The winner of the Halloween copy of INVITATION TO RUIN and the big block of Whittaker’s chocolate is Betty Hamilton. Email me at romance at bronwenevans dot com. Many thanks to everyone for stopping by.

Its Halloween Monday 31st October!  Yes – even in New Zealand we celebrate Halloween, although it’s less effective because it’s the start of summer here. We are on daylight saving time and therefore the children have to trick or treat in sunlight!

I remember my first Halloween.  I was five years old and living in America at the time. My father was studying for his PhD at Cornell University. My twin sister and I dressed up in identical outfits – little witches- and mum had made us a bag each, in the shape of a pumpkin.

We went door to door through the married quarters on campus, and I swear I received so much candy I was fully stocked to last me almost the whole year!  I remember having to go back home and empty my bag three times. That’s when I fell in love with America. Nothing as exciting, or as rewarding, in terms of yummy goodies, happened back home in New Zealand. Can you remember your first Halloween?

Most holidays commemorate or celebrate something. But what about Halloween? Until I decided to write this blog I actually never understood what Halloween celebrated. Do you know?

From the internet I managed to learn the word itself, “Halloween,” actually has its origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from the following of All Hallows Eve.  November 1, “All Hollows Day” (or “All Saints Day”), is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints.

It was believed on that day, the disembodied spirits of all those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. So on the night of October 31, villagers would extinguish the fires in their homes, to make them cold and undesirable. They would then dress up in all manner of ghoulish costumes (similar to today’s Halloween costumes) and noisily parade around the neighborhood, being as destructive as possible in order to frighten away spirits looking for bodies to possess.

In the 21^st century it’s simply a day to dress up and have some good old fashion family fun. We all need more of that. I don’t have any children, but I have a nine year old neice and I’m going to spend the night trick or treating with her. I shall even consent to dressing up as a witch! I have the nose for it.

To help get you in the mood for some Halloween fun, I’m giving away a copy of INVITATION TO RUIN along with a block of New Zealand made Whittaker’s Chocolate – the best chocolate in the world. I had the pleasure of meeting the Whittaker’s while on holiday in the South of France one year.

You can pick your favorite flavor. 

All you have to do is leave a comment telling me whose ballroom my hero, Anthony Craven, Lord of Wicked is in, at the beginning of Invitation to Ruin.

I’ll draw a winner on Sunday 30th october, 2011.

In my new paranormal series about Changelings, the Macleod family hails from northern Scotland. Halloween is a very different holiday over there, especially when our heroes James, Connor, Culley and their sibs were kids.

Samhain Bonfire

Halloween in the Highlands has its roots in Celtic traditions that are thousands of years old. It was the celebration of Samhain, the end of summer and the light half of the year, and the beginning of the dark half. Feasts were held and huge bonfires lit throughout the countryside. Samhain also marked a mystical time when the veil between worlds was very thin. The souls of the dead, the fairy folk, demons and evil spirits could all interact freely with humans. In many parts of Scotland, an empty chair and a plate of food was put out for the spirits of departed family, who were most likely to come calling during the hour before midnight.

Carved turnip or "tumshie"

Humans, of course, wanted to protect themselves from most otherworldly visitors. To keep the wandering souls and evil spirits away at this time of year, candles and lanterns were used. The bright orange jack o’lantern we know today began as a lowly garden turnip, rutabaga or even a large potato, carved with a frightening face and fill with an ember or two from the fire so it would glow. By the way, turnips are often called neeps in Scotland.

The Scottish tradition of guising – going in disguise – began as people used masks and ragged clothes to fool evil spirits into thinking the guisers were dead souls too! The guisers would often go door to door and were given gifts of food and other little offerings as a way of placating the unseen beings. Later, guisers often had to sing or perform a little dance before they received the goodies.

apple dookin

Outside of warding off evil, there was plenty of celebration at Samhain in Scotland. Games included biting at treacle-covered scones that were dangled on strings – with your hands behind your back and blindfolded as well. (Treacle is a sticky molasses-like syrup) This was followed up by bobbing for apples (called apple dookin in Scotland), another game where you can only use your teeth. Often, it was done by holding a fork between your teeth and catching the stem of the apple with it. And the water in the washtub was usually well-sprinkled with white flour, designed to stick to your treacle-covered face!  Games where the future was divined were very popular. An apple would be peeled in one long strip, and the peeling tossed backward over your shoulder. The shape of the fallen peeling would signify the first letter of a future spouse’s name.

Foretelling the future had its ominous sides too. For instance, after the village bonfire went out, the ashes were often swept into a circle and a large stone placed in the center by each family that lived there. If their stone was moved for any reason, it was said that someone in that family would soon die!

A grave in Scotland

Traditions changed in later centuries, helped along by the Catholic church which sought to replace pagan holidays with its own. Thus the Christian feast of All Saints was assigned to November 1^st, a day which honored all saints and especially those that didn’t have their own day devoted to them. The night before became known as All Hallows Eve – but the tradition that souls could wander on that night remained, and the lines between Samhain, Halloween and All Hallows became permanently blurred.

I like to think about my characters, the Macleods, living in northern Scotland a couple hundred years ago and celebrating Samhain in the old traditional ways. Would they utilize their special abilities as Changelings to run as wolves on that night? I can picture them being joined by friends and family, the Pack that they knew at the time. Perhaps they would meet in a special clearing in the great thick Caledonian forest and light their own bonfire.

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Giveaway – one commenter will be drawn at random to receive a Dani Harper book bag filled with swag. Draw will take place October 31, 2011 at high noon Eastern time and announced in the comments section of this blog.

Dani Harper's new shapeshifter series

October is here! I think the month is especially fun for those of us who write paranormals. At least where I live in the Pacific Northwest, October is the month of change, the month of flux. Summer is GONE. Winter has yet to appear. Leaves die and scatter with that cool creepy sound down the street. The moon seems bigger and has more to say. The days get shorter and the nights get longer…and the creatures come out to play.

Sure there’s Halloween, when we pretend to be someone we’re not. Superheroes, villains, femme fatales – it’s the one night you can wear something you’d NEVER wear to the next PTA meeting. But for one night…I get to be wonder woman. Bracelets and all.

Sure, November will be here before we know it. Snow will fall and nature will take a big breath in relief. Because the mystery of October disappears until the following year. But for now, the air is full of expectation and it’s a fabulous time to write. Anything seems not only possible but probable. So those of you who are writers, sit on down and create something wild. For those of you readers, find a good book, sit by a roaring fire and…lock your doors. Until November.

So, what’s your favorite part about October?

Happy Halloween! To celebrate, I’m giving away winner’s choice of my Brava backlist. Just tell me your favorite costume that you saw this year. Since the day is young, I’ll leave this open until Monday morning, when I’ll decide a winner.

Hope you have a hauntingly good time tonight! As for me, I’m herding my monsters around the neighborhood to get their tricks and treats. Our neighborhood goes all out for Halloween (like some do for the holidays) so there are plenty of haunted houses, giant blow-up pumpkins/Frankensteins/ghosts, and dead people popping out of caskets. Fun, scary stuff!