Friday, October 30, 2009

Thursday, October 29, 2009

The Halloween Poem by Rot

He ran out of work and rushed to the store.
Then sped to his home and shot through his door.

With pumpkins and candy and black cardboard cats.
With cornstalks and devils and tiny witch hats.

He strung purple lights and soft orange crepe.
He hung paper bats with two-sided tape.

He gutted the pumpkins, the best in the bin.
He stabbed each some eyes, a nose, and a grin.

He rushed to the lawn – The Front Yard of Fear.
And set up his zombies he built through the year.

He constructed his graveyard with tombstones of foam,
And placed a cloth ghost in its gloomy crypt home.

He dressed his new scarecrow with a hat and a coat,
And staked in a post for a sign that he wrote:

Beware Ye!
Go Back!
Not Safe!

He laughed a small laugh and smiled with pride.
Then scattered some leaves and ran back inside.

He heated up cider and warmed up some pie.
He colored white frosting with goblin-green dye.

He filled giant bowls with popcorn and treats,
Toffee and chocolates and soft sugared sweets.

He changed from his suit and slicked back his hair.
He donned a black cloak and sat in his chair.

He popped in his fangs and gave them a bite.
Then smiled sharp teeth and waited for night.

Now that his planning and hard work was done,
He listened for sounds of laughter and fun!

He imagined kids running in white ghostly sheets.
Hobos and monsters on shadowy streets!

With masks made of plastic and rubber and paint.
He thought he heard children distant and faint!

He pictured their parents, excited and proud,
Escorting small creatures, eager and loud!

They’d spot his great house, then gather and flock.
They’d block up the street and clog up the block!

They’d line up for hours for a look and a treat.
He thought he heard sounds of scurrying feet!

 ***

It was only dry leaves swept along by the wind.
He breathed out a sigh, his proud smile thinned.

His dreams and his hopes of Halloween fame
Blew away with the leaves. Nobody came.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Halloween 2009



Off from work after today. Won't be back til November 2nd. Always weird putting that leave slip in... "Oh, that's right. This is your time of year!" I'll usually hear.

It sure is.

We're going to squeeze every ounce of Halloween out of the coming week, savoring every aspect of it. Every minute will be spent getting ready for October 31st. Just finishing touches remain, so it'll be nice to fine-tune everything. Carving a massive heap of pumpkins, getting cornstalks and bags and bags of leaves, gathering up the witch jars and stacks of tea lights that smell of clove.

Blog entries will be spotty after today, but I'll definitely be around next week to post some images of our pre-Halloween activities (we have some neat plans). And I was just thinking that this year was the first year that I didn't post any teaser photos or video of my haunt's Corn Witch theme. The Pumpkin Sentinels are just that - watchers. And what they're watching over will hopefully make for a memorable Halloween display.

There will be lots of traditional elements too, anchoring the haunt firmly in everything I've always loved about Halloween.

And some surprises.


The Shape


Patch Pumpkins

2008 Photo from Johnny (Through the Patch).


More of his wonderful images here.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Begging For Candy

Here's a sketch from 2004 I did for an online contest to win a Halloween mask. Happy to report I won and got a really cool vintage witch mask out of the deal.


Needless to say, I love HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH.

10 Day Extended Forecast

40% chance of showers and a high of 69 degrees.

That's the forecast for Thursday, October 29.

I've shamefully started the annual tradition of nervously checking ridiculously-unreliable weather reports.



Image source.


I'll make my mother chant this for an hour on Halloween morning.

Office Jerk: Part II

The annual Christmas door-decorating contest at my office will be here in a couple months, so I was once again approached and asked to enter the contest with a Nightmare Before Christmas door.
Them: "Can you do a Nightmare Before Christmas door for the contest this year?"
Me: "Well, if i DID do it this year, I'll need full control. No one meddling telling me I should do this or I should do that."
Them: "Absolutely! It'll totally be all yours! Then you'll do it?!"
Me: "Sorry, no."
Sincerely,
The Office Jerk

Now Playing: Desiderii Marginis

Massive dark tracks from the previously-featured Desiderii Marginis.

From the album Dead Beat.


Spooky Hollow

Photos from Spookyblue's 2008 display.
Looking SO forward to his haunt this year.


Cedric The Pumpkin

It doesn't get much more Halloween than this.

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Monday, October 19, 2009

Chop Shop

Sulking In His Basement

And the Prince of Darkness was Himself sealed, that old life, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.

Lucifer by Franz von Stuck.

Image source.