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Nick & Carter Holiday #18
Halloween, 1970
Saturday, October 31, 1970
It's Halloween! Nick and Carter are heading down to San Luis Obispo where they're hosting a party for their favorite actress, Miss Lola Dunbar!
For reasons best known to himself, Nick insists Carter drive the Cougar down California Highway 1 instead of taking the short flight south in one of their private planes.
However, in spite of the fact that the weatherman promised a sunny and warm day, the coastal road is engulfed in a thick fog.
Just outside the tiny hamlet of Vineland, a green panel van appears out of nowhere and forces Carter off the road, causing a flat tire in the process.
Turns out they're stranded with a group of kids from the Southland just outside the iron gates of abandoned Hunter Hall.
They soon realize it's no coincidence they're all there at the same time!
Nick and Carter lead the others inside the creepy mansion to uncover the secrets of a ghostly Confederate colonel, his lost bride-to-be, hidden passages, and more!
It's Halloween! Nick and Carter are heading down to San Luis Obispo where they're hosting a party for their favorite actress, Miss Lola Dunbar!
For reasons best known to himself, Nick insists Carter drive the Cougar down California Highway 1 instead of taking the short flight south in one of their private planes.
However, in spite of the fact that the weatherman promised a sunny and warm day, the coastal road is engulfed in a thick fog.
Just outside the tiny hamlet of Vineland, a green panel van appears out of nowhere and forces Carter off the road, causing a flat tire in the process.
Turns out they're stranded with a group of kids from the Southland just outside the iron gates of abandoned Hunter Hall.
They soon realize it's no coincidence they're all there at the same time!
Nick and Carter lead the others inside the creepy mansion to uncover the secrets of a ghostly Confederate colonel, his lost bride-to-be, hidden passages, and more!
42 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 31, 2020
5 people are currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
Frank W. Butterfield
123 books106 followersFrank W. Butterfield, not an assumed name, loves old movies, wise-cracking smart guys with hearts of gold, and writing for fun.
Although he worships San Francisco, he lives at the beach on another coast.
Born on a windy day in November of 1966, he was elected President of his high school Spanish Club in the spring of 1983.
After moving across these United States like a rapid-fire pinball, he currently makes his home in a hurricane-proof apartment with superior water pressure that was built in 1926.
While he hasn't met any dolphins personally, that invitation is always open.
Although he worships San Francisco, he lives at the beach on another coast.
Born on a windy day in November of 1966, he was elected President of his high school Spanish Club in the spring of 1983.
After moving across these United States like a rapid-fire pinball, he currently makes his home in a hurricane-proof apartment with superior water pressure that was built in 1926.
While he hasn't met any dolphins personally, that invitation is always open.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 4, 2020
Halloween 1970 (Nick and Carter holidays, #18)
By Frank W. Butterfield
Published by author 2020
Five stars
This one had me giggling all the way through, especially because I’m old enough to remember the TV cartoons that inspired the set up. Our buddies are on their way down the coast to a big Halloween party for Lola Dunbar (in Carter’s customized Cougar convertible), when the fog, a near-accident, and a blowout on the coast highway sideline them.
A long-abandoned mansion built by a Confederate officer near the Hearst domain of San Simeon (la Cuesta Encantada) turns out to be recently refurbished. This only adds to the mystery when Nick and Carter explore it with a racially integrated all-girl pop band and a group of young gay sleuths in a green van.
Honestly, Frank Butterfield is yanking our collective chains here, and doesn’t even pretend otherwise. If the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew had ever stumbled across the two most famous gay billionaires in the world, this is what would have happened. While we don’t get any deep emotional insights into Nick or Carter on this holiday, I did get to think about what gayer versions of Scooby-Doo or Josie & the Pussycats might have brought to my teenage years. The mind boggles. And thus, once more, Frank Butterfield lets us imagine a world that was better and gentler than the one we knew on Saturday mornings.
By Frank W. Butterfield
Published by author 2020
Five stars
This one had me giggling all the way through, especially because I’m old enough to remember the TV cartoons that inspired the set up. Our buddies are on their way down the coast to a big Halloween party for Lola Dunbar (in Carter’s customized Cougar convertible), when the fog, a near-accident, and a blowout on the coast highway sideline them.
A long-abandoned mansion built by a Confederate officer near the Hearst domain of San Simeon (la Cuesta Encantada) turns out to be recently refurbished. This only adds to the mystery when Nick and Carter explore it with a racially integrated all-girl pop band and a group of young gay sleuths in a green van.
Honestly, Frank Butterfield is yanking our collective chains here, and doesn’t even pretend otherwise. If the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew had ever stumbled across the two most famous gay billionaires in the world, this is what would have happened. While we don’t get any deep emotional insights into Nick or Carter on this holiday, I did get to think about what gayer versions of Scooby-Doo or Josie & the Pussycats might have brought to my teenage years. The mind boggles. And thus, once more, Frank Butterfield lets us imagine a world that was better and gentler than the one we knew on Saturday mornings.
November 4, 2020
A short but extremely funny spoof episode. That description is not a complaint. I very much enjoyed the supporting/guest cast (and that is for once an accurate description). Readers of a certain age may experience some nostalgia twinges as they recognise plot elements and characters, thinly disguised.
Enjoyable - but then I'm a fan, anyway!
Enjoyable - but then I'm a fan, anyway!
November 4, 2020
Hahahahahah! Scooby Do and Josie and the Pussycats? Very sweet.
November 4, 2020
I did like this book but unfortunately not as much as I have the others in this series. I'm thinking that it was probably much to short to jam in so many characters, as well as the fact that I wasn't all that much an admirer of Scooby Doo.
October 31, 2023
How I missed reading this Nick & Carter Holiday entry last Halloween is beyond me but I made sure to read it this Halloween season. I wondered just what kind of adventure the men would find themselves in for the spooky holiday and frankly I couldn't quite figure out if we'd see Nick have another dream/vision of past family members/ancestors or if it would be simply an event on the day that made it Halloweeny. As much as I enjoyed the entries where Nick was visited by(or took a visit to) the past I honestly think the route the author took was even better and dare I say perfectly fitting for our favorite pair in 1970.
Nick & Carter find themselves "stranded" with an eclectic group of strangers outside a possibly haunted house and they, along with their fellow travelers, decide to head in. Is what they find spooky? Ghostly? Flat out weird? or is there a simpler explanation? Well I think you know the answers to all the above will be the same: you have to read for yourself to find out. And if there is a simpler explanation will it actually explain all they discover? Again, no spoilers, read for yourself and trust me you will enjoy it.
As with all the other entries in this series of holiday snippets, the original Nick & Carter series inches ever closer to the top of my TBR list. The next few months tend to be my busiest so I doubt I'll get to it in 2023 but boy do I look forward to discovering their full journey in 2024.
Nick & Carter find themselves "stranded" with an eclectic group of strangers outside a possibly haunted house and they, along with their fellow travelers, decide to head in. Is what they find spooky? Ghostly? Flat out weird? or is there a simpler explanation? Well I think you know the answers to all the above will be the same: you have to read for yourself to find out. And if there is a simpler explanation will it actually explain all they discover? Again, no spoilers, read for yourself and trust me you will enjoy it.
As with all the other entries in this series of holiday snippets, the original Nick & Carter series inches ever closer to the top of my TBR list. The next few months tend to be my busiest so I doubt I'll get to it in 2023 but boy do I look forward to discovering their full journey in 2024.
October 19, 2025
Holiday Shenanigans
This is so reminiscent of a cartoon plot, complete with the characters and situations that were typically depicted in one.
This is so reminiscent of a cartoon plot, complete with the characters and situations that were typically depicted in one.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews