Happy Halloween!

Photos will be dropped tomorrow (fingers crossed).  I'm very excited to share this year's display!  I'll do my best to squeeze in photo editing time tomorrow.  

Halloween on a Monday... what a way to start a busy week!

Listening to: Dead Air's Annual Halloween Fundraiser!

Happy Halloween!  Dead Air Radio is currently broadcasting their annual live crowdfunding event, hosted by Professor Screamcheese. 

Dead Air is a fantastic online Halloween radio that plays 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  Much of their yearly expenses are covered by listener donations. 

If you've never tuned in to Dead Air, I highly recommend it!  Click below to listen on their website, and scroll down once there to see how you can support their broadcast.

Click below

ONE day until Halloween!

Carving pumpkins for the Haunt tonight! I can't believe it's already here

10 days!

It's down to the wire...

Now Watching: The Pumpkin Man

It's been a long time since I've attended a local film festival screening. The Pumpkin Man was a fun movie, and I thoroughly enjoyed the big screen experience! Not to mention the Q&A panel after with Ryan Sheets and some of the cast and crew.

Click below for the trailer

14 days until Halloween...

Incense for Halloween 2022

Decided to implement incense into this year's display -- a first time thing for me. I was inspired by Pumpkinrot's use of incense in 2020, so I decided to go with the same vendor he used: Plant Guru.

They smell very strong, which is a good thing.  I went with Clove and Pumpkin Spice scents.  Rot used big piles of cones in cauldrons to make this awesome smoke (and smell!) effect.  I've opted for sticks, which I'm going to try sticking in pumpkins, just to give a little spicy scent to the haunt.  We'll see how it goes!

Click here to buy incense from Plant Guru.  Free and fast shipping and relatively inexpensive for the quality! I'll definitely be using them again.

16 days until Halloween...

Listening to: It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (Official Soundtrack)

Like many others, I was ecstatic Concord/Craft Recordings released a "Music From The Soundtrack" album for It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown in October of 2018.  And also like many others, I was extremely disappointed when I discovered that it was merely the dialogue-free audio from the special; already chopped down and riddled with sound effects.

I began to share a sad, resigned hopelessness that many others echoed online: that the original recordings were likely lost and could never be released... But something miraculous happened this year.

"Thanks to a deep dive into the Mendelson vaults -- a project embraced during covid-enforced isolation -- newly discovered analog session reels allowed a vastly superior, re-mastered edition of this score to arrive in August 2022. The newer album features seven previously unreleased alternate takes, all of which offer fascinating insight into Guaraldi's creative process."   

-Derrick Bang, fivecentsplease.org

I can't begin to describe my elation regarding this.  The Great Pumpkin was a childhood staple and remains an obligatory annual watch.  I've longed nearly all my life to have a clean recording of "Graveyard Theme", "Breathless", "Trick or Treat"... but most of all, It's The Great Pumpkin's version of "Linus and Lucy".  I agree with Derrick Bang that "this special opens with arguably the best arrangement [of that song] that Guaraldi ever laid down, thanks in great part to Ronald Lang's flute counterpoint."  The alternate arrangements and reprises are a wonderful treat on top of it all.

To listen to the official album of Original Recordings, click below.

Alternatively, click here to view the album on YouTube

“Don't let him catch you...”

"...he'll carve a face into pretty much anything he can get his hands on..."

20 days until Halloween

Now Watching: Over The Garden Wall

I've been needing a comfort watch, and there's nothing comfier than Over The Garden Wall. 

If you haven't seen it, I recommend avoiding any trailers, as going into it blindly really adds to the viewing experience (you'll see what I mean).   If you want a glimpse into the concept, click here for a spoiler-free post I made last year.

If you'd like to watch the first chapter of the two-hour-long miniseries, Cartoon Network has published it on YouTube.  The rest of the show can be streamed with a Hulu or HBO Max subscription, or by purchasing on Prime Video. (I have also seen it available in DVD form at public libraries)

Watch the first episode for free below:

22 days until Halloween

Prometheus Esoterica

Went to Prometheus Esoterica today, the local oddities shop.  It's a great little store, jam-packed with weird stuff and neat merchandise. 

Just about everything on the shelves and walls was for sale. Lots of books, old medical equipment, and preserved specimens. Also some cool merchandise from local vendors. 

All the specimens and skulls (both animal and human) are real. 

Tattooed pig's ears by @cozmicsunflowertattoos

A tooth ring

Oh yeah, they also have a coffee bar...

Check out Prometheus Esoterica's website and follow their Instagram.

23 days until Halloween

Someone's outside....

24 days until Halloween

Samson

I had to say goodbye to my dog Samson today; we put him down on relatively short notice due to a decreasing quality of life. I spent a good portion of the day lying with him, petting him, and sobbing. 

We adopted him (unexpectedly) as a puppy, on Halloween Night, 2008... Almost two weeks shy of 14 years ago. 

Here are some photos from a ghostly photoshoot we did a few years ago. 

Goodbye Samson. Rest easy buddy. You're a good boy, and I love you.

I'll be spending some time grieving our loss, but I will try to continue regular blog posts leading up to Halloween. 

Give your furry familiars an extra tight hug tonight. 

Listening to: Left for Dead

New album release from Halloween at High Noon. I look forward to their annual release every year. I really like this one; many of the tracks remind me of the "classic" HaHN albums. 

Click the image to listen

27 days until Halloween 

Sunny Smile

Fairly pleasant Fall weather following Hurricane Ian. Low humidity and tolerable temperatures.  

The Great Pumpkin Project: October 1st 2022

Happy October everyone! Kicking off the month with a GPP placement beneath a roadside oak. 

The road winds through an only half-developed area, so there are still many trees and plenty of dark spots, but it still has lots of traffic. I hope this guy brings someone a little Halloween cheer.

I won't have the time (or the cash) to participate every night this year, but I'll definitely do as many as I can!

If you want to know more about The Great Pumpkin Project or participate yourself, check out this post of mine and follow @GreatPumpkinProject on Instagram!