Haze And Thorn

Now Playing: Slowing And Spinning

By Vactrol Park.

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Happy (Belated) Summerween

I was surprised that I had never posted about Summerween before.  I felt like it had been around relatively long, as it's come up a bunch of times during my blog-material searches over the years, but I never gave it much more thought than that.  I think I was of the school of thought that celebrating Halloween outside of the traditional time frame was just not something I'd want to do.  That it somehow seemed irreverent (I'm extremely uptight).

Then a good friend of mine asked me if I wanted to do a Summerween cookout.  My first instinct was that she was putting me on.  She informed me of the origins of the odd informal cultural holiday.  Back in 2012, an animated series called Gravity Falls once had an episode that dealt with a town that loved Halloween so much it celebrated it twice a year.  The summer varietal of the holiday took place on June 22, and it was celebrated with jack-o'-melons, costumes, trick or treating, and loads of candy.

I agreed to a low-key version (no carved watermelons), but plenty of cocktails, mummy hotdogs, Halloween tunes, and a visit from a Witch.  As the haze from the Canadian forest fires began to clear in this region, we (uncomfortably) added our own smokey fog with a fire pit and way too many smoke bombs.  We were a month late, but it was a nice little party and a cool reminder that the real Halloween is getting ridiculously close.

Click here to watch the episode that started it all.

Here are some of our pics...

The Fuzz

A few years ago, I set out to do a low-key photoshoot on a cloudy damp morning.  I had packed an iron cauldron, my Witch prop, and a bunch of smoke bombs.  I thought that a smoking cauldron in the foreground of the photo with a blurry Witch in the distance would be a fun image.  The setup took longer than expected.  

Doing this stuff for as long as I have, you'd think I would be less anxious and twitchy about trespassing to get a photo of a weird prop.  Nope.  In fact, I think I've gotten more uptight about it over the years.  A grown man setting up a Witch, or a scarecrow, or a reaper looks odd and unusual and WIERD.  And suspicious.  

So, I set up the Witch and her cauldron behind a construction company and began lighting smoke bombs.  These things only burn about six quick seconds, so I would get about three shots with each bomb.  Turns out the smoke was visible from a nearby road.  As I snapped away in the sulfurous, brightly-colored smoke, I heard a voice come from behind, "What exactly are you doing?"  It was a police officer.

I was impressed I hadn't heard his car pull into the parking lot behind mine.  And definitely shocked I didn't hear him approach on foot (disappointed in my previously-mentioned twitchiness).  I stood up as the smoke bomb hissed out the last of the blueish smoke.  I explained I had an odd hobby, and I was taking some shots of a prop I made.  I would imagine I sounded like Don Knotts at this point, trying to explain what exactly I was doing.  

I scrolled through photos on my phone showing him the photos I just took, and earlier ones of other photoshoots.  The officer seemed really interested and told me that he had a hobby taking photos of architecture.  Said he does it on the weekends to keep sane.  I told him I would leave and he said for me to take my time.  As he was pulling away, I snapped a photo.

Witchery

Walpurgisnacht

Walpurgis Night was when, according to the belief of millions of people, the devil was abroad–when the graves were opened and the dead came forth and walked. When all evil things of earth and air and water held revel. This very place the driver had specially shunned. This was the depopulated village of centuries ago. This was where the suicide lay; and this was the place where I was alone–unmanned, shivering with cold in a shroud of snow with a wild storm gathering again upon me! It took all my philosophy, all the religion I had been taught, all my courage, not to collapse in a paroxysm of fright.

- Bram Stoker, Dracula's Guest

Trailer: Mother Of Flies

Haven't seen this one yet, but it looks really neat.

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Winterscape

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

- Robert Frost

The Monsters Of Leonard Baskin

Images from the Monster Brains blog.

Dodging, Disappearing,...

Goblins on the doorstep,

     Phantoms in the air,

Owls on witches’ gate posts,

     Giving stare for stare.

 

Cats on flying broomsticks,

     Bats against the moon,

Stirring round of fate-cakes,

     With a solemn spoon.

 

Whirling apple parings,

     Figures draped in sheets,

Dodging, disappearing,

     Up and down the streets.

 

Jack-o’-lanterns grinning,

     Shadows on a screen,

Shrieks and starts and laughter -

     This is Halloween!

 

- Dorothy Brown Thompson

Image source.

A Halloween Morning Visitor

Click here for a short video.

Haxan B&W

Haxan

 

Pottery Barn Halloween 2025

Click here to see more.

Witchcraft

Witchy

Yes kids, you too can own one of the big Halloween three. 
That's right, THREE horrific masks to chose from. 
They're fun.
They're frightening,
and they GLOW in the dark.

Image by Nikita Mikhailov.

Now Playing: Dreaming Amos

By Randal Collier-Ford.

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Witch

Blobs And Photo Bombs

During our recent photo shoot of the Witch and scarecrow, we were trespassing on a property out in Downingtown (close to where the diner scenes were filmed in the 1958 film THE BLOB).  As we were getting to the end of the shoot, there was some movement on the hill behind the scarecrow and we saw three dogs coming our way with their owner.  I figured we were about to be tossed off the property by a [rightfully] confused individual.  Turns out she was also trespassing.  And she was pretty excited seeing what we were up to.    

She was an older woman from a nearby neighborhood who told us she typically walks her dogs there.  She said she was mystified when she looked from her backyard and saw a scarecrow in the far distance.  The dogs had come running at us with one of them barking heavily at the Witch.  The others seemed to be enjoying the open space, as their owner laughed and excitedly told us over and over again that she absolutely loved these weird creatures.  She asked a ton of questions about the props and took a load of photos.  She and the three dogs posed a few times for some photos with the Witch and the scarecrow...  I snapped away using her phone as we all blabbed and spoke about the property and its history, and our strange hobby of photographing monsters.  The dogs turned out to be the sweetest animals.  And the big one eventually stopped barking at the Witch.  

We said farewell and packed up the creatures and headed to the Downingtown diner for a terrific blob-themed breakfast.  They're VERY proud of their blob there, and I'd highly recommend it if you're ever in the area.