Quibble’s October Oddities

Fear in Full Color & the Ultimate Reading Thrill

Hello, my brave bibliophiles!

It’s Quibble—your ink-smudged, thrill-chasing sidekick—reporting live from a blanket fort fortified with flashlights, bookmarks, and a suspiciously sentient pumpkin. October has crept in on silent feet, rustling through the leaves with secrets on its breath, and I am absolutely here for it.

This month at Indies United, we’re diving headfirst into the shadows with our theme: Fear in Full Color. That’s right—no grayscale gloom here. We’re talking vivid chills, technicolor terror, and stories that linger like whispers in the attic. Whether you crave psychological twists, eerie atmospheres, or monsters that defy description, October is your playground of fright and delight.

Why Horror Is the Perfect October Companion?

Atmosphere is everything

• Foggy mornings, flickering candles, and breezes that whisper just wrong—October practically begs for a good scare.

Catharsis through chaos

• Horror lets us face the unfaceable, reshape our fears, and sometimes laugh right in their ghoulish little faces.

Indie imagination unchained

• Our authors don’t follow formulas—they conjure lyrical dread, splashy chaos, and emotional complexity that’ll haunt you in the best way.

Seasonal soul food

• Pumpkins feed the stomach, but horror feeds the spirit. And trust me, I’ve been nibbling on both.

October’s Literary Lineup

It’s also National Book Month and National Reading Group Month, so gather your coven, summon your snacks, and dive into something dark and delicious. I’ve been lurking in book clubs all week, popping up with discussion questions like “Would you survive this plot?” and “Is the ghost just misunderstood?”

Kids’ Book Week (Oct 7–13) is just around the corner, and I’m already sharpening my spooky story prompts and prepping my glitter stash. I’ll be popping into classrooms, libraries, and cozy corners to stir up tales of bubblegum vampires, haunted playgrounds, and bats named Sprinkles. If you hear giggles coming from the shadows, don’t worry—it’s probably me, encouraging pint-sized readers to let their imaginations run wild.

And don’t forget Halloween Book Night on October 31st! I’ll be handing out bookmarks instead of candy (okay, maybe both), dressed as a haunted thesaurus. Expect puns. Expect plot twists. Expect me to leap out of a bookcase yelling “BOO-k!”

Bonus Treat

Tickets for June’s Inklight Festival are now available with early bird discounts! If you love stories, community, and a good literary spectacle, grab yours before they vanish like a ghost at sunrise.

So go ahead—let your heart race, let your spine tingle, and let your imagination run wild. October isn’t just for costumes and candy… it’s for confronting fear in all its colorful, literary glory.

With spine-chilling affection,

Quibble

Mascot, mischief-maker, and your literary sidekick at Indies United