The Very First ‘Pumpkinseed’//October 110th, 2021

If you ask me my earliest memories of things related to Halloween, there are many.

The initial thing that comes to mind is my first year trick-or-treating, at age four. I have vivid memories of my pumpkin costume, a hand-me-down from my cousin, and being coaxed out from under a table and into the magical world of Halloween, that would become my world from that moment on. I often catch myself wondering if that’s where my specific obsession with pumpkin people originates from.

I think a lot about those classic McDonald’s Halloween pails, served with a Happy Meal inside. A small collection of them existed in my home before I was born, and I played with them like toys before I’d ever even experienced Halloween. Each one had a name and a personality (my favorite being “Katta”, the witch) and would often leave me with a craving for French fries (or a milkshake, in the ghost’s case) when I was done playing. One day soon, those guys will get their own post here.

There is one vague memory that’s sat at the back of my mind for awhile, though. Like the pails, my parents had many things around the house from before I was born. And the Halloween item that I actually have my very earliest memories of playing with, was actually a small pin the shape of a pumpkin. But this wasn’t just an ordinary pumpkin, either. It had a little string on the bottom, and when you pulled it, a smiling ghost declaring a friendly “Boo!” popped out from inside, wearing the top of the pumpkin like an oversized hat.

It’s one of those things I never really consciously thought about anymore, but the memory was always just there, hazy in the back of my mind, that my first experience with Halloween was with this interesting little relic that I found among a bunch of tiny toys that my parents kept in a little bucket under one of the lamps in the living room when I was a toddler. Every so often I would see it in my mind’s eye, a blurry vision of a little plastic pumpkin and the smiling face of a ghost.

I only started actually thinking more about it recently, after discovering ScaryRigged, a shop run by a lovely lady named Heather, that specializes in vintage Halloween jewelry. This shop has become my absolute favorite for Halloween jewelry. Everything has so much character. I often keep an eye on it for updates, and one day, lo and behold, in Heather’s Instagram story, there was the pin from my youth, that had been nothing but a hazy memory for so long.

It’s such a strange feeling, when these little relics return to my life. I didn’t know the first time I ever held this pin, that my life would one day revolve around all things relating to Halloween, but this truly was the first real piece of that puzzle. Up until I saw this for sale again, I was wondering how accurate my memory even was, but when I hold this in my hand, I know I’m holding the first little pumpkinseed that helped me grow into the pumpkin that I am.

What are your earliest memories of Halloween-related things? I would love to know!

Stay spooky, my friends.

The Long Way Back//October 32nd, 2023

Every year I talk about November 1st...it's such a confusing day. It makes me feel so many emotions all at once. Mournful, depressed, angry...It's like a slap in the face shoving us into a new month, forcing us to forget what came just hours before. Last year, I did have somewhat of an epiphany regarding the month of November as a whole, and while I do my best to keep my own past words in mind, that doesn't make today any easier. Or easy to explain, for that matter. I suppose I should speak from my heart. Today I feel detached from reality, as if I don't really exist. Like there is no longer a place in the world for me. Just yesterday everything I loved made sense, and was loved and revered by everyone else as well. I felt like I fit. But now, today, I see those same things being quickly shoved away. Less than twenty-four hours after trick-or-treating time began, it's all being swept under the rug. The season culminated and the world is no longer a place I recog

The Spooky Community Has No Entrance Fee//October 288th, 2023

Something I’ve been seeing a lot this year around the Halloween community, possibly more than any other year, has been talk of consumerism, how much money spent on Halloween is too much, whether collecting is really that important or if it’s somehow required to truly be a part of the community, etc. I’m in no way trying to copy anyone else who’s already spoken on this subject, but I thought I would chime in and share my thoughts, as it is something I definitely think about. Now, I’ve always been relatively fortunate when it comes to how much money I have to spend on Halloween goodies. As a child, I often received money for my birthday, September 8th, at the height of the shopping season, at least as I knew it back then. No, it wasn’t enough to collect the way I do now, but it was enough to make me happy, and you also could get a lot more for a lot less back then. I didn’t necessarily stop to think about my “hauls”, but I knew even at a young age that there was nothing I’d rather be sp

Here’s Where The Story Ends//October 337th, 2020

Everyone has moments in their life when they feel like giving up. That feeling of “This is never going to happen, so why keep trying?” Sometimes it relates to a thing that would be trivial to anyone else, sometimes it’s about something more life-altering. But, we’ve all been there. I have moments of discouragement with this blog. Times I’ve told myself, “No one cares”, or “No one will read this”, etc., but I continue on, for the joy of it. And sometimes, something amazing happens. If you haven’t read my previous post, Have You Seen This Pumpkin? , I would strongly suggest doing so before continuing on with this story. The short version is, I saw a pumpkin in someone’s window when I was twelve years old, and have spent the last twenty-one years trying to find it for myself. When I published that post, I wasn’t expecting much of a response. I was really just hoping to hear someone say, “Yes, my family had this pumpkin when I was a kid!” Or “I once saw this in a neighbor’s window while

Katie Pumpkinhead’s Pumpkin Patch

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