300//October 97th, 2024

I think something people don't really talk about is, how hopeless the countdown to Halloween can seem in its earliest stages.

It's interesting, because we feel as though we want to move forward, yet we still hang onto the remains of the previous Halloween. We're closer to the last one than the next one. It feels more about the memory, than it does the promise of a new day. As if we've awoken from the sweetest dream and are unsure if we will ever be able to see or feel those things again. It's hazy.

As time goes on, as November turns into December turns into January, the remnants of the previous Halloween fade away. Pumpkins rot, the last of the forgotten decorations are torn down and stored away. Christmas violently takes over the world, temperatures drop, snow begins to fall, covering the last of the dead leaves, blurring out even the potential for delusions of a permanent October. It feels like hope is gone, like we will always be stuck here, almost a year away.

But one day, this day, a page turns. 300 days til Halloween. It sounds like a lot, and yet it suddenly doesn't.

Two straight months of "three hundred and something" has made us bitter. But today, we hit a milestone. Tomorrow morning? The 3 will be erased from the countdown. Progress is being made. We can see it now. There's evidence.

The road back to Halloween, once October 31st has passed, is never a short or easy one...but now, at the 300 day mark, it feels like we're really on the way.

Last Halloween is still visible in the rear view, but this Halloween is on the horizon, calling us.

Stay spooky, my friends.

Comments

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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