Katie Pumpkinhead’s Pumpkin Patch

 I think I've always believed in ghosts. From monsters under the bed, to energies in particular spaces.  I've seen things. I've felt things. Some people believe it and some don't, and that's of no real concern to me. You can invalidate the existence of ghosts in the spiritual sense all you want; maybe it's hard to prove, for some people. Maybe it really can all be explained away, if you want it to be. Need it to be. But ghosts can exist in other forms as well. I think that most buildings are haunted. Not all in the traditional ghostly sense, but by the ghosts of what they once were, and memories left imprinted by the people who made them that way. As I walk through the corridors of an old hotel, one I knew long ago as a place where many prestigious events were held, the ghosts call loudly to me from every corner . The halls now house people on budgets; perhaps even those with nowhere else to go. The outside is overgrown; only a gazebo and an ornate gate to nowhe...

 I had a random memory recently of a strange little story from my childhood; something I hadn’t thought about in many years. I thought it would be interesting to revisit it, as I don’t think I ever gave it too much thought after it initially happened. This could possibly be categorized as a ghost story, though it’s more likely just the tale of two spooky kids messing with each other. Either way, I think it’s kind of interesting. From the time I was about eight or nine years old, through my early teen years, I was best friends with a girl named Samantha. She was the granddaughter of my then next-door neighbors, and we were together pretty much every day during the summer, when she was basically living at her grandparents’ house. She did actually live in the same town, but in a different area, so we didn’t go to the same school and I rarely went to her actual home. Most of the time we hung out at my house, usually in the basement, where the majority of my toys and games and things we...

  Late November reminds us that, no matter how beautiful the fall season is, the truth is, everything around us is dying. Things look so vibrant and alive in October that it’s easy to forget that fact. The world is alight with the colors of a happy, cozy fire. What could be more celebratory than that? Late November, though. That is a different type of fall. The once-colorful leaves, ablaze in shades of orange and red and yellow, are now all brown and withered. Most of them have fallen now, but the ones that haven’t are lonely and brittle, clinging to their trees by the thinnest of thread. It paints a desperate picture, watching those last little leaves cling to life. The color has gone out of them and yet they hang on, as if afraid of being forgotten.  The clock ticks on, from Halloween, to Thanksgiving, and now nearing December. The trees begin to illuminate again, but this time artificially, as the residents of the homes they surround dutifully attach lights to their branche...

 Since yesterday was National Paranormal Day, I started thinking about paranormal experiences I’ve had, and if any of them might be worth talking about. Sadly, most of them are pretty basic. I really don’t think stories of seeing the ghosts of my cats running around the house are worth a whole post. However, there was one very strange thing that happened to me when I was younger, that may or may not have actually been paranormal, but I think it makes a pretty interesting story regardless.  When I was little, my paternal grandparents owned a house in upstate New York, in the literal middle of nowhere. My mother referred to the area as “the boonies”, and always seemed a bit creeped out by it. Rightfully so, at least in my childhood mind. The house was very big, very old, and very spooky. It gave the impression that it was from an entirely different time period. Even though it was a house that had apparently been in my family for years, it was hard to imagine its past without con...

  There is a time when the world becomes as still and cold as death. If you stand outside on one of these gray, dismal days, you will hear everything and nothing at the same time.  The silence is eerie. Deafening in the way you can almost hear echoes from a world you can’t see.  The only movement is the blowing of the wind. It sings to you in a different way than it would on a breezy spring afternoon, or when cutting through the summer heat. It’s calling you; warning you. You may never know which. You recall a time when you were a child, and you looked out the window, as a sparkling dust blew off a nearby snowdrift, and you thought that maybe, on this special, magical day, as that’s what snow days always were back then, you could actually see the wind.  You grew up to know better. The wind is invisible. Never seen, but always felt. But it isn’t the wind that’s with you now. As you stand in the stillness, taking in the eerie calm of an event that is the perfect duet o...

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...

It seems like the last of the “real” pumpkins around the Patch is about to leave us for the big pumpkin patch in the sky. I am always sad to see them go, despite probably having enough “fake” pumpkins to fill the local farms’ patches, but I must say, they had a terrific run this year.  I thought we could take this time to look back on some of our “real” pumpkins’ best moments through the year. As you can see, it’s always exciting for the residents of the Patch to find a new pumpkin. Either that, or our little ghost friend here is wondering how in the world he’s supposed to carry this one in addition to the three he already has.  A family photo of our dear Pumpkids (and Pendergast the ghost poppet, all of these made by TheBeastPeddler) and most of the pumpkins, taken shortly after returning from Sleepy Hollow. These sorts of photoshoots make post-Halloween depression a little less debilitating.  Another little photoshoot from shortly after Sleepy Hol...

The residents of the Pumpkin Patch were all quite confused, the day they found a wandering tiny ghost with a pink heart on its chest. For this had to be Horus, but Horus had always had an orange heart on his chest, and a much more inquisitive, curious nature. “Don’t you remember how we always matched?” Penderghast, the ghost poppet, asked him. But the little ghost didn’t. “Surely you remember how we ran around Sleepy Hollow, taking pictures of the ghosts that matched you in the shop windows?” Lauretta inquired. But the little ghost didn’t. It was becoming more and more evident that something must’ve happened to Horus. His physical appearance had changed, and he’d clearly lost his memory. As a panic started to settle in among the residents of the Pumpkin Patch, suddenly, they heard a voice. “”I can’t believe I accidentally temporarily banished myself! I’m never touching those Tarot cards again! Oh...I see you’ve met my sister,” said Horus....

A brief exchange of comments with a friend on Instagram earlier today got me thinking about my childhood Halloween collections. Strangely enough, almost all of my childhood decorations and knickknacks, which, believe me, there were a lot of them, mysteriously disappeared somewhere in my late teens/early twenties. My memories of these items are vivid. They each had a story and personality, and would become part of ongoing arcs in my head that would be added to every October when it was time to put the decorations back up, I only wish I still had most of these items to share here today, but alas, I guess I’ll never know what happened to them.  I did, however, manage to rebuy the most important collection of my childhood Halloweens in adulthood. As you can probably tell, I have quite a few little families of Halloween characters, whom will all be introduced here formally in good time, but it seems only right to introduce the ones who have followed me here from my childhood first:...