Halloween is next week! What are my plans? Well, I’m an English teacher in Japan at three different high schools, and as a cultural ambassador, one of my goals is to expose my students to traditions from my home country. I go all-out for Halloween as much as possible, including giving out candy and of course, wearing a costume! So far for school I’ve done Jack Sparrow and Bellatrix Lestrange…but this year I was too lazy to get a new costume, so I wore the cosplay I did for Anime Japan. 😅
What are your Halloween traditions? What are your plans? I hope you continue to check out all the Halloween treats and special guests we have here at Speculative Chic. Now, let’s return to the tradition that is the Weekly Roundup!
Monday
Alex Schvartsman is our guest author in the House of MFT! We’re celebrating the release of his debut novel Eridani’s Crown, an epic fantasy colored with shades of revenge. So what are Schvartsman’s favorite things? How about darker, edgier network comedy; a website and online magazine chock-full of trivia; a popular World of Warcraft offshoot; and political silkpunk at its finest! Intrigued? Read on!
Tuesday
Ronya covers the coolest comics in her latest post, scouring the web for your cold-weather enjoyment! Featuring works both speculative and humorous, no doubt you’ve seen a lot of these on social media and all over the internet. With artist-authors like Randall Monroe, Allie Brosh, Nathan W. Pyle, Arigon Starr, and more, we’ve got something for everyone to enjoy!
Wednesday
Kendra reviews the second season of Netflix and Matt Groening’s Disenchantment (and don’t worry, you get a quick recap of season one if you need it!). Bean, Luci, and Elfo are back for more adventures — but are they worth discovering after the first season’s cliffhanger? Find out if Disenchantment delivers on its promise here.
We’ve also got an awesome guest post from author Lindsey Duga to honor the release of her lush YA fantasy, Glow of the Fireflies. We’ve invited her to take part in You’re My Inspiration, the column that goes behind favorite things to get to the heart of what influences a writer and their work. Journey through childhood memories to gorgeous mountains while taking in some spiritualism, and you’ve got a glimpse of what went into Duga’s latest. Check it out!
Thursday
Nancy dives into Elizabeth Lim’s Spin the Dawn, a YA fantasy filled with magic, intrigue, journeys across kingdoms, impossible tasks, and dreams of dressmaking. Playing with a lot of fairytale motifs but also not afraid of throwing you some curveballs, how does the first book in The Blood of the Stars series fare? Nancy’s verdict is here.
Friday
Michelle reviews Brandon Getz’s newest release, Lars Breaxface: Werewolf in Space. Blending sci-fi, horror, comedy, and pop culture, how does Getz balance the book’s many hats? Does it go beyond the genre clichés it delights in? There’s more than meets the eye in this space adventure — take a look!
The Kasturi/Files
Welcome back to our special column for October, featuring special guests Sandra Kasturi and Gemma Files! This is a daily event in which they celebrate the 31 days of Halloween by “watching horror movies, arguing about them, and sipping a nice beverage.” We’ve got breakdowns and debates on classics old and new, book recommendations based on the films, and a holiday-friendly cocktail recipe paired with each! Here are this week’s episodes and yummy drinks:
- October 20: Episode 20: Stirring the Pot featuring David Koepp’s Stir of Echoes + The Blue Collar Cocktail
- October 21: Episode 21: Hellraiser: Such Sights featuring Clive Barker’s Hellraiser (and its sequels) + The Hellraiser Shot and The Hellraiser Cocktail
- October 22: Episode 22: Vampire Girls Go Round the Outside featuring Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night + The Virgin Mary
- October 23: Episode 23: Eerie, or, the Bathroom of Doom featuring Mikhail Red’s Eerie + The Creepy Cocktail
- October 24: Episode 24: May the Devil Take You (Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Goat) featuring Timo Tjahjanto’s May the Devil Take You + The Red Devil Cocktail
- October 25: Episode 25: Only the Shadow Knows featuring Babak Anvari’s Under the Shadow + The I Dream of Jeannie Martini
- October 26: Episode 26: Jennifer’s Body Shaming featuring Karyn Kusama’s Jennifer’s Body + The Demon Possession Cocktail
These posts are full of tricks but oh so many treats, so we hope you’ve enjoyed checking them out!
Halloween is still relatively new to Japan, and I catch glimpses of it at the 100-yen shops, which have a tiny section with decorations and crafts and Halloween accessories, or the few grocery stores that have Halloween packaging for candy. While Trick or Treat is not a thing here, some large cities do Halloween Costume Walks through designated areas (like in Shibuya, Tokyo, pictured below). The closest Halloween experience you can get to something we do in the US is at theme parks like Tokyo Disneyland or USJ. But as Japan continues to embrace popular holidays from other countries, I have no doubt that Halloween will continue to gain popularity as the years pass.
See you next week, friends!
Halloween in Shibuya by Gena Okami for Unsplash.
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