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All Hallows Read
Nov. 1st, 2011 11:45 amNeil Gaiman came up with the idea of "All Hallows Read." This is where, along with candy, you give out a scary book for Halloween. Most years, we are not actually home for Halloween. So, we just set out a big bowl of candy with a sign. It works well. The little kids come early and get candy. The big kids come by and clean out the bowl.
This year, we were home but it's game night… and nothing stops game night short of a missing gamer. So, thanks to a little help from my gaming group, who I told about All Hallows Read, we had a box of books from Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Richard Matheson and John Crichton. The first set was in plastic baggies with a business card sized flyer that included the URL of All Hallows Read.
While we were gaming, we could hear the kids come up to the door to get candy and about a third of them got really excited about the books. I mean, squeaky, screamy, yelly, "Mom, they're giving away books!" excited. That really thrilled me. Though, next year, I need to prepare better and get some for the younger crowd—Goosebumps, Lemony Snicket, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and the like.
The books went faster than expected. So, I grabbed extra copies of Close Encounters of the Urban Kind and Grants Pass for the book box. That disappeared. The third group of books I set out, didn't go. But that's because we set them out a little late.
I did not know how well the book giving would work and now I do. I need to spend part of the year scouring the used bookstores for good, cheap scary books for readers of all ages. I'm so pleased that it worked out and that we gave away at least 40 books last night.
This year, we were home but it's game night… and nothing stops game night short of a missing gamer. So, thanks to a little help from my gaming group, who I told about All Hallows Read, we had a box of books from Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Richard Matheson and John Crichton. The first set was in plastic baggies with a business card sized flyer that included the URL of All Hallows Read.
While we were gaming, we could hear the kids come up to the door to get candy and about a third of them got really excited about the books. I mean, squeaky, screamy, yelly, "Mom, they're giving away books!" excited. That really thrilled me. Though, next year, I need to prepare better and get some for the younger crowd—Goosebumps, Lemony Snicket, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and the like.
The books went faster than expected. So, I grabbed extra copies of Close Encounters of the Urban Kind and Grants Pass for the book box. That disappeared. The third group of books I set out, didn't go. But that's because we set them out a little late.
I did not know how well the book giving would work and now I do. I need to spend part of the year scouring the used bookstores for good, cheap scary books for readers of all ages. I'm so pleased that it worked out and that we gave away at least 40 books last night.