Katie Pumpkinhead’s Pumpkin Patch

You may already know, I consider one of my biggest "flexes" in life to be the fact that I beat arachnophobia. I worked very hard to overcome a lifelong fear of spiders, in about 2010 or so, and now I love spiders and actually prefer Halloween decor that features them. You can read more about that in  this post . I've come a long way with it and though it may sound silly, I consider it a huge accomplishment. Overcoming any fear, no matter how big or small, is always something to be proud of. I thought it would be fun today, though, to revisit one of my funniest stories from the time when I was still very much, almost obsessively and irrationally, arachnophobic. The year was 2000. I had just turned thirteen, and I believe I was back-to-school shopping with my mother and aunt at one of the nearby malls. This mall, strangely enough, had a CVS inside of it, and from the outside, across from the Old Navy where most of my wardrobe from ages 12-14 came from, we could see that the...

 Being an only child, and always pretty much the definition of a loner, I often idealized fictional characters as perfect potential best friends.  I was pretty much known for this in my household, sometimes even going so far as to name a doll or stuffed animal after my favorite character of the moment, and treat them/speak of them as if they were an actual friend. The “friend” of the moment could potentially change at any time, some lasting for only a few days, others for months at a time.  But I don’t think there was ever a character I wanted so badly for a BFF, as I did Dani Dennison. I know I’ve mentioned several times that I was seven years old the first time I saw Hocus Pocus, and Dani is, of course, eight in the movie, so having a character so close to my own age, in a movie about something so dear to my heart, automatically put her on my fictional-best-friend radar. I remember being truly in awe of Dani the first time I watched the movie; how confident she was, and...

 People often tell me that it’s amazing how much I remember about all of my past Halloween experiences.  Honestly, it’s a little strange to me, too. I have moments where I can’t remember something I did mere minutes ago, yet I can tell you, in detail, about the first time I trick-or-treated, at age four, or search tirelessly for a decoration that made an impression on me after being spotted in a few random windows when I was twelve. It feels like a gift, to be able to relive and share all of these things about my favorite holiday, in such vivid detail, after so much time has gone by. So, you can imagine how strange and surprising it is to me when I realize that there’s something I’ve forgotten.  There is an account I follow on Instagram,  Vintage Halloween Store . I can’t say for sure, but I think they were one of the first  Halloween accounts I followed there, before I had a major interest, or the means, to truly start a vintage Halloween collection. I was most...

 When I was in third grade, one of the first big assignments my class received was to create a pet rock. I suppose the idea came from our teacher likely having lived through the first pet rock phenomenon, but this assignment required deeper thinking than just sticking a rock in a box with some makeshift bedding. Our pet rocks were to truly be created. Given their own unique look, a personality, and, of course, a name. As someone who has always enjoyed creating characters and giving backstory to things, I was excited about this assignment. I dug around in the yard until I found a rock that I thought would be the perfect shape to be made into a unique character. That night, I brought the rock inside and pored over every googly eye and bow and bead we had (my parents made and sold crafts at the time), while my parents stood impatiently with the hot glue gun, until I’d found the perfect combination, and a little being, who I immediately named “Mindy” came into existence. (This picture ...

 If you know me at all, especially around Instagram, you probably already know that I’m obsessed with the movie Trick ‘r Treat, and its iconic character, Sam.  The movie has really gained popularity over the last few years, especially since Spirit Halloween started selling merchandise, but what you may not know about Trick ‘r Treat, is that it got off to a bit of a rough start. Originally planned for 2007, the movie wasn’t officially released until 2009, direct to DVD save for a few screenings here and there. I recall seeing a little blurb about it in a pamphlet about new movies that we used to get with video rentals at the grocery store. This was probably some time in early 2007. Not much was said about the movie in that pamphlet, I can’t recall if there was even any kind of picture or logo included with it, but being a Halloween movie, I instantly became excited to see it. Halloween 2007 passed, with no signs of Trick ‘r Treat being released, and after awhile, I kind of just...

 (As a preface to this entry, I’m going to strongly suggest reading  this entry  first.) Every one of my Halloween decorations had a life of its own when I was a kid. It didn’t matter how big or how small, what its function was meant to be; even the faceless, real pumpkins were more than just decor. It’s highly likely that I even named the cornstalks tied to the mailbox. I treated each Halloween season like different installments in a movie franchise, or different volumes of a book series. The decorations would come out of their box and immediately begin going on all sorts of adventures, even if only in my own mind. No one was ever left out. To this day, when choosing items for my collection, I drift toward the things I immediately see a personality in. I’ve been told that I’m good at “capturing the souls” of the items I photograph, and that is because I truly see them. Even if I can’t always put things into words right away, I can assure you, I always see the person...