The Crossroads Blog Tour Day 4

In a short paragraph or two:

What is your favorite Halloween memory?

I grew up in Chicago, in a neighborhood where most people lived in brownstone-ish apartment buildings and high rises. So my Halloween memories are of an urban nature. Like the time a group of us got stuck in an elevator while trick or treating. An old elevator – the kind that used to have an elevator operator back when it was new in like, 1920 or something! Floors 2-5 we collected candy like bandits! On our way to floor 6, we rocketed up somehow, stalling between 6 and 7. Each time we’d press the button we’d end up not quite at a floor. Eventually, we jumped, screaming, avoiding the gap and landing on floor six. Okay, it was like a 2 inch leap. Not that horrible. But it was HALLOWEEN, people! Let’s just say we skipped the rest of the floors and thundered down the stairs. Cause you know – it was haunted right? At least that’s our story.

Tell us about your most haunting experience.

I’ve told this one before, but it still reigns as the only true haunting experience I’ve ever had. I’ll give you the brief version. My mom died of a sudden heart attack – on my son’s birthday, which added to the trauma. We had talked on the phone almost every day around 5 PM when we both had gotten home from work and were making dinner or whatever. So here’s the thing: After I returned from her funeral in Chicago, every night around 5 PM for a solid week or more, my phone rang. There was no one there when I picked up – no number on caller ID. Yeah. I wouldn’t have believed it, either. But that’s how it happened. Was she calling me somehow? I’ll leave that up to you!

In a short paragraph or two:

What is your favorite Halloween memory?

My favorite Halloween memory is of trick or treating when I was in fourth grade. It was the first year my parents let me trick or treat with my friends on my own. I can remember running around the neighborhood, my breath fogging out in front of me and my candy bag slapping my thigh feeling exhilarated and joyful. I just remember hitting every house there and in the development next to ours too and then running back to my friend’s house to watch a scary-ish movie with our candy spread out in front of us. It wasn’t especially different from any other year; it was more that I felt different, bigger, older.

Tell us about your most haunting experience.

I actually lived in a house that was haunted when I was about eight or nine. It was over one hundred years old and the view from my bedroom window was of the graveyard across the street. My family rented the house while we looked for a more permanent one and it was pretty creepy from day one, but also completely awesome. There was a secret passageway leading upstairs hidden in the kitchen pantry, an old horse drawn carriage in the barn behind the house and acres of farm land to play in. It was a pretty interesting place to explore, but at night…and sometimes even during the day, I would feel watched by some kind of very, very angry presence. There was one room upstairs in particular that was always freezing and so completely creepy that we never even put furniture in it. I used to listen to the stairs creak like someone was walking up them, but no one would be there. I could go on and on, but someday I plan to write a ghost story about it, so even though it was terrifying at times, as a writer it was totally worth it to live there.

In a short paragraph or two:
What is your favorite Halloween memory?

My favorite Halloween was spent in a haunted house in college. I had a mad crush on the guy I went with, and it gave me ample opportunity to cling to him. The haunted house? Not so scary. The boy? Cling-worthy.

Tell us about your most haunting experience.

One time I was sitting on the couch with Hubby, and the wine glass next to me exploded. I mean, it just…exploded. There was no booze in it, and the stem was still sitting straight up after the bulb shattered into a middle pieces. It was nuts.

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How the Tour Works:

Each day of The Crossroads Blog Tour, a new research question will be revealed on The Crossroad Blog Tour main page: HERE and each day the answer to that question will be found within one of the different blog posts by Crossroads Tour authors. Your job is to get the question, read the blog posts, and collect all answers by the end of the tour.

This year the grand prize winner will be selected via a Rafflecopter draw open to everyone. However, the hunt for clues is a fun part of the Crossroads experience and we wanted to keep it alive. Sooooo, search for the answer somewhere on the participating blogs on THAT particular day of the tour. Answer all the questions correctly to enter a bonus prize draw for – separate from the grand prize.

Bonus question answers are to be emailed to judithgraves @ ymail dot com by October 26th at MIDNIGHT to enter the Bonus prize draw. Winner of the Grand prize and the winner of the Bonus prize will be announced on OCTOBER 31st – HALLOWEEN.

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