By Liz, happy to welcome Peggy Ehrhart back to the blog to celebrate her latest book! And it’s all about Halloween, which makes me so happy. Take it away, Peggy!
A Dark and Stormy Knit opens with the grisly discovery of a corpse on Halloween night. Sitting in a chair on a porch, the corpse had gone unremarked until a group of teenagers approached in quest of Halloween treats. The porch, like others in charming Arborville, New Jersey, had been decorated for the holiday, and the corpse blended in with a tableau meant to evoke the spooky season.
Arborville, where my Knit & Nibble series is set, resembles to an uncanny degree the suburban New Jersey town where I’ve spent much of my adult life, and Orchard Street, where my amateur-sleuth protagonist Pamela Paterson lives, resembles my own street. Over the years, Halloween has become more and more of an extravaganza on my street, so I didn’t have to look far to find my inspiration for the opening scene in A Dark and Stormy Knit.
Once the days start growing shorter, my neighbors’ creativity comes to the fore. Fake cobwebs festoon shrubbery, complete with huge furry spiders. Plastic tombstones sprout from lawns. Ghouls with rubber faces congregate on porches. Skeletons enjoy a tête-a-tête on a garden bench in a front yard. Miniature ghosts made from styrofoam balls with squares of white cloth draped over them dangle from trees. A giant inflatable ghost, glowing a spectral shade of pale green, looms from behind a tree. Pumpkins, carved and whole, abound and—in acknowledgment of the harvest season that overlaps Halloween—decorative squash and gourds, as well as hay bales and bundles of corn husks, are part of the décor.
Like my sleuth, I live in a wood-frame house that dates from the early years of the last century. It was a fixer-upper when my husband and I bought it long ago (and fixing it up was a process I’m not sure I’d have taken on if I’d known what all was involved). But now it’s pretty and quite picturesque, and with its barn-red and pale gold color scheme, it fits in with the autumn foliage of the many oaks and maples that shade my street. The other houses on the block are old and picturesque as well.
Thus our street has become a favorite of trick-or-treaters. The houses and the trees with their colorful leaves make for wonderful photo ops, and the goblins start arriving as soon as school gets out. Parents stand on the sidewalk snapping pictures as troops of princesses, monsters, space aliens, and other creatures beat a path to our front door.
A few years ago, my husband and I realized that there was no point in closing the door and retreating between visits because no sooner had treats been dispensed to one group than another group took its place. Now we take turns being on door duty—or even porch duty. Lately, even in northern New Jersey, fall days well into late October and beyond have been bright and balmy. Sitting on the front porch with a supply of candy, watching the passing parade of giggling, costumed children, and greeting them with a “Happy Halloween” as they ascend the porch steps is quite a pleasant assignment.
Our neighbors station themselves outdoors for porch duty as well, and the atmosphere takes on the feel of a block party. Last year we had such crowds that the town closed our block off to cars. It’s easy to keep track of how many goblins have visited by keeping track of the candy supply. Last year I started with a giant economy bag of assorted “fun size” candy bars that held 275 pieces and one that held 150 pieces. Allowing for the fact that my husband and I helped ourselves to a few treats along the way, I estimate that we gave treats to at least 400 goblins—and as it began to get dark, we extinguished the candle in the jack-o’-lantern, retreated inside, and turned off all the lights visible from the street. The few late-calling trick-or-treaters—usually they tend to be teenagers—had to go away empty-handed.
Of course, as a mystery, A Dark and Stormy Knit, has to lean into the spooky side of the holiday rather than the sunny block-party aspect. In the book, Halloween night features a fierce storm, with plenty of thunder and lightning and a momentary power outage that leaves the scene in ominous darkness. The trick-or-treating teenagers are reveling in the spooky atmosphere of Halloween night, but they certainly do not expect to come upon a real corpse. In the house next door to the murder scene, Pamela and her best friends, the Frasers, are enjoying oatmeal cookies and hot cider, and Pamela and her co-sleuth Bettina Fraser certainly do not expect to be summoned by screams to the scene of the murder that will present their latest sleuthing challenge.
Readers: Are you expecting lots of trick-or-treaters this year? Do you have a favorite Halloween tradition? Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of A Dark and Stormy Knit!
Peggy Ehrhart is a former English professor with a doctorate in Medieval Literature. Her Maxx Maxwell mysteries, Sweet Man Is Gone (2008) and Got No Friend Anyhow (2011), were published by Five Star/Gale/Cengage and feature a blues-singer sleuth.
Peggy is currently writing the Knit & Nibble cozy mysteries for Kensington Books. Her amateur sleuth, Pamela Paterson, is the founder and mainstay of a knitting club in the charming suburban town of Arborville, New Jersey. Book #11 in the Knit & Nibble series, A Dark and Stormy Knit, has just been released.
Peggy herself is an avid crafter, dating from her childhood as a member of the 4-H Club in rural Southern California. She is a longtime member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime and regularly attends mystery-writing conferences and participates in conference panels. She also gives talks on mystery fiction at libraries and other venues in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey.
The Wickeds 
We live on the edge of a city. The walkable nature of our neighborhood makes it attractive to little trick or treaters. Our record year was around 500 candies given out. I always liked seeing teens, hang on to the fun as long as you can kids.
Susey homemaker at g mail dot com
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I thought my tally of 400 trick-or-treaters was amazing but 500 is REALLY amazing. I’m very grateful for the local CVS with its huge, affordable bags of candy.
Peggy
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Peggy, congrats on your latest book!
For the first few years after I stopped being a trick-or-treater myself, I wanted nothing to do with Halloween.
Then I started being the one to hand out the candy. And my street is a dump off point for not just my town, but rather I’ve gotten people from as far away as four towns away.
I don’t do anything special in terms of decorations but I do give away more than just candy. I give away comic books to each of the kids AND really good costumes get special prizes like small toys and the like. My house is “The Comic Book House” and I’ve had a few kids who have come since they were little and now they are about to enter high school in some cases.
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Comic books are a great idea! I always hope that, when our local goblins get home with their pillowcases full of candy, the parents find a way to ration it out over many days, weeks even.
Peggy
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What a fun neighborhood! I love handing out candy and admiring costumes. Your new book sounds fun, too.
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Thank you, Edith, and thank you to all the Wickeds for hosting me.
Peggy
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Yes, we typically get at least a hundred trick-or-treaters every Halloween! I especially love decorating inside and outside and baking up some fun treats. Best holiday of all. Your book sounds delightful!
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I can’t wait to read your book, I always enjoy catching up with Pamela and her friends!
We live at the far end of a dead-end street, and the first several years we would be lucky to have two or three trick or treaters. As our own collection of decorations (mainly blow molds and inflatables) has grown, and as more neighbors began decorating, the number of trick or treaters has grown. We’ll have probably 20 to 30 nowadays. It’s a far cry from 400, but a lot better than it used to be.
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Yes, I would definitely feel that an important part of fall was missing if we didn’t get our trick-or-treaters. I loved Halloween as a child and it was always fun to help our son with creative costumes when he was a child.
Peggy
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We always buy candy, but we don’t always have trick-or-treaters
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Hi, I so enjoy The Knit and Nibble series! I am excited to read A Dark And Stormy Knit!
Peggy Halloween in your neighborhood sounds like so much fun! Here in Maine it seems the door to door trick treating has been less popular. Instead churches and organizations sponsor Trunk of Treat. Each person decorates their trunk in a large parkinglot and kids go around. Many families go to multiple Trunk a Treats. I love seeing the children all dressed up!
I would love to win a copy of A Dark And Stormy Knit!!!
Thank you for the hours of entertainment you have given me with the Knit And Nibble series!
April Sesin from Central Maine
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I love the idea of Trunk or Treat!
Peggy
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I love Halloween mysteries. We also get a lot of trick-or-treaters and I usually hand out candy for two hours before turning off the lights. We go through a ton of candy. Then the family watches Stephen King movies or the original Halloween before turning in for the night. I’ve always loved this spooky holiday!
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Congratulations on your book! Before, I moved to Rhode Island, we would get hundreds and it as so much fun! Since I moved to RI, I live on a quiet street, no sidewalks and we usually don’t get a lot of trick-o- treaters, maybe a couple. Some years, no one shows up. I am thinking of not turning on my lights this year. 😔. My favorite Halloween tradition is dressing up my dog (her current costume is a corn on the cob). She is such a trooper! Diedra Mikucki. Diedraw@earthlink.net
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I love animals in Halloween costumes. The idea of the cat in the witch costume on the cover of A DARK AND STORMY KNIT was my suggestion to the artist and he did a great job.
Peggy
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I don’t see any trick or treaters in my neighborhood, not sure why but they stopped coming around years ago. Not a lot of Halloween traditions, but my favorite skeleton earrings come out every year!
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We get very few trick or treaters here but are always prepared for them. The other streets in the neighborhood are busy but they seem to miss ours. I always get a new decor item each Halloween.
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Sadly, not that we live way out in the country, we usually don’t have any trick or treaters. On occasion, we will have some of the church groups come by on hay wagons as they take their treaters on a Halloween ride to the houses in our area. They all know they are very welcomed and treats are always available. (Keeps us from having to eat them all.)
Back when we lived in town, Halloween was a special time for us. We decorated in both the whimsy and dark side of the season and were visited by both the adorable costumed and the bizarre outfitted. As a throw back to a tradition my Dad always did, there was also spooky music in the background to add to the festivities. With many treats on hand (including some special treat bags for kiddos we were very familiar with), we were entertained in return for treats by seeing all the adorable costumes as well as seeing the imagination put into some of the costumes. For us, we always seemed to get more enjoyment than the treaters got candy, but they seemed happy with their goodies making all happy. I do so miss those days, but have to admit that with age and ailments I don’t think I’d be up to all the work that went into what we once did.
Thank you for the fabulous chance to win a copy of A DARK AND STORMY KNIT! It’s on my TBR list and I can’t wait for the opportunity to read and review it. I know without a doubt that it will be another great addition to the A Knit & Nibble Mystery series.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
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Thank you for your great comment! It’s been such fun to read all the descriptions of people’s Halloween traditions.
Peggy
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I don’t but some of the houses in the area decorate really cool for halloween. cheetahthecat1982ATgmailDOTcom
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Welcome Peggy! I want to move to your neighborhood…we are Halloween-deprived, because we live on a ranch up in the hills, and nobody would dare venture to our neck o’ the woods. Our festivities are between my wife and me only, and we start it in August by reading and listening to Halloween themed cozies, and baking season-appropriate goodies. Of course, our grocery stores are pumpkin spice crazy already, so my coffee creamer has been Pumpkin Pecan for a couple of weeks. I am a big fan of your Knit N’ Nibble series, and feel right at home in Arborville, NJ when I open a new book. Your latest is on our TBR list, and we know that you will thrill us. You had me at the cover art…it is so creative and moody! Thank you for all the fun!! JOY! Luis at ole dot travel
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Thanks for your comment! I do love Halloween and all the fall traditions, to the point that I also start preparing and getting out my decorations at the end of summer. Acorns are already falling from the trees here in northern New Jersey and that’s such a welcome sign.
Peggy
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Living rural we don’t have any trick or treaters. I miss them. When I lived in my first Florida house, the town sponsored a Halloween Party at the rec center. We’d have ghosts and goblins stopping by for hours on their way to and fro. Loved seeing their costumes.
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My neighborhood has been up and down over the years. In the early days we had several hundred kids, these days it’s more like 25-30. The past couple of years I have gone to a friend’s house or my sister’s house where they get tons of kids and the adults set up a potluck on the driveway with lots of fun adult beverages and several bowls of candy for the trick or treaters. Looking forward to the new Knit & Nibble! makennedyinaz at hotmail dot com
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Potluck on the driveway with adult beverages sounds like huge fun. What a great idea!
Peggy
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Halloween mysteries are something I love to read in the Fall because I live in Connecticut and I always love the change of the leaves. I can’t wait to read your book.
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No trick or treats in our neighborhood. My favorite Halloween tradition is watching It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.
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Lots of trick or treaters in my neighborhood. Thank you for the chance. Deborah
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Despite living a small town we seem to usually always get a lot of Halloweeners
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We normally do not get any trick-or-treaters, but we always buy candy just in case they do show up. Of course, we end up eating all of the candy ourselves!
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I know about that problem with the candy–how to have enough not to run out but not so much that my husband and I end up eating too many leftovers.
Peggy
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I love all the Knit and Nibble books. They are like a warm cup of tea on a rainy cold day.
Our past home had a huge front porch and we would go all out to make it the Harry Potter house with special music, candles, costumes of Harry Potter. I even created a Dobby. It was so fun and hundreds of kids enjoyed it. We now downsized to a quiet neighborhood with no trick or treaters but that’s ok because there is a huge parade in Park City on Main Street at Halloween and everyone brings their dogs in costume. And we have three dogs! I just love Halloween.
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Dogs in Halloween costumes are the best! Thanks for commenting.
Peggy
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We don’t get trick or treaters so I get to eat my candy corn, etc. on my own!
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We don’t tend to get many trick or treaters in my complex. Too many stairs to climb to make knocking on all the doors worth it. (No need to enter me in the giveaway.)
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i go out and walk the dog and enjoy seeing the kids going door to door.
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Love giving out candy to trick treaters. I love to take my grandsons tricker treating. Thanks for this amazing chance.
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We’ve lived where we have had hundreds of kids, but now we may get 5 or 6. In the past few years I’ve made sure the porch light is off and pull down the shades. I feel bad, but I don’t want all that candy in the house. I always decorate our front porch with hay bales, corn shocks, and pumpkins, but because our porch is pretty much hidden from the street, we are the only ones who enjoy it.
I’m looking forward to reading A Dark and Stormy Knit. Sounds like so much fun.
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Congratulations on your new release. I enjoy seeing the kids in their costumes and having a good time. The last few years we haven’t had many trick or treaters, it kind of takes some of the fun out of Halloween.
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Congrats on the new book! I live outside of town, on a very busy road, no trick-or-treaters out here. I light to watch shows about the history of Halloween. sue.stoner72@yahoo.com
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Congratulations on the new release! I love the book cover! We live out in the country (corn fields) area so we unfortunately never get trick or treaters. I have always been prepared just in case!
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Congratulations on another book! We used to get quite a few trick-or-treaters but not anymore. ckmbeg (at) gmail (dot) com
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Sadly, we will most likely not get a lot of Trick or Treaters at my house here on The Jersey Shore – we live on the edge of the neighborhood, so some years are ok, some not so much. I LOVE giving out candy and talking with all the little ones, though! Our best tradition began when my daughter, whose birthday is close to Halloween, was little. Every year we would have a Halloween birthday party and she and her friends would toilet paper the yard. I loved waking up the next morning to see my holly trees draped in the white stuff. We’d leave it up for Halloween – it was part of my decorations. She’s an adult now and I swear one of these years I’m going to hire some kids to toilet paper the yard for old times’ sake!
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You have the neatest book covers, so adorable! I am adding this one to my TBR list for spooky season. We decorate each year trying to add a little something new to the front to be a little spooky but not too much. We usually have an early dinner, some sort of stew or soup and we put either the Nightmare Before Christmas or Practical Magic on the TV to watch between trick or treaters. Always so much fun to see how the kids dress up. Thank you for sharing your book and for the opportunity to win.
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Congratulations on the new release. We don’t get trick or treaters. Our favorite tradition is our family Halloween party we have.
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The responses to my post were so thoughtful and interesting that I decided to give away three copies of A DARK AND STORMY KNIT. Winners have been notified. Thank you to all who commented and congratulations to the winners.
Peggy
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