Aftermath

Photo by Erik A (@erik.j.a)

Mini Dried Gourds

 by Dilly Bug Decor

Photos from their Instagram @dillybugdecor

Click here for their Etsy shop

Primitive Pumpkins

New releases by Meg at Primitive Pig Folk Art.

Follow her Instagram and visit her Etsy to be informed of product releases and restocks.  I've purchased items from her before; I highly recommend her work.

Spooky little drawings

 

Art by Gabby M. (@art.g0th)

Smiling in the Shadows

Jack o'lanterns from The Great Pumpkin Project 2017

It's time to send in those letters

Now Watching: Early to Mid 2000's Halloween Home Videos

A simple pleasure of mine is watching videos of people's Halloween decorations, parties, or trick-or-treating, specifically from the early to mid 2000's.  These videos scratch a very precise nostalgic itch of mine.

These videos also tend to disappear from YouTube.  Many of the ones I watched regularly (don't judge me) have been deleted, or have vanished after the original account was terminated.  It really makes me sad.  I wish there was a huge archive just for videos like this.  

It disheartens me to wonder how many Halloween home videos have been erased from the web...  how many wonderful October memories have been lost... I've even contemplated buying a larger hard drive just to download and preserve this kind of media. 

I swear, I'm going to turn in to a digital hoarder... 
*pours booze*

Relationship goals

"Pumpkin Lovers" by Sarah Pagliaro of Spooky Moose Studio LLC (@_spookymoose_)

Mr. Macklin's Jack O'Lantern

by David McCord

Mr. Macklin takes his knife 
And carves the yellow pumpkin face: 
Three holes bring eyes and nose to life, 
The mouth has thirteen teeth in place. 
Then Mr. Macklin just for fun 
Transfers the corn-cob pipe from his 
Wry mouth to Jack’s, and everyone 
Dies laughing! O what fun it is 

Till Mr. Macklin draws the shade 
And lights the candle in Jack’s skull. 
Then all the inside dark is made 
As spooky and as horrorful 
As Halloween, and creepy crawl 
The shadows on the tool-house floor, 
With Jack’s face dancing on the wall. 
O Mr. Macklin! where's the door?

Text Source

Pumpkin Patch painting

Can you spot it?

Art by Vivien Mildenberger (@vvberger)

The Late Cold

Here in the Southeast United States, the coldest temperatures of Winter always seem to arrive later than I expect.  I'm not sure why I don't expect it, given that it happens every year come January.

There's never any snow in my area, which is rather aesthetically unfortunate.  I've often admired photos of Halloween decorations with a light dusting of snow.  As much as I prefer Autumn, Winter presents to me a kind of optical surrealism.  Something about wide swaths of white feels otherworldly, silent, and still.

It's probably because I've not grown up or lived in an area with yearly snowfall, so the magic of fresh snow hasn't yet been ruined by an annual ritual of winter tires, soggy socks, ice scraping and snow shoveling.  Maybe one day.

Photo by @katiepumpkinhead

   

Sad Jacks

I've managed to avoid the post-Halloween slump this year.  My spooky season was very fulfilling and ended on a high note.  I'm ready to enjoy the quiet remainder of Autumn.

Art by Jessica Robles

Halloween 2021: Crop of the Faceless Spirit

Since the disappearances, peculiar things have begun to grow.

Usually, there's just one, sprouting from the earth like a cursed sapling.

But sometimes, they're found in hellish groves; 

Grotesque orchards of anthropomorphic vegetation.

And why do they always look so... familiar?

I am beyond excited to (finally) share my first official yard display!  I would have posted these photos sooner, but a corrupted SD card threw a wrench in those plans.  After two weeks of on-and-off recovery attempts, I finally have some stuff to share.

Click on each picture for full-size

And below, the scene of the ritual:  Innocents left to die, an offering to the Faceless Spirit, only to be re-grown as part of the Crop.

And here are a few daytime shots:

Huge shoutout to Pumpkinrot and his blog; a wealth of yard haunt knowledge and inspiration.  Shoutout to my sister for helping to carve so many pumpkins only a day before Halloween.

I learned a lot through reading blogs and forum posts, and through trial and error.  Not everything came out exactly as I had hoped/imagined, and there are plenty of things that I wont be doing the same way in the future.  But overall, I am quite pleased with my first display.  Everyone starts somewhere!