AZ Sleuths: Nancy Drew Halloween Party Part 2

Sat. Oct. 30
AZ Sleuths Halloween Party
6pm

AZ Sleuths members attending included myself and my mom plus some family and friends and these members: Sherry, Tori, Dede, Judy, Jackie, Arlene, Laura, Beth Marie, and Tina.

Our theme combined the classic Nancy Drew tale, #15 The Haunted Bridge with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

I set the scene with spooky tree silhouettes on the walls of the porch and a few pumpkins including my Nancy Drew silhouette pumpkins.

A larger scene of trees going up to columns on the edge of the porch and the "haunted bridge" complete with a ghost haunting it at the end.

Spooky Ghost. Brown artist paper was used to make the wood planks, buckets filled with sand held wooden fence posts and rope was stapled between planks.

Mortimer Bartescue/Ichabod Crane's hat and the smashed pumpkin found on the ground near the bridge...

Setting the scene at night--much more spooky!

The Headless Horseman Silhouette

Sleepy Hollow Sign

The gang on the "haunted bridge."

Short Story to Set the Scene

Goody Bags For All

Pumpkins filled with treats

Tootsie Pop Ghost Suckers

Nancy Drew Cupcake Picks

Beth Marie, Tina, and Dede

Costumed in front of the Nancy Drew Collection

The story of Nancy Drew and The Haunted
Bridge of the Headless Horseman

Everyone Reading the Spooky Tale

The Mystery To Solve

Treats...

Tricks...

The Gift Exchange Table

& Gift Exchange Gifts:

Sherry Picked First--Nancy Drew Decoupaged Book

Book with Treats inside

Nancy Drew Haunted House

Nancy Drew Tin

Nancy Drew Journal

Old Attic Journal

Nancy Drew Trunk

Nancy Drew Basket - The Cat Caper

Nancy Drew Treat Jar

More treats!

The Whole Gang

Goody Bags for the Trick or Treaters
On Halloween

We had a great time--it was pot luck so everyone brought great dishes and snacks, we read the story, did the mystery activity with prizes, and then had our gift exchange.

I enjoyed combining these 2 themes and they worked out well. The setting for Haunted Bridge at a mountain resort with a haunted bridge in the woods meshed well with the setting for Sleepy Hollow and the frightful ride of Ichabod Crane being chased by the Headless Horseman across the bridge.

In our story as you can see from yesterday's Blog entry below, Nancy masqueraded as Katrina Van Tassel, Ned Nickerson as Brom Bones, and Mortimer Bartescue as Ichabod Crane--and the same fateful ride befell Mortimer as it once did Ichabod.

Jenn:)

AZ Sleuths: Nancy Drew Halloween Party Part 1

NANCY DREW AND
THE HAUNTED BRIDGE
OF THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN

NANCY DREW and her chums are visiting quaint Deer Mountain Inn near the historic village of Sleepy Hollow. An eerie haunted bridge in the spooky woods of Sleepy Hollow beckons Nancy Drew to solve the mystery of its ghost. Meanwhile, Nancy's father Carson Drew is on the trail of a ring of jewel smugglers pulling off thefts at wealthy inns around the area. Nancy must contend with pest Mortimer Bartescue, a guest at the inn who takes a fancy to Nancy and interferes in her sleuthing. Is he harmless or is he mixed up in the strange goings on around Deer Mountain Inn? Nancy's boyfriend Ned Nickerson doesn't take too kindly to Mortimer's schemes. While trying to avoid Mortimer, Nancy must help her father search for a woman carrying a mysterious jeweled compact who lost a trunk of jewelry, while she gets to the bottom of the ghostly business in the woods of Sleepy Hollow.

Legend has it, that a Hessian soldier in the Revolutionary War was killed when enemy cannon fire decapitated him. His ghost rides through the woods of Sleepy Hollow at night searching for his head. Lone travelers have found themselves stalked through the woods and chased--barely making it across the haunted bridge to safety. Some years ago in Sleepy Hollow, a strange fellow named Ichabod Crane met such a fate and was never seen or heard from again.

One spooky night at Hemlock Hall, Nancy and her chums assemble for a Halloween masquerade party. Nancy is costumed as the famous Katrina Van Tassel from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Ned makes a delightful Brom Bones. Whether by coincidence or fate, Mortimer finds himself costumed as Ichabod Crane. Nancy proves to be the belle of the ball and to Ned's frustration, is claimed for many dances by Mortimer Bartescue. Mortimer's penchant for superstitions is aroused when Ned dramatically tells the ghostly tale of the Headless Horseman and the demise of Ichabod Crane. Spooked, Mortimer begins to dread the long ride back to the Inn.

Long after the delicious food disappears and the apple bobbing and fortune telling subsides, the witching hour of midnight is at hand. Mortimer finds himself on horseback heading for Deer Mountain Inn. An owl hoots, the cry of a lone wolf pierces the night, and the moonlight glitters among the shadowy woods creating a sinister glow.

Rounding a bend, Mortimer spots the haunted bridge up ahead and begins to feel relieved. However, he fails to notice the hoofbeats of another rider just joining him along the trail. As the hairs on the back of his neck begin to prickle, he hears the angry snort of the Hessian soldier's horse bearing down on him. A chase ensues with Mortimer hanging on for dear life. If only he could make it across the bridge in time...

Nancy and her chums never did see Mortimer again at Deer Mountain Inn after that fateful night. All that remained was a smashed pumpkin and Mortimer's hat, found near the old haunted bridge. Was it the stuff of legends or a dastardly prank gone awry? One can never be too sure when traveling alone in the spooky woods of Sleepy Hollow...

----

Pictures of the party and how it turned out tomorrow...

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew 2011 Wall Calendars

Nancy Drew Sleuths has created 2 nifty 2011 Nancy Drew wall calendars. They are available at our Cafe Press Nancy Drew Shop! One features all the Russell H. Tandy covers and the other one features 24 popular Rudy Nappi covers. The quality is great--nice glossy pages, heavy weight page stock--very durable and attractive! Spiral bound so it will lay open flat plus it's got a hole punch for hanging on the wall.

Here's the Nappi Calendar:

24 Nappi Covers:

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew & Hardy Boys T-Shirts at Out of Print Clothing

There's a new Nancy Drew licensee - Out of Print Clothing - who has come out with a Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys shirt for their line. Check them out here.

The Nancy Drew shirt features the vintage Russell H. Tandy art from The Sign of the Twisted Candles and the Hardy Boys features the last art cover for The Mark on the Door:

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Sleuths at Bouchercon 2010 Recap

Sleuth Lea With Her Collection Of
Nancy Drew Foreign Editions

Nancy Drew Sleuths had a booth at the Bouchercon 2010 mystery convention in San Francisco, I was on a Nancy Drew panel along with Penny Warner, Kate White, and Cornelia Read, and there was also a Nancy Drew 80th anniversary party.

I arrived to Oakland airport and Lea picked my mom and I up and gave us a great tour of her fabulous collection! Then a great tour around the San Francisco area including Coit Tower. We also stopped by the Yoda fountain at Lucas Films.

NDS Book Room Tables

Journals & Goodies for Sale

Buttons and Jewelry

Frame Necklaces & Bags

Totes and Bags--they were a hit!

In book #75, The Emerald-Eyed Cat Mystery, Nancy briefly visits San Francisco and goes to a restaurant in Chinatown where she wants to talk to the owner but he plies her with food and then hypnotizes her so she won't remember a thing! Lea, my mom and myself, plus Joanna and author Meredith Cole and her husband ate at Hunan Home's in Chinatown, shared several dishes, and then I tried to "hypnotize" Lea ;)

Bess says yum!

Our last big event was the Nancy Drew 80th anniversary party which was a come-and-go event in foyer of the Hyatt complete with mini cupcakes that Penny made picks for.

Bcon Party Sign

Meredith, Lea, and Joanna in front of Lea's Display

Lea's Nancy Drew Display

Great Foreign Editions!

Some Mysterious Decor

We had a mystery to solve at the party--see if you can solve it. Name one of Nancy Drew's famous cases and the villain she caught from the clues below--I'll post the solution in the comments in the coming days...

Jenn:)