The Rose Of Jericho

A perfectly seasonal-appropriate plant.  Found over at the awesome The Skeleton Key blog.

Click below to learn about this odd little thing...

Gallows Hill Spirits

We traveled to Allentown, PA to a distillery with an interesting story.  Bob Piano, the owner of Gallows Hill Spirits, traced his lineage back ten generations and learned that his 8-times great-grandfather Samuel Wardwell was tried and executed during the Salem witch trials in 1692.  His distillery embraces this fact the same way the town of Salem, Massachusetts does - with a desire to educate the public while having some fun with the iconography.  The tasting room is part museum and part tavern.  The back wall behind the counter is a replica of the facade of Salem's "Witch House."  On the walls there are tributes to the 20 people executed during the trials.  Bats and witch hats abound.

The best part is that a full catalog tasting revealed that every one of their spirits were high-end products with extremely unique flavors.  We were really impressed, and the staff and owner made us feel incredibly welcome.  Would love to revisit closer to Halloween.  

Below are some photos and our take-home bounty (a limoncello and an amazing cinnamon liqueur that will go perfectly in spiced cider)...

Click here for their site.

Salem Witch

The Black Veil Shoppe Of Drear & Wonder

If you're ever in Salem, make sure you get to this wonderful establishment.  It was difficult to leave.

Here are some photos we took...

Their IG here.

The Devil And Deacon Giles

During our recent trip to Salem, we decided to visit a small speakeasy with a peculiar name, and a neat backstory...

There was a light mist in the air as we approached a small quiet storefront on a dark side street.  The red bulb told us we were in the right place.

Inside, there was a decent-sized crowd and fun music playing.  It was decorated for the season with a row of real corn stalks lining the interior of the bar.  There were two seats at the end of the bar and we grabbed them.  

The cocktail menu was impressive, and I hate that we don't live closer to this town.  We went with:

HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES?

Chai Rum | Brooksby Farm Cider | Pumpkin Syrup | Falernum **served frozen

and

HOUSE NEGRONI

Juniper Point Dry Gin | Amaro Diacono | Falernum | Orange Bitters

and then split a

CLOVEN CLUB

Dry Gin | Raspberry | Lemon | Beet | Aquafaba | Matcha

They were perfect cocktails and it happened to be, oddly enough, donut night, so we shared a delicious one called The Pumpkin King, all done up for the High Holiday.  The atmosphere and mood in that little speakeasy made it feel like Halloween was mere hours away.  

We walked to the car in the misty rain late at night proclaiming "We have to move to Salem!" 

Click here for their site.

Signs Of The Builders In Salem

We were driving around at night in Salem heading to a really neat speakeasy called Deacon Giles and decided to take the long way.  There were so many houses decorated for Halloween and we were pulling over to observe and savor them.  It was a chilly night with a light rain on the way, so we wanted to get as much in as possible before settling in for some cocktails.  

Up ahead we saw a beautiful orange glow coming from the most perfect house.  Outlined in orange bulbs with jackos peering from every window, we parked and walked over to really enjoy the atmosphere of this inviting home.  Off to the left side of the house we noticed some dark purple lighting and corn stalks.  It was a patch of homemade scarecrows, growing in the dark crop of stalks.  There was an animated scarecrow prop speaking words of doom.  It was really spectacular.  Overloaded with detail and truly spooky.

I was studying a large scarecrow in the back row when I noticed something familiar with his wooden arms and twined-up joints.  This was the work of some creatures known as The Builders.  It had to be.  One scarecrow even had a red sepulcher carved out of its abdomen, but in this one a glowing red heart and not a candle.  Over there was a droopy pumpkin-headed scarecrow...  and over there was a headless one.  

Embellishment aside, it was absolutely wonderful to see someone's yard inspired by my 2022 Haunt.  It all looked incredible and had its own voice.  We didn't want to leave.  We walked back and forth, triggering the talking scarecrow way too many times.  We studied every detail of this beautiful Halloween home.

As an aside, we drove to a local CVS to get some paper so we could leave a note letting them know how much we loved their display.  Hopefully it didn't blow away in the rain.

Here are some photos and a really neat video.

The Salem Witch House

Took an amazing trip to Salem where the trees are already colored with autumn. We happened to head to town on the night all the shops were giving out candy to costumed children as though it were Halloween (Mayor’s Night Out).

It seemed only fitting to invite the Witch along.  

Ode To Old Salem Towne

By artist Veronica Ferreira.

Click here for more works.

The Skeleton Key: In Salem

Always great to see photos from K.O.'s annual outing to the New England states...

Click below for some fun photos:

And click here for other neat entries, like a trip to the Transworld Halloween expo...

Vintage Seance Halloween 2017: Salem Witchery

Classy...

More images here.

The Skeleton Key

Some more great posts over at a favorite blog...

Click the Witch:

The Hunt For Gallows Hill

One man's quest to find the site of the 1692 Salem Witch hangings.

Click below:

1692

On March 1, Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba, an Indian slave from Barbados, became the first Salem residents to be charged with the capital crime of witchcraft. Later that day, Tituba confessed to the crime and subsequently aided the authorities in identifying more Salem witches. With encouragement from adults in the community, the girls, who were soon joined by other "afflicted" Salem residents, accused a widening circle of local residents of witchcraft, mostly middle-aged women but also several men and even one four-year-old child. During the next few months, the afflicted area residents incriminated more than 150 women and men from Salem Village and the surrounding areas of satanic practices.


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