The ‘Eve Approaches

Eve of the ‘Eve

Harried preparation

Porchlights all a-glare

Breath held in expectation

Of whom we hope to scare

 

Pleased anticipation

Is the order of the night.

Waiting on congregation

As capriciousness takes flight

 

Necksore from constant craning

We side eye here and there

Glad that it’s not raining

On the Haunt we want to share

 

Footfalls drawing nearer

Ears prickle at the sound

Rustles of hustled furor

Echoed through the ground

 

What gathering of stitches

represent the costume trends?

Is it a group of witches?

Or super hero friends?

 

Is that a ghostly meeting

In the yard just down the bend?

Or perhaps just soggy sheeting

Drying in the wind

 

Alas it’s just a lone dog

Not werewolves on parade

Just dry leaves scraping sidewalks

And not a zombie raid

 

It’s just the neighbor’s car alarm

And not a banshee shrieking

No haunted house but backdoor

That’s making such a creaking

 

Is that a bubbling witches brew

assailing my senses?

Or just the smoke of burning jack’o’s

sat upon some fences.

 

Pinecones dropped at random

Aren’t spiders on attack

Not thrills but chills in tandem

Cause those shivers down my back

 

Patience sorely tested

Spirits wait for their reprieve

Sure to end up fete and fested

On this eve of Hallows Eve

-a.e. (Revision)

 

A Hundred Eve’s

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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.

Madcap & Mayhem

Rogers Gardens, located in Corona Del Mar, California has never failed to captivate and enthrall with their stunning displays of thematic design.  This year will prove that if this pic is anything to go by, with the tagline noted I am sure we all know what to expect, but will certainly be surprised by what we find nevertheless.

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“We’re All Mad Here!”

This will be my seventh year visiting the Gardens for their annual Halloween Boutique opening and I look forward to what I am certain will be a not-to-be-forgotten step through the looking glass.

Will I see you there?  9:00 am on Friday, August 30th, 2019

Click pic for site and event information.

 

 

Eve of the ‘Eve

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Harried preparation

Porchlights all a-glare

Breath held in expectation

Of whom we hope to scare

 

Necksore from constant craning

We side eye here and there

Glad that it’s not raining

On the Haunt we want to share

 

Footfalls drawing nearer

Ears prickle at the sound

Rustles of hustled furor

Echoed through the ground

 

What gathering of stitches

represent the costume trends?

Is it a group of witches,

or super hero friends?

 

Alas it’s just a lone dog

Not werewolves on parade

Just leaves scraping sidewalks

And not a zombie raid

 

Cones tumbling at random

Aren’t spiders on attack

Not thrills but chills in tandem

Cause those shivers down my back

 

Pleased anticipation

Is the order of the night.

Waiting on congregation

As capriciousness takes flight

 

Patience sorely tested

Spirits wait for their reprieve

Sure to end up fete and fested

On this eve of Hallows Eve

– by A.E.

Minutes til Midnight

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I am watching my clock countdown the minutes until this 31st dwindles down to moments and memories.  There were a few memorable quirks to the day and the evening, I hope you can all say the same.  As the tomb shuts on this Hallow’s Eve, I draw a final breath of cinnamon stick candle wafting up from the scorched insides of gutted gourds, I gather the crinkled remains of candy skins in their bright coverings shriveled and torn, destined for the recycle bin, and take a long last look up and down the street as porch lights dim, jackos darken and light shows blink and die.  I sigh, shrug my shoulders, turn and close the door behind me.  The house goes dark and here I am at the keyboard…already thinking about Halloween 2018 – I wonder what that escapade will reveal?  So much to plan and plot and ply, as the season passes by…so quickly, much too quickly this year.  Thanks to all of you who stopped to look around this blog, more thanks to Countdown to Halloween for highlighting another great batch of blogs this year, always so much fun to see what others are up to.  I will poke through the leftover candy and ponder…mmmmm….Junior Mints! Rest In Peace Halloween 2017.  I will remember you fondly.

 

 

 

A Trick of the Eye, a Treat for the Soul

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For those of you awed by the odd…Haunters everywhere, a good night!

Whispered words of patience, tickling my ear

The summer crawl, the wait for fall

That highlight of the year

 

random scribbled drawings, and mundane seeming lists

will help devise a dark surprise

a Hallows Evening tryst

 

long preoccupation upon a nightmare scene

as yard or lot like canvas taut

transformed by grisly theme

 

silently I labor, and daily it unfolds

all to create fright filled landscape

the Haunters story told

 

months in preparation, at last the visions done

the lights the fog the folks agog

a play for old and young

 

hordes dwindle slowly with anticipation sated

I’m left with thoughts of greater plots

annually fated

 

I wouldn’t change a moment, or alter inclination

I’ll persevere, each hallowed year

In this haunters occupation.

Revise by A.E., September 2017

Mirth and Musings Part 17

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I was just leaving my place the other day to do some shopping and driving up the highway noticed two jack-o-lanterns decorating some porch steps.  They caught my eye for a number of reasons, that I am on the lookout generally this time of year for folks to begin setting out pumpkins on porches as they bring them home from lot, farms, markets, etc. and because these particular ones had already shrunken inwards. I determined that they were in service from the night previous (otherwise I am certain to have noticed them before) and thought it an odd thing considering its quite early to be putting these winter squash under the knife. It left me wondering just why they’d been sacrificed so soon.  Early celebration of Autumnal glee?  Birthday party?  General exuberance? Dry run?  I suppose I will never know – just another Halloweenesque mystery that will remain unsolved.  I do however appreciate the effort.  It is just a simple thing, really, whether in abundance from your favorite pumpkin ranch stand or picked up as an afterthought as you roam a supermarket, the bright orange beckons and betides.  A definite herald of the Season. Whether sitting alone atop a mantelpiece or countertop or in mass upon the porch steps.  Minuscule or jumbo, tall, fat, round, smooth, pebbled, even white, gray or cinderella, this annual tribute to the Eve is welcome in its forms and prized in its function.  Though diminutive in comparison to grand displays of Haunters everywhere, it remains the definitive measure of Halloween involvement, maybe even more than the porch light.   The superlative harbinger of mischief, mayhem and madcap.

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55 to go!

Just a quick note today, Labor Day activities are tugging away, its 55 days to Halloween and if you haven’t yet, it’s probably a good time to start looking through the garage, sheds, closets, under the bed, all those places we store our goodies for the big night.  Also, for the long season – can’t wait to get everything up and going, lights, action, and smoke and mirrors! My best to you all and Happy Haunting!!

Nothing grim about this…

Rogers Gardens has announced their annual Halloween Boutique Opening “Grimm Tales” will debut on Friday, September 2nd @ 9:00am!  Visiting this amazing boutique yearly has become a favorite for me and I hope you find time to stop by, it will not disappoint.

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“…and the Storyteller paused…
and it was as if the wonders he retold had cast a spell upon him…”-A.E.

“The forest is dark and enchanted…branches creak and leaves rustle as trees close in, obscuring the path home.  Wander deep into the shadows and you’ll find frightful folklores, fantastical stories and chilling tales.  These bedtime stories will give you nightmares, and you’ll discover that not all fairy tales end happily-ever-after.” –Rogers Gardens