HAVE A HALLOW-READ
Sunday, October 29, 2006 7:05 AM PST
Terri Schlichenmeyer special to the argus
The weather is cooler. The nights are much, much longer. The trees are naked and when the wind howls through the branches just so, it can send a chill right down your spine.
Hm. Must be time for Halloween, and these books will also send shivers down your backbone.
When the doorbell rings at your house Tuesday night, the tall guy in the fur costume might not be an extraordinarily large kid. It could be Bigfoot.
In the new book “Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science” by Jeff Meldrum (Forge, $27.95), you'll read about the Big Guy, where he's been seen, who's snapped pictures of him, and whether or not he really exists.
And if he rings your doorbell on Halloween night, it's advisable to be generous.
Everywhere you go, there are ghosts. Comforting thought, no? In the new book “Haunted Lives” by Jeff Belanger (New Page Books, $14.99), you'll read a series of interviews with everyday people who've seen spirits in unusual places. And if that doesn't scare you enough, “Ghosts of the World” by Susan Smitten (Lone Pine, $11.95) will take you on a terrifying trip around the world with spectres and spirits and things that go bump in the castle.
If you've got email, you've probably seen pictures of pets in costume; there are several forwards going around. Some pets love Halloween. Others just like to bark at the door.
If the late Max or the long-gone Samantha loved October 31st, you might just get a visit this week from a doppelganger dog or a frightening feline. In the book “Pet Ghosts” by Joshua P. Warren (New Page Books, $14.99), you'll read about visitations from beyond the creepy kennel.
So, okay. You scoff at Halloween. Ghosts don't exist, you say. Bigfoot is a guy in a hairy suit, the Loch Ness Monster is a log, and a werewolf is a very talented German Shepherd. There is no such thing as a banshee or a haunting and only wimps get scared. Why not get into the spirit of things anyhow with a book about real dead people? In “Postmortem: How Medical Examiners Explain Suspicious Deaths” by Stefan Timmermans (University of Chicago Press, $30.00), you'll read some things that will make even the most hardened skeptic shiver on a dark and stormy night.
After the trick-or-treaters are gone this Halloween, turn off the lights, grab one or all of these books and try to ignore the scratching on the window. It's only one of the naked trees and the howling of the wind.
Or is it? Happy Halloween!
