Giveaway Update: This giveaway is now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered. The winner will be announced shortly…

What happens when a little girl, enchanted by Halloween, grows up to become a classically trained organist?

This was the first sentence that I read on the booklet accompanying Kristen Lawrence’s Halloween Carols CD: A Broom With a View. I think that sentence sums up this CD perfectly. I recieved this CD as part of a review opportunity with the Family Review Network. When it arrived at my house, the CD was wrapped up in a small black sheer bag tied at the top with a ribbon, setting just the right mood for my discovery of Kristen Lawrence’s music. A Broom With A View is a compilation of 13 songs meant to celebrate Halloween and the fall season. To date, Kristen has written over 60 carols and she is releasing them in batches of 13.

So what does happen when a little girl, enchanted by Halloween, grows up to become a classically trained organist?

In my humble opinion, the result is brilliant. I found A Broom With a View hauntingly beautiful, reminiscent of the music from Phantom of the Opera (because of the organ music no doubt) and Danny Elfman (whom Kristen mentions as an inspiration to her) in it’s spooky style. If you like Danny Elfman, Andrew Lloyd Webber or the Halloween season, you will likely adore these carols.

Kristen created these songs in an effort to add more quality music to our Halloween collections. Enough with the cheesy sound effects and children’s music – what about something beautiful and celebratory of the season? At Christmas we have beautiful carols to accompany our silly renditions of Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman. Kristen felt Halloween deserved the same variety. Really is there ever a bad time to play good music?

I think she’s really onto something and I’ve enjoyed playing this music around the apartment. I like that it’s not too scary to play around my three year old and infant, but still has that perfect spooky vibe to accompany the dreary weather of cold, autumn nights.

Want a copy of Halloween Carols to play next weekend for Halloween? I’m giving away one copy of this CD, courtesy of Kristen Lawrence, to one lucky winner! As I mentioned in my post title, this is the first giveaway that I’ve posted on this blog so I’m very excited to offer you guys such a great treat on such a big milestone for mommablogsalot.com. This is going to be a short giveaway, ending Monday, because I really want my winner to be able to listen to this CD on Halloween – it’s only fitting, right? Here’s how you can enter to win:

1. Leave me a comment answering the following question: What is your all-time favorite holiday? This is mandatory and if not done, you will not be eligible to win the prize. For extra entries, feel free to do any of the following…
2. Follow Kristen on Twitter @HalloweenCarols then come back here and leave a separate comment to tell me you’ve done so.
3. Follow @ABroomWithAView for another entry, again leave me a separate comment to tell me you’ve done so.
4. Become fans on their facebook page and again, leave me another comment telling me you did.

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian readers. The giveaway will end on Monday, October 26th at 12:00 p.m.

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Disclaimer: This post was written as part of a program for Family Review Network and Halloween Carols, who provided the CD for review & giveaway.