Hola Fahrenhistas,
It’s Halloween weekend and only a few days after that we get to celebrate all over again with Dia De Los Muertos on 2nd November.
You might have realised by now that we love all this annual spookiness.
Our American cousins like to lay claim to Halloween but it is (like most great things) an entirely Scottish invention. The first Halloween celebrations in Scotland have been attested to as early as the 16th century, the name Halloween comes from a Scottish shortening of All-Hallows Eve and has its roots in the Gaelic festival of Samhain. The traditions were eventually exported across to the New World by Scottish immigrants where with typical American gusto, they went LARGE with it.
Halloween brings back happy memories of running about housing schemes (projects) in Glasgow wearing hilariously rubbish costumes, knocking on doors and then going inside to sing or tell jokes or literally dance our little socks off - all for a handful of sweeties (candy) thrown into a plastic bag. Good times.
My appreciation of Dia De Los Muertos came much later after spending time with the Latino communities of Greater Los Angeles - I still managed to dance my little socks off, fuelled this time by delicious Mexican food and my new best friend tequilla.
So anyway, we LOVE it - cant get enough of it so if you don’t you’d probably be best stopping now because we’ve gone overboard with Halloween goodies this year…
As long time Fahrenhistas will know, every year we try and give you a spooky bookish treat to get you in the mood - last year we printed a delightfully scary story by Edgar Allen Poe but this year we’ve upped the ante somewhat by publishing this beautiful Dia De Los Muertos edition of THE DEAD by JAMES JOYCE. (I know Fahrenheit publishing James Joyce - who’d a thunk it?)
If you don’t know this story you’re in for a real treat - T.S. Eliot (himself no slouch with the words) said he considered it ‘the finest short story ever written’ - trust us, get your hands on this, even if it’s only to swoon over the beautiful cover.
This week we’ve also released the new Dia De Los Muertos editions of JO PERRY’S beloved CHARLIE & ROSE books - if you pre-ordered they’ll be on their way to you now.
As some of you may know, every chapter in the 4 books that make up this series begins with a quote or rumination on the business of death - they’ve become something of a trademark so to celebrate the relaunch of these titles we’ve come up with something that’s as weirdly addictive as the books themselves…
In other news it wouldn’t be Halloween if we didn’t treat you - so here you go, as a special Halloween treat on SATURDAY & SUNDAY this weekend you can DOWNLOAD SATAN’S SORORITY BY GRAHAM WYND ABSOLUTELY FREE ON AMAZON…
If this book doesn’t get you in the mood - nothing will - go download it on us and enjoy…
And we’ve got even more spooky freebies for you.
In the summer we published Gabba Gabba Hey our anthology of short stories themed around Ramones song titles - there are stories from a wide range of genres and among them there was a smattering of horror - we’ve published one of them over on our site that you can READ IN FULL FOR FREE…
Right, so after all those FREEBIES we reckon it’s your turn to TREAT US by getting yourself over to our store and buying some of our fabulous stuff - we’ve got a whole Halloween themed section of our scariest books & merch (including these little beauties….)
And if you’re sick of Halloween already we’ve got plenty of other beauties to keep you occupied this weekend - many of them with 20% OFF - and remember WHEN YOU BUY A PAPERBACK OR A HARDBACK FROM US WE GIVE YOU THE EBOOK FOR FREE so you could be reading one of our awesome books within minutes.
Please do help us out by BUYING SOMETHING - we can’t keep doing all this awesome stuff and publishing these amazing books unless YOU PUT YOUR HAND IN YOUR POCKET AND BUY SOMETHING.
If you’re not sure where to start btw, you could do a lot worse than have a look at the latest book from ANTHONY NEIL SMITH - THE BUTCHER’S PRAYER is getting some great reviews (there’s even some of the limited edition hardbacks left if you’re quick).
Okay people that’s all from us, we’re off to get our costumes organised but if you follow us on Insta and Twitter keep your eyes peeled because we’ll be giving away some awesome Halloween based competition prizes over the weekend.
If you’re going out this weekend make sure it’s mostly treats not tricks for you and your loved ones, look after each other and stay safe.
We kiss you…
xx
P.S. ……………………………………….………………………………………….…………………………………………….…………………………………………….…………………………………………….…………………………………………….…………………………………………….…………………………………………….…………………………………………….…………………………………………….…………………………………………….…………………………………………….…………………………………………….…………………………………………….…………………………………………….………PATION.