I love Halloween and all of spooky season. Mind you, I don’t like being scared. But I enjoy the costumes and the creativity of coming up with spooky themes and ideas. I haven’t had a creative outlet for this side of myself since the pandemic. So, now that it is October, I thought I’d share some spooky season memories from my glory days.

Costumes

I love a good Halloween costume. For the second year of the Trail of Terror, I had all of the guides dress up as ringmasters. It was awesome.

2019

In 2019, I dressed up as the character Agatha in the 1986 classic movie The Worst Witch, played by Charlotte Rae. It was an easier option, considering I had to put together the whole Trail of Terror – Nightmare Circus that year as well. Note, my rosacea was in an outbreak stage at this point.

2018

2018 was another year of regular costume and Trail of Terror, so I dressed as Catman from the Band Kiss (Peter Criss).

2017

2017 was a super fun year. I sewed the purple dress and green sheer overlay myself, and purchased the wig from a specialty shop (high quality) to recreate Endora from Bewitched, played by Agnes Moorehead. My Aunt Gini didn’t recognize me when I sent her the photo.

2016

I was sensitive about my weight in 2016 and could kick myself now for not taking a full body photo of my costume. I dressed as Mr. Dark from Something Wicked This Way Comes, with cat and dog tattoos on both palms.

2015

I got to live out my favorite character dreams from Mortal Kombat in 2015, with my Lord Raiden costume. Didn’t get a full body on this one either as I thought I looked like the Michelin Man. Note to self: take the photo anyway.

2014

I was recovering from my ACL repair surgery in 2014, and was on crutches. I went easy with the costume, though I designed and painted my own mask, to be one of the background dancers on What Does the Fox Say:

2013

It’s hard to find non-sexualized costumes for women for Halloween. In 2013, I dressed as Robert Smith from the Cure.

2012

This is another costume I sewed myself. I got a pattern that was supposed to be an exact replicate of the original jumpsuit patterns for Voyager. It was a bear to sew, very complicated, and it was a touch tight in the seat when I sat down. I know I must have dressed up before 2012, and I know for sure I dressed up at Community Action, but I don’t remember the outfits or years.

Trail of Terror

I really wish I would have take more photos from the first year of the Trail of Terror so I could share them on these spooky season memories. We had a section with giant scarecrows hoisted ten feet off the ground. There was a path of baby doll heads stuffed with lights to make them glow. We had a little story to go along the trail, with hostile neighbors and actors. Students from Albion College did the thriller dance at the end of the trail.

The second year was Nightmare Circus. I had so much fun designing the props. We had a long tunnel with a mirror maze. I designed and painted carnival signs. We had a fortune teller with a literal third eye, acrobats, carnies, and side show acts. It was amazing. Everything was coated with paint to glow under black light and the tour guides/ringmasters all had black glow flashlights.

We keep the lights out at our house due to our location, and we no longer have the trail of terror or the kid-and-dog Howl-O-Ween event at the shelter. Each year I put together small fun Halloween gift bags for the staff members at the shelter, and I’ve been collecting items for the bags for this year, too. I also send Halloween cards and maybe some small gifts to my pen pals. All of my props remain at the shelter in the pole barn, just in case things change. I don’t have room at home for all of it, and there really is a lot. Maybe, someday, things will change.

What are your plans for Halloween?

Yesterday was 88 degrees, and today may be hotter. Summer heat in May, climate change. Last night I tossed and turned in bed. The Whisker Mixer is over, and it turned out ok. Greenhouse Day is tomorrow, and Cemetery Day is Friday.

Tonight I have the strategic planning meeting, and I’m not in the right mindset for it. Sometimes I think that people who ‘support’ the shelter do so because they like the idea of helping homeless pets. But they buy from breeders, and in many cases don’t really support the mission and vision. Some of them, including folks in rescue, believe that any home is better than a shelter. I’m more of an animal rights supporter and I believe we have a duty to represent what is truly best for the pets.

Sometimes, I think of what I’d do if I wasn’t at the shelter. You know, the thing that really gets you excited. When I was young, our parents took us to Niagara Falls. Mom took us to a haunted house and a wax museum. That’s what I’d like to do. Run a haunted house and a horror wax museum. And I have a theme for the first round of wax exhibits! Horrors of the Bible! Imagine, a man being eaten by locusts (Book of Exodus, Chapter 10, Verses 4–12). King Herod’s men killing babies with pitchforks (Gospel of Matthew, Verses 2:16–18)! I suspect there’s a learning curve in making wax bodies, unless you’re going to do the Vincent Price thing from the movie and just use a little wax cover up. And with the summer heat in May, you’re going to have to air condition the heck out of the museum year-round going forward.

Zines

I have two ideas for zines, but haven’t had the time to work on either. I’m pretty excited about them, if I could just get the time together. I’ve only sold three zines in May, compared to ten in April. I need new content in my Etsy store.

Slow Stitch

I finished my second slow stitch meditation roll and have started on a slow stitch needle book cover with fabric from my Aunt Gini. Again, the thing about slow stitch is that it is really slow. I’ll be lucky to get much done before the Mutt Market in August, unless I can get a bit more time.

Rucking

I completed my first rucking hike last week. It seems to be a good way to burn extra calories and build strength, and for some reason it completely stops the intense pain in my lower back when I hike. But good lord, if the summer heat in May increases to the hot humid heat of hell in June, rucking will be a challenge!

Garden

The garden is looking alive. I think, with the summer heat in May, we’re about two weeks ahead of schedule. The chives, nepeta, siberian iris, and salvia are all blooming purple. The pond is going, and I’ve got most of the mulching done. This year I pulled the Joe Pye weed as it always turns out deformed for some reason. We’ve got plenty of orioles, I finally saw a hummingbird, and we even had a rose breasted grosbeak visit the jelly feeder last weekend.