Dodging, Disappearing,...

Goblins on the doorstep,

     Phantoms in the air,

Owls on witches’ gate posts,

     Giving stare for stare.

 

Cats on flying broomsticks,

     Bats against the moon,

Stirring round of fate-cakes,

     With a solemn spoon.

 

Whirling apple parings,

     Figures draped in sheets,

Dodging, disappearing,

     Up and down the streets.

 

Jack-o’-lanterns grinning,

     Shadows on a screen,

Shrieks and starts and laughter -

     This is Halloween!

 

- Dorothy Brown Thompson

Image source.

MISSING CHILD

The Annual Pumpkin Carving Party

Our cool neighbors invited us to something they've been attending for over fifteen years - The Annual Pumpkin Carving Party.  It was located about an hour from here in a beautiful part of this state, with rolling hills and massive streams.  The house was located in a wooded area next to a large pond with a rowboat.  There were rows of tables with all the supplies you needed to carve your pumpkins.  And there was food and drink... loads of snacks, cider, beer, and soda.  

The family takes Halloween very seriously.  And they've been hosting this party since 1982.  Old School decor hangs everywhere outside and inside their beautiful home.  You carve your pumpkins and then place them in a long row at the back of the property.  Then they're judged as everyone stands laughing and applauding.  Every orange beauty receives an award, in a made-up-on-the-spot category.  "Best Fanged Pumpkin!"  "Most Lumpy Skinned Pumpkin!"  "Best Pumpkin With A Tongue!"  And everyone receives a tiny prize wrapped in Halloween tissue paper.  We cheered with each announcement.  For each winner.

After the prizes were given out, dinner was served.  Wonderful piles of the most amazing food.  Ichabod Crane would have fainted.  Plates of meats and pastas and vegetables and salads of every variety.  It was matched only by the dessert spread... which included a number of delicious homemade pumpkin pies.

At the end of the evening, each guest removes their glowing lantern from Winner's Row and takes it home with them.  We got home and placed ours on the porch with fresh candles inside, so they'd last through the night.

These four were ours

Capsicum Annuum

Or, rather, Wicked Ornamental Peppers.

We put these devil-horned guys in the ground this weekend.  They remind me of Tim Curry's demon creature 'Darkness' from the film LEGEND.

The Order Of The Halloween Tree

A photo series tribute to Ray Bradbury's classic tale.

Chapter 2:  George Smith

In the west, the sun, smothered and dying in clouds, sank. Moundshroud hooted his delight:

“There it goes, boys. The heart, soul, and flesh of Halloween. The Sun! There Osiris is murdered again. There sinks Mithras, the Persian fire. There falls Phoebus Apollo all Grecian light. Sun and flame, boys. Look and blink. Turn that crystal spyglass. Swing it down the Mediterranean Coast a thousand miles. See the Greek Isles?”

“Sure,” said plain George Smith, dressed up as fancy pale ghost. “Cities, towns, streets, houses. People jumping out on porches to bring food!”

“Yes.” Moundshroud beamed. “Their Festival of the Dead: the Feast of Pots. Trick-or-Treat old style. But tricks from the dead if you don’t feed them. So treats are laid out in fine banquets on the sill!”

Looking SOOOO Forward To These

The Autumn People

First of all, it was October, a rare month of boys; full of cold winds, long nights, dark promises. Days get short. The shadows lengthen. The wind warms in such a way, you want to run forever through the fields, because up ahead, ten thousand pumpkins lie waiting to be cut.

- Ray Bradbury

Shadow's Edge

A now-defunct haunted attraction in Omaha.  Not many prop photos on their social media, but I thought this one was pretty neat.

Their facebook here.

Cooling Off

Going up to 86 in these parts today...  remembering snow fondly.

Image source.

Witch Of The Woods

And click here for a short video.

Post-Halloween Jamie Wyeth Tribute

 

Now Playing: Leaves

By Tor Lundvall.

Click below...

Now Playing: Ardmore

By Dylan Henner.  

We took a short post-Halloween vacation across the state and into West Virginia.  Stayed in a sweet cabin in the woods that had a small stream flowing behind it.  Next to the stream was a fire pit.  Next to the fire pit were some fine drinks.  

While driving around the beautiful mountain roads, the below song came on.  Ardmore was the perfect soundtrack for the landscape out there, which had already lost most of its leaves.  

Click below...

Hexeglaawe: The Witch's Chair

The latest investigation for our Hexeglaawe Pennsylvania folklore series led us to the St. James Episcopal Church in Bristol, PA.  Behind the Church you will find a small iron chair near the grave of Merritt P. Wright (1860-1911).  Little is known about her, but the local legend claims Merritt was a witch.  According to the legend, if you go to the graveyard and sit in the chair at midnight during the month of October, you will feel the cold hands of the witch.  Curiously, there were fake cobwebs stretched over the chair and a small twig witch broom to the right of it.  This seemed to indicate the community, and the Church, embrace (or allow) the legend to continue.  We didn't wait around until midnight, since it was November, but we definitely plan to head back next October to see if the legend is true.

Mark Your Calendars

Some Autumn Music

Falling Leaves, by Glenn Miller.

The trees in these parts are finally glowing yellow, orange, and red.  We drove around last night finding curb leaf piles for the Haunt since the trees around here are holding on to them for the time being.  I often wonder what a homeowner thinks when they see a stranger raking their leaves or "stealing" their curb leaf pile.  I'm pretty sure this would cause me some anxiety.  No one has ever questioned me though, so I'll never get to use my planned reply "Don't worry, I will return them after Halloween."

Click below...

Fertilizer

He ignored the local legends and planted his corn too close to the old cemetery. Too damn close.

Milky Way Farm Fall Harvest

We took a trip to Chester Springs, PA to visit Milky Way Farm for their annual Fall Harvest.  130 beautiful acres that felt like entering a Bradbury short story and a Wyeth painting.  The weather was chilly and breezy, and absolutely perfect for meandering the hilly farm with hot cider and pumpkin ice cream for pumpkin picking and a corn maze.  Easily the best pumpkin patch around these parts so this will definitely be an annual tradition for sure.  

Close by was a favorite pizza joint so we headed over there for dinner and then watched CANDYMAN (1992) at a special screening at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville.  A perfect end to a really wonderful day.

Pumpkin Witch

And click here for a short video.