Wednesday, October 31, 2018

#31 of 31 Days of Halloween: Writing Horror Flash Fiction




Today I'm playing along with a blog hop: The Storytime Blog Hop and finishing my 31 Days of Halloween. Participants are asked to post a speculative fiction story less than 1,000 words quarterly.

I've been writing horror and Halloween-themed flash fiction all month for Bliss Morgan's Nightmare Fuel, so here's one of my favorite stories of the thirty-one I wrote this month. If you'd like to see the other stories, you can view the collection at this link.  I enjoy writing these short horror pieces each October and I hope you'll enjoy reading!
______________________________________________________

Starving Artist

At first, she wove thin silken death for small foolish creatures, like the others of her kind. Subtle work, invisible unless you stood in right place. Intricate, delicate, effective.

It didn’t satisfy her. She wanted more. Something lasting.

She raged each time one of her creations was destroyed. She rebuilt over and over, until finally she decided it was time to move someplace more secluded.

She found an abandoned house and spun it throughout with masterpieces which hung glittering with condensation in morning light until the house glowed as if filled with gems. It made her heart full with delight for a while, but this too became not enough.

Wind blew through broken windows and snapped the edges, flinging her work aside. Frustrated, she fumed in cold silence, her heart turning chill with anger. Even here, alone, it was not enough.

Then she noticed the thick white ribbons of frost that streaked across a window. Inspiration. She sucked in great gasps of frigid air to fuel her. When she spun again, the strands were thick and soft and beautifully white. They glowed in moonlight and sun alike.

No insects disturbed their cold beauty, but hunger was nothing in the face of such creations. When she died, resting in the middle of a unbroken lattice of white snow, she had never been happier.

Be sure to check out the other stories in this blog hop. Happy Halloween Reading!

Snow White Tabloid Style, by Fannie Suto
The Halloween Dance, by Barbara Lund
Her Majesty, by Katharina Gerlach
Chris Bridges Posting Storytime Blog Hop.  Give her shout out and say Hello!
Black Moon, by Lauren M. Catherine
Poe's Heart, by J. Q. Rose
Hanks A Lot, by Joe Bouchard
In The Gray Lake, by Karen Lynn
The Right Honorable Brotherhood of Spirits, Poltergeists and Ghosts, by Vanessa Wells
Life of a Pumpkin, by Bill Bush
Why Should I?, by Gina Fabio
Reaper, by Juneta Key

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

#30 of 31 Days of Halloween: La Llorona


La Llorona is not a story I grew up with, but one I learned as an adult. She's a creature of Latin American folklore, a ghost or demon who preys on children who wander too far from home or on cheating men, depending on who is telling the story. She's a character in the traditional of The Woman in White, who is also a vengeful ghost seeking retribution for her wrongs or forgiveness for the wrongs she has done.

She's been gaining in popularity here in the United States, making an appearance on an excellent episode of the popular television series Supernatural

I love how these stories pull from many of my favorite ghost story elements. How ghosts can be remnants of powerful emotions, like vengeance, or how wandering as a ghost can be a punishment for wrongs, like filicide. Sometimes there's a phantom hitchhiker vibe to the stories, when the woman in white wanders the road, and might wreak horrible revenge on the man who picks her up.

There's a lot of meat to those stories and I end up being sympathetic both to the "monster" and to its victims, which is a place I like a horror story to take me.

Monday, October 29, 2018

#29 of 31 Days of Halloween: Werewolves


Of all of Halloween's creatures, my favorite is probably the werewolf. Cheesy or terrifying, I love the Jekyll and Hyde torment of a good werewolf character.

I don't remember when I didn't now about werewolves as a mythology, so I'm not sure who my first fictional werewolf was. Maybe Eddie Munster? Or Wolfie from the Groovy Ghoulies?

But An American Werewolf in London has remained a favorite film of mine since I first saw it as a teenager. It's the first thing I think of when I think of werewolves.

The special effects were amazing, but what really made it for me were the performances. When the two young men were frightened on the moors, I ran with them in my imagination. David Kessler's disbelief about what was happening to him and fear as he began to believe that maybe he wasn't "just" suffering delusions and hallucinations got me, too. It was also one of the first films I saw that combined the horrific with the comedic, which is a combination that still grabs me when I can find it.

As an old movie buff, I also love The Wolf Man. It's stilted at time, but oh-so-atmospheric and menacing at others. The 2010 update was equally flawed, but spot-on in some ways. I loved the family curse element of that story. Teen Wolf was a movie that I LOVED when I was younger, though I haven't seen it since and still haven't gotten around to watching the more recent TV series.

I loved Oz on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and was grossed out by the transformation portrayals in the first season of Hemlock Grove. Being Human (both versions) was fun, too, for the ways the bitten character tried to cope.

Got a favorite werewolf? Something I should check out? Let me know in the comments!

Sunday, October 28, 2018

#28 of 31 Days of Halloween: Spooky Sounds


In so many spooky scenarios, it's the sounds that get you going, make you nervous and edgy. Footsteps echoing in empty spaces. Distant wolves howling. Tiny scritching sounds that might be rats trapped in the walls. Dripping liquid. Creaks and groans of old wood. Wind through dry leaves. Murmuring voices where you think no one is present.



Right up there with shadows, the right kinds of sounds can feed my imagination and let me build up a good case of the heebie jeebies. Combine spooky sounds with other atmospheric details like moonlight and fog and we've got ourselves a setting for a horror story.

One of the advantages movie and television have over print media is the ease with which they can convey sound. Literally, they can make you hear it. It's harder for writers, but when done well, sound can be a very effective way to build tension.

What kind of sounds make you nervous? Got a favorite horror moment when it was the sound that got you? I'd love to hear about in the comments.


Saturday, October 27, 2018

#27 of 31 Days of Halloween: Masks


What is it about masks? Whether they're sitting on tables, hanging on walls, or covering someone's face, they are so inherently creepy. Something about those frozen facsimiles of faces, whether they imitate life, or distort it.

At the Halloween store, I can creep myself out just by standing at the wall of masks for a while. My vision will trick me into thinking the expressions have changed. Sometimes especially on the rigid ones that totally can't change expression.

The Phantom of the Opera, Michael Myers, Darth Vader, Leatherface. So many scary characters have been made that much scarier by the omission of their faces.

Got a favorite scary mask character? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

Friday, October 26, 2018

#26 of 31 Days of Halloween: Zombies


I didn't grow up on zombie movies like some folks did. My family didn't go in for Romero films and I was still only 14 when the first wave of Zombie films went by. If I had wanted to see them, my parents wouldn't have let me.

But when I re-met the man who would become my second husband, we went to see Dawn of the Dead, (2004) together.

I loved and hated it.

I remember in particular, being really creeped out by the idea of a zombie baby (a pregnant woman had been bitten and was in labor). I had my feet pulled up in the chair with me, I was so sure it was going to be terrifying. Then, the baby came, and it was a zombie. But it was still…cute. I was so relieved!

Since then, I've watched a lot of zombie movies and TV shows. They definitely can make a great catalyst for storytelling, putting characters in survival situations and given them the chance to reveal their true mettle. So many times the real monsters are still human.

Got a favorite zombie story? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

Thursday, October 25, 2018

#25 of 31 Days of Halloween: Shirley Jackson


Shirley Jackson should be some kind of patron saint of Halloween. She wrote some of the horror stories that haunt me the most deeply. She's best known for her short story "The Lottery" which many a high school student read in their English classes, one of the few horror stories we were allowed in the curriculum alongside Edgar Allan Poe.

One of the scariest things about that story and many other of Jackson's works isn't the supernatural.  It's the people. The psychological torments we inflict on ourselves and on others. We Have Always Lived in the Castle has always been my favorite, but The Haunting of Hill House is a very close second.

It set the standard for Haunted House stories, with discord and distrust among the inhabitants, disagreement about what did and did not really happen, or what the probably causes might be. The atmosphere of long shadows, both of past events and of long windows shining with impossible light. No one knew that atmosphere like Shirley.


Who could forget that first paragraph (which is also the last):

"No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone."

The house itself is the main character of that novel, and that's true of the recent adaptation by Netflix as well, even though the story takes little else from the original text. It's like reading Hamlet or Macbeth, where you're not sure from one moment to the next if its madness or magic going on. There's room for both interpretations in every moment.

That ambiguity is the heart of gothic storytelling, and it beat in Shirley Jackson's chest full bore.

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

#24 of 31 Days of Halloween: Classic Gothic Horror


I've been on a classic literature journey for the past four or five years, reading all those books I've always meant to read and hadn't gotten around to yet and participating in a First Monday Classics Book Club to meet up with other readers like me who enjoy a book with a bit of heft and gravitas.

Alongside works like War and Peace and The Grapes of Wrath, we've also read some classic works of speculative fiction. The Island of Dr. Moreau, Jane Eyre, Rebecca, Frankenstein. On my own, I've gone back for Dracula, The Turn of the Screw, The Castle of Otranto, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and The Haunting of Hill House.

Some of these stories I've known and loved for a long time even though I had never read them, because the stories are that ingrained in popular culture, television, and movies. Others I had read, but many years ago. Some are like embracing a long lost old friend.

I like the quiet, slower nature of some of these stories. how the horror takes a while to manifest and leaves the characters (and the reader) with room to doubt that supernatural elements are really at play. That self-doubt got more than one character into a tricky spot.

The new writing project that is tapping on my shoulder right now is a gothic romance. I think I'm set to pen a good one with all these classic tales bumping around in my imagination.

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

#23 of 31 Days of Halloween: Daylight Ghost Stories


Traditionally, ghosts come out at night. Maybe they like the quiet, or they are just easier to see when the light is less glaring. But I like daylight ghosts, too. Visiting a lonely or abandoned place can feel just as haunted when the sun is shining as when the moonlight does.

That's the thought that struck me when I wrote my own daylight ghost story, "The Girl in the Pool." Why should ghosts only come out at night?

Today is release day and I'm happy to show off the collection here. I'm sharing the pages of this anthology with seven other authors:




If you're looking for a quick bit of scary to brighten your Halloween, I hope you're check out Off the Beaten Path 3. It's available in all the usual places :-)

Here's a teaser for you, (one of my favorite parts of my story, when Becky first appears):

There was a pool in the yard across the street, and I would sit on the swing that my step-dad had hung from the big tree in the yard for me, spinning around in a useless circle and watching the hot, Southern sun sparkling on the empty pool, wishing someone would invite me to go splash around in it.

The people who owned the pool were older, like someone’s grandparents. They kept the pool for their grandchildren, I guess, but the grandchildren weren’t there much. So, most of the time, that pretty blue water sparkled in the sun with no one to play in it.

Stephen wondered why they kept it uncovered when it was used so seldom. The old couple themselves never seemed to get in the water. But the old man was out there every morning, skimming the insects and leaves out of the water with a giant long-handled net that I found fascinating. That and the weird socks he wore. Mom said they were compression socks, meant to help with circulation. I thought they made his real legs look like fake ones. 
After two weeks or so, I had established a lonely pattern of cartoons until my mom kicked me out, then puttering around our yard until she called me in to eat. I was sitting out on the swing reading one of the fairy themed books I was so into that summer when someone called out to me. “Hey, kid!” I looked up. There was a little girl, maybe just a smidge older than me, leaning on the fence around the pool and looking at me. She smiled and waved when she saw me. “I’m Becky! Want to come swim with me?” 
Boy, did I! I ran and got my mom. She was unpacking yet more kitchen stuff. There was a lot to unpack, combining all of our stuff with all of Stephen’s stuff. It was taking a long time to figure out where to put it.

Still, Mom was happy to hear I’d had an invitation, and took a break to help me find the right things. A few minutes later, I was wearing my swimsuit and carrying a towel and we were crossing the street together. Mom knocked on the door. When a tall, slender woman with tall white hair answered, Mom explained that we were the new neighbors from across the street. “My daughter said that Becky invited her over,” Mom said. “Would it be okay if she came over and swam with her?” 
“Becky?” The woman’s voice sounded strangely full of emotion. “Definitely! Please! Come in!”

Monday, October 22, 2018

#22 of 31 Days of Halloween: Shadows


When you have a good imagination, shadows can be dangerous. Your mind can turn them into monsters, serial killers, demons, and any number of other lethal things. Even if its really just the ironing board you didn't put away or your own dog.

Creators of horror have noticed of course, and movies, television, and art make great use of the shadow, both for comedic and horrific effect.

One of my favorites is the shadow of Nosferatu from the movie of the same name. The guy is creepy enough when you're looking straight at him, but in shadow, it's somehow worse. He's larger. Exaggerated. And somehow fluid. None of this bodes well for the watcher.

I have a teeshirt that pokes fun at this image, with Nosferatu chasing the oblivious Shaggy and Scooby of Scooby Doo fame up the stairwell.

Batman knows the power of a looming shadow too. Hence the cape and cowl.

Or how about those stories where the shadow is separate of the person? (almost as scary as a reflection that moves independently).

Hmmmm…now I'm not sure if it's better or worse to sleep with a nightlight. After all, light makes shadows.

Sunday, October 21, 2018

#21 of 31 Days of Halloween: Jump Scares


Once my sister and I went to see a terrible monster movie together. It was SOOOOO predictable that it wasn't even scary. But you know what? I still jumped for every jump scare. It's why I'm not allowed to hold the popcorn anymore.

My favorite kind of jump scare? The fake out. The one where it turns out to be a cat and the character turns away, relieved only to then immediately face the actual scary bad thing!

It works on me every time, even though I know its coming. It's an adrenaline laced reaction that is immediately followed by laughter, either at the movie or at myself. A beautiful combination.

Here's a great supercut of some good cat-scares:


Saturday, October 20, 2018

#20 of 31 Days of Halloween: Urban Legends


I didn't know what urban legends were the first time I heard one. It was at a slumber party and I really thought my friend knew a guy who had picked up a hitchhiker who turned out to the be a ghost. Well, I was skeptical that he had told my friend the truth, but I believed there was a guy who had told her the story, at least. I was a gullible kid.

By the time I heard about the hook-handed maniac who stalked Lover's Lane, I knew that the claim of direct connection to the story was a lie, but it was too late. I was "hooked." (Ha! See what I did there?)

Now, I love urban legends the same way I love fairytales. I collect versions and notice variations with joy. Like the hitchhiker version where he lends the girl/ghost his jacket and finds it later draped over her grave? Hand over heart: I *love* that telling. Romantic AND creepy.

I like the nonprofessional telling, where someone claims to have heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend.  Even when you've heard it before, it's fun to shout the punchline/jump scare together: Humans can lick too! or The calls are coming from inside the house! 

Creepy Pasta has picked up the mantle of this kind of storytelling and lots of YouTube channels follow legends of Slender Man or other creatures that haunt our imaginations.

Do you have a favorite urban legend? I'd love to hear about in the comments.

Friday, October 19, 2018

#19 of 31 Days of Halloween: Moonlight


The moon is an essential part of Halloween imagery. Whether its just glowing brightly in an ebony sky, providing the backdrop for a silhouetted witch or bat, or glowing softly through a foggy cloud cover, the moon shines over the holiday and gives it the light we need to see the darkness by.



The diffuse, natural light is the heart of romance and also of horror, making hearts and ghosts glow alike. And Halloween is all about loving horror :-) We won't get a full moon for Halloween this year. The internet tells me that the next one won't be until 2020, but I know it will light my path to spooky joy in just a few more days all the same.




Thursday, October 18, 2018

#18 of 31 Days of Halloween: Vincent Price


Who knew that the young man who began in character roles like Sir Walter Raleigh, Prince Albert, and the Duke of Clarence and played The Saint on the radio would someday be known as the "Master of Menace."



I admire his non-horror work (Laura is one of my favorite movies), but he was cemented as that spooky guy I love for me when I was a child. I used to watch his films with my mother every October: House of Wax, House on Haunted Hill, The Fly and of course all the Poe adaptations. I remember explaining to my friends who that guy was who did the scary voice for Michael Jackson's Thriller and my own thrill when he reappeared in Edward Scissorhands.

He had just the right mix of gravitas and camp, truly capturing the spirit of this season for me.

Any other fans out there? Which of his films is your favorite?


Wednesday, October 17, 2018

#17 of 31 Days of Halloween: Edgar Allan Poe


Edgar Allan Poe is an author I can enjoy all year round, but the rest of the world joins in with me at this time of year, and it's nice to have company. Even people who aren't otherwise particularly literary will quote the opening stanza of The Raven in their best Vincent Price voice:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”
Besides the Raven, there's also all the creep-tastic fiction. My personal favorite is The Cask of Amontillado, but The Tell-Tale Heart runs a close second. When I taught American literature or general literature courses, I'd always work in a little Poe at this time of year. The Fall of the House of Usher, The Black Cat, The Pit and the Pendulum. So much macabre goodness. 

I also enjoy the lore of the man himself. The questionable circumstances of his death make for some great imagining, too.  In fact, his ghost is said to haunt more than one place. Apparently, it's not enough that he haunts us with his words years beyond his demise; he has to become an actual phantom as well. 

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the few authors that remains universally popular when assigned in the classroom. There's nothing like being TOLD to read something to take the joy out of it, but The Masque of the Red Death is chilling even when your teacher goes overboard on color symbolism. 

Got a favorite Poe story or poem? I'd love to hear about it in the comments. 

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

#16 of 31 Days of Halloween: Baby Costumes


Babies don't get to choose their costumes, but some parents can't resist dressing them up. I *love* babies in costume. Our own daughters had their turns being pumpkins, teddy bears, and tiny fairy tale characters before they started to have their own opinions about what to dress as.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Little Pumpkins

I love all the varieties of tiny pumpkins. Easy, comfortable and cute as heck.

I also love the clever pairings: parent-child costumes: 

Cute, scary or funny? 





Monday, October 15, 2018

#15 of 31 Days of Halloween: A Nightmare Before Christmas


Most of the iconic faces of Halloween have been around a good long time. Pointed witches hats. Square jawed-noduled Frankenstein monsters. Caped vampires. It's a season that's truly about oldies that are goodies.

But there is one iconic figure of Halloween who's a little newer. Jack Skellington was created in 1993, when his film The Nightmare Before Christmas debuted.

Now you can buy decorations of him in any Halloween store alongside your ghosties and non-clothes-wearing skeletons.

He fits right in of course, being from Halloween town. He's our bone-thin hero, who is taken by a mad whimsy and has to remember who he really is.

The film is memorable for its quirky animation, mixture of creepy themes with sweet romance, and, of course, the songs. 

We've got a blow up of Jack's head for our front lawn this season, and a statue of Zero who hangs out on our sofa, freaking out our living dog. I think Jack would approve.

Sunday, October 14, 2018

#14 of 31 Days of Halloween: Hocus Pocus


We're a family of traditions. They may not be the typical traditions, but certain things we do every year, like our yearly Extra Life marathon gaming fundraiser, our post-Halloween pumpkin smashing, and our New Year's eve meal consisting only of appetizers.

Hocus Pocus, the movie, is becoming a new one of these traditions.

I hadn't seen it in years when it came to the Retro Film series at the Carolina Theatre in Durham, one of my favorite haunts.

We took our youngest to see it and all three had such a good time, but we're planning to watch it every year during October, just like we do with the Charlie Brown special.

Bette Midler's rendition of "I Put a Spell on You" in front of a crowd that thought she was part of a show when she was really a witch still thrills.

The weird little walk the three sisters have when they move together.

Billy the Zombie. I'm wondering if Johnny Depp studied this performance to create Captain Jack.

It's the perfect mix of all my favorite Halloween things. It's silly. It's funny. It's creepy. It's scary. Oh wait, I think I just started quoted the theme song to the Addam's Family.



Well, that's accurate enough. :-)


Saturday, October 13, 2018

#13 of 31 Days of Halloween: Creepy Treats


I don't always get to have a Halloween party. Halloween does fall, after all, right at the end of the quarter, when my grades are due. Life has other demands, sadly.

But I have from time to time gotten to have a shindig to celebrate and one of my favorite parts is making cute and creepy foods to enjoy.

Things like these: 


And these: 


Of course, mine don't come out quite so professional looking. I'm an author, not a baker, Jim! They do, however, go great with my Raven themed tablecloth and pumpkin candles and they never fail to make our guests smile with delight. 

Got any favorite creepy treats I should try? 

Friday, October 12, 2018

#12 of 31 Days of Halloween: The Great Pumpkin


One of the family traditions we established as soon as my husband and I married was yearly watching of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." It's a cartoon we both remember fondly from our childhoods, one of those things we both watched on network TV with our parents as a marker of the season.

At first, we tried to do the same: watching for when it aired and making a point of being in front of the TV on that day, but with modern options for streaming and disk and such, we quickly came to the conclusion that we'd rather schedule our watching when it was convenient and pleasant for us. (The twenty-first century has its share of problems, but I'll take freedom from network scheduling for entertainment as a total win).

It's a quiet cartoon. Sweet and innocent in a lot of ways. We get to see Lucy be a good big sister even though she thinks her little brother is a fool. We get to see Snoopy indulging his imagination in adventures. That whole idea of the "most sincere" pumpkin patch gets me right in the feels. I still hope that the sheer power of Linus's faith bring The Great Pumpkin into existence. I love that he built his own mythology that fit his world view of what kind of behavior should be rewarded.

Good job,  Linus. We need more sincerity in this world.


Thursday, October 11, 2018

#11 of 31 Days of Halloween: My Family's Haunted Trail


My family--the larger, more extended one, especially my mother's side--doesn't do much for holidays. We get together. We eat. If there are gifts to be exchanged, we do so, money allowing.

But Halloween is an exception. Starting when I was in high school or maybe early college, we started having a Haunted Trail each year in the woods my grandfather bought back in the day. How elaborate it is depends on the time and energy my uncles and cousins have one any given year, but it's always worth seeing. I have some very creative family and friends of family.

I enjoy professional haunted houses and trails, too, but the one my family does is special, of course. Some highlights of past Haunted Trails:


  • Hell: There's generally a table where someone is playing poker in hell. Who it is varies according to what's going on in the world at the time. I still remember the Saddam Hussein one. Elvis is a frequent guest, too, probably more because we're fond of Elvis than that we think he belongs in Hell
  • Gilly Monster: one year, one of my uncles made a gilly monster costume by sewing leaves and
    forest debris onto a poncho. He laid on the ground with this camouflage pulled over him and was invisible until he moved and grabbed my ankle. I'm not sure my heart ever came back down out of my throat. 
  • Scarecrow Forest: I have one famously skinny uncle, Traditionally, he's hidden among a line of stuffed scarecrows. No matter how hard I try, I can never figure out which one he is until he moves. Yikes!
  • Bright Side: One year, "crucifixes" were built along one ridge, with little ledges to stand on. This came about because of a family-wide love of Monty Python, and was the site of a famous singalong. 
  • Zombie Pit: a trench covered with wood slats to look like graves. Costumed friends or family pop up creepy hands or sometimes even fully costumed zombies rise up. Always very spooky!
It's not every year anymore. But it's always worth it to me to make trip back home and get my pants scared off with friends and family. 

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

#10 of 31 Days of Halloween: Pumpkins


I'm not quite so Basic a white girl as to be a connoisseur of all things pumpkin. My favorite latte of the moment is gingerbread, thank you very much. And I don't even like pumpkin pie, though I do like pumpkin bread from my local co-op.

But you know what I do love?

Actual pumpkins.

Jack-o-lanterns are fun, but I'm not that dextrous with a knife, so mostly I admire the handiwork of others in that regard. But I love pumpkins themselves.

I'm especially loving lately all the varieties I can buy. There are traditional orange ones in a variety of sizes (including adorable mini pumpkins, that are probably actually not pumpkins, but a squash of some kind), but there are also ghost white ones, gray ones, and wide flattish ones they're calling "fairy tale" pumpkins, presumably in homage to the one the fairy godmother transformed into a coach for Cinderella.

Pumpkins are the only produce I buy that I have no plans to make anything out of of. I buy them because they please me aesthetically. They feel so nice and solid in my hands. The perch there like mushrooms (which I also love unreasonably much). They smell of fall.

I had big plans this year to plant a pumpkin patch of my own, but didn't get off my butt in time (June is when I get lazy, right after school is out; and it's also when you're supposed to plant pumpkins if you want them in October). Maybe next year will be my year for my very own very sincere pumpkin patch.


Tuesday, October 9, 2018

#9 of 31 Days of Halloween: Pop-Up Halloween Stores


I hit my first pop-up Halloween store before it was even October this year. One took over the old Babies-R-Us near my daughter's orthodontist office and when we spotted it, we shared a gasp of delight. It almost made up for having her braces adjusted.

Mostly, I hate shopping. But shopping in a Halloween store is a totally different thing. Even when I can't buy anything, I get such delight from looking at the wares and imagining the possibilities.

The one near us is especially nice, selling both the cheapy costumes that are just a kind of plastic you tie on and things that are nicer, more like real clothing.

I bought my girl a Sally dress AND a Wednesday Addams dress because they were too too perfect.

We spent a long time in the props section, examining fake weapons and odd accoutrements and imagining who we might become if we were to put them on.

They'd even put together a little haunted house area out of their animatronic and motion-sensing wares. We took turns cuing them to growl and spin and glow at us and laughed in delight when they were able to startle us.

Yeah, I could spend my whole paycheck in a wonderland like that. Maybe it's a good thing they're only around a few weeks a year.


Monday, October 8, 2018

#8 of 31 Days of Halloween: Decor


You know how some people love to go shopping right after Christmas or on Black Friday, scoring great deals? Yeah. I'm not one of those people. In fact, I hate shopping.

Except for Halloween.

The day after Halloween I'm heading in to all the big box stores, looking for my deals on Halloween themed decor. That's how I got my cool tablecloth that has spooky words all over it like "Nevermore" and "Poison," how I acquired my Bride of Frankenstein serving platter and dessert plates, my sugar skull drinking glasses, and my glowing eyeball lights.

If I had the budget and time, you can bet my yard would look like something out of the Addam's Family intermixed with every other spooky thing I love.

This year, I'm coveting the motion sensitive animatronic figures from my local Halloween pop up store. I can't quite convince myself that it's okay to spend upwards of $100 on this kind of thing, but when it goes on sale afterwards? I'm there!

Sunday, October 7, 2018

#7 of 31 Days of Halloween: Excitement


There are a few times of year where excitement vibrates in the air, maybe especially the air around children. A kinetic joy bubbles up and it's all we can do to move forward in the ordinary things we have to accomplish before our anticipation pays off and boom! It's Halloween.

The second October began, that half-crazy energy settled on the middle school where I teach. As the month goes on, it will build. Kids will make plans for costumes, parties, and pranks. They'll tell each other scary stories and wax poetic about the good old days when they weren't "too old" to Trick or Treat (some of them will still Trick or Treat this year, "too old" or not).

Sometimes adults catch it a little, at least some of us. The playfulness of it all is contagious. The "let's pretend" license that comes with a time of year where even adults often dress up as something scary, shiny, or just really different than whatever they usually are. 

The giddy energy exceeds even Christmas in some ways. Maybe it's because it's more of an everyone holiday (less tied to religious traditions), and celebrating is less reliant on how much money is in your bank account than the more avaricious commercial side of that December festival.

It's there in the air. Have you caught it yet?