tell me you'd like to be entered in the giveaway, and tell me about your most anticipated 2013 release. Also, please remember to leave your GFC follower name. As these giveaways, and this post, was crafted just for my awesome followers and readers. Not that you're not awesome. I'm sure you are.

Also remember to leave an email address where I can reach you if you'd like to be entered in the giveaway! Also, if you are 13 years old or younger, please have a parent's permission. And no cheating, please. If worse comes to worse, I will track IP numbers. Cheaters never prosper!

So the giveaway...

You can win any of the books mentioned above. However, if you chose the Diviners, it'll have to be my personal ARC copy. So if you don't like ARCs, best chose another option.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS U.S. ONLY!

Winner will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen.

**GIVEAWAY ENDS: NOVEMBER 13TH!**

*EXTRA ENTRIES*

With your comment it's one automatic entry.
If you were one of the awesome people who participated in today's FRIGHTFEST, you get another free extra entry.
 But if you tweet this post and link back to it in your comment that's another plus one.
And if you can tell me who sang this song:




"...Comin' down with goosebumps!
You dared to go there
Ima-Ima get you so scared."







That's FIVE bonus entries.

Good luck and have a Happy Halloween!

Kaede out.