Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Celebrating Halloween with Daniel Waters + Break My Heart 1,000 Times

 

Happy Halloween Everyone! I'm very excited today to turn the blog over to young adult author Daniel Waters who's going recount for us some of his most memorable Halloween costumes as a part of the promotional tour for his latest release Break My Heart 1,000 Times, complete with a truly spectacular visual aid at the bottom of the post. Win. Welcome to Supernatural Snark Daniel!

I thought I would wrap up the Break My Heart 1,000 Times blog tour with something a little lighthearted, so here is a recollection of a few Halloween costumes I have worn: 

1.  BATMAN 
This is the first costume I can remember trick or treating with, when I was five or six. The costume was plastic, and had one of those stiff plastic masks that were held on your head by a thin rubber band. A mask like that was the costume de rigueur in the suburban development where I grew up. They held in the heat, and the little breathing slits at the nostrils and mouth were insufficient to permit airflow, so invariably one would snap the band of one's mask ripping it off just at the point it became unbearable. Batman was my favorite superhero, and likely I wore the costume, maskless, for months after Halloween was over as I battled crime. 

2. SPOOKY GHOST 
The first improvised costume I remember wearing was the classic simple white sheet with eyeholes, which for reasons unknown and unremembered I decided to wear with one of my grandfather's fedoras. A necktie, too. "Ghost with Hat and Tie" like some Dadaist statement. I think I was eight. There are many, many ghosts in Break My Heart 1,000 Times, but I can't remember if any is wearing a hat. If so, I hope it is a fedora. 


3.  AXE MURDERER
Sadly, I have little memory of the rest of my trick or treating costumes in the remaining years, except for the year my beagle escaped and I lost my vampire cape chasing her down. But I do remember the last year I walked the neighborhood, because two of my friends and I wore the same "costumes"; we wore paper bags on our heads and carried axe handles. We didn't go door to door for candy, we just walked around looking ominous. A fireman patrolling the neighborhood asked us if the axe handles were really necessary, and I, as head bagman/spokesperson said, "Of course–would you be scared if we just had bags on our heads?" But in retrospect, I think we were just being jerks. I'm sure we were frightening to little kids and parents alike, but for the wrong reasons and in an inappropriate way. Our costumes violated the spirit of spooky fun that Halloween is supposed to be for little kids. We should have dressed up as something more amusing, like evil clowns. 

4.  GHOSTBUSTER 
I remember wearing this to school when I was in high school. Bill Murray was and is one of my heroes. My costume was a ghostbusters t-shirt, camo pants and for my Proton Pack I carried a very large and very old steampunk-looking spray canister that may or may not still have contained traces deadly insecticide. I've no doubt that if I was attending school today I would be sent home immediately, and rightfully so. The costume looked pretty cool, but was definitely a tactical error, as it weighed about fifty pounds and the kids on the already overcrowded public school already hated me because I went to Catholic school. Veronica and Kirk, in a way, are ghostbusters in BMH1kx but they don't carry around any bulky steampunk gear. Maybe in the sequel. 

5.  THAT ROAD WARRIOR GUY 
See below for the only known photo of me in a Halloween costume–this was probably junior or senior year of high school. Football pads, my Clash Combat Rock "Straight to Hell" t-shirt (my version of rebellion in Catholic school), unstrung plastic bow and sporty bandana. That's my real hair in a mohawk, too–mom was a hairdresser. She sprayed the heck out of my hair and it stood up all day through the slit I made in a bald head wig. I was obsessed with the movie the Road Warrior, and my costume is meant to be The Humungus's main henchman. His name is Wez. He's the guy whose blond boyfriend was hit in the head and killed by a boomerang, which has got to rank as one of the most ignominious film deaths ever, especially since said boomerang was flung by Feral Kid and not "Mad Max" Rockatansky himself. I was too ignorant at the time to realize that boomerang guy was Wez's boyfriend; I just thought he was his pal in post-apocalyptic mayhem. As pretty much everyone else at my school was ignorant of the Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior movie and the existence of Wez, this little factoid passed without comment. Thank you, Julie Mei, for preserving this haunting memory of me as Wez!

(I made this picture nice and large for all to enjoy. No thanks required Daniel) ;-)

More information on Daniel and his books can be found here:

BREAK MY HEART 1,000 TIMES

Living in the aftermath of the Event means that seeing the dead is now a part of life, but Veronica wishes that the ghosts would just move on. Instead, the ghosts aren't disappearing--they're gaining power.
 
When Veronica and her friend, Kirk, decide to investigate why, they stumble upon a more sinister plot than they ever could have imagined. One of Veronica's high school teachers is crippled by the fact that his dead daughter has never returned as a ghost, and he's haunted by the possibility that she's waiting to reappear within a fresh body. Veronica seems like the perfect host. And even if he's wrong, what's the harm in creating one more ghost?

32 comments:

  1. *giggles* That is freaking hilarious and the picture is priceless! Not only is the costume pretty much made of awesome, but the ... posture is made of perfection! I really have to check this book!

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    1. Right? I may have snorted when it showed up in my inbox. Awesome:)

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  2. Wow, I love this post. Quite entertaining!! The author has a sense of humor & some style! ;) :D
    The book sounds promising.. do you recommend it?

    Addie @ READioactive Book Blog

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    1. So glad you enjoyed it! And I agree it does sound super promising:) I haven't read it yet, it's on my list for the near future!

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  3. LOVE the "Road Warrior Guy" costume -- and when I saw the picture, I flashed on that character hanging on the side of a truck, his tongue out and crazy eyes! Fabulous.

    *sighs* My costumes were so uncreative, it's not even funny.

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    1. Mine too. I was usually part of a larger group because I could never come up with anything good on my own. A group of us were always things like football players or witches.

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  4. This is such a funny post Daniel and Jenny! I had a right laugh at your costumes over the years and especially that photo! Thanks for sharing this with us! :)

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    1. I love that photo. It just makes me happy:)

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  5. Haha. Love this post. That picture is awesome. I kind of miss getting dressed up for Halloween....it was always so much fun! Oh, and I love Ghostbusters too...who didn't in the 80's?! Happy Halloween, Jenny!

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    1. I'm a Ghostbuster girl too, I can't even tell you how many times I've watched those movies. The dog at the end of the first one used to terrify me!

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  6. I totally did the box costume with the plastic outfit and mask with the string. I thought I was the coolest kid parading in that. *facepalm*

    I've heard that this book is scary as hell so I might have to read it with the light on.

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    1. I've heard the same, so I'm trying to work myself up to reading it. I scare way too easily:)

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  7. I love you and miss you. Happy Halloween. That is all.

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  8. Seeing the dead after the Event reminds me of the Shifter series. Not that I've read the books just the sypnosis hehehehe. Which reminds me, I should totally get back to that series. Anyway, what a funny post! Brave man is the author!

    Thanks for sharing this with us, Jenny :D

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    1. You're welcome Gellie! Glad you enjoyed it:)

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  9. Hahahaha @ a ghost with a fedora and a necktie. That's a sight I would have loved to see. Love this guest post! Guest posts are always such a joy to read. And thanks for enlarging that picture, Jenny ;) Happy Halloween, Dear!

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  10. Oh my! You go girl! FABulous post!

    My favorite costume memory:
    Strawberry Shortcake

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  11. Reading this post brings back memories of my old Halloween costumes. I totally understand about the batman mask with the eye and nose holes because I had one just like that when I was a kid except mine's was a Lisa Simpson one LOL.

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  12. Cute picture :) I haven't had a chance to read any book by Daniel, but I am interested. And this book sounds like I will enjoy it. Nice post :)

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  13. Love that old school picture. This brought back memories of this plastic masks with the elastic bands and small nose holes and mouth slits. I remember sticking my tongue through those small mouth slits. Those old school makes in the 70s and 80s were pretty u comfortable. I was Bernard from the Rescuers one year and my plastic ear kept banging on the doors. Remember the flimsy fabric bodies that came with the masks?Ahh...Halloween. Loved the picture!Happy Halloween, Jenny!

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  14. What a fun post! LOVE the pic. Good thing all pics were destroyed when I was young. DESTROYED I tell ya. :D

    This post is full of WIN.

    Happy Halloweenie!

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  15. Dang, those are some kick-butt costumes! I feel so lame with my princess, diva, tavern-lady, gypsy costumes now...but that's SO cool! I'm getting my brother to be a axe-murderer next year! ;) (KIDDING!) Awesome post! :D

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  16. Lol, awesome pic ;)
    SInce we do not have Halloween, I have not funny ones, sad and lucky, lol

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  17. DUDE the teacher sounds wicked in a Buffy Teacher kind of way (like the one that was going to eat Zander and all the other male virgins). I bet it is a kick ass story :)

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  18. What a fabulous post! That picture is just screaming to be made your twitter/Facebook profile pic, Daniel. At that size, preferably. :)

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  19. Hmm...a ghost and a ghostbuster. Sounds self-destructive. :-)

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  20. Daniel, you are a brave man to share that photo! Too funny! I loved Ghostbusters so I would've appreciated that costume. Wonderful post Jenny and Daniel. :)

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  21. My costumes growing up were always just stuff we had around the house. My parents refused to buy us costumes and we could only trick or treat the next door neighbors, so it felt pointless. But I've enjoyed seeing all the costumes others have had!

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  22. THAT PICTURE. *chuckles* Love it ;) I was never much into dressing up on Halloween, at least nothing terribly frightening- when I was 10 I was a witch I think, at 11 and 12 I repeated my costume of half devil half angel. Creative, I know.
    Anyhow, thank you for sharing and happpy Halloween! I really like the Ghostbusters costume idea. :)

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  23. Hello! Have you ever experienced such a position when a stranger has robbed you online and took any of your articles? Waiting forward to hear from you.

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  24. I am so happy that I came across this post.
    Very well done with the same.
    Good job!

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