Scare the kids, impress the neighbors, cut your hand off:
Carve a Pumpkin for Halloween!

Extreme Pumpkins by Tom Nardone

Pumpkins are supposed to be scary!

Based on his popular and addictive website ExtremePumpkins.com, Tom Nardone has created a full-color guide to pumpkin carving that’s truly frightening. Featuring the website’s signature Puking Pumpkin, and spanning everything from Drowning Pumpkin, Crime Scene Pumpkin, and Cannibal Pumpkin to Electrocuted Pumpkin and other never-before-seen designs, this gleefully gory guide is nothing short of a manifesto to take back Halloween from the cheerful, the cutesy, and the parent-sanctioned. For the egg-throwing, toilet tissue-streaming, window-soaping teenager in all of us, finally- a whole new way to celebrate October 31. –This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author
Tom Nardone is the founder of ExtremePumpkins.com, and is single-handedly reclaiming Halloween with his shocking, funny, and vivid pumpkin designs. He lives in Michigan, with his long-suffering family.

Extreme Pumpkins II, by Tom Nardone

The outrageous follow-up to last Halloween’s surprise bestseller.

From the power-tool wielding author of the national bestselling Extreme Pumpkins and the popular website Extremepumpkins.com comes a new collection of even darker, creepier, and more outrageous do-it-yourself designs to impress friends and horrify neighbors. The demented designs include Projectile Sneeze Pumpkin, Baseball-in-the-Eye Pumpkin, Doll-Eating Pumpkin, and Full-Diaper Baby Pumpkin, along with cool gourd designs, practical jokes, and more. This gleefully gory guide reclaims Halloween from the cheerful, the cutesy, and the parent-sanctioned.

Extreme Halloween, by Tom Nardone

Product Description
All new diabolical ideas from the bestselling author of Extreme Pumpkins- the ultimate guide to reviving the grisly true spirit of Halloween.

From baking hemorrhaging desserts to burying family and friends alive, the outrageous projects in this guide will inspire readers to transform the house, the yard, the kids, and the wardrobe for the scariest Halloween ever.

Some of the spooky ideas include:

• Alligator in the Leaf Pile
• Toilet Bowl of Candy
• Fog Your Yard
• Buried Alive
• Turning a Garage into a Haunted House
• A Cake that Bleeds
• Costumes to Disturb and Amuse

For any fan of Halloween, this extreme celebration will spook, inspire, and help freak out the neighbors.

Halloween: The Best of Martha Stewart Living

Halloween is rivaled only by Christmas when it comes to the holidays that generate the most interest for Martha Stewart Living’s readers. Halloween is a compendium of the best Halloween ideas published in the magazine over the last decade.

To help celebrate this ghoulish holiday, the editors of Martha Stewart Living bring us Halloween, a compilation of all the best tricks and treats of the spooky season.

Organized in two sections, Halloween makes this holiday so much fun it’s scary. In “Tricking,” pranksters will find all manner of pumpkin carving, eerie lighting, and makeup and decorating ideas. “Treating” provides the recipes for having a Halloween feast or a hanted-house party and ideas for making mischief with kids.

Buy Halloween: the Best of Martha Stewart Living now from Amazon

Illegally Easy Halloween Costumes for Kids

First place winner in the 2001 Writer’s Digest National Self-Published Book Awards, Reference category. Independent Publisher Book Awards 2002 Finalist – How-To (Hobby/Crafts). Number one bestseller for Quality Books for public libraries. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to UNICEF to help needy children of the world. This award-winning book will make you a costume wizard. Create an unforgettable outfit for a child for Halloween and other occasions. 100 costumes with lavish full-color photos and user-friendly visual index, simple patterns in three sizes for children 3-12 year-olds, no-sew shortcuts, last-minute solutions, treat bags & accessories. Easy-to-follow instructions and well-organized layout. Most costumes can be made without a sewing machine, many in just one evening, some even in an hour or less. Creative and comfortable designs range from traditional and storybook characters, animals and clowns to celestial beings, cultural tributes, and country costumes. Background information for the characters, Halloween history, and safety tips are included.

Buy Illegally Easy Halloween Costumes for Kids from Amazon

Halloween: The Best of Martha Stewart Living

Halloween is rivaled only by Christmas when it comes to the holidays that generate the most interest for Martha Stewart Living’s readers. Halloween is a compendium of the best Halloween ideas published in the magazine over the last decade.

To help celebrate this ghoulish holiday, the editors of Martha Stewart Living bring us Halloween, a compilation of all the best tricks and treats of the spooky season.

Organized in two sections, Halloween makes this holiday so much fun it’s scary. In “Tricking,” pranksters will find all manner of pumpkin carving, eerie lighting, and makeup and decorating ideas. “Treating” provides the recipes for having a Halloween feast or a hanted-house party and ideas for making mischief with kids.

Ghoulish Goodies

Everyone loves Halloween. It’s a holiday that is pure fun and childish joy, an excuse to dress up and eat treats. Packaged candy may be the common reward for trick-or-treating, but plates of Spiderweb Cookies or big bowls of Sticks and Stones Caramel Corn are perfect contributions to school Halloween events, tailgating parties, neighborhood open houses, adult costume parties, and even afternoon play dates. It’s difficult to imagine an autumn gathering that wouldn’t be even more fun with ghoulish goodies to share.

These frightful treats are not just for October, though. A birthday party for a nine-year-old or a scary movie sleepover for teenagers practically demands an I’Scream Cake or Spidery Cupcakes. And Chocolate-Chip Pumpkin Bars with Orange Glaze would be welcome at an office coffee break or an afternoon tea party.

Baking from Ghoulish Goodies is a wonderful way to celebrate the change of seasons and the pleasure of working with kids in the kitchen. Baking cupcakes and making fudge are great activities for autumn afternoons, when the weather turns cool and the kids are underfoot after school. Put them to work stirring, decorating, and scraping pumpkin seeds. These are recipes that parents and kids can have fun making together. And the entire family will enjoy eating a warm Choco-Bat Cookie for dessert.

Watch the author create Funny Bones featured in the book – see video here.

About the Author
Sharon Bowers is a cookbook author and a former producer at the Food Network’s web site, where her easy and stylish Halloween recipes remain perennial holiday favorites.

If you are looking to sell used books in Maryland, here are a couple of stores to check with:

Second Edition Books in Columbia, MD
located at:
6490M Dobbin Rd
Columbia, MD 21045

410-730-0050

you can visit them online at www.secondeditionbooks.com

I have bought and sold books at Second Edition and really like the store.

If you are in Baltimore, Normal’s Books and Records looks really interesting.
located at:
25 E. 31st Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218

online at: http://www.normals.com/

(410) 243-6888
e-mail: rareuniv@earthlink.net
Open 11 AM – 6 PM daily

I haven’t been to Normal’s, but it looks neat and is definitely on my list of stores to visit.

Here is some info on Normal’s buying need’s from their website: “Our buying hours if you have treasures to sell are: Monday through Saturday, 12 to 5. We’re always looking for Eastern and Western Philosophy, Artist’s Monographs, Greek & Roman Classics, Hardboiled Fiction, Metaphysics and interesting and/or contemporary fiction by Robert Aickman, Paul and Jane Bowles, Bukowski, Beckett, Paul Auster, Haruki Murakami, Cormac McCarthy, Charles Portis, Anna Kavan, Jonathan Lethem, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Kurt Vonnegut, Roberto Bolanos, Zora Neale Hurston, Jose Saramago etc.

We’re also always looking for sweet sweet vinyl. Especially punk, soul, electronic, psych, latin, african, contemporary and free jazz, experimental and Mrs. Miller.”

Used textbooks can save a lot of money, but there are a few things to look out for when shopping for used textbooks:

1. Beware of International Editions

There isn’t anything wrong with international editions, per se, but you should know what you are getting. International editions are textbook editions that are printed for markets outside the U.S. Typically the international editions are paperback and are printed in black and white. Also, the paper may be a different grade than the U.S. edition. The major drawback I see with international editions is that you may not be able to list them for sale on Amazon. Amazon’s textbook policies prohibit the sale of international edition used textbooks, although I see them listed all the time. Still, you wouldn’t want to run afoul of Amazon or a buyer by passing off an international edition under the listing of the regular U.S. edition.

How to spot an international edition: First, the price – if the price is a lot lower than the competing offers, it may be an international edition. Another clue: it is shipping from India or some other country. Also, sellers are getting clever with how they list the fact that the book is an international edition, I have seen “ISE”, “IE”, and other abbreviations used. So, if the price looks too good, take a close look at the description and the location of the seller.

However, that being said, if you are OK with buying a cheaper version of the book that you may not be able to or want to resell, then an international edition may be the way to go.

2. Look carefully at the Edition Number you are buying
Another important consideration is the edition number of a used textbook. You should buy the edition that your instructor specifies. However, it never hurts to ask your instructor if an older edition will work (of course, don’t ask this if the instructor is one of the authors – they’d probably like you to buy a new copy of the latest version).

I have often seen the lowest price copy of a textbook listed in Amazon be an earlier edition used textbook listed under the current edition page. This practice is not allowed by Amazon, but I see it all the time. So, just be careful and remember if the price looks TOO GOOD, then take a second look and email the seller if in doubt.

3. Review the condition of the book

A used textbook that has been written all over and highlighted on every page may be cheap, but may not be what you are looking for. However, I did find some used law books when I was in law school that meticulous margin notes and I considered these books more valuable than a brand new copy.

So, before you jump on the copy with lowest price available, be sure to read the description and take note of the condition. If the description is just a generic one, then check the seller’s return policy to make sure you can get your money back if you are not happy.

4. Look at the seller’s recent feedback

Sounds obvious, but taking a look at the seller’s recent feedback ratings and comments can steer you to a good seller and a cheap used textbook and also steer you away from trouble.

5. Is there a picture of the actual book or is it a stock picture
If the seller is new or if there are any warning signs, then check the image of the book. It is best to have an image of the actual book for sale, especially with used textbooks, but most listing will use a stock image. If you are concerned abut any other factors and the image is a stock image, then pass on the book or ask the seller for an image of the copy for sale.

Also, the actual book image can be used to confirm the edition, even if you can’t read the edition number, you can look at the cover art and compare it with the cover art of the latest edition in Amazon.

Hope these tips help you make a good decision when buying used textbooks. There are plenty of bargains out there – I only buy used textbooks – but you do have to be cautious and not get caught up in a book with a price that looks too good to be true.