Halloween Happenings

While some elements of the Halloween season are and will continue to be hindered by the ongoing apocalypse we are currently going through, the great thing about the season of spook is just how many fun things there really are to do. And really, when it comes to Halloween, some of the most enjoyable elements are those little things, from lighting that dusty Pumpkin Fart Dollar General candle that’s been sitting on your bookcase since last October, to the dangerously dark shit you get from eating too many Halloween Oreos. 

As is the case every season, I’ve been witch’s tit deep into all things Halloween, and whether you like it or not, I’m going to share some of what I’ve been up to with you right this very second. 

HallowBaby Halloween training continues...

The decorating process is still, well, in the process, but this year I decided to start creating some fun decorations of my own, which is something we hadn’t done since 2013 when I posted these two videos (Indoor Halloween Decorations Outdoor Halloween Decorations). 

So far this year, with some inspiration from the Demon Queen of the Demented (better known ‘round these parts as my wife), I hand cut this Haunted village out of poster board, which as you can see will be backlit by some seriously spooky orange lights. We plan to do more with this, but this is the main theme for the mantle, and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. 

We also decided to do a witch theme this year, which will be highlighted by a not-quite-started and more complex cauldron for the front/outside of the house, and a more simple cauldron for the fireplace inside the house. The inside cauldron was done by encasing a set of orange LED lights in some expanding foam sealant to create the look of burning embers, and the cauldron is simply a $1 cauldron with some green LED lights inside and some spider webbing around the edge to make it look as if a bubbling brew is boiling over. Once everything is all said and done, I plan to post a video of how it all looks. 

I don’t think I need to go into detail about the state of the cinema in 2020, but while things have been pretty bleak on the multiplex front, the drive-in made a bit of a comeback this Summer, and I am lucky enough to have a couple drive-ins near me. As a result, I have been able to take in a ton of movies at the drive-in, which really kicked off at the beginning of the Summer with a viewing of Jaws. Following Jaws came some family friendly drive-in trips to see ET and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, both of which are big favorites in my household. 

As cool as all that was, things really kicked into gory gear over the last month, where I was able to catch a double feature of A Nightmare on Elm Street paired up with The Lost Boys and a double feature of The Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2. It was all pretty awesome getting the opportunity to see movies that are so integral to my development as a horror fan on the big screen, and at the Drive-in no less. Hopefully they’ll keep the goodies coming throughout October. 

There’s plenty more I could go over, but at this point you’ve probably begun to decay due to boredom. So with that being said, I hope you have found some nice Halloween silver linings to keep your spirits up so far this season, and if so, I’d love to hear all about it!

Chucktober 9!

Oh, hey there. It’s been awhile. In fact, it’s been almost a year. I don’t feel like dwelling on the lack of content on this here ol’ blog over the past year, as it really all comes down to time, which I have very little of. But hey, I’m here now, and that’s all that really matters. Right? RIGHT?!! Don’t give me that look…

I honestly don’t really have any plans for what I’m going to do here during this fine month of Chucktober. Normally I would have a ton of stuff all prepped and ready to rock and roll your black little soul. But that’s simply not the case this year. However, regardless of not having anything planned, and regardless of not knowing what kind of content I’ll be doing, let alone how much I’ll actually be putting out, I simply cannot ignore the fact that it is my favorite time of the year, and Chucktober plays a fairly sizable part in that. Needless to say, I simply cannot let the month slide by without trying to do whatever I can to get some sort of content up, as minimal as it may very well be, as Chucktober has been a part of my Halloween celebration for 9 years now.  

Anyway, seeing as it is indeed the season of scary, I figured I’d share a few photos of the Halloween happenings that have been going down in my life.

You may be familiar with Hallowbaby aka my baby, who is not much of a baby these days. In fact, just today when I asked her how she felt about being Hallowbaby, she was quick to inform me that she is not Hallowbaby, she is HallowBigGirl. Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. In any event, here are a few photos of Hallowwhatever enjoying a day of pumpkin picking and overall Halloween fun.

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I just recently picked up VHS copies of The Official Eddie Spuhghetti Halloween Companion Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 courtesy of Here Lies. To give you a quick history of these companions, each tape is meant to play out like a 6 hour block of Halloween-inspired television, complete with movies, Halloween specials, TV episodes, and kick-ass, retro Halloween/horror-centric commercials.

Vol. 1 is now completely sold out, but there are a few copies of Vol. 2 left if you still rock a VCR and have a hankering for Halloween. Just hit up OSI 74 to grab yourself a copy before it’s too late. 

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Lastly, we finally got some decorating done outside. I went heavy on the spider webs, which I know I’ll regret come November. The lights at the top actually flicker. Because they’re spooky. They can also make exaggerated, Frankenstein electricity sounds if I so please, which is pretty cool. There is still more work to do, but I’m happy with what we have done so far.

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So for now I shall bid you farewell. As previously mentioned, I don’t know how much you’re going to see from me, but if I didn’t post anything at all, I would feel really sad. But sad I won’t be, because it is indeed Chucktober, so lets kick this party off on the FRIGHT foot!

Chucktober 8: Resurrection!!

Welp, despite coming fairly close to completely skipping the festivities this year – you know, due to life (petting cats) getting in the way and all – I somehow managed to pull up my bootstraps and am here to present to you the 8th annual Halloween extravaganza event of the season in the world of all time ever, Chucktober!!

It's absolutely insane for me to think that this is the 8th Chucktober. It seems like it was only yesterday when I starting this whole thing. Though, that's likely due to alcohol-induced memory loss. Anyway, there really was a point when I made the decision to go ahead and skip Chucktober this year. With having a young demon child of my own (who is literally carved out of Halloween, as I've learned… not that I have had any influence) and a fairly busy work schedule, I simply wasn't able to make the time to do all the normal prep that goes into one of these things.

Hallowbaby doing Hallowthings

Buuuuuuut, a few weeks back I felt a slight sadness at the thought of not doing ANYTHING for Chucktober – especially seeing as it's been a part of my life for 7 years now – so I took as much time as I could spare and was able to put a few things together. Granted, this will be a light Chucktober, but as my grams always used to say, a little Chucktober is better than no Chucktober. Grams was a Saint. Also, there ARE 7 years worth of Chuktober for you to dig into, so if you find that you are extremely bored one evening, feel take a trip to Chucktober past. Just don’t come back crying if you pick up any venereal diseases along the way.

With all that nonsense being said, here's to yet another season of sickness, and without any further ado…

LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!

The End of Chucktober aka the Post-Halloween Hangover

It’s pretty fantastic having Halloween fall on a Saturday, as it gives all of us the perfect excuse to enjoy the wicked holiday all weekend long. However, despite finishing up a watch of Hollow Gate after falling asleep halfway through the night before, and enjoying a few Halloween episodes of Roseanne during Roseanne’s Halloween Hangover on WE (which is an awesome thing to do, by the way), the deep down feeling that the party’s over is impossible to shake.

As the day goes on and the rotted jack-o’-lanterns find their way into the trash to finish their slow dissolve into fly infested nothingness, the sadness of it all starts to settle in, knowing that it’ll be yet another long year of anticipation for the fun to all begin again. As somewhat depressing as that may sound, with the exit of another Halloween season comes the opportunity to reflect upon it, and when all's said and done, it was a good season indeed.

This year’s jack-o’-lanterns courtesy of my inflatable wife (right jack-o) and myself (left jack-o).

As per usual, the last few months have been filled with the usual intake of Halloween-themed snacks and goodies as well as a number of delicious seasonal beverages. That stuff is always a highlight for a junk-food junkie and lush like myself, that’s for certain. The only thing that might top overdosing on Halloween treats is spending a month plus watching horror films and various Halloween specials throughout the season, which actually goes well with all the Halloween junk food, as I have perfected the art of eating and watching my television at the same time. What can I say, I’m multitalented.

As mush as I love junk food and horror films, this Halloween was enjoyable for reasons other than orange-colored treats that may or may not cause cancer, and that comes in the form of my daughter, Hallowbaby herself, Clara.

Don’t be skerred, fall-jacket Jason.

Clara was born on October 25th of last year, which as luck would have it, meant her first birthday fell on the Sunday before Halloween. Now, for those of you who don’t know (and really, why would you?), the town I live in does trick or treat the Sunday before Halloween, unless Halloween lands on a Sunday, of course. This basically gave us an excuse to do a Halloween theme for Clara’s first birthday party, which was graciously hosted at my in-laws’ house.

Clara’s first birthday cake, designed by yours truly. The main cake is vanilla and the cupcakes chocolate, because daddy don’t play. 

Hallowbaby digging into some smash cake aka cake that gets smashed by an infant and is a nightmare to clean up.

Timing wise it couldn’t have worked out any better, as immediately after we got home from Clara’s party, trick or treat had begun. While I don’t love the idea of trick or treat being held in the afternoon (usually from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM) and on a day other than Halloween, I am always thrilled by how many spooky boils and ghouls show up at my door looking for a handful of treats, and this year was no different. I didn’t keep count, though I really should have, but I am willing to bet at least 50 kids came to my door, and each one was greeted with a fistful of Halloween candy, which only ensured our home will A) be the cool house and B) never get egged.

It’s hard to make out, but four adorable girls who came to our home for trick or treat - then proceeded to sit on the corner of my lawn and dig into their stash - wrote trick or treat on my sidewalk. My black heart melted, naturally.  

In any event, Halloween itself was enjoyable as well, being filled with special Halloween cookies, the flickering of Yankee Candle candles, tons of Halloween-set movies and horror films, and even a trip out to the local fairgrounds for a little Halloween fun, with a heavy focus on the word little. As great as the big day was, however, it was Clara’s birthday mixed with trick or treat that turned out to be the real highlight of this Halloween season, and I honestly couldn’t ask for anything more.

Here are some more notable photos from the past month of madness for you to dig into:

Clara’s babysitter did a little art project with the kids, and this was the result. It is Clara’s first art piece, and fittingly it’s Halloween related. You know, because she is Hallowbaby.

Clara doesn’t care much about TV, but for some reason she was drawn to Roseanne’s first Halloween special, BOO, which only proves that she has a good chance at one day being crowned “the master.”

Again, not really into TV, which only makes Clara’s interest in It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on Halloween morning a pretty special moment for me. Hallowbaby is clearly not a uniform; it’s a lifestyle.

And lastly, I freed my lovely inflatable wife from the basement so she could take this adorable photo with Clara, in full Hallowbaby attire, on Halloween.

At any rate, I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween, and I also hope you enjoyed all the Chucktober festivities I put together this year. Naturally, things are going to slow down here on the blog now that October has passed, but I do plan on trying to put together something for December. Until next time, however, thanks for reading my endless blabbering!

A Little Pumpkin of Our Own

First of all, I want to wish you all a happy Halloween! I hope that you are able to enjoy the day of darkness to its fullest, and I also hope that you have enjoyed all the Chucktober festivities that I have provided for you throughout the month. I know it’s been a blast for me, and I am quite sad to see it all come to an end.

In any event, while wishing you a happy Halloween is a high priority, there are more important matters to deal with, specifically the birth of HALLOWBABY!!

Clara Emily House (aka my daughter) was brought into the world by my incredible (and tough as nails) mail order bride on Saturday, October 25 at 5:16 AM. Naturally, the birth of my first child is overwhelmingly amazing, and it doesn’t hurt things that she came during my favorite time of the year. It only makes the Halloween season even more special to me, and I look forward to years of Halloween themed birthday parties.

Alright, I am completely exhausted, so I don’t have the energy to keep on babbling. Once again, I hope you all have a fantastic Halloween, and please feel free to send my daughter gifts. She loves Amazon gift cards.