Katie Pumpkinhead’s Pumpkin Patch

 Halloween is less than a week away. This is a truly exciting time, but I also can’t help but be sad when I think about the fact that, a week from today, Halloween will be over. Post-Halloween depression is something I’ve always struggled with. It hits me hard every year, once Halloween night’s festivities are done. Even as a young child I referred to November 1st as “the day of despair”. Clearance sales make it slightly more bearable in adulthood, but nothing really takes away the pain of knowing Halloween is gone for another year once November arrives. In recent years, though, I often catch myself falling into a pre -Halloween depression as well. There is a period of time, during late October, when looking forward to the actual day of Halloween, blends with knowing the season is just about done.  If you love Halloween, you probably know the time I’m talking about. You can’t take two steps toward a fleck of orange you see in the distance at any major retail store without trip...

 With the way things are in the world this year, things like visiting a pumpkin patch to do some real, genuine pumpkin picking have been difficult.  The farms in my area that I would normally frequent, all require reservations this year, and with my work schedule and life in general, that complicates things. But for some reason, lately, I find my mind drifting to the pumpkin picking days of my early childhood. My mother didn’t like the crowds (or the pricing) at the biggest farm near us, and, being so shy and timid despite my love for Halloween, as a young child I didn’t really have much interest in participating in things like corn mazes and haunted barns. So, my mother would take me to a much smaller farm, closer to home, called L&L Farms.  The building still stands today, but I don’t think it does much business, if any at all. I would love to take some pictures of it, but it’s most definitely private property and the entrance is usually roped off. It’s overgrown, r...

Something I’ve been thinking about lately, likely as the result of going to an outlet mall a few days ago, is spooky fashion. Even though I wear Halloween attire all year round nowadays, I didn’t have the guts to dress “goth” in my teen years. As someone who’d been teased and taunted since the first grade, for literally doing nothing as I was bordering on too shy to exist, the idea of doing anything to draw the wrong kind of attention to myself was terrifying.  Not to say I didn’t appreciate the style. The first real “goth” I ever met was a girl named Laura in seventh grade, and I thought she was the coolest person. While other girls in my grade sought the approval of and desperately wanted to be like snobby cheerleader Olivia, or future dance team captain Mia, Laura was the one I idolized. She was much more attainable as a friend, as she accepted all people in a way I’d never seen before from any of my peers. I was always somewhat a part of her circle, though on the outskirts...

When I was very young, sometimes the changing of the seasons would take me by surprise. I didn’t quite have the rhythm of things down yet. As I got older, I learned the habits of everyone and everything around me relating to Halloween. I knew which neighbors decorated first. I knew when the leaves would start changing. I knew when things would start appearing in stores. To this day I have it pretty much down to a science, and you might argue that if I’d put half the effort into anything else that I have into Halloween, I’d be some sort of highly successful corporate executive, or something. But that’s not me. Anyway, one day, when I was about six years old, I went for a walk around the neighborhood with my grandfather. This was a fairly regular thing we did, when he lived with us, but it was always a fun time. My grandfather encouraged my imagination and inquisitive side like no one else. There was always something new to discover, even if we’d walked the same path a hundred times. And...

 I finally had the opportunity today to watch what’s probably been my most highly anticipated movie in a long while: They Live Inside Us. I truly can’t remember the last time I was this excited for a new movie. Maybe Halloween 2018? It’s hard to say. But from the instant I pressed “play”, this one didn’t disappoint, and lived up to my every expectation. Much like the predecessor that it was born out of, the Witching Season anthology, They Live Inside Us is an all-out love letter to Halloween, that was clearly made by people who love Halloween, for people who love Halloween, and truly understand what other people who love Halloween want to see. The opening sequence of this film, with two mischievous boys riding up on their bikes to the house that will become the central focus of the story, immediately brought me back to the Halloweens of my childhood. That mischievous streak that takes us over, that part of us that wants to be scared, no matter how we feel any other time of the year...

 Is there anything truly like the feeling of it finally being October, officially? My whole life, I have spent the other eleven months of the year longing for and trying to recapture the feeling that October brings. One way I’ve always done this, is by watching Halloween themed movies and TV shows. Over the years, I’ve added several “go-tos” to my watch list. It’s hard to explain what makes something a Halloween go-to for me...The only thing I can really say for sure is that it’s just a feeling that a particular piece of media gives me; an atmosphere it creates. Sometime last year, after Halloween had already passed, I stumbled upon an Instagram account called  Witching Season Films . I was immediately impressed with the content I found there, particularly a series of photos posted with the hashtag #31ShotsOfHalloween. Upon further observation, I found that this was a yearly photo challenge that any Halloween lover could participate in, and these pictures seemed to fit my pers...