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Welcome to The Genre Traveler! Please sign up using the form to the right so that you'll get all the latest updates to the site. You also might want to sign up for the RSS feed, which you can do via email or your favorite RSS Reader. Wow. I'm so sorry for not posting for the past week or so. I've been insanely busy and last week I didn't feel so well because of all the smoke from the fires near L.A. It's amazing how much an intensely sore throat can wear you out. Anyway, here are a bunch of things coming up at the Hyaena Gallery in Burbank, Calif. (www.hyaenagallery.com): This Saturday, Nov. 3, 2007: Queenie (Pocket Full of Posiez) will be holding her Signing and Release Party for the new "Pansy the Pirate" Doll. Queenie will be on hand signing both her “Pansy” and “Lyllionia” Dolls. 6-8pm, Free Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007: A one-night-only exhibit, "Don’t Do Anything Illegal" – Authentic True Crime. This special exhibit features highlights of W. Shafer’s True Crime collection and includes pieces by Charles Manson, Richard Ramirez, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, James Earl Ray, Kenneth Bianchi, and Jim Jones. 8pm-midnight, Free. Friday, Nov. 23, 2007: Author Jim Wirt will be signing his book, Coloring Book Land, an irreverent adult-themed coloring book packed full of hilariously inappropriate material. 6-8pm, Free. Oh! And

Happy Halloween!

This year's After Dark Horrorfest -- 8 Films to Die For -- will be held Nov. 9-18, 2007. What is the After Dark Horrorfest you say? Well, its kind of like a film festival that takes place in multiple theaters throughout the U.S. at the same time. Basically, for one week, you can go to a participating theater near you and see one or all 8 of these thrilling, scary films, often before they are released on DVD. This year's films include:

• The Deaths of Ian Stone
• Nightmare Man
• Frontiers
• Unearthed
• Borderland, and
• Mulberry Street

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.horrorfestonline.com.

When I was in Las Vegas the other week, my husband and I went to The Original Pancake House in Henderson and tried out their German Apple Pancake. Trust me on this -- that pancake is too much for one person in one sitting. It absolutely delicious and will satisfy two people quite nicely. Anyway, the restaurant is next to an upscale shopping mall, where we parked. As we walked through, I noticed that the mall was hosting a special "safe" trick-or-treat event for kids. CityWalk and L.A. Parent Magazine are hosting one in Los Angeles. I'm sure that the malls in your area will be hosting one as well. When I was kid, I always looked forward to going trick-or-treating in my neighborhood. But after news started spreading that razor blades and poison were popping up in kids' treat bags, this tradition started dying a slow death. But marketing has come to the rescue. Now shop owners are banding together to provide safe trick-or-treating options, while introducing you and your kids to their wares. OK. It might not be the same thing, but for the youngin's -- it's just as much fun.

Then you might be interested in the annual Hugo Award Base Design Competition. Although the silver rocket stays the same every year -- identifying the award as a Hugo -- the base upon which the rocket is mounted changes with each Worldcon. If you're interested, you better hurry with your design. It is due by midnight (MST) Dec. 31, 2007. For more info, visit www.denvention3.org/hugodesigncompetition.php.

Even in Winnipeg

The Halloween season can be so much fun -- if you like to get scared and play dress up, which I do ... at times. So, when I find coverage of the smaller, local haunts, I like to share them with you. Here's one written about in the Winnipeg Sun: Nightmare on the farm Halloween Haunt Returns for the 7th Year