Nancy Drew Halloween Party - 2012 The Witch Tree Symbol

Nancy Drew & 
The Witch Tree Symbol

Halloween Party

While we weren't bewitched by any hexes or waylaid by a villain, we did have a lot of fun at my annual Nancy Drew Halloween Party! In keeping with a "spookier" theme, I chose #33 in the classic Nancy Drew series, The Witch Tree Symbol, as the inspiration for the party. In the story Nancy, Bess, and George travel to Pennsylvania to search for missing furniture and uncover the meaning behind the witch tree symbol hex sign that keeps appearing.

We had 14 attend the party including myself and my Mom a.k.a Hannah Gruen. Guests arrived to snacks and chatter then dinner was served. We dined on Parmesan chicken, ham, fall vegetable medley of potatoes, carrots, celery and onion, salad "bar," and french baguettes along with several snacks and dishes guests brought. We served a cherry punch and wine. Desserts included brownies, rice krispie "cupcakes," Reese's PB Cookie Cups, and an apple crisp.

After dinner, guests searched for a hex to win prizes which included Witch Tree buttons and Halloween mugs from our Cafe Press Shop. Then we had our Nancy Drew treat bag/container gift exchange. Here's lots of pics of the event:

 Nancy as a "witch" from the Cameo Witch Tree Symbol (see below) - I added a magnifying glass

Witch in the upstairs window and moon/stars

Front studio windows with skeleton, witch, owl in tree

Witch Tree w/ Symbol on Porch

 Setting the scene in the dining room

Lots of lanterns!

Witch Tree above dessert buffet inside

Ghostly Portraits guard the goody bags!

Good Bags were tree bags with witches, Cameo Witch Tree Trick or Treat Stickers, candy including "witchs' warts" plus a witch tree button, witch finger, and BrewBerry anti-bacterial hand gel from Bath & Body Works with cute witch image.

Some spooky framed art haunts the walls along with a flock of bats

Bess would approve of these snacks! I filled cupcake wrappers with rice krispie treats and a whirl of black/orange frosting. Cameo Witch Tree Cupcake Pick to top it.

The Reese's PB Cookie Cups are delish!

Villain Roger Hoelt warned Nancy and us away from Amish Country with his warning note from a scene from the book!

Searchers looked for an old antique table to find their hex. Hexes with '?' symbols received the 2 mug prizes and the rest got Witch Tree buttons. Everyone got leftover Nancy Drew silhouette/witch tree buttons from our '08 convention.

Here are gifts from the Nancy Drew Gift Exchange:

Before everyone "flew" out of there on their "broomsticks," we took a picture of the Witch Tree gang in front of my Nancy Drew collection:

Jenn:)

September/October 2012 Issue of The Sleuth

September/October 2012 - The Sleuth

Our September/October 2012 issue of our Nancy Drew and series books zine The Sleuth is available! Preview the issue below and at our website. You can subscribe there, purchase back issues, or send in a printable PDF form from the website to:

Nancy Drew Sleuths

P.O. Box 128

Higley, AZ 85236-0128

Back issue special $4.00 ea through December 15, 2012. Not reflected at the website, so send in checks or money orders to the above address or send a Pay Pal to: nancydrewsleuth@aol.com or e-mail to request an invoice (sleuths@ndsleuths.com). If in Canada, add 1.00 per issue for additional shipping. If Overseas, add 2.00 per issue for additional shipping.

In This Issue:

Calling All Sleuths: Editor’s Note By Jennifer Fisher

The Clue Conundrum: Spooky Thief Match Game

The Monster Mash Report By Jennifer Fisher 

The Nancy Drew Crookbook Part XXV By Caroline Stellings

Crazy Eights with Michael G. Cornelius – The Secret of the Old Clock (OT) By Michael G. Cornelius

The Nancy Drew Sleuths’ Search in the Great City By Todd H. Latoski

Jumping Off the Jacket: Nancy Drew Models for Her Covers – Lilac Inn & Old Attic By Faye Kisker

The Centerfold Case: The Victoria Eye & Erin Springman Collections

Around the World With Nancy Drew Destination Greece – Part I By Lea Shangraw Fox

Deconstructing The Digests – Debunking The Misconceptions Surrounding The Nancy Drew Paperbacks #103 – The Stranger in the Shadows  By Todd H. Latoski

  
The Dean’s List – Other Nancy Series By Dean Burcham

Judy Bolton’s Family By Lorraine Rogers

Pop Sleuth…Nancy Drew Sightings

Clues From The Sleuthing Scene

   
Nancy Drew Collecting Scoop

Nancy Drew 2013 Boston Convention Info

Nancy Drew’s Survival Guide: Sleuth Lesson #37

The Scoop on Upcoming Issues, Clue Conundrum Answers

Classic Nancy Drew Book Illustrations Series #25: The Ghost of Blackwood Hall

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Halloween Printable Party Kit

Nancy Drew Printable Halloween Party Kit

Get Spooky & Get a Clue this year for Halloween with Nancy Drew! Get our printable party kit at The Sleuth Shop featuring all the PDF files you need to create a festive and mysterious event :)

Print onto colored or white cardstock and other stylish papers and you're set. Images include fun silhouettes plus spooky classic Nancy Drew cover images from The Haunted Bridge, The Message in the Hollow Oak, The Secret in the Old Attic, and The Hidden Staircase.

From banners to gift purse favors to templates for pumpkin carving and cupcake picks, this kit will clue you into hosting a great Nancy Drew party! Included are a scavenger hunt and spooky bingo activities. See pics below of some of the items in the kit - the silhouette template was used to print out onto vellum and vellum was inserted in the neat black lantern.

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew & Friends Paper Dolls

Nancy Drew & Friends Paper Dolls

Signed copies (by me/by my essay inside back) are now available for pre-order at The Sleuth Shop! These neat Nancy Drew Paper Dolls will be available in November and will be featuring Nancy's chums Bess and George as well as her "special friend", boyfriend Ned Nickerson. Togo is even pictured on one page! Featuring fashions taken from the covers of books from the 1930s to early 1960s and more.

Here's a sneak peek inside:

Jenn:)

Happy Birthday to Edward Stratemeyer!

Happy 150th Birthday 

to Edward Stratemeyer!

Today we celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the creator of children's series books like Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, The Bobbsey Twins, and Tom Swift. Edward Stratemeyer's literary career was something to marvel at! Called the Father of the fifty-center by Fortune Magazine in 1934, they also stated "As oil had its Rockefeller, Literature had its Stratemeyer."

He formed the Stratemeyer Syndicate in 1905, which produced many of the above series and so many more. He had a great knack for capitalizing on what was popular and making it exciting for kids--from aviation series, to mystery series to sports series. Stories ran the gamut from rags to riches tales to far away adventuring, but always stayed "safe and sane" - a Stratemeyer mantra. His use of pen names and ghostwriters was a very successful strategy which allowed the Syndicate to produce a great number of series and stories.

One of his most famous creations, Nancy Drew, went on to achieve great success and longevity--which he never got the chance to realize for he passed away in May 1930, just two weeks after the Nancy Drew series debuted. His daughters Harriet and Edna went on to run his Syndicate and continue to make it a successful venture. It was eventually sold in 1984 to current owner and publisher Simon and Schuster.

For more information on Edward Stratemeyer you can visit the "Nancy Drew History" section of my website and I recommend Stratemeyer Expert James Keeline's website as well. He's a great resource for anyone wanting to learn more about Stratemeyer as well as series like Tom Swift. James is in the process of reproducing various Stratemeyer works and has some books and stories available for purchase at LuLu - Palmer Street Press Store like Stratemeyer's infamous story, Victor Horton's Idea.

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Collectibles at eBay

Nancy Drew Purchases at eBay

Here are some other recent finds in the last several months I made at eBay. I wanted to highlight that for collectors like myself, there are still books to find! It's hard though these days to weed through all the stuff listed which usually includes:

Lots of NEW stuff - flashlights/paperbacks & Applewood reprints

Lots of "RARE" stuff which isn't so "RARE"

Lots of computer games and DVDs

Some vintage books and collectibles (not much!)

Of the vintage stuff you see, I'd say probably upwards of 75% or more is from resellers who you're bidding against on vintage books they're not selling, so they can turn around and then resell them to you at higher amounts. Another 5-10% are extremely overpriced Nancy Drew books which keep getting relisted over and over again.

That leaves around 15-20% of actual vintage stuff that "Mom & Pop" are selling. Some of these are for auction, some buy it now prices. These include vintage books with and without the dust jackets, vintage matte yellow spine picture covers, paperbacks from the late 70s/80s and 90s like the digests and the Files/etc., foreign editions, book club editions, library editions, and some collectibles from over the years. Sometimes "Mom & Pop" know what they're selling, sometimes they don't. And because it's become a buyer's market for the most part with some exceptions, you can still get some good deals.

I found - shown above - one of the book/record Kids Stuff items to see if I could upgrade mine and you don't see these too often. I managed to find the 1st printing of the 2nd art for Twisted Candles and also the "hole on the spine" variant for Hidden Staircase. I also collect books that Russell H. Tandy illustrated and finally managed to get The Story of Young Abraham Lincoln which is a neat book!

Best of all, was being able to acquire the first printing of The Whispering Statue. I have always had the first printing book which I had signed by Mildred Wirt Benson, ghostwriter for this 1 and 22 other Nancy Drew books. So I was able to put the dust jacket onto my signed book! I have the duplicate 1st of Whispering Statue listed in The Sleuth Shop.

So, I encourage you to check out eBay as you never know what you'll find or be able to upgrade!

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew & The Clue Crew - Small Volcanoes

Nancy Drew & The Clue Crew

Graphic Novels by Papercutz

Nancy Drew begins a new adventure in the graphic novel world - as an eight-year-old sleuth in a series of Clue Crew books this October! Here's a synopsis of the first volume out from Papercutz: Small Volcanoes:

8 year old Nancy Drew decides to build a model of a volcano for her science project. Best friends George (Georgia) Fayne and a gungho Bess Marvin arrive to help. But, the next day, their teacher Mrs. Ramirez opens the door to find all the volcanoes missing. Why are they missing? Is it an actual crime or a prank? And who did it? Nancy Drew, with the help of Bess and George, is on the case!

Written by Stefan Petrucha and Sarah Kinney and illustrated by Stan Goldberg (of Archie fame), they are illustrated in the American Comic Book style and not in Manga type style of previous Nancy Drew graphic novels. Here's a sample page:

I like the regular Comic Book style over the Manga style. The art style is definitely reminiscent of the Archies and I enjoyed the story. I think these will appeal to the young kids in the 6 to 9 set for sure. At the end of the story, they have a page with a write up on Nancy Drew with a little bit of history on the series and they feature the classic Nancy Drew Old Clock cover (3rd at Nappi) and one of the Girl Detective Graphic Novels.

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Panel at NY Comic Con - Oct. 14

New York Comic Con

Nancy Drew Panel

Nancy Drew Fans: Are you attending this year's NY Comic Con? 

Nancy Drew, Comics Detective! will be a panel on Sun. Oct. 14: 2:45pm-3:45pm. NY Comic Con is located at the Javits Center in Manhattan.

I'll be moderating the panel featuring many on the Papercutz team that produces the Nancy Drew graphic novels like the soon to be released Nancy Drew & The Clue Crew series, plus comic and Nancy Drew collector and fan, Todd H. Latoski! Come out and join us for some Super Sleuthing Fun :)

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Cafe Press Shop Sale: Save 10% off $40+ Orders

Nancy Drew Shop 10% off orders of $40+ Sale! 

WHEN: Sale Runs Through October 5, 2012

SAVE: 10% off orders of $40+

CODE: SHOPTY3

WHERE: www.cafepress.com/nancydrewshop

Be sure you're ordering from the shop page only--marketplace orders do not count for this promotion, so if you're at the main website and/or using search boxes to add items to your cart, those are considered marketplace items. You must order from the Nancy Drew shop page itself. If you have any trouble with the code--contact Cafe Press customer support (there's a phone number you can call right away) and they can help you with it.

Thanks for your support!

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Collectibles at eBay

Nancy Drew Purchases at eBay

I thought I'd share some recent finds on eBay in the last few months. eBay tends to be very hit and miss anymore for Nancy Drew collectibles, however I did purchase 3 that interested me. The first is the Nancy Drew Hidden Staircase poster from the 1939 Movie starring Bonita Granville. This is one of my favorite books and movies so to me it was more nostalgic to own this one. It's a very large poster--no standard frames in the frame shops will hold it so I'll have to have a special frame ordered or built. It's fragile too and chipping in areas but is very bright and colorful as to the imagery.

The Nancy Drew Files promo booklet is not without its wear and soiling but was a promo copy from the 1980s when the Files launched--you don't see these very often so I purchased it inexpensively and will seek an upgrade. I don't mind upgrading inexpensive collectibles--I do have issues with investing lots of money in expensive books and collectibles I know I'll be having to upgrade at some point--so I tend to be pick on condition with those kinds of items.

The last one is the Fall 1994 Country Collectibles Magazine which has an article on Nancy Drew & The Hardy Boys on page 68 by Roy Nuhn. It features quite a few covers--in b/w--focusing on the Stratemeyers and some collecting info. I like to collect magazines that have articles about Nancy Drew and have amassed dozens of them--always on those lookout for these :)

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Games Go Mobile - With Your Help!

Kickstarter - Nancy Drew Gaming Project

Help out Nancy Drew computer game maker Her Interactive as they take Nancy Drew Mobile! Click here to check out their Kickstarter campaign. 

Here's a blurb about the project:

Are you ready to play Nancy Drew games anytime, anywhere? With your help… you will! Dare to Play!

We have been blessed with the best fans in the world and we love making games for our community of adventure gamers. With that in mind, we invite our fans and supporters to join us as we prepare to take Nancy Drew games mobile.

Our first step is to move our PC/MAC games to tablets and smart phones where everyone is playing games now. We will start by porting our award winning title Nancy Drew: Tomb of the Lost Queen to the iOS and Android platforms. 

Reaching a larger audience means that we can invest more in each Nancy Drew game. So everyone benefits from this move, whether you play our games on your PC, your Mac or a mobile device.

But to port Nancy Drew games to tablets and smart phones, we need to raise some funds. That’s where you come in.

If this project ignites your passion, please consider making a pledge towards this project today. You can also help by spreading the word about our Kickstarter campaign to your family and friends. 

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Cafe Press Shop Sale: Save 10% off $40+ Orders

Nancy Drew Shop 10% off orders of $40+ Sale! 

WHEN: Sale Runs Through August 29, 2012

SAVE: 10% off orders of $40+

CODE: SHOPTAA1

WHERE: www.cafepress.com/nancydrewshop

Be sure you're ordering from the shop page only--marketplace orders do not count for this promotion, so if you're at the main website and/or using search boxes to add items to your cart, those are considered marketplace items. You must order from the Nancy Drew shop page itself. If you have any trouble with the code--contact Cafe Press customer support (there's a phone number you can call right away) and they can help you with it.

Thanks for your support!

Jenn:)