Mirth and Musings Part 13

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I bid you all a wonderful, magical, terrifying, spooky, surprising, delectable, beguiling, bewitching, shivers down your spine All Hallows Eve!  Hope at the end of it you all get what you were hoping for, with a fair share of surprises along the way.  No haunt for me this year, finances prevented, but for the first time in years I am out and about.  Trying new things can be exciting, though I admit to some trepidation as I venture beyond the yard.  I will miss the doorbells and knocks, the shrieks and costume parade.  As the curtain rises on all the hard work of you Haunters out there I will light candles (placed inside pumpkins) to your diligence, creativity, and perseverance.    I applaud you all and wish you well.  See you on the other side.

Mirth and Musings Part 12 – Waxing Nostalgic

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Going to age myself a bit here, but couldn’t help it.  While sorting through my TNY  collection this Charles E. Martin cover made me smile wistfully as I remembered something from my childhood; something I couldn’t wait for when school days began in September as Halloween usually prompted the first one of the year.  The classroom party.  The chalkboard covered with the list of necessaries for a decent shindig and Mrs. Gresham or Mr. Argast signing up kids next to each one, invariably the “paper plates and napkins” and “cups” would go to that same kid in the front row whose arm would shoot up the moment the teacher asked.  I don’t know, maybe he was baking challenged.  The rest of us divvied up the cookies, brownies, other varied treats of no name, bottles of pop, etc for the Friday party. I remember classroom games, like heads up seven up and chalkboard hangman.  I remember a parade of students walking around the quad proudly displaying homemade costuming.  Teachers dressed as their alter egos (or true natures) best suggested.  Trick or treating room to room with each classroom decked out along its own theme.  The truncated lessons to make time to just enjoy the holiday undiminished by political correctness.  Madcap and mayhem would eventually ensue in the sugar tide, everyone going home clutching a paper plate with various goodies to enjoy over the weekend shared with family, if they survived the bus ride or walk home that is.

With Eyes That Know

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The title for this post is a line from the Don Mclean song written for quite another Vincent, but I thought it appropriate here in deference to this amazing collective by the Del Valle Archives.  Click pic to take you to the site but beware its for diehards only, as its a bit of a process to acquire from this collection.  Worth the effort, let me assure you.  While the anniversary of his death is later this month, this can serve as a reminder, should any be needed, that there is much of October left to enjoy his movies and legacy.  I am off to watch Laura, where he delights in my favorite of his character roles.  Mmmm, Noir!

Monster Ball Imminent…

-DHM Delort Std editon set_zps4xdr56wy

 

These spectacular images designed by Nico Delort for Dark Hall Mansion go on sale tomorrow, Tuesday October 13! This collection is a masterwork of theme and design and are certain to sell out quickly.  For more information on this incredible set, visit the DHM site.  Pic is clickable.  Check their blog for more information.  Don’t wait to get yours.  I won’t.

Countdown to Halloween

Countdown to Halloween is alive and well and if you click on the Frankenstein badge to the right it will take you to the listing of over 150 halloween blogsites!! Wow, so if you’ve got a spare minute or two this Season, check them out, there’s something for everyone.  It’s my third year on their list and its been a blast every year.   Always lots to discover! Happy Halloween.  Indeed.

Edward Gorey….treat of treats!

Envelope Art Flyer 2015:Envelope Art Flyer 2015

Wish to indulge in a different type of treat this year? Got my invite for this yesterday and wanted to share in case any of you out there wanted to join in.  Sounds like fun and its all ages which I think is SPECTACULAR!! Click pic for a link to the site and to download entry form.  Flights of fancy well received and I hope to poke and prod all of you into submission. Wink, wink! Be sure to check out the 2014 winners, wonderful stuff!

THE EDWARD GOREY HOUSE 2015 ALL-AGES HALLOWEEN ENVELOPE ART CONTEST

Our annual Envelope Art contest is now open for submissions from artists of all ages from around the world. Submit your original envelope artwork postmarked no later thanOctober 23rd, 2015. There is no entry fee though artists can only submit one entry to the contest per year.

Decorate an envelope (of any size you choose) with your Edward Gorey-esque Halloween themed image(s)—with the Edward Gorey House address clearly visible on the front—and mail it to this address:

Edward Gorey House
8 Strawberry Lane
Yarmouth Port, MA 02675
USA

 

Rogers Gardens

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I have attended the first day opening of the Rogers Gardens Halloween Event for the past few years and I will be there early to enjoy it this year as it looks to be especially creepy.  The four rooms they usually design/decorate traverse beautiful to bizarre, worth the stop if you are near Corona del Mar, Ca.  See you there? Click pic to link to site.

Pumpkin Sincerity

...hauntingly beautiful...

…hauntingly beautiful…

I am late to the party, but I made it at last.  My thanks to Countdown to Halloween for including me again this year, 2014!  I thought it would be nice to highlight the pumpkin patch in Halloween lore.  And I will be making a study of them in the countdown to the night.  To all who will be visiting the blog this year, welcome and hope you enjoy the ride.  Here is my first offering, a tribute if ever there was one to the most sincere pumpkin patch to be found, such is the stuff of dreams.

Artist credit Nicolas Delort