Cellar Dwellers

In-Between

By Ray Bradbury

Attics are awful and lovely.

You know what I mean?

Basements are low, dank, and darksome,

Halloween’s buried there;

The air of the earth

Simmers slowly, gives rise

To nightmares at midnight,

The size of its shadows is awesome.

And in-between?

The house that we live in,

Sane, boring and plain,

Pictures hung straight on walls,

Here nothing appalls,

The rugs if they misbehave,

Are twice taken out and beaten.

Meals are eaten three times a day

In a room where our dining,

And occasional wining with poker 

With loud uncles who laugh

When the joker is played,

Is all staid; sound and clean.

In-between, where we live, in-between,

A boy could go mad.

So on sad days in autumn,

He takes his dry soul

Down the hole in the dark

Or, pure lark on the fly,

Climbs to attic and sky,

Where the wind leans all year,

And pure fear is the stuff

That roams gardens of dust

And web, where the spider,

Soft glider of nerves,

Serves a fly for dessert

Then back down to the scene

Where the green salad waits

On dumb dining room plates

And nice parents whose talk

Is a chalk-screech on board.

Where the lands of the Lord

Are a Sunday morn chat

That can flatten the mind

And sift dust in the ear

Year on year.  No wildness.  No joy.

No place for a boy.

Attic, yes!  Basement, sure!

There the terror is pure.

There an All Hallows grave

Can save souls that might smother

From calm dad or sweet mother.

Up! Down! That’s the scene!

But---In-between?

Oh my gosh.  In-between?

Know what I mean?

Basement Black & White

Boneblender

More images here.

ScarePros Halloween World

We took a trip to see the year-round ScarePros Halloween store in Levittown, PA.  It's a place to get your Halloween fix any day of the year you so choose.  

Click here for their site.

ScarePros Halloween World

Turns out this store is within an hour from here and it's open all year long.  Definitely planning a visit.

Click below for a tour.

Recycling

I remember the night I ripped off the horrid pumpkin head that was glued to my face with knox gelatin.  It was euphoric.  My neck was no longer in a vulture position and the air was cool and crisp on my soaking-wet head.  Thankfully I didn't punt the pumpkin out into the street or stomp it into my parents' carpet.  We actually repurposed it into our Pumpkin King prop (you can still kinda see the dent from where the head hole was [and where my miserable face was]).  

Looks much better on him.

Beastcraft

Lots of great designs here.

Click to see more.