My absolute favorite night of the year has come and gone once again. Haunted Holidays took place on November 9th at the Brazos Bookstore. Literary artists gather together on this night to share their own scary spooky stories about any of the fall and winter holidays. To me the scary season begins with Halloween and doesn’t end until New Years. This year there were several poems and essays about the election. Yep, many consider that to be one of the scariest nights of the year! I had the honor to host the event and dressed up in my scariest finest formal clothing for the evening.
Of course, my skeleton friends were in attendance. They always enjoy a good scary story. There were nine of them who sat amongst the audience and visited with the other attendees.
The following people participated in this event: Jere Pfister, Denise Bossarte, Katherine McDaniel, Jean King, Margo Toombs (who also read a selection by Rebecca Chirak), Dedra Murchison, Laura Pena, Sandi Stromberg and yours truly. One of the scariest stories was written by Katherine McDaniel. She told us a tale of living in a haunted house and everything was based on actual events! EEK! Of course I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to thank Melody Locke who served as our cinematographer. She has posted a video of all of the writers and poets on YouTube. Check it out at https://www.youtube.com/@wivlahouston5821.
And as always, many many thanks to the Brazos Bookstore and the Houston Writers Guild.
Here is a picture of all of the people who read their literary creations at the Haunted Holidays event:
Please try to remember to join us next year for Haunted Holidays 2025!
Until next time.….
“cool kids”. Most of the classes took place in the Boulder Book Store which means I returned home with more books than I started out with. And since this was before the pandemic, I could run around the bookstore with wild abandon looking at as many examples of the printed word as possible. It was a great trip. Since that summer, I have continued to attend Max Regan’s Exciting Summer Writing Intensives. Zoom is not as exciting as streaking around a bookstore in person, but it works. This summer I will be joining again via computer technology. The good part is that there are other writers here in the Houston area and we plan on meeting together for zoom classes and writing sessions. Don’t worry, if we need a bookstore fix, there is always Brazos Bookstore just a mile or two down the road.
I’m relaxing this week and for good reason. Another successful presentation of Haunted Holidays Readings at Brazos Bookstore has come and gone. If you missed it you have two options. You can go to 
As you can see the skeletons who participated this year are quite tired and taking a bit of a rest. You might notice that this year Barbie was able to join in the fun. This was in addition to all of the other spooky guests. Once again this year, my good friend, Jim, served as the Chief roadie and skeleton wrangler. He made sure all skeletons made it to the event on time and then landed back home safely. I think we only lost one sock in the process. Also, Sabina Gartler (Sister WiVLA Member) helped with additional decorations. Finally, thanks to all of the wonderful members of WiVLA and the Houston Writers Guild for joining in with their creative talents. It takes a village to pull off a well organized Haunting. Much gratitude to everyone.
Of course, there will not be a lot of time for rest. There are other holidays to consider, but for me and my skeletons, the stress level goes way down. This fine fellow volunteered to be our official Turkey Day mascot. My official Thanksgiving plans include going to Govinda’s for a vegetarian Holiday dinner with all the trimmings. Yes, I actually like Tofu Turkey!!! I will bring enough home to share with my skeleton crew. It’s the least I can do.
Just because Halloween isn’t here yet, that doesn’t mean we aren’t getting ready. And by that I mean not only humans. I was visited this past week by a group of skeletons fleeing the rising waters in other parts of the country. Also, they wanted a warm, dry spot where they could gather and catch up on their studies. Apparently now there is an invisible sign over my home that reads, “Ellen’s Skeleton Hostel and Tea House”. Of course, that sign may change if other creatures need to find respite to prepare for the upcoming holidays.
Now, back to my skeleton visitors. As you can see they all gathered together for a long study session the other evening. They brushed up on spells, potions, magic brews and sorcery. There is a Book of Fright and a Book of Charms. All in all it’s a lot to cover, but they’ll have it all down by All Hallows Eve. Right now everyone is practicing and studying here in my home. Around the middle of September it will be time for them to move outside and practice their magic skills on the balcony and around the neighborhood.
Sometimes one of the older skeletons will work on a special project and have one of the younger crew assist him. That is what is going on here with the typewriter and extra books that are being closely studied. You may not have realized that in addition to magical skills, there are some skeletons that have impressive intellectual skills. They write the books for other creatures like themselves to learn from. Just like any science, there is always more to know. They have visited several black holes and are very impressed with the amount of knowledge humans are gathering on that topic. The skeletons can’t wait until you learn some more.
Of course after a long day of studying, writing, and practicing, all good skeletons deserve a little time to rest and refresh. Sometimes it’s nice just to sit back and chat with friends. They listen to music, but really don’t have much use for television. In their invisible state they can go to the movies and theater. Just the other day they went to the Symphony and heard their favorite piece, Danse Macabre.
bar”, pardon me, I know they don’t actually have any bellies, but you get my drift. They can enjoy a refreshing beverage. How do they do that you might ask? They don’t drink as you and I do, but they love aromas. Chamomile relaxes them and coffee wakes them up. Any kind of alcohol makes them tipsy so they tend to avoid it.
I don’t know about you, but I have been watching the news lately. There are a couple of stories I am following, but still too much of the serious stuff is not good for my mental health. So, this week I have taken the time to enjoy all of the great pictures that are coming from the Webb Telescope. More and more of them keep getting shared on the internet. I hope you have enjoyed them as well. Folks are having lots of fun with them on Facebook. This is one of my favorites. It really helps me put all of my earthly worries into perspective.
I also like this other picture. I have suggested to Fern Brady that there is a dragon in there. Think about how much fun science fiction writers can have with a dragon that flies around from one universe to another. Maybe this is the reincarnation of Puff the Magic Dragon of the song that was released by Peter, Paul and Mary in 1963. I’ll just bet Puff lives on a planet called Honah Lee. Excuse me if you are not old enough to get the reference. Check out the song on Google or YouTube. I promise you will be enchanted.
Yes, I am very excited about this holiday tradition and have been writing and rewriting what I hope will be a fun story to share. My muse has been busy assisting me on this project. You may recognize this particular character. He was also my Halloween muse and will probably continue in this helpful position as New Year’s muse and Spring muse. As I am sure you know, skeletons aren’t just for Halloween anymore. If I’m really nice to my muse, he has promised that I can wear his hat for the Spooky Christmas zoom.
my favorite hair dresser, Carol Cooley. Ever since the beginning of the pandemic, she has arranges Porch Cuts, which in this case is actually a garage cut. Wherever is fine with me. I’m just glad she is able to work out this arrangement with her clients, because she has quite the dedicated following. For anyone who hasn’t seen me since the pandemic changed everyone’s life, I no longer have bangs. And my hair is going “gorgeously grey” as they say. I feel like I am coming more into my own as my hair gets long and grey. I let it blow in the wind and don’t even try to pretend it’s under control. Such freedom and fun. You can decide for yourself if it’s a good look and tell me your opinions after Spooky Christmas. I promise I won’t change a thing, but will enjoy reading your opinions.
