Friday, October 12, 2012

Halloween Spooktacular: Day 12: Guest Post and Giveaway with Jill Archer: Top Ten Romantic Halloween Movies

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Please give a warm welcome to Jill Archer for guest hosting today on BLH.


Halloween is my favorite holiday so I was excited when I found out Book Lover's Hideaway wanted me to do a Halloween themed guest post for its Spooktacular event! Since I love movies almost as much as I love October 31st, I thought I'd put together a list of romantic "Halloweeny" movies. Turn it into a movie marathon for this weekend or just pick one to watch after you've handed out all that candy!


 JILL ARCHER'S TOP TEN ROMANTIC HALLOWEEN MOVIES

 1. Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula: One of my favorite vampire movies. Maybe because I love Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder. Gothic horror vampire romance based on a true classic.

2. Edward Scissorhands: I was smitten from the very first viewing! Somewhat dark, but endearing and so wonderfully different. And Diane Wiest as the quintessential mom (remember her from Footloose? The first Footloose from 1984?)

3. Underworld: I love me some Kate Beckinsale. What can I say? A little celebrity hero worship never hurt anyone. ;-) Selene and Michael are great, but Rise of the Lycans doomed lovers Lucian and Sonja are even better.

4. Corpse Bride: Tim Burton, Johnny Depp... are you sensing a theme with my favorites? :-D I read somewhere that this story was inspired by a Jewish folktale, which I find fascinating.

5. Rocky Horror Picture Show: The campiest of camp. The funnest of fun. How can you NOT sing along? 

6. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: Wistful and nostalgic. C.B. is a holiday staple in my house.

7. Shaun of the Dead: I had to include a zombie movie and this one is not only great, it's (kind of) a romance! Zombies, schmombies! Shaun + Liz = Together Forever

8. Lost Boys: We took this movie very seriously back in 1987. Those vamps were scary and that was before Edward Herrmann started doing Dodge Durango commercials. Nothing beats The Two Coreys, Jason Patric's morning after vanity shot scene, or the fact that, after watching, you will give Lo Mein the stink eye for at least six months! (And Diane Wiest plays the mom!!)

9. Ghost: So what if there's been a million parodies of couples making love behind a spinning pottery wheel? Whoopi Goldberg was tearfully hilarious and young screen couples of today can only hope they have the chemistry that Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore had.

10. Sleepy Hollow: Probably no surprise that Johnny Depp ended up on my list three times. He's quirky and does a lot of fantasy. And Christina Ricci (in long blonde ringlets) was also great. I love the look of this movie, so darkly atmospheric. Favorite scene? Probably the one whereJohnny dons those big steampunk looking glasses. I want a pair! (Think they'd help me read more books?)

11. Dark Light of Day: Ha! Just kidding, but wouldn't that be cool? I just had to throw it onto this list because I did this post as part of my Dark Light of Day blog tour. For anyone who hasn't yet heard about DLOD, it's the story of a 21 year-old post grad magic user who must choose between death and training to become a demon peacekeeper. Sound creepy? You bet! But it's also romantic, mysterious, and fantastical!

Have you seen any of the movies I listed? Which are your favorites? Have any others to add? What do you plan on doing after all the candy is handed out? Leave a comment to enter to win an Ace/Roc SF/F sampler, which is full of the first few chapters of new work from various authors, including me! 

I'll be at the New York Comic Con on the day this posts. I will try to check in and respond to comments (I love chatting about movies!) but may not be able to until later. [If you're at NYCC, I'm signing copies of Dark Light of Day at 6:00 pm on Saturday, October 13th in the Ace/Roc booth #921. Please come see me!]

 Have a wonderful Halloween, everyone! Thanks to Book Lovers Hideaway for inviting me here today!


BIO: 

Jill lives in rural Maryland with her two children and husband, who is a recreational pilot. She blogs about books, movies, interesting people, writing and various weekend adventures.

Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jill earned a bachelor of science from Penn State University and later moved to Baltimore to attend the University of Baltimore School of Law, where she graduated magna cum laude. She went on to practice law as a “dirt lawyer” for ten years, specializing in real estate law, municipal development, commercial leasing, and anything involving exceedingly lengthy legalese-like contractual monstrosities. Weekends are often spent flying around in the family’s small Cessna, visiting tiny un-towered airfields and other local points of interest.

twitter: @archer_
Dark Light of Day 
Noon Onyx Book #1 
By Jill Archer 
Genre: Urban Fantasy 
Publisher: Ace 
ISBN: 978-0-425-25715-9 
Number of pages: 384 
Word Count: 123,000 


 Book Description:

 Armageddon is over. The demons won. And yet somehow…the world has continued. Survivors worship patron demons under a draconian system of tributes and rules. These laws keep the demons from warring among themselves, the world from slipping back into chaos.

Noon Onyx grew up on the banks of the river Lethe, daughter of a prominent politician, and a descendant of Lucifer’s warlords. Noon has a secret— she was born with waning magic, the dark, destructive, fiery power that is used to control demons and maintain the delicate peace among them. But a woman with waning magic is unheard of and some will consider her an abomination.

Noon is summoned to attend St. Lucifer’s, a school of demon law. She must decide whether to declare her powers there…or attempt to continue hiding them, knowing the price for doing so may be death. And once she meets the forbiddingly powerful Ari Carmine—who suspects Noon is harboring magic as deadly as his own—Noon realizes there may be more at stake than just her life.

Excerpt:

 Failing is not an option... 

 “I’ve been watching you, wondering, waiting to see where you’d end up. After all, there are other demon law schools,” Seknecus said, making a moue of distaste that made it clear exactly what he thought of them. “But I was happy to see that you chose St. Lucifer’s.”

 Technically my mother chose St. Lucifer’s . . . But there seemed no reason to interrupt just to clarify that bit of misinformation. Seknecus wandered around the room, picking through papers, flipping open and quickly shutting the front covers of various leather-bound books, never meeting my eye. I had no doubt, however, that his attention was fully focused on me.

 “So, you see, seeing your name on my List wasn’t exactly a surprise, although it appeared much later than I would have liked.”

 He did look at me then, with a frown of disapproval. I did my best to look expressionless because none seemed appropriate. It wouldn’t do to look amused, bored or, Luck forbid, rebellious. Seknecus stared at me with narrowed eyes and then went back to wandering.

 “You’ve got some catching up to do,” he said, addressing a copy of Sin and Sanction: Codification & Case Law. “It doesn’t matter why or what excuses you’ve got for yourself. You will be held to the same standards as everyone else, regardless of whose daughter you are. And you’ve missed a lot of class already.”

 I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off with a wave.

 “Manipulation class,” he clarified. “You’re going to have to work ten times as hard as everyone else just to pass. Quintus Rochester doesn’t go easy on students and he’s likely to see your absence during the early part of the semester as a challenge. You know, failing is not an option. Not if you want to live.”


Tour giveaway details

At each Interview and Guest blog stop- not promo or review stops- to be drawn randomly from that stop's commenters, one Ace/Roc Science Fiction and Fantasy 2012 Sampler. These are bound, print samplers with a color cover and the first few pages of new work from the following authors/titles: Benedict Jacka's FATED, Alex Hughes' CLEAN, Jacqueline Carey's DARK CURRENTS, Steve Bein's DAUGHTER OF THE SWORD, Anton Strout's ALCHEMYSTIC, and Jill Archer's DARK LIGHT OF DAY.
US ONLY *
Jill will choose the winner.
* Sampler giveaway will close by midnight the day AFTER the post.
* Jill will announce the winner via comment on the post the day after the giveaway closes (so two days after the post).
* Winners have 48 hours to send Jill their street address.
*Jill’s plan is to mail samplers out every week or so during the tour.

 Tour Wide Giveaways 

Three signed copies of Dark Light of Day to the blog tour followers who visit the most stops. US ONLY $10 eGift Card (either Amazon or Barnes & Noble, winner's choice) to be drawn at random from all blog tour commenters.
$10 eGift Card (either Amazon or Barnes & Noble, winner's choice) to the person who brings the most people to the party.
To enter to win this one, tell a friend about the tour (someone who hasn't yet commented).
You'll be entered to win when your friend stops by at any spot on the tour and tells us that you told the
about the tour.






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12 comments:

Becky said...

I have seen all of the movies that you have listed. I enjoyed all of them too. My favorites would be Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Underworld, Ghost and Lost Boys. Dark Light of Day sounds like an exciting and interesting story to read. I'v added to my list to get.

Athena said...

Hi - I am your newest follower via BookBlogs and would love it if you had an opportunity to follow me back at http://www.thestuffofsuccess.com. Thanks so much and have a great day. Athena

Liesel K. Hill said...

Great movie picks! Your book sounds very intriguing! Great guest post! :D

Roxanne Rhoads said...

3 of my favorites are on there- Dracula with Winona Ryder and Gary Oldman love love love, Lost Boys a classic fave, and Sleepy Hollow with Johnny Depp-best version of Sleepy Hollow ever.

booklover0226 said...

I love RHPS and it must be seen in a theater, IMO.

I have added DLOD to my must have list.

Thanks,
Tracey D

donnas said...

I have seen all of those including RH in the interactive theatre setting. Lost Boys is my favorite.

Texas Book Lover said...

Ghost is my favorite of those listed. My kids recently whatched Edward Scissorhands. I'd forgotton how freakedly odd but good that movie was.

Anonymous said...

Hi everyone! Sorry to be responding so late. NYCC was exhausting but tons of fun!! And it was nearly impossible to get a good signal in the Javits Center. Then spent most of the day yesterday on the train and in the car. But I was looking forward to stopping by Book Lovers Hideaway and saying hello!

Becky, sounds like we have very similar movie tastes. :-) Thanks for adding DLOD to your TBR list!

Thanks, Liesel! Glad you could drop by!

Hi Roxanne, completely agree that the Johnny Depp Sleepy Hollow one is the Best One Ever. Thanks for stopping by!

Hi Tracey, I haven't seen RHPS in the theater but realize that's probably the 'truest' way to view it. Thanks for adding DLOD to your 'must have' list!

Hi Donna, cool that Lost Boys is your favorite. So hard for me to pick an ultimate favorite from this list... but if I had to, I'd probably say Edward Scissorhands followed closely by Sleepy Hollow. Tx for the comment!

Hi Texas Book Lover, I chuckled over your comment because my kids recently watched Edward Scissorhands for the first time and I was surprised by how creepy they thought it was. I think I'm always focused on the quirkier aspects of it, which are completely endearing to me.

Athena, thanks for the visit!

The winner of the Ace/Roc sampler is... Becky! Becky, please send your US address to: archer at jillarcher dot com so I can send it to you.

Thanks again to Book Lovers Hideaway for inviting me to guest blog here! This was fun. Have a great Halloween, everyone!!

BLHmistress said...

Thank you Jill for guest posting and stopping by it has been a lot of fun.

Unknown said...

I’ve been looking for something for my boyfriend and I to watch this Halloween, and Underworld sounds perfect. It sounds like it has enough sci-fi and action to keep my boyfriend happy, and it probably won’t completely terrify me (I scare easy). It won’t be perfect, since my boyfriend originally wanted to go out on Halloween, but I work late at DISH, so a movie night will have to do. I’ll rent Underworld from Blockbuster @Home; they ship fast enough that I should have the movie way before Halloween. Thanks for the tip. I’m sure my boyfriend will like it!

Anonymous said...

Was stopping by to award sampler (forgot I already had!) and happened to see Lindsey's cmt. Lindsey-- Underworld's a great choice. Def something for both guys and gals! Enjoy your Halloween!

Shadow said...

great post! great movies. thanks for sharing!
shadowluvs2read(at)gmail(dot)com

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