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WITCH CRAFT by Margaret McGuire and Alicia Kachmar

Amazon Kindle / Nook / Kobo / iBookstore

Open this wicked little volume for a spellbinding collection of dark arts and crafts! It’s full of color photos and simple illustrated instructions for crafting everyday items into wonderfully witchy treats:

100 GHOSTS by Doogie Horner

Cut two eyeholes out of a bed sheet, and BOO! You've scared yourself up a classic Halloween icon. But what does that ghost look like when he's shy? Or in love? Or a pirate, a llama, a bond villain, or Russian nesting doll? 100 Ghosts explores every sort of spook in a series of whimsically haunting illustrations. 

It's a delightful collection for adults, children, and anyone in need of a friendly fright.

It's a fact. Here at Quirk, we love a good zombie book. Zombie Trekkies. Zombie Tarot. Zombie Jane Austen. We just can't help ourselves. 

With Halloween quickly approaching, we figured we'd put together a fun giveaway, to celebrate our love of being scared and the joy of zombies.

Go ahead and enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win a Quirk library of zombie books, including:

• Pride & Prejudice & Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
• Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith
• Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith
• Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall
• The Zombie Tarot by Stacey Graham

We'll pick three winners closer to the end of the month. Good luck! 

It's a fact. Here at Quirk, we love a good zombie book. Zombie Trekkies. Zombie Tarot. Zombie Jane Austen. We just can't help ourselves. 

With Halloween quickly approaching, we figured we'd put together a fun giveaway, to celebrate our love of being scared and the joy of zombies.

Go ahead and enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win a Quirk library of zombie books, including:

• Pride & Prejudice & Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
• Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith
• Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith
• Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall
• The Zombie Tarot by Stacey Graham

We'll pick three winners closer to the end of the month. Good luck! 

October is usually a time for orange leaves, pumpkins, ghouls, and ghosts. But, I think it should be a month of clockwork trains, aeronautical goggles, and steam-powered machines more amazing than you can imagine. In essence, October is steampunk.

October 15th marks the anniversary of when the New Orleans, the first US steamboat, made the long journey along the mighty Ohio and Mississippi Rivers from Pittsburgh, PA to New Orleans, LA. Owned by Robert Fulton and Robert R. Livingston, and built by Nicholas Roosevelt, the New Orleans was a marvel of its time and ushered in a new way for people to travel in luxury.

In honor of the New Orleans journey, here are 5 ways can have your own steampunk adventure in portable, but sadly not steam-powered, book form.

Excerpted from our Making Dough cookbook by Russell van Kraayenburg. 

YIELD: 6 shortcakes  |  PREP TIME: 1 hour  |  BAKE TIME: 12 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound prepared Biscuit Dough

1 cup heavy cream

5 sprigs fresh mint

4 ounces granulated sugar, divided

12 ounces blackberries, pureed, plus 12 ounces whole berries

1 tablespoon fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

½ teaspoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Cut biscuits and bake according to the instructions on page 28, about 12 minutes or until lightly golden. Set aside.

2. Heat heavy cream and mint sprigs in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, until cream reaches the scalding point (180°F on a clipped-on thermometer); it will begin to steam and appear slightly frothy. Transfer to the refrigerator and let steep for 1 hour, until cold.

3. Meanwhile, prepare the blackberry sauce: bring pureed blackberries, half of the sugar, chopped mint, lemon juice, and vanilla to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat slightly to maintain boil and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes, until thickened. Strain liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl; discard any blackberry seeds. Set aside to cool.

4. Strain steeped cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a large mixing bowl; discard mint leaves. Whip cream with an electric mixer on high speed while slowly adding the remaining sugar, until stiff peaks form. Note: This will take longer than normal whipped cream, up to 10 minutes, because of the oils from the mint leaves. Set aside in the refrigerator.

5. Assemble the shortcakes: Cut biscuits in half to create two rounds. Cover each bottom half with blackberries and blackberry sauce. Top with the top halves. Spoon whipped cream on top and drizzle with a little more blackberry sauce before serving.