A masked marketing maven writes:
Halloween has grown as a holiday for children and adults, and while tykes may be poring over a Harry Potter novel or classic ghost stories, here are three novels that are perfect for a night of history, shadows and adventure--for grown-ups. These bestsellers also round out the perfect display for the upcoming Halloween festivities in-store to entice customers to read of foreign lands and the creatures of the night.
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Halloween is the perfect opportunity to discover the treasures of Kostova's debut novel. The Historian is a dark and detailed journey into the world of a particular vampire. But it's also the tale of a 16-year-old girl who opens a book in her father's study and begins a journey into the heart of darkness--through a secret history.
The Priest of Blood by Douglas Clegg
The Priest of Blood is Bram Stoker Award-winner Douglas Clegg's medieval tale that is lush, romantic and dark--with chilling scenes and breathtaking battles. The Priest of Blood launches the historical series The Vampyricon and moves between Brittany and the Middle East as its hero faces the trials of love and betrayal, the Crusades and a journey into a kingdom buried beneath the earth where he may discover the secrets of the vampyre race.
Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler
With Fledgling, her first novel in several years, Nebula and Hugo award-winning author Octavia E. Butler offers yet another twist on the vampires. Fledgling is centered on Shori, who awakens in a cave with amnesia, only to piece together that she is a genetically-modified human-vampire hybrid--and someone is hunting her and her kind.
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To dress up your vampire display, put mini-candy that comes in small packets (candy corn, little packets of M&Ms, mini-Snickers, etc.) in shallow plastic Halloween-themed bowls around the table, between the books. Halloween masks are also fun to hang from the table as a border. To do a bit more, if you're ambitious, lighten up--with Halloween lights of bats or jack-o-lanterns strung like Christmas tree lights to edge the table or window display to really attract the eye.
Get creative. It's October, and for a harvest theme spread out decorative corn, synthetic autumn leaves and a small pumpkin around the books. For an elusive but simple gothic look suitable to Dracula, drape the table with a basic black cloth, arrange a gargoyle book-end or two and set out a small, unlit candle so that readers and customers will think they're in Dracula's library.
Halloween has grown as a holiday for children and adults, and while tykes may be poring over a Harry Potter novel or classic ghost stories, here are three novels that are perfect for a night of history, shadows and adventure--for grown-ups. These bestsellers also round out the perfect display for the upcoming Halloween festivities in-store to entice customers to read of foreign lands and the creatures of the night.
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Halloween is the perfect opportunity to discover the treasures of Kostova's debut novel. The Historian is a dark and detailed journey into the world of a particular vampire. But it's also the tale of a 16-year-old girl who opens a book in her father's study and begins a journey into the heart of darkness--through a secret history.
The Priest of Blood by Douglas Clegg
The Priest of Blood is Bram Stoker Award-winner Douglas Clegg's medieval tale that is lush, romantic and dark--with chilling scenes and breathtaking battles. The Priest of Blood launches the historical series The Vampyricon and moves between Brittany and the Middle East as its hero faces the trials of love and betrayal, the Crusades and a journey into a kingdom buried beneath the earth where he may discover the secrets of the vampyre race.
Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler
With Fledgling, her first novel in several years, Nebula and Hugo award-winning author Octavia E. Butler offers yet another twist on the vampires. Fledgling is centered on Shori, who awakens in a cave with amnesia, only to piece together that she is a genetically-modified human-vampire hybrid--and someone is hunting her and her kind.
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To dress up your vampire display, put mini-candy that comes in small packets (candy corn, little packets of M&Ms, mini-Snickers, etc.) in shallow plastic Halloween-themed bowls around the table, between the books. Halloween masks are also fun to hang from the table as a border. To do a bit more, if you're ambitious, lighten up--with Halloween lights of bats or jack-o-lanterns strung like Christmas tree lights to edge the table or window display to really attract the eye.
Get creative. It's October, and for a harvest theme spread out decorative corn, synthetic autumn leaves and a small pumpkin around the books. For an elusive but simple gothic look suitable to Dracula, drape the table with a basic black cloth, arrange a gargoyle book-end or two and set out a small, unlit candle so that readers and customers will think they're in Dracula's library.