Season of Shadows Blog

Update — 8/17/11: This giveaway has closed. I’d like to publicly congratulate the winner of this giveaway, but she wishes to remain anonymous. She lives in Pensacola, Florida.

While this definitely isn’t one of my fanciest or most expensive giveaways, it has to be the one I’m most proud of because it marks the upcoming launch of a very important nonprofit project here at SoS. In the next week or two I’ll start selling Season of Shadows Bottled Drinking Water, with all proceeds going to benefit UNICEF’s Tap Project. The Tap Project began in 2007, has raised almost $2.5 million in the U.S. and has helped provide clean, sustainable drinking water for millions of children globally.

Through numerous fundraising and volunteering activities, the UNICEF Tap Project celebrates the clean water we enjoy on a daily basis by encouraging celebrity, restaraunt, volunteer, corporate and government supporters to give this vital resource to children in developing countries. The concept is basic and compelling: “When You Take Water, Give Water.”

I’ve probably had a love affair with two things more than any other during my entire life: Halloween and water. And during my recent health challenge my ability to drink water was greatly impaired (Thank God I’m once again able to drink lots of precious H2O.). After living on very tiny amounts of water for months, I now feel I’ve had a small glimpse into what many children around the world are experiencing on a daily basis by not having access to potable water. No one should have to live like that and it’s become an important mission to help others in anyway I can. Once the bottled water page is up and I’m ready to start selling Season of Shadows Water, I’ll explain everything in greater detail in an upcoming entry, but for now, let’s celebrate by giving away some spooky H2O.

The bottled water in this giveaway is manufactured and sealed by a national distributor (so it’s safe and pure), I just added all the Season of Shadows branding and swag to spook it up a bit. One winner will be receiving a 12-pack of SoS water, along with a bottle of the brand new Kraft Mio Liquid Water Enhancer (used to flavor each bottle). Unfortunately, Kraft doesn’t make Mio in Halloween flavors, but you’ll be getting the strawberry, watermelon variety — at least it will look like fake blood.

Here’s a view of the label (click for a closeup):

For more info on UNICEF’s Tap Project, I highly recommend a visit to TapProject.org

Speaking of Giveaways, I’d like to congratulate Deena Chapman of Federal Way, Washington! Deena was one of the winners in the Halloween In America Giveaway. I’m still waiting for a response from the second winner. She has another five days to contact me, or else I’ll be drawing a new winner’s number.

Please, only one entry per household. Duplicate entries from the same IP will be deleted. These giveaways are really based on the honor system, but I do my best to make it as fair as possible for everyone. There’s no catch here, everything is free — including payment of shipping and handling for the 12-pack of Season of Shadows Drinking Water — I cover all costs. To be entered, leave a comment below showing your interest.

Depending upon the volume of entries, comments may only be displayed under this post for a short time. As entries grow, I may remove comments to make it easier for visitors to scroll to the comment box and enter. However, I guarantee all entries will be saved in the order they are received.

When leaving a comment, be sure to include your correct e-mail address and be certain to keep track of your spam or bulk folder after the drawing closes, just in case. Each winner will be contacted through the e-mail address that’s registered with their comment. I will never share addresses, provided by entrants, with any third parties and you’ll never receive unsolicited mail when entering.

This SoS H20 contest will end at 11:59 PM (Eastern Time) on July 22nd, 2011. All legitimate entries will then be assigned a number in the order they were received. One number will be randomly drawn to determine the winner.

The winner will then be notified, via the email address they provided, no later than July 23rd. If they don’t respond (with their shipping information) within two weeks, then one more number will be drawn to determine the new winner. Upon receiving their permission, the winner’s name will be featured at the top of this post.

If you would like to see your Halloween or paranormal website or business promoted through SOS and you have some appropriately themed items to give away, please contact me.

Update: 7/21/11 – This giveaway has closed. Congratulations to Deena Chapman of Federal Way, Washington! And to Jennifer of Bowling Green, Kentucky! They each won a copy of Halloween In America.

While I thoroughly enjoy everything I do at Season of Shadows, I have to admit one of the most enjoyable things is giving Halloween and paranormal items away to visitors. In fact, I love it so much my dream is to one day be the spooky, male equivalent of Oprah giving away my Favorite Creepy Things. Wouldn’t that be cool, a whole audience filled with Halloween and paranormal enthusiasts, all receiving oodles and gobs of Halloween decorations, trips to haunted castles, ghost hunting gear and maybe a brand new hearse for everyone to take home. Of course, those are all future plans, but for now I can offer up two brand new copies (to be given to two separate winners) of the book, Halloween in America by Stuart Schneider. I don’t own this one, but everyone on Amazon gave it rave reviews.

Here’s a description:

“Next to Christmas, more money is spent on Halloween decorations and novelties than on any other holiday. This wonderful book has been credited with inspiring the Halloween collecting craze, giving its devotees a chance to celebrate the holiday all year round! In addition to color photography and a brand new price guide, there are also many fascinating insights into Halloween. Most people are familiar with the symbols: ghosts, Jack- O’-lanterns, witches, bats, skeletons, and black cats, but few know about Halloween’s past. Why does it exist? What is the origin of trick-or-treating? Why does it fall on October 31st? Through these pages you will experience Halloween celebrations of the past and take a look at Halloween today. For collectors, this is one of the largest collections of Halloween memorabilia.”

The main portion of the book has been described as gorgeous and is devoted to vintage Halloween collectibles, but this one isn’t just for collectors. Other sections delve into Halloween’s history as well as its folklore with essays on the story of Jack of the Lantern, Snap-Apple and Crack-Nut Nights, the veil between worlds, apple bobbing, Cabbage and Mischief Nights, goblins, elves, gnomes, Mexico’s Day of the Dead and much more.

Halloween in America image Source: Amazon

Please, only one entry per household. Duplicate entries from the same IP will be deleted. These giveaways are really based on the honor system, but I do my best to make it as fair as possible for everyone. There’s no catch here, everything is free — including payment of shipping and handling for the Halloween in America books — I cover all costs. To be entered, leave a comment below showing your interest.

Depending upon the volume of entries, comments may only be displayed under this post for a short time. As entries grow, I may remove comments to make it easier for visitors to scroll to the comment box and enter. However, I guarantee all entries will be saved in the order they are received.

When leaving a comment, please be sure to include your correct e-mail address and be certain to keep track of your spam or bulk folder after the drawing closes, just in case. Each winner will be contacted through the e-mail address that’s registered with their comment. I will never share addresses, provided by entrants, with any third parties and you’ll never receive unsolicited mail when entering.

This Halloween in America book contest will end at 11:59 PM (Eastern Time) on June 28th, 2011. All legitimate entries will then be assigned a number in the order they were received. Two numbers will be randomly drawn to determine the winners.

Both winners will then be notified, via the email addresses they provided, no later than June 29th. If one, or both don’t respond (with their shipping information) within two weeks, then one (or two) more number(s) will be drawn to determine the new winner(s). Upon receiving their permission, the winners’ names will be featured at the top of this post.

If you would like to see your Halloween or paranormal website or business promoted through SOS and you have some appropriately themed items to give away, please contact me.