Vintage Halloween Schlitz Ads

Came across a couple of ads from the 1950's for Schlitz—a beer from Milwaukee that was once widely popular, now mostly known regionally by folks from the Midwest (e.g. my ghoulfriend's Wisconsinite family).

I just thought these were fun, given the Halloween imagery and my partner's ties to Wisconsin. I grabbed these images from some old eBay listings; they're decently high quality.  I might even print them out and hang them up!

If you'd like, click on each image for a "full-res" version. Might take a second to load.

^ Would this be considered pumpkin beer, technically? ;)

Another ghost!

This one is by @hallerlakehaunt.  Sheet ghosts are hard to beat in my book.

Tattered Ghost

by @ghostzro_haunts, a prop maker that has only started posting this year.  Definitely an artist to watch out for. This old-looking ghost prop was especially exciting to me, but they have many other cool works you can check out on their Instagram.

Click here to check out other cool props on their Instagram

Happy First Day of Fall !

My mother likes to share a story of when I was in elementary school.  As she was picking me up from school one September afternoon, I took a long inhale: 

    "Do you smell that, Mom?"

    "Smell what?"

    "Fall!"

I can actually recall this moment and this feeling quite well.  Before I was old enough to appreciate the concept of an equinox, I could smell--feel--when fall had arrived.  Cooler, darker evenings heralded the start of my favorite season.  I treated the first cool fall day much like how kids in movies treat the first snow of winter.  My energy skyrocketed; each breath of cool dry air was like a jolt of electricity. I felt as though I could run and play for hours at a time. (Where did all that energy go??)

Over the years, that feeling--which began with a long inhale and stayed with me until winter--has definitely faded for me, and at times was not felt at all.  Blame it on climate change or the stress of life or just getting older... whatever the reason, it hasn't been there for a while.  But this year felt different.

I've recently shared about an evening at the beginning of this month that felt like the beginning of the season.  While I still feel that was valid, the weather this past weekend had me experiencing that long lost childhood feeling again... I took a big whiff and thought, Fall!

Though the temperatures will be warming up again this week in Central Florida, this past Thursday and Friday were quite pleasant. The highs were only in the low 80s with low humidity (as evidenced by the cloudless skies).

This evening we celebrated by going for a short bike ride through a few local neighborhoods at sunset.  Winding through the suburban roads brought back memories of biking through my childhood neighborhood to plan my trick-or-treating route.

Happy Autumn Equinox!  

Pumpkins Spotted!

Caught sight of the first pumpkins for sale in my area at my local Walmart Neighborhood Marketplace.

Very tempting to buy and carve some now, but jack-o'-lanterns don't usually last too long in Florida. The constant heat, humidity, and rain causes them to kind of... melt.  

It's just as well, I suppose. After all, I ought to be saving up my pumpkin cash for the Great Pumpkin Project!

Friday the 13th Pizza

This is a fun idea from Beau Coffron (@lunchboxdad)

Would have attempted this today had I bought ingredients ahead of time.  I definitely want to give it a shot in the future.

Happy Friday the 13th!

True love

"True love is like ghosts, which everyone talks about and few have seen"

- François de La Rochefoucauld

I'm finding these two chicken wire ghosts inexplicably compelling.  I think it's partially due to the fact that this picture was taken during daylight hours, seemingly near sunset.  I also think it's because there is a clear relationship between these two; they aren't the usual solitary figures.  There's a story in there somewhere, the details of which we can never fully know.

Picture found on Pinterest. I could not track down the original source anywhere.

Nosferatu Candle Holder

This is pretty clever.

Click below to see it on Etsy

by LilacRage

Early September Yard Haunters

We were driving home from a date last night when I caught a glimpse of purple and orange lights down a side street.  I gave the ghoulfriend a bit of a start when I exclaimed "WOAH! Turn the car around!"

Pulling into the side street we were treated with a wonderful sight! A full-fledged yard haunt, and we aren't even a week into September yet!

(notice Sam from Trick R Treat in the window!)

Here's a quick video of the lights in action:

It was such a wonderful treat to stumble upon such a sincere display of Halloween spirit.  It absolutely made our night!  Come October, I think I'll leave a Great Pumpkin Project pumpkin for them. They clearly have the spirit of the season, and those headstones are seriously asking for a jack-o'-lantern

It's time

On the night of September 1st, as I was walking the ghoulfriend home from an event, we both inexplicably stopped in the middle of her quiet neighborhood street.  The wind blew, rustling the fallen sycamore leaves.  It was a cool 75° (cool for central Florida).  The New Moon meant it was dark, save for the streetlights.  We turned and looked at each other, wordlessly communicating that we both knew... it's time

"I'm normally a stickler on dusting this one off before the threat of hot days have
passed, but this year I'm appealing to the feeling over the calendar. It’s time folks"
- Sam Heimer, original artist

More-so than last year, it really feels like Halloween is coming.  Among friends and online circles, there has been a steadfast patience for the arrival of the season; a patience not felt last year (as Sam Heimer pointed out in this post) when many jumped the gun, declaring "spooky season" as early as July.  For whatever reason, I didn't see that as much this year, and I think we are better for it. 

The next day, September 2nd, we invited a close friend over to have a cozy day in.  We watched Fantastic Mr. Fox and baked homemade pizza and pumpkin bread (both of which I make quite well, if I do say so myself).

The ghoulfriend and I are very ready for this season to start.  This will be our first Halloween together, and I can't think of anyone else I'd rather share it with!