Adam Burgess
Welcome to my mini-challenge for this year’s Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon!
First things first, you must be a registered participant of the 24-Hour Readathon happening today in order to be eligible to win the prize. Now that that’s done: what is the challenge?
I would like you to think of a favorite character or story-world from a favorite book. Then, re-imagine that character or world as a classic Halloween figure or scenario (witch, zombie, vampire, werewolf/graveyard, haunted house, cornfield, etc.)
Please describe for us why the character would make a good type of “x Halloween figure” or why the story would be fun if retold as “x scenario.”
My Example: I’m choosing NICK CARRAWAY, the narrator from The Great Gatsby. In my Halloween version, I imagine Nick to be a vampire, feeding off of the energy that Gatsby releases, just as he latches onto Gatsby in the original book and follows him around like an infatuated puppy. Also, in my scenario, the infamous “green light” that Gatsby himself believes in is actually the source of all his charm and power. When Carraway discovers this, he realizes he can eliminate Gatsby from the picture altogether and claim the power of the green light for himself. In the end, Carraway is the only character left standing, unscathed, while those around him are dead or shattered.
Bonus Points: If you can turn a favorite character into a Halloween type AND recreate the story-world itself into some kind of Halloween theme or experience, even better! (Think Pride and Prejudice and Zombies or Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter).
How to Win: The best answer will win the prize! The determination of “best” will, of course, be entirely subjective, as I’m the one doing the choosing, but I will be looking for the most detailed, unique, and creative responses. All comments received from registered readathon participants that are submitted prior to the end of the 24-hour readathon will be considered.
Prize: One book of the winner’s choice, priced at $20USD or less, to be chosen from The Book Depository.
Please leave your response in a comment on this blog post and/or leave a link to your answer if you share it on your own blog. Please use the tags #HalloweenStorySwap and #readathon to share your posts on social media and to make it easy for us to find them all!
Good luck, readathoners! And Happy Early Halloween!
I really really want to see Scarlett from Gone with the Wind as a ghost who comes back in current time and features in an episode of Supernatural!
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That would be EPIC.
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Agreed XD All that sass
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A retelling is needed right away 😀
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Oh fun! What about this, I Capture the Castle reimagined as a haunted house story. Instead of Cassandra’s family being trapped in the dilapidated castle because they are poor, what if they are all already dead and are haunting it! When the Cotton brothers arrive, instead of finding the family and being charmed by their eccentricity, they are terrified because they have found a family of ghosts.
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Omg, what if Alice was a zombie? Alice in Zombieland! That would be sooooo creepy!! Just imagine the Cheshire Cat?! I’d like to think of Tweedledee and Tweedledum as some very fun zombies, just slowly walking around joking with each other. And the Queen would perhaps have a pumpkin for a head! Yeah, I’d watch that!
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What is Emma was a witch? She was not match making love stories, but she was fulfilling a prophecy to mate the parents of the future saviour.
Or what if Mr. Darcey was a vampire? He is quiet and mysterious.
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THE ORIGINAL: In Stephen King’s ‘The Long Walk’ the story is horrifying because young boys are in a contest where the ultimate prize is being the final survivor. They are picked off one by one as they walk and walk and walk. The last one left is the one to survive.
MY VERSION: What if the reality was that all the boys were really zombies? Being picked off one by one because they were considered a threat. Picked off one by one everyone thinking they were brain dead people eaters when really they were unable to speak. A Castle Rock version of the The Walking Dead!
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I am currently reading the manga series Skip Beat and love the idea of it being a sort of swap with the Munsters. The president as Lory, Ren as Herman, Maria as a female Eddie. The tricky part is Lilly. To make Kyoko Lilly to be with Ren or let Moko have that one as it suits her and Kyoko be Marilyn. Anyways, they are all in Showbiz still and hired to do the show for how they look. With how the Munsters perceive themselves as normal I think it would be perfect.
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What a fun idea for a challenge!
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I’m gonna go with…Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon as a Rapunzel retelling. Maddy is the innocent girl held trapped; her mother is a witch drawing power from her life force.
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Peter Pan is a ghost. Wendy was actually in a coma while with him and waking up from it brought her back to London.
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Elio and Oliver from Call Me By Your Name as immortals (any kind, could be warlocks or vampires). They chose diverging paths in life the first time, and throughout the book they meet again. Maybe if they’re immortal, they’ll finally find the courage and the common sense to truly be together, although it may take a century or two.
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Of all the many retellings, I think we’re missing a werewolf Cinderella. At midnight, the full moon comes out, and she turns into a werewolf. Classic guy gets the girl, guy loses the girl, girl turns into a werewolf stuff. My Insta for this challenge is here: https://instagram.com/p/BpLNlEVgBMv/
Fun challenge!
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History is All You Left Me where the memories that Griffin has of Theo literally turn Theo into a ghost and he has to reckon with the emotional wreckage he left behind, both of his ex-boyfriends, and eventually brings Griffin closure so he can move on with his life.
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Elliot from In Other Lands would be the scarecrow used for a jumpscare because he’s trying his best but no matter what people assume the worse and expect him to come alive and chase them through a corn field.
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Hi! I answered this on my blog post here: https://wp.me/pagmwu-gv 🙂
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Ok how about Scarlett from Caraval by Stephanie Garber, only there is no Caraval. She is a ghost who is stuck in a loop after her father kills her during one of his beatings. She keeps repeating Caraval over and over again as some sort of loop because she is unable to accept that she is already dead. There are clues to how she dies but everytime she figures out she has already passed on she restarts Caraval over again with no memory of the previous events.
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I think Hannibal Lecter would make a perfect vampire, and Will Graham and Clarice Sterling hunters, like the Winchesters. Jack Crawford could be their boss, overseeing the hunting, and Alan Bloom can remain a psychologist, making sure their hunters’ minds stay sane, clearing them for missions when necessary. Freddie Lounds could remain a journalist, reporting on the monsters. I think Will Graham could also eventually make a perfect werewolf, and become a couple with Hannibal, terrorrizing the area.
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Have you read “Hold me Closer – Tiny Cooper’s Story”? He’s a character from “Will Grayson, will grayson”. Performing a musical about his gay life, coming out and being himself. What if it was a musical, Halloween and horror inspired, about his life as a zombie?
“Listen everyone, I’m a zombie. I like zombies. I wanna live my life like the zombie I was born as!”
I’d wanna read AND watch that musical!
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