Poppet Reads The Graveyard Book

Halloween makes me think of graveyards. Mostly because when I was a kid, after trick or treat, we went up the hill to the oldest cemetery on Cemetery Hill Road (see Harlequin Valentine). We went snipe hunting, rode up on a hay wagon and scared ourselves silly while we ate too much candy from our bags of loot. It was an old place full of ancient oaks hung with moss and fragrant pines reaching to the moon. Old graves supported crumbling gray angels with staring, empty eyes. There were ornate spires grown over with lichen and looming mausoleums. It was surrounded by a black spiked fence, very tall, all around.
And on Halloween night, it was an eerie, spooky, happy place where we were very much alive.


Poppets will be exploring Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. As I guide them through the world he created, I'll be taking my own experiences along. I spent many Halloween nights in our cemetery, for sure, but also many pleasant afternoons, for in daylight, it was a fine place to read, or sketch. It was a fine place to share secrets or first shy kisses. Later my visits were tinged with sadness, because I knew more of the dead. But I never lost my fondness for the grounds there and one day, hope to walk them again.

If you haven't visited a graveyard recently for the sake of visiting a graveyard, do. But, go carefully. Don't fear the dead, who are there to be remembered and admired. Beware the living.

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note: 20% of Poppet Reads The Graveyard Book and all other The Graveyard Book Poppets and art will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

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New photos have been added to The House Where Poppets Live on Flickr. The House will make its debut at the World Fantasy Convention at the end of the month.

I hope you enjoyed the balloon boy drama. I'm glad the kid is okay. I became disgusted by the media very quickly. They have once again lived down to my expectations. Silly humans!

And I hope you have a very good night.