Call me Erzebet

If you read The Letters of Erzebet Bathory, you know that she spent a lot of time reviewing accounts, managing estate paper work for 27 estates, paying bills, ordering food and grain.  On a much smaller but equally stressful scale, I find myself developing migraines, keeping track of not just my bills and taxes, but everyone else's family accounts, too.  Like Barbara Pym's excellent women, E and I are cumbered with much serving.  Happy Halloween to us all, and my one respite was watching The Great Pumpkin and the Toy Story Halloween special.

I've been watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" since I was 6, and we only had a BW TV, and Admiral, which I still have in a place of honor.  The Peanuts Gang reminds me of my childhood, and of home, of lying on the rug in front of the TV clutching a stuffed animal or my doll, Candy, and and anticipating the cool air of Halloween night, when my Dad walked around with me and m friends trick or treating, and when my mom would buy carmel apples and make my costumes. There was a hint of smoke from bonfires, and neighbors who could still make us popcorn balls and brownies, and a little box with penneys for Unicef.

Holidays felt special; there was the fragrance of spice in the air, and it was still safe to walk, before the urban legends of razor blades in apples.

If I could go back in time just one day, to be six again, to be with my mother and dad, to watch the Great Pumpkin with Halloween Cards from  my grandma and grandpa sitting on the table .. . . that would be the ultimate pleasure.

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Autumn is here! Doll Events Abound This past couple of weeks alone, there was  a Pullip Convention, two Theriault's Rendezvous auctions with another this Monday, many art fairs, and new dolls like Disney Descendant's, more Halloween and Fall dolls, including Annalee at Marshall's, Holiday Barbies 2015, and new promotions from Madame Alexander, Tonner, and American Girl. Think about scarecrows and dried apple faced dolls as you doll shop for new additions.  What was your best yard sale find of this past season?  Let me know for a series of new posts.  Happy collecting! Ellen Tsagaris Doll Collecting Expert

A 300+ Year Old Doll House Still with its Family Ann Sharp's Baby House may be my all time favorite doll house, except for mine, of course! Read about Ann's house, and the micromini room it inspired. READ NOW

An Eclectic Collection; It Really is a Small, Doll World My friend Caroline is an artist, weaver, and doll collector.  She has one of the most eclectic collections I have ever seen, and she is very generous with them, too.  Next week, I'll share a gallery of her dolls. READ NOW

Bright, Shiny Objects and Doll Bling Idols and dolls of many type existed in ancient America, as toys, art, precious gold/silver objects, and religious statues. Here is an update, just in time for fall and September, still doll collecting month. READ NOW

Dolls by Marian Hu Designs and Seymour Mann A reader inspire me to create this post, about two very popular lines of collectible dolls of the 90s and novelist Erica Jong's parents!

Doll Museum: About.com Free Newsletter Week of Sept. 14th

Doll Museum: About.com Free Newsletter Week of Sept. 14th: Fall is Nearly Here! Newsletter Week of Sept. 14th ...

Shades of Erzebet and Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth I's birthday is this month, a pertinent character of Erzebet's era.  Also, the new Disney Descendant's dolls, featuring dolls that are the children of Disney Villains, include Mal, daughter of Maleficent, and Evie, daughter of The Evil Queen.   They were inspired by the July 2015 Disney Channel Film of the same name. The tie-ins with the Erzebet legends and Grimm's Fairy Tales is well-known.  These dolls re-enforce the allusions.  I wonder if we will ever see Erzebet as a Disney character.

On another note, The Community of Bathory Scholars and Enthusiasts seems to have been very quiet. I wonder why that is.  With Halloween, the vampire and Countess  costumes abound, as do the Vampire dolls.  Here are couple of mine for you to enjoy.

As always, we welcome comments and followers!  Our numbers are growing!

Quintessa, Teri Long, Long Gone Dolls

Scarlett Bloodgood, courtesy Ryan, of Gathered Traditions, by Joe Spencer

Wildlife Encounters: A Predator

Coyote ugly prowls garbage can at twilight, hungry, disgraced predator,desperate, disappointed,pushing trash can lid with snout.

Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Aug. 24th Doll Collecting at About.com Newsletter

Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Aug. 24th Doll Collecting at About.com Newsletter: Doll Collecting at About.com Newlsetter Week: August 24th By now, many of the "junior" collectors among us are heading back to...

A Snatch of Witchy Fiction

As we speak, I just wrote the following hook:  "Ho do I get myself into these things?" sighed Mariah.  she was an unemployed fee lance journalist attempting to land a job in marketing with a local cosmetic company.  Her mission, f she chose to accept it, and the audition/interview, was to demonstrate witchy nail colors for Halloween. She had to name them appropriately, a book of spells borrowed from her Pagan witch neighbor to inspire her, and the VHS tape about to be devoured in the VCR that would record her submission.  "Come to me, Greymalkin," she mused."

Miss Scarlet Vampire, courtesy Ryan, Gathered Traditions, Joe Spencer