The Autumnal: An Autumn Horror Tale For All Seasons//October 291st, 2021

Today I’m going to do something a little different from my usual TV series or movie reviews.

Today I would like to talk about a conic series.

Toward the end of last year, right around what the layman considers to be the official “Spooky Season” I randomly noticed a comic book, misplaced and standing out amongst rows of Marvel and DC, titled The Autumnal.

Based on the title and cover alone, I knew I had to purchase a copy. It was absolutely screaming my name.

The first issue did not disappoint, in storyline or imagery.

It’s hard not to get all the fall feels just looking at some of these pages!

I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but this eight-issue series tells a fantastic horror story. It takes us on the journey of Kat Somerville, who receives a call that her long-estranged mother is dead, and decides to make the journey back to her early-childhood town of Comfort Notch, New Hampshire, a town she was sent away from by her mother many years ago. Despite the strange sight she sees when she catches a glimpse of her mother’s dead body, Kat decides to attempt to start a new life in Comfort Notch with her young daughter, Sybil.

But when Sybil comes home from school one day singing a song about a local legend, and the townsfolk are acting just a little too strangely about the upcoming autumnal equinox, pieces of Kat’s past start slowly returning to her memory. Perhaps there was a reason she was sent away all those years ago.

What prophecies does this strange ghost story hold, and how will it affect Kat’s and Sybil’s futures in this quaint but strange town? And was it a coincidence that Kat was called back there now?

There isn’t much else about the story I can say without getting into spoiler-y territory, but I highly recommend checking this series out. The Autumnal is published by Vault Comics and all of the issues are currently out, with a book compilation coming in September, if you’d prefer to have it all in one cohesive volume. (I actually may pick up the book as well, despite owning a copy of each single issue.)

The Autumnal isn’t necessarily a breakthrough horror tale; when it gets to its climax you’ll probably be able to say you’ve seen something like it before, but it’s told and illustrated in such a unique way that it leaves you on the edge of your seat until the next issue, and the gorgeous and haunting illustrations of the autumn season make it must-read for any horror fan craving that fall feeling, any time of year.

I would especially recommend this series for fans of stories like Silent Hill, Midsommar, and The Wicker Man.

Stay spooky, my friends, and just be warned:

You may never look at an autumn leaf the same way again.

I'm Not So Sure About This Social Media Thing//October 94th, 2026

I started this blog six years ago on New Year's Day. I had been through some major life changes in 2018/2019, and really found myself along the way. I felt as though I really had cemented a place for myself within the Halloween community on social media, and often, when I would caption my posts on Instagram with snippets of memories, or a specific feeling that maybe not many others could understand, I would get comments and messages from new friends and followers, complimenting the way I wrote, sometimes even asking for more, and so, the idea to start a blog again was born, and, silly as it may sound, I am very proud that I've managed to stick with it as long as I have. Long work hours, personal problems, bouts of anxiety and depression....none of that has ever fully stopped me from coming back and doing what I love. But, lately, I have been feeling a little off about social media in general, and that's something I really would like to talk about, as I feel it taking a to...

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’...

Tales From A Walk: April 5th, 2026; AKA Easterween/Creepster/Zombie Jesus Day, Etc.

Someone asked me once When do you stop mourning the previous Halloween and start looking forward to the next one? That's always been a hard question for me to answer, as I am always looking back or looking ahead, depending on the situation. I often see what was, and what will be again, simultaneously. But today, I went for a walk. Probably my first full walk since Christmas time. That last walk, the remnants were still there. Though it was a different holiday entirely, I still met some rotting pumpkins, and some dead leaves clinging to their brittle branches. Then two back to back winter storms came in February, burying us in two feet of snow both times. I don't know that I've ever felt more like I was in alternate reality, or farther away from Halloween. Today was different, though. When Easter comes, you hear all this talk of spring, and new beginnings, and that sort of thing. And I guess it never really hit me how that can apply to Halloween as well. Wal...

Katie Pumpkinhead’s Pumpkin Patch

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