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Top Mag is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visithttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to CreativeCommons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA..All clip-art is courtesy of http://www.openclipart.org/ with the exception of our logotiki-toucan. Photo on page 2 is courtesy of http://commons.wikimedia.orgEditor: Maya Brennan (age 13).Journalists: Ryan Curley (age 13), Anna Barnwell (Age 13), Caoilte Brennan (age 9),Creevan Brennan (age 11)

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The Vampire BatThese amazing creatures are (as you will learn) one of the str angest bat s that everlived. Unlike other bats, the Vampire bat, can walk, run and j ump!There are t hree species of vampire bat one feeds on cows, pigs, horses and birds,the other two feed only on birds.These bats are sosilent that they can feed on an animal for more thanthirty minutes without being detected.One of the species is about 9 cms long with the wingspan of as much as 18 cms.Vampire bats are the only bats that have a special

' t humb' at the back of their legs for taking off andgripping onto cows. They also have heat sensors ontheir nose to detect a good spot to feed. Vampirebats have such good eyesight that they can see their prey from 130 meters away!I f you' re scared one of t hese lit t le vamps might give you a bit e, t hen st ay out of

sight , on Halloween night !

by Caoilte Brennan

Dear Readers, we hope you will enjoyTop-Mag's latest horror-ificHalloween edition! Whether it's boo-ging with your ghoulish friends ata spooktakular party, whipping up some revolting recipes for a midnightfeast, waiting to sink your teeth into the latest terror-ific reads orjust feel like laughing your head off to some halloween jokes, this issuehas everylast bit of Halloween covered. Have a happy...Im

ean horrible

halloween!!

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The def init ion of a Vampire, in case you didnt know,

is

basically a blood- sucking monst er t hat t er r or izes hum

ans.

They only really got their name in the 18th century but prac

tically

every nation had a name for them ('Vrykolokas' in Greece or

'strigoi' in Romania) long beforethis time. Legends of these

creatures were frequent in western europe where they were m

ade

famous through such well knownbooks as 'The Vampyre' by Tho

n

Polidoris and the one and only 'Dracula' by Bram Stoker.

Speaking of which, I'd like to introduce you to the true 'Dracu

la'

also known as Vlad Dracul, a lunatic prince who seized power af

ter

his father's death, Vlad, and turned his kingdom upside down (b

y

murdering around ten thousandpeople and destroying everythin

g in

his path). He was nicknamed 'Vlad the impaler' and, as legend has,

it he enjoyed his dinner in the midst of his screaming victims run

through by a pointed wooden spike fixed to the ground (talk abo

ut

a dinner and a show)!!

Well, I can't judge him afterall we all have our own tastes. B

ut,

personally, I (and I'm sure you would too) would definitely be pu

t

of my supper!By Cr eevan Br ennan

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Did youknow?

1. Transylvani

a is incentra

l Romania. Th

e

regionhas a p

opulation of a

bout 7,2 milli

on

inhabitants.

2.It is of

ten associated

with vampires

,

mostly because ofBram S

tokersnovel,

Dracula. Did

you know Bram Stoke

r was

Irish?

3. Theword T

ransylvania me

ans through

the woods.

4. Theblood-s

ucking,undead

Dracula is a

legend the id

ea thathes re

al is ri-

draculous! How

ever, Vlad Tep

es wasa man

from 15th ce

ntury Transylv

ania who got t

he

nickname V

lad theImpale

r for killing

people and stickingtheir h

eads on stick

s!

Many people b

elieve this is wherethe ide

a

of Dracula ca

me from.

5. Transylvani

a is actually no

t scaryat all!

It hasa beau

tiful landscap

e, a rich histo

ry

and normal ki

ds likeyou and

me livethere!

By Anna Barn

well

Shepherds living near Sibiu in Transylvania make a trip to a mountain close by tothe town called Mount Jina. They make Balmos which is traditional Transylvanianfood and then tell tales of legends such as one that tells of Romanians shelteredfrom invaders on the top of Mount Jina and that they were guided there byfairies and outlaws. The shepherds hold many competitions once on top of MountJina like a sheep-milking contest, a wool clipping contest and making of the best

cheese. It is an annual celebration and is loved by many shepherds in Transylvania.By Ryan Curley

Moldovian Croquettes:These usuallyreplace steakata Transylvanian dinnertable because theyare soeasyto prepare.

Youwillneed: 1 lb /500gmincedmeat 3 onions 1 egg 2 sliceswhite bread 1 tablespoon lardandextra forfrying Choppedparsleyanddillor

garlic SaltandPepper Breadcrumbs

1. Mix togetherthe meat with a raw onion, soaked

and squeezed

bread and two finely chopped a

nd lightly fried(in a tablespoon of

lard) onions.

2. Place the mixture in a bowl,

add an egg, salt, pepper and he

rbs.

Mix everythingwell.

3. With lightlyoiled hands, sha

pe mixture intoround patties.

4. Then bread them and fry in

hot lard.

5. Serve hot, with mashed pot

atoes, sautd vegetable or lett

uce.

Anna Barnwell

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SKULDUGGERYPLEASANTByDerekLandyReviewbyRyan

CurleySkulduggeryPleasantisa greatandgrippingstoryofa youngteenage girlcalledStephanieEdgerlywhosuncle wasmurdered

mysteriously. Stephanie meetsastrange man who covershimselfup to disguise the factthathe isactuallya livingskeleton. He isaskeleton detective calledSkulduggeryPleasantandhe andStephanie are on a questto seewho murderedStephaniesuncle.Ifyoulike a grippingthrillerthen

thisun-put-down-able seriesisforyou. The seriesgoesup toseven differentSkulduggerynovels.

GOOSEBUMPS

By R. L.Stine

Review by Maya B

rennan

Goosebumps is a series of

childrens thrille

r and horror novels

writtenby Amer

ican author, R. L

.

Stine. Each book

containsa

different spooky

story about kids

in very creepy si

tuations, that

really dogive you

goose bumps

(trust me). Wha

ts more, every

story has a brill

iant twist at the

endleaving t

he reader shock

ed,

spooked and hungry for more

! Plus,

there are so man

y books in the

series, you wont

have tostop

readingfor a lon

g time.

So, if youre a fa

n of haunted

houses,cursed m

ummiesand

spooky graveyar

ds, thentake it

from me, this se

ries is to die fo

r

literally!

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Use b la ck she e ts

o f c a rd , o r stro ng pa p e r, a n

d write

yo ur c hose n m e s

sa g e o nthe m wi

th c ha lk o r white

p e nc il. Ma ke sure

the writing re a lly

sta nd s out a g a in

st

the b la ck. De c o

ra te withlittle p la s

tic sp id ers o r

witc he sha ts a nd

p ut yo ursc a ry inv

ita tio ns in a b la c

k

e nve lo pe .

Bo b b ingfo r Ap p l

e s: This is a

ve ry ea sy g a m

e to p rep a re

a nd itsa lso re a lly fun to

p la y!

Yo u willne e d :

Ab o ut10 a p p

le s

A la rge p la stic

tub

First, fill the p la st

ic tub with

wa te r. The n , a d d

a fe w

a p p le sto it a nd

c a ll in yo ur

g ue sts.O ne b y

o ne , m ake

the mtry to c a

tc h a s ma ny

a p p le sa s p o ssib le withi

n 30

se c o nds, in the

ir m o uth! If

the y c atc h a n a

p p le , g ive

the m aswe e t

the m o re

a p p le s,the m o r

e swe e ts!

bb yy AAnn nn aa BBaa rrnn ww e

e llll

C h o c o la te C u p s:Th e se de lic io u stre a ts a re a b it tric ky to m a ke b u tth e yre de lic io u s! Th is willse rve 1 0 p e o p le .

Yo u will n e e d:

1 0 b a llo o n s Ab o u t 5 b a rs o f c h o c o la te Strin g A p in C h o p p e d u p fru it Swe e ts

1 . First b lo w u p a ll th eb a llo o n s a little b it. Tie th e e n ds.

Th e n , m e lt th e c h o c o la te a n d dipth e b a llo o n s in c h o c o la te u n tile a c h is h a lf c o ve re d. Th e n tie th eto p o f e a c h b a llo o n to a p ie c e o fstrin g .

2. Ha n g th e m fro mso m e wh e re h ig h u p to dry. Wh e nth e yre c o m p le te ly dry,u sin g th ep in , p o p th e b a llo o n a n d p u ll ito u t o f th e c h o c o la te .

3 . Yo u sh o u ld h a ve a p e rfe c tc u p sh a p e , m a de o f c h o c o la te !Fill e a c h o n e with swe e ts a n d fru ita n d g ive th e m to p e o p le wh e nth e yre le a vin g yo u rp a rty.

Sp o o ky M um m ies: Th e se

a re su p e r e a sy to m a ke !

Yo u w ill n e e d :

Sh o rt-c ru st p a stry

Sa u sa g e s

Bla c k p e p p e rco rn s

1 . First, ro ll o ut th e

sh o rt-c ru st to a b out 2m m

th ic k. Th e n c ut th e p a stry

into lo n g , th in strips.

2 . Wra p th e strip s

a ro u n d yo u r sa u sa g e s

a nd le a ve a sm all g a p

w h e re yo u r m umm ie s

fa c e is g o in g to be .

3 . Stic k 2 b la c k

p e p p e rc o rn s intoe a c h

fa c e fo r th e e ye sa n d

c o o k th e sa u sa ge s in th e

o ve n .

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GHOULISH GHOST

You will need:

A plain white sheet

Fake blood

Scissors

Cut a hole, bigenough f or you

r

head, in t he sheet. Put st r eaks

of f ake bloodin r andom places

all over it . Then put it over

your head andyour e inst ant ly

a

spooky ghost !

WI CKEDWI TCH

You will need:

A witcheshat A long, blackcape A sweeping brush orabroomstickifyou have one White andblackface paint

Put your cape around you. Paintyour face white with darkcircles under your eyes. Then,put on your hat, get on yourbroomstick and fly away to dosome serious scaring!

By A nna Barnwell

Why didnt t he skelet on

go swimming?

Because he had no body to

go with.

What do devils dr ink?

Demonade

What did a ghost say to

his friend?Get a life dude

What did t he cannibal

say when he saw someone

asleep?

Aah! Breakfast in bed