Now we are the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Halloween is one of the great pleasures in my life. Both the holiday as well as the spirit, which I celebrate year-long... a celebration built from a lifetime of memories, experiments, successes and failures, themselves built from materials developed by countless hands and claws, minds on sleepless nights, ghosts, haunted places, mistakes, mishaps, happenstances.
Because it is so important to me, I am always tempted to create the "Perfect Halloween."
Full of activity and energy, somehow with the exact combination of far-flung famous haunted houses as well as neighborhood haunts. Great feasts and costume parties, intimate gatherings and dumb suppers with friends and loved ones.
Storming nights alone with popcorn and spooky cartoons. Shadows made long by a roaring fire, an oversized chair, a thick pile of books.
In the end, though, Halloween is perfect because it is Halloween.
Never wanting it to end is the best possible place to be.
I find getting lost in the rush a signal to pause and slow down. Enjoy cool night air! Browse the library's holiday section! Watch spooky cartoons and old specials!
My two favorite holiday traditions:
- Reviewing and recreating experiences from years past. Doubly so if it has been a handful of years since I have had time to recreate a cherished memory.
- Absolutely disregard everything I have done in the past and plunge head-first into novelty and figure out something new. Immediately declare it my favorite thing ever, proclaim it will be a defining moment forever, and never suffering ill will if/when it is forgotten.
These two contradict each other.
This is how I keep the spirit (ha ha!) alive and well in my heart.
Planning less.
Do more.
Be completely open to sponteneity.
And when in doubt or lack, delving into the library's "holiday" section for a free read, art and comics browse.
I watched the original Treehouse of Horror in October of 1990, and have re-(re-re-re-) watch them every year.
It wasn't until 2025!
That I realized!
There are!
Comics!
As well!
There are! Treehouse of Horror properties! I've never seen!
There are The Haunted Mansion novels, and friends I will meet in the beginning of the year that I've never mailed a spooky card to, pumpkin patch vendors change locations every year, and decorations...
...oh the decorations...
...are never enough, always too much, and seemingly multiply in the dark when I am not looking (best for us all, perhaps, privacy is important.)
A Halloween celebration is perfect merely via existence and celebration.
Let's Exchange Mail!
I love sending and receiving cards and letters from around the country (and around the world!) Let's talk about Halloween, exchange winter holiday cards, tourist postcards, and share slice-of-life stories and rambles.
Scooby-Doo (original series) re-watch, scarecrows as underdeveloped fixtures in silly Halloween lore, fictionalized versions of Sleepy Hollow, and exploring autumn outside/in addition to Halloween and October.
Post to your preferred socials or email to a friend. Word-of-mouth is how the small internet survives, builds, grows, and thrives.
Thank you for supporting independent monster media!