As not all Vampires are comfortable venturing out during daytime hours, the reliance on alternate light sources becomes all too important. These offerings from Witch City Wicks described as “a darkly decadent collection” might just be the answer…and provide a sweet balm to all of us feelings pangs of longing for autumnal scents and the approach of……?
Click pic to link to site.
This is an amazing creation by artists Matthew Kirscht, Greg Rozeboom with music by Jack Hylton and His Orchestra and written by Montague Ewing. Click any pic to link to YouTube site and enjoy!
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.
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…
Ooo the sights and sounds of Hallowe’en approach.
There is something about the heightened senses we have in the dark, when our ears catch the slightest murmur, whisper or groan.
We all listen for that far-off cry of the werewolf, the howls under moonlight, the shuffle of a zombie approach or the soft fluttering of darkened wings overhead.
This season calls for musical mise-en-scene, those rhapsodic melodies to indulge our cravings, tempt our secret soul and evoke fond recollections and surprised delight.
I humbly offer these thirty-one collected tunes to enchant your ears.
Cauldrons leave you maudlin?
Can’t handle coal or candle?
Is there perhaps, no craft in your drafts?
On tenterhooks from bulky books?
Got no notions of potions, perplexed by a hex?
In pains from tisanes, simples just too complex?
Whether extract, elixir, infusion or tipple,
tonic or essence or tincture or ripple.
She fixes your mixes, she’ll simmer and stew,
she’ll bubble your troubles away in her brews.
Do pesky beaus bother? Do grey hairs persist?
A cure for ague that you wish to resist?
Is it romance you seek, is it fortune you crave?
Her prowess is awesome, her customers rave.
Her prices are steep, but your problems she’ll heed
with skill and discretion – results guaranteed.
(Excerpt from The Apothecary Witch, by A.E.)
Excerpt from
The Call of Fall
Here now at last
is the turn of the year
when wind is a whisper
that prickles your ear,
and moonrise glows brightly
with merry foretell
and starshine lends glamour
to seasonal spell.
Clouds gather darkly
and fogs rise from earth
and the hammer of rain
is a furious mirth.
A season to savor,
to hold near and dear
of madcap behavior
and mayhem to cheer.
So hang well the buntings
and etch well the gourds,
make sure that your doorways
well welcome the hordes.
Make fast all devices
of fanciful scheme
and wait on the players
of mischievous theme.
Soon now all fey and
their sundry will rise
to caper with us
beneath Hallowe’ens guise.
– A.E.
I have always been fond of Friday the 13th, and as today is the only remaining one of 2021, I thought perhaps it would be prudent to make the most of it and make a witch-wish of the Season ahead. It is now 78 days until Halloween, I see decor and display going up – though the Summer sun still beats a loud thrum. As though the very act of adornment would truncate the heated weather and summon the cooling wisps of autumn through the trees. Well, I suppose it’s a “gather ye pumpkins while ye may” idea. I don’t mind – it’s lovely to see and experience, as it is lovely to anticipate and propagate. I wish you all well in your lead-up to Fall, and if you pass by a fountain or well, make a wish of your own…
I would very much like to thank Countdown to Halloween for once again hosting a delightful grouping of inspired Halloween blogs, a much needed respite from the flurry of 2020, it can’t have been easy for the new hosts of the Countdown and they’ve earned commendation and appreciation for their efforts 😉
I received more than I gave this year and many thanks and much gratitude to all of the wonderful blogs that rose to occasion and offered excitement, frivolity and magic.
I was standing outside that night, observing the full moon when it appeared from behind dark clouds determined to keep the lights on until 10pm. I listened to music playing in the distance and watched the lights flicker and gut inside the jacks displayed around the yard delighted we’d been able to find some fiendish folly to enjoy – hesitant to extinguish the light against the late hour and the passing of another Eve. I look forward to what beguilements will tempt us and til then….
“Stroll with me beneath the Moon,
for surely, They’ll be coming soon
to share with us the deepening gloom,
upon the Hallowe’en.
Fellow Revelers walk this Night,
as They awake from yearly plight
deprived til now of sweet delight,
upon the Hallowe’en.
Mischievousness the only goal,
for these few hours on parole.
And none but They could be so droll
upon the Hallowe’en.
Sorry am I that They must wait,
upon the Eve to cross the gate.
Alas that is Their yearly Fate,
upon the Hallowe’en.
All too soon the Night will fade,
and All shall pass into the Shade
to wait upon the next parade,
upon the Hallowe’en.
Perhaps you’ll stroll with me once more,
when Gate stands wide and Spirits tour.
No other sight stir’s my hearts core,
upon the Hallowe’en.
~ Moonlit Revel by A.E. (repost from 2016)
If you are an Edward Gorey fan (and if you are into Halloween it’s hard for me to think you aren’t) then you probably know about his long habit of illustrating novels and doing book cover art for his own published works as well as for various and sundry in what was an amazing career (alas, gone too soon!). This year I was fortunate enough to come across a copy of The Dwindling Party (Random House, September 1982), about the visit of the MacFizzets to Hickyacket Hall – and was quick to purchase as it seemed in good condition (a birthday present to myself). Did I mention it was a pop-up book? It is a beautiful example of his stylings and wit and is fun to read aloud as one flips through curious and clever pages of the artist’s hand. If you haven’t come across one yourself, do check out online, it’s not to be missed. If you are fortunate enough to come across a good copy, don’t hesitate to pick one up if pocketbook allows. I won’t tell more and spoil the sneaky surprises it offers and I beg your indulgence for not giving up spoilers, I will simply post a couple pics (cover and one of the fold-outs) to tempt you…
