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!

October Eve: Hurricane Ian

The big hurricane down here left me and my home completely unscathed, which was (pleasantly) surprising, given the severity of the storm. The same goes for most of my friends and family. 

I'm quite grateful... Almost one and a half million people are still without power in Florida, and at least 17 people were killed. The flooding I witnessed was biblical. 

While driving around yesterday morning, when the most dangerous winds and rain had ceased, I came across a house with a downed tree and a scarecrow. 

The fact that the house and its whimsical lawn ornament were spared the devastation filled me with Halloween warmth. It reminded me of the communal importance of Halloween, and the joy it can bring others during hard times. 

In an era of Halloween maximalism, let's not forget the simpler aspects of the holiday... Something I plan to touch on in a later post. 

Whether you're an all-out yard haunter or someone with a single porch pumpkin, your decorations are important; they fill like-minded Halloween enthusiasts with the spirit of the season.

And it's that like-mindedness,wordlessly shared between strangers, that makes Halloween such a special holiday. 

I'm not dead

(I'm getting better!)

Every year I forget how busy things get beginning in September. 

I apologize for the lack of content on the blog recently.  I've been working diligently on the haunt while also juggling my other personal-life priorities. Naturally, I've had to step away from regular blog posting in order to allocate my time effectively. 

However, I'll be drafting posts for the Countdown to Halloween 2022 blogging event, of which I am a Crypt Keeper. These posts will publish throughout October, leading up to the Big Night, so stay tuned to October Branches to catch those!

In the meantime, feel free to follow me on Instagram @tjalgahorn, where I have been posting photos and video snippets here and there. 

36 days until Halloween...

50 Days

It's been a hell of a week, and the pressure is on.  

Stairway

    Photo by @samhain_cemetery

Listening to: Apparition

Another great track from Ken Elkinson.  As the first song on his Halloween Ambient album, Elkinson draws the listener in with an almost windy and hollow instrumentation.  It is slow, and peaceful, but also eerie and mysterious.  The feeling of the song undulates between wonder and trepidation.

It's probably my favorite ambient album intro-song of all time.

Click below to listen...

Image source. (So chosen because this is pretty much exactly what I see when I hear this song)