See the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts & giveaways

Spooky Legends is over!  Thanks to all the authors and publishers who participated in this year’s event.  Angela and I are already looking forward to next year.  And thanks to all of you who commented to win these amazing books.  Giveaway winners have all been notified via email thanks to Rafflecopter, so please check your emails and follow the instructions in order to claim your prize(s).  Please respond within 48 hours or a new winner will be chosen.  The giveaway widgets on the original posts will have the winner’s name displayed if you want to double check.   If you think you won a prize but did not receive an email, please contact me right away.

**Don’t forget to visit Dark Faerie Tales today to see if you won any of those Spooky Legends giveaways*

We had so many wonderful authors who wanted to participate in this year’s Spooky Legends event, but for whatever reason, were unable to.  They did, however, want to support the event and have offered what we’re calling Spooky Legends BONUS GIVEAWAYS!  Be sure to check back here and on Dark Faerie Tales throughout the day as we’ll both be posting new giveaways throughout the day. All the Spooky Legends giveaways end on Saturday, November 5th.  Remember, you can tweet about all the giveaways and earn new entries each day!  See below to enter the BONUS giveaway to win a signed copy of LOST IN TIME by Melissa de la Cruz

Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways

Giveaway provided by Authors On The Web

One signed copy of LOST IN TIME by Melissa de la Cruz

We had so many wonderful authors who wanted to participate in this year’s Spooky Legends event, but for whatever reason, were unable to.  They did, however, want to support the event and have offered what we’re calling Spooky Legends BONUS GIVEAWAYS!  Be sure to check back here and on Dark Faerie Tales throughout the day as we’ll both be posting new giveaways throughout the day. All the Spooky Legends giveaways end on Saturday, November 5th.  Remember, you can tweet about all the giveaways and earn new entries each day!  See below to enter the first BONUS giveaway to win a signed copy of THE BITE BEFORE CHRISTMAS by Lynsay Sands & Jeaniene Frost.

Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways

Giveaway provided by Lynsay Sands

One signed copy of THE BITE BEFORE CHRISTMAS by Lynsay Sands & Jeaniene Frost

One of my favorite authors is joining Spooky Legends today: Jess Haines, author of the fantastic H & W Investigations urban fantasy series.  If you haven’t met and fallen for her characters yet, just wait until you hear them discussing Butt Spiders.  Jess has a new story in THE REAL WEREWIVES OF VAMPIRE COUNTY anthology along with Alexandra Ivy, Angie Fox, and Tami Dane (available now from Kensington Books), and thanks to her publisher, you can win a copy.  See details below.

Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways

Shiarra Waynest Talks About Butt Spiders 
by
Jess Haines

 

Hello there!  Jess Haines here.  I’m the author of the urban fantasy H&W Investigations series (HUNTED BY THE OTHERS, TAKEN BY THE OTHERS, and DECEIVED BY THE OTHERS).  Shiarra Waynest, the lead character, and some of her friends are here to tell you a little bit about butt spiders.  Over to you, Shia!

____________________

Shiarra: ...uhh. What?

Arnold:  I’ve heard of these!  They hide under your toilet seat and jump out to bite you on the ass when you sit down.

As if toys stores aren’t hectic enough around the holidays, adding a few ghosts to the mix won’t help matters any.  The afterlife doesn’t mean rest for the Lightbringer and her friends, and two of these friends are hunting down a rogue spirit in K.D. McEntire’s story today.  After enjoying Elle and Lily’s antics at Toys ‘R Us, you can read more in LIGHTBRINGER by K.D. McEntire, available this November 15 from Pyr.  If you can’t wait that long, Abigail’s review of the same will be here on November 8, to tide you over for that last week.

Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways

Lily and Elle on Haunted Toys R Us
by
K.D. McEntire

“I got a major beef with you, Pocahontas,” Elle said, poking Lily in the shoulder. “Level with me. First you’ve got us ankling down the 101 as if we ain’t got more important crap to do, like a couple of saps. Two, we’re on this wild ghost hunt because the Lightbringer don’t have the time to make said ghost beat it herself. Thirdly – and don’t think I don’t have a dozen more gripes tucked back here all nice and neat – you just agree and go? Not a bit of negotiation? What’s the matter, Pocahontas, you scared of the glowy-girl now? Or you like the taste of that glowing behind?”

THE HUNTER (available on November 1, 2011 from Zebra) was my first book by Theresa Meyers, but it will definitely not be my last.  The action was vivid, the romance was playful, and as I say in my review up later today, the “blend of Wild, Wild West steampunk and demonic forces was everything I could have hoped for and more.”  I really enjoyed that Meyers wasn’t afraid to put her own spin on both romance and genre tropes, and look forward to picking up book two in The Legend Chronicles, THE SLAYER, when it comes out this April.  One person will get a chance to read a signed copy of THE HUNTER, courtesy of the author herself, but we all get to enjoy a little taste of the book’s leading man, Colt Jackson, and his take on Skinwalkers.  See details below.

Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways

Colt Jackson on Skinwalkers
by
Theresa Meyers

There’s many things out there that can spook a man. Make him think he’s lost his ever lovin’ marbles. But as a Hunter I’ve seen more than most. You good folk, don’t worry yourselves any. See we Hunters have been doin’ our jobs since the earliest times, making sure that supernaturals don’t get the upper hand on humanity. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

We’ve got something special for today’s Spooky Legend.  It’s not a retelling of a well known urban legend, instead Kersten Hamiliton, author of IN THE FORESTS OF THE NIGHT, the second book in The Goblin Wars series (available on November 22, 2011 from Clarion Books), is sharing her original story LOVELEAVES AND WOODENDER which she eventually expanded into TYGER TYGER.  Be sure to enter the giveaway for a chance to win a pre-ordered copy of IN THE FORESTS OF THE NIGHT.  See details below

Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways

Loveleaves and Woodwender  
by
Kersten Hamilton

Are you too old for faerie tales? Then you are lost—for Samhain is upon us. The light is fading, and the ancient Guardian Trees sleep. Their slumber allows the walls between the worlds to grow thin. Those twice-blessed—for what is sight but a blessing?—can see the shadows seeping through, feel the frost in their cloaks. We smell the mold of the grave on their breath.

Now, hope and truth must be bound up in words and held like a candle against the dark. Listen: if your heart is young enough to hear the truth in faerie tales, I’ll weave you one to keep you until the sun returns. Until the trees wake and whisper their prayers once again.

Today’s Spooky Legend story and characters fit together perfectly, that’s because we have a real life mermaid telling us the legendary Mermaid of Zennor story. Jaclyn Dolamor’s Esmerine from BETWEEN THE SEA AND SKY (available now from Bloomsbury Childrens USA).  If you missed my review, I said, “I was completely swept away by this tender and mournful love story.” Want to read it yourself? Jaclyn is giving away a copy & MAGIC UNDER GLASS.  See details below. 

Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways

The Mermaid of Zennor 
by
Jaclyn Dolamore

 

ESMERINE: Alan, when you were a messenger, did you ever hear any stories about mermaids from other parts of the world? I heard there are mermaids up in the north, and I wondered what they were like.
ALAN: Well, once I did hear some travelers telling a story of the mermaid of Zennor. She sounds like the opposite of you. She didn't leave the sea, she bewitched a man to follow her into it and no one ever saw him again.

Today’s Spooky Legend is taking us back to a game we probably all played back in junior high: Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board, courtesy of Jessica Sims’ (aka Jill Myles) Bathsheba from BEATY DATES THE BEAST (available now from Pocket Books), the first in the new Midnight Liaisons paranormal romance series which I called, “Super sexy, super fun, and full of super hot shifters.” Want to see for yourself?  Enter the giveaway to win a copy.  See details below.  

Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways

Bathsheba on Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board
by
Jessica Sims

So…back in the day, I was a big fan of slumber parties. What teenage girl isn’t? Well, if you’ve ever been to a slumber party, you’ve probably played everything from Ouija boards to Bloody Mary. My favorite was always “Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board.” In theory, it’s about harnessing your powers of levitation to lift a friend off the ground. Or it’s about summoning spirits to cause him/her to levitate by the focus of your mental energy. Or…something along those lines.

(Mostly, it’s just about freaking your friends out.)

*This post was accidentally posted yesterday for a brief time.*

Today’s Spooky Legend introduces us to a new character from a familiar author and guarantees you won’t be eating chili tonight.  Kelly Meding’s Teresa West, from the first book in the new MetaWars urban fantasy series, TRANCE (available on October 25, 2011 from Pocket) is taking over the blog.  If you missed my review of this new superhero infused series, I said, “there is a real X-Men/The Incredibles vibe to this story that really worked.“

Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways

Teresa West on Finger-lickin' Chili 
by
Kelly Meding

So raise your hand if you haven't heard the one about the woman who said she found a human finger in her bowl of fast food chili?  Raise your hand if, when police discovered it was all a setup, you laughed and said "I knew it," even though you actually believed it at the time?

Thought so.

Irreverently spooky is how I would describe today’s Spooky Legend post, which is kind of perfect because that’s exactly how I describe the book series we’re featuring too.  Hannah Jayne, author of the Underworld Detection Agency Chronicles series which is about to add a second book to, UNDER ATTACK (available on November 1, 2011 from Kensington Books), is lending her character Nina LeShay to the event and sharing here experience with The Winchester Mystery House.  And she’s giving away a signed ARC & an Underworld survivor kit.  See details below.

Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways

Nina LeShay on The Winchester Mystery House 
by
Hannah Jayne

I’ve decided to let my vampire associate, Nina LeShay, in on our little Spooky Legends moment, and this is what she had to say…

So, thanks to Hannah Jayne and every other whistle-blowing author in the Bay Area, it’s been pretty well established that vampires exist. Well, vampires, werewolves, goblins, ghouls, etcetera, etcetera, and that San Francisco, California is a pretty fiery hotspot for all things paranormal. But there is one thing that all you know-it-all writers seem to dismiss with ease: ghosts. Three words for you breathers: Ghosts. Don’t. Exist.

So when my darling blood-filled roommate suggested we hightail it down to San Jose to check out the “uber-ooky” Winchester Mystery House, I figured what the heck. There’s nothing more fun on a slow night than creeping out a bunch of para-wanna-be’s by dropping the room temperature a few degrees and creaking some floorboards.

Shona Husk gives a new spin on the Beauty and the Beast romance in THE GOBLIN KING and fulfilled all of Abigail’s daydreams about David Bowie’s Goblin King from Labyrinth.  Either one of those alone would be enough to move THE GOBLIN KING to the top of my TBR pile and the combination makes me wish we were allowed to join our own giveaways!  Shona is offering two copies of THE GOBLIN KING, so two lucky winners will get a chance to read the book that Abigail said has “Fresh mythology, wonderful character redemption, and the power of true love.” See details below.

Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways

Roan on The Black Shuck 
by
Shona Husk

I’ve been an urban legend for some time, and I could tell you stories of the goblin’s Wild Ride through your word each winter solstice and the havoc they create while you think it’s a storm and little else—but I’m tired of talking about gold and goblins after so many centuries.

In fact there is something much scarier out there. Something that roams your world without restriction and if you see it say a prayer to your God as it will be the last thing you do.

In case you missed my 5bat! review of today’s Spooky Legends book earlier this week, I said that it’s “a fantastically fun urban fantasy!  One of the best debuts of the year and easily my favorite fae urban fantasy since Karen Marie Moning’s Darkfever series.”  I’m talking about Sandy Williams new McKenzie Lewis series debut, THE SHADOW READER (available on October 25th from Ace Books).  You can get a taste of this new world in her version of the Vanishing Hitchhiker legend below as well as enter to win a copy of the book! See details below.

Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all previous posts & giveaways

McKenzie Lewis on The Vanishing Hitchhiker
by
Sandy Williams

 

I’m uncomfortable at parties. I didn’t used to be. Back in high school, I was social. I hung out with friends on the weekends, went to football games, was a member of over a dozen school sponsored clubs. I was even elected class president my sophomore year. I did all of this and kept my grades up.

Until I met the fae.

It’s always a blast when Sweetblood series author Laurie London stops by, and when she’s giving her trademark scary and sexy take on alien abduction urban fantasy stories, it’s even better.  If you haven’t read any of the books in this series, you can start with the novella in A VAMPIRE FOR CHRISTMAS, the anthology from Laurie London, Alexis Morgan, Michele Hauf and Caridad Piniero (available now from Harlequin).  Laurie is also giving away a signed copy of the most recent Sweetblood book, EMBRACED BY BLOOD.  See details below.

Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways

Alien Abduction, Sweetblood Style 
by
Laurie London

Thanks, Abigail, for inviting me on today as part of the Spooky Legends feature. Telling and listening to spooky stories, sneaking into graveyards at midnight, visiting haunted houses—all were big parts of my childhood, and as an adult, I’m still strangely fascinated by the unknown. 

The following story is told from the point of view of Tracker agent Kip Castile, a secondary character in Embraced By Blood, book two in the Sweetblood series. Something terrible occurred in that book and he’s dealing with the aftermath here. He also makes an appearance in the third book, Tempted By Blood, coming out in March.

Both Abigail and I are big fans of Erin Kellison’s Shadow series.   Abigail called SHADOW BOUND “a shockingly good read” and SHADOWMAN (available now from Kensington Books) contained one of my favorite couples of the year, Shadowman and Layla (which made it twice as exciting to see a little glimpse of Shadowman in action below, as a part of the Resurrection Mary ghost story). The Shadow series intertwines convincing romance with a continuing plot line that I loved, as our staid human world comes under magical attack.  Though each book could work on it’s own (romantically), you’re going to want to read them all.  One lucky reader will get the chance to, as Erin Kellison is giving away a complete set of the Shadow series: SHADOW BOUND, SHADOW FALL, and SHADOWMAN. See details below.

Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways

Shadowman on “Resurrection Mary”
by
Erin Kellison

First of all, a huge thank you to Abigail for inviting me to participate in Spooky Legends. I love scary stories and write a bit on the dark side myself. Leave a comment below for a chance to win a set of my Shadow series books, Shadow Bound, Shadow Fall, and Shadowman. Most people, including my character, Shadowman, know the story of Resurrection Mary. In fact, he’s met her…

Today’s guest, MaryJanice Davidson, writes her paranormal books with a hefty dose of humor and hijinks.  This makes it no surprise that the star of her Undead series,  Betsy Taylor, is not your typical Vampire Queen.  Betsy needs all of her resources when she faces everything from vampires to ghosts, werewolves to the suburbs.  Today Betsy tackles an urban legend near and dear to that suburban heart, the scourge of our living rooms: the television. And thanks to Berkley, two of you will win a copy of the latest book in the Undead spinoff series, Wyndahm Werewolves, WOLF AT THE DOOR. See details below

Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways

Betsy Taylor on “ABC-TV Wants You Dead” 
by
MaryJanice Davidson

Is there anything scarier than knowing TV wants you dead? Well. Yeah. Knowing lots and lots of vampires want you dead; that’s scary. Friends dropping dead all around you: that’s scary. Knowing you’ll be ancient and have crappy taste in clothes: almost too scary to contemplate. TV wanting you to bite the big one, that’s a close second, though. Wait: third? A close fourth? Whatever.

The author of one of my favorite paranormal YA series is joining the Spooky Legends event today.  Jeri Smith-Ready is one of the 16 authors contributing the the anthology ENTRALLED (available now from HarperTeen), her story is part of her heartbreakingly wonderful Shade series about a generation of teens who see ghosts.  One of those ghosts, Logan Keeley, is giving us his take on the Loch Ness Monster legend today, and Jeri is giving away a signed copy of ENTHRALLED and a Shade swag pack.  See details below. 

Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways

Logan Keeley on the Loch Ness Monster
by
Jeri Smith-Ready

Hey!  It’s me, Logan Keeley, from the SHADE trilogy by Jeri Smith-Ready (or as I call her, the Woman Upstairs).  I’m a punk rocker who died and became a ghost when I was seventeen years and a few minutes old.

***(OH! My birth/deathday is tomorrow, Tuesday, October 18, and we’re having a #forever17 party on Twitter. If you tweet me (@keeley_logan) a music video, you can be entered to win free CDs, some Keeley Brothers swag, and a signed hardcover of ENTHRALLED: PARANORMAL DIVERSIONS.  I have a story in that anthology.  The cover is pink and has a girl on it, but I’m secure enough in my dudehood I can handle that.  I think.)***

For my urban legend, I figured I should do a ghost story.  But that hit waaaay too close to home.  I’m not a poltergeist, but there are some subjects that make me seriously want to break stuff.

So I decided to do the Loch Ness Monster.  This might surprise SHADE readers, because my arch-rival Zachary Moore is Scottish, like the monster.  He’s the other “point” in the love triangle with me and Aura.  We’re both good for her—I’m her first boyfriend and I have a band and I make her laugh and I’ll love her until the end of time.  And Zachary…well, he has a pulse.  That’s his advantage.  (Okay, and the accent.  Shut up!)

But I figured this’d be a good olive branch, a show of respect.  Demonstrate that I’m not petty or bitter.  Because I’m—

Arrgh, dammit, ghosts can’t lie!  Okay, the real reason I’m doing the Loch Ness Monster: My Twitter buds dared me.

ANYWAY, the monster of Loch Ness, or Nessie, as some like to call him (no one knows if the monster is a boy or girl, but for my purposes, I’m going to use male pronouns), supposedly lives in a loch, which is the fancy Scottish word for “lake,” in northern Scotland.  He’s allegedly been seen as far back as the ninth century AD, but sightings started to pile up in the 1930s, after this photo surfaced (heh, get it?  Surfaced?):

Always glad to have today’s Spooky Legend author visit the blog.  Nancy Holzner, author of the Deadtown urban fantasy series, is celebrating the release of the 3rd book in that series, BLOODSTONE (available now from Ace Books).  In her review, Julia said, “[Nancy Holzner] has an eye for daily details that add wonderful depth to her world, and preternatural elements aside, I can’t resist the scarily plausible political realities of Deadtown.” We get a glimpse into the characters and world from Deadtown along with a twist on a beloved children’s nursery rhyme.  And to sweeten the deal, there’s a giveaway to win your choice of a signed copy of DEADTOWN, HELLFORGED, or  BLOOSTONE. See details below.

Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways

Vicky Vaughn on the Little Bo Peep Halloween Massacre 
by
Nancy Holzner

When the phone rang, the last thing I was thinking about was Tina, the teenage zombie who used to be my apprentice—until she quit demon slaying to pursue a career as a pop star. But that's who was calling. Her voice was excited, so breathless I didn't quite catch what she said. Just that it was something about me and a job.

“Tina, I told you. I'm not taking you with me on any more jobs.” Back when she was still my apprentice, Tina had torched a client's dreamscape with a flamethrower. She'd tried to drown another client in a bathroom sink. Not to mention she'd stolen a valuable sword from my arsenal. “That whole apprenticeship thing just didn't work out.”

“You're not listening. I don't want to go on a job with you—although it'd be cool if you let me. I have a job for you.”

So today’s Spooky Legend might be my favorite of the whole event.  It comes to us courtesy of Trent Jamieson via his character Death from the Death Works trilogy.  The first two installments along the third book have all been packaged together in one omnibus titled THE BUSINESS OF DEATH (available now from Orbit Books).  Ever heard of Drop Bears?  I hadn’t, but I’ll never be able to look at koalas the same way again.  And if you are new to this series which I called a “sly, subtly humorous urban fantasy with a bittersweet love story and a novel approach to the business of death”, make sure to check out the giveaway below for a chance to win the omnibus.  See details below.

Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways

Death on Drop Bears
by
Trent Jamieson

There's this story about killer koalas: that they drop from trees onto their victims and kill with tooth and claw. Hence the term Drop Bears. It's something for the most naive of tourists, and it's a load of crap.

Except when it isn't.

When you're Death you find yourself privy to all sorts of stuff you wish you weren't. Some of it sad, some of it awful, a lot of it both.

Today’s Spooky Legend comes in the form of an author interviewing her own character about the Mall Warnings/Flat Tire urban legend.  The author is Linda Poitevin and the character is Detective Alexandra Jarvis from The Grigory Legacy urban fantasy debut SINS OF THE ANGELS (available now from Ace Books).  Be sure to leave a comment for Linda below!

Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways

Alexandra Jarvis on Mall Warnings
by
Linda Poitevin

Hello, everyone, and thanks so much for stopping by. I’m thrilled to be a part of the Spooky Legends event, and to be able to give you the chance to get to know one of my characters from Sins of the Angels. Alexandra Jarvis is a homicide detective with the Toronto Police Service and she seemed like the perfect person to talk to about one of the most widely circulated urban legends out there, the mall warning about the flat tire. Let’s drop in on her for a quick visit.