Mirth and Musings Part 20

I love Hallowe’en parties.  They are my favorite parties to give, to attend, to plan and to savor.  I’ve traveled hundreds of miles for a Hallowe’en party and I would not hesitate to do so again.  As I’ve got older I think they become more precious to me, being the lone remainder of the nostalgic seasonal occurrences of youth.  I can no longer trick or treat, and I’ve no more schoolroom parties awaiting me.  Haunts are months of planning and weeks of production and since we are the dreamers and designers and do-it-yourselfers of our haunts, it holds little surprise for us.  The Hallowe’en party remains to offer that feeling of anticipated wonder.  We get to don a costume and be thrilled and chilled and immersed in the experience. An evening, a few precious hours to indulge in the spectral spectacle.  What is it that makes it all so special?  It shares all the common elements of every other type of party; music, food, decorations…and yet.  There is that something other…a sense of whimsy, of mystery, of funhouse fear that is singular and potent.

The most fantastic advice on how to give a Hallowe’en party must have come from the Dennison’s Bogie Books, please click pic to link to an archived site to read further on how to give just such a bash, with perhaps a dash of Monster Mash.

 

Don’t be caught in the dark…

Tempt your olfactory organs and stock up on these wonderful candles from Witch City Wicks.  I have been a customer for some years now, I can recommend the Pumpkinhead and Trick or Treat and I use the mini travel tins in my jack-o-lanterns and the smell is gorgeous!  So don’t delay to halo your haunt, add glow to your graveyard or set your party aflame with these wonderful offerings from Salem, Mass.

Click on pic to link to site…

 

What’s that noise?

HeadphonesJack Thought I would put together a playlist – be warned – this may seem quirky, odd, even, well, you tell me what you think, hope you recognize at least a few and perhaps there are some surprises sifted in.

Bandages, Hot Hot Heat

In The Room Where You Sleep, Dead Man’s Bones

Once Upon A Dream, Lana Del Rey

Uninvited, Alanis Morissette

Lullaby, Nox Arcana

Lydia, The Tattoed Lady, The Marx Brothers

A Kind of Magic, Queen

Dancing in the Dark, Bruce Springsteen

Devil Inside, INXS

Boadicea, Enya

Pour Some Sugar On Me, Def Leppard

Shadowplay, The Killers

Masquerade, Berlin

Moonage Daydream, David Bowie

Moonsea, Phildel

Starlight, Muse

Magic Carpet Ride, Steppenwolf

Great Pumpkin Waltz, Vince Guaraldi

Golf Claps (From “Hush”), Christophe Beck

Octopus’s Garden, The Beatles

Candy, Iggy Pop

The Killing Moon, Echo & The Bunnymen

Clair de Lune, Claude Debussy (The APM Orchestra version)

This is Halloween, Danny Elfman

What’s This?, Danny Elfman

Violet Hour, Sea Wolf

Strange Magic, Electric Light Orchestra

Eclipse (All Yours), Metric

Just Another Day, Oingo Boingo

Time of the Season, The Zombies

Dragula, Rob Zombie

These selections are all available on itunes, though perhaps you already have lots of these in your playlists, and like I mentioned, obscure at times, but fun and interesting, anyhow if you braver souls try it out, chime in 😉

 

 

A Hundred Eve’s

Woodswalk.jpg

Sometimes it can feel like Halloween is just around the corner, sometimes it can feel like a long walk just begun.  I feel that now as the warm weather beats down and the feeling of a cool breeze is just a memory from a long-ago winter.  Wait.  What is that I see in the distance?  It beckons and guides me.  It flits about in the wilderness.  A lightning bug? Some phosphorescent lichen?  The glowing form of some ancient wood dweller?  Hmm.  I don’t know what it is but I will keep heading towards it.  The light is a wonder, a bedevilment, an enchantment of the senses.  I yearn to be surrounded by such a light and I will gladly endure a hundred eves to get to where it awaits me.  I will wait for you there.

 

Image – Artist unknown.

Mad, Mod Halloween

Mad+Monster+Party+Image-2

Some wonderful examples of how a design aesthetic can add fun to the fantastic – click on pics or links to follow back and check out other offerings of sweet and sublime mod monster examples of Halloween, and get your swing on in style!

https://shagstore.bigcartel.com/product/mad-mad-mad-monster-party-br-unframed-serigraph-print

https://www.kitschywitchdesigns.com/halloweenshop/

or

https://society6.com/zennykenny/s?q=popular+home-decor & https://society6.com/product/halloween-mid-century-modern_floor-pillow?sku=s6-9547930p60a204v721a206v723/

 

 

Fun with Shadows

My dearly Beloved was doing some shopping for me today and came home with this from our local Crate and Barrel.  It’s a drink dispenser holder and carafe and I’ve decided to use it as a candle luminary for the shadows! Apparently, though these are available online, the stores aren’t to put them out yet and so the kind folks at C&B dug these out of boxes just cause he asked, he came home with a set of glasses that match too.  Couldn’t wait to post the pic.  Enjoy.

Townscape2

(Click pic to link to site.)

Mirth and Musings Part 14 – Love Boney Bunch Love

bony bunch collection

“The Incredible Mr. Bones and the Boney Bunch”

Click pic to visit site.

August.  While I realize that the Autumnal Equinox isn’t until September 22nd, making that first day of Fall weeks off, I do appreciate feeling like August is the pre-season.  I am starting to see it creeping into shops, into stalls, into consciousness.  The retail scope of the holiday merely allows us to view it that much sooner – but there is a collective audience standing in the shadows waiting for the curtain to draw up entirely on our beloved time of the year.   I applaud those few of you out there standing with us but are stand-outs too – Pumpkinrot of course, and if you are reading this, in this most obscure and little known of blogs, you’ll know who I mean.  But there is another, Boney Bunch Love, a Facebook entity who has established an amazing site for this “niche within the niche” of skeletal spectacle from Yankee Candle which I fear may be on the decline.  I have been following the page for years now, lurking as I do, have posted a poem in my original post from September 2013, and I am constantly surprised and delighted by the originality, the dedication, the friendliness of the page and it has been and I hope will continue to be a touchstone for staying connected to at least one aspect of our Season annually.  If you haven’t heard of the Boney Bunch, which launched in 2008, visit the page and spend a little time with it and you will gain an understanding past my ability to impart here.  The 2016 line is due in stores on August 27, and is always much anticipated by its ardent fan base.  It’s never too late to join the party, as Boneys past, present and future are always of much interest.  Hope to see you in line in front of your local YC store.  The door is opening, slowed by creaking hinges, but beyond lay delights and devilry, bonfires and beasties, mist and magic.  Forward!

Shall I tell you a tale of why I love so much
these black and orange figurines called the Boney Bunch?
They show up every August to herald Halloween
Their Boney faces grinning wide as they appear on scene.
Boney Sir presenting Boney Bride her spider ring
Charon Boney in his boat dead and ferrying
Gypsy Boney gazing deeply into her sparkling globe
Reaper Boney keeping time with his scythe and robe
Headless horseman Boney riding hard on english saddle
Baby Buggy Boney making ruckus with his rattle
Lady Boney prim beneath her spider parasol
A juggling Mr Bonehead with his top hat very tall
Eternal Slumber Boneys read as off to sleep they drift
Bobbing apples Boney using his peculiar gift
Organ player Boney playing organ tunes to fright
Submariner Boney floating by with his flashing lights
Witchy Boney on her broom, hat adorned with spider
and Monster Bride waves “hello”, with her Frank beside her
So why do I love Boneys? The answer seems so clear
I love that they remind me of Halloween throughout the year!

– A.E.