Monday Macabre – Week 2

Posting a special Halloween haiku every week for Monday Macabre.

Our theme this month is Halloween Carnival.

two tickets for fun
popcorn, pink cotton candy,
and buckets of blood

Happy Halloween!🎃

Halloween every day?

Not so long ago I told a coworker that I wished Halloween could be every day.

Every day? She asked with a smirk.

Like she was skeptical or something. Like she did not notice I was wearing a candy corn sweater in August. Like I didn’t just return from Midsummer Scream, a weekend long Halloween convention in Long Beach for the tenth year in a row. Like I didn’t carry everything and the kitchen sink in my Mickey Halloween tote bag to work every day, even in spring. Like I didn’t have a dozen spooky or Halloween curios decorating my office cubicle 365 days a year. I didn’t already buy a $30 bag of the “good candy” for the community candy bowl. Like I didn’t just ask if pumpkin spice latte was back yet. Like I didn’t already say thirty times this year that I can’t wait for Halloween!

Yes. Every day.

And I’m in better company than she is.

Happy Halloween!🎃

Sinister Saturday – Candy Corn Jell-O

The ingredients
The results
The boo at the end.

Happy Halloween!🎃

Friday Fright Nightcaps – Bloody Paloma

Happy Friday! It’s the return of  Friday Fright Nightcaps! Tonight, we’re choosing another refreshing concoction with a twist, the Bloody Paloma!

It’s a basic Paloma with some grenadine, a bit of cranberry juice, and splash of lime juice to cut back the sweetness. It also gives it a darker red hue. Best when served chilled.

The real stars of a good Paloma is grapefruit soda and tequila blanco
Bloody Paloma easy ingredients

Even though I chilled my ingredients, it’s been so hot out west that I threw in some extra ice cubes.

Garnish would really make this picture pop better but unfortunately I ran out of black rim salt.

Bloody Paloma

Enjoy! Drink and drive responsibly!

Happy Halloween!🎃

Timeless Thursday –  Halloween Pez Dispensers

It’s taken me all day to realize I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. Halloween toys and games actually require a lot of more dedicated time to research, and time is something I simply don’t have. I misjudged that by a lot, so, I may have rethink Timeless Thursdays. For now, let’s chat about Pez!

Pez, short for the German word Pfefferminz meaning “peppermint”, was an Austrian candy company that started in 1927 by Eduard Haas III, featuring its unique manual plastic  candy dispenser.

First pez dispensers were called “regulars” and had no top.

First Pez dispenser, image ©️Smithsonian Magazine

Haas inherited a successful bakery from his father who had created Haas baking powder. Haas III was interested in branching out in the confectionary world and actually created pez candies as an anti-smoking tool.

Pez candies, ©️unknown

The first Halloween Pez dispenser was a witch with a black regular dispenser and orange top in the 1950s.

Pez advertisement circa 1950s ©️unknown
Pez Witch circa 1950, image ©️WorthPoint

Pez introduced limited edition Universal Monsters dispensers in 1965.

Pez advertisement circa 1965 ©️unknown

Halloween Pez dispensers became just as popular as character dispensers and so the company regularly started making lot assortments and limited editions.

Pez Dispensers. circa 1990s, retired, image ©️Pez

There’s actually so many I cannot post pics of them all, but the main Pez website or Pez Collector’s is the place to go if you’re looking to getting into Pez Collectibles.

Skull, Pumpkin, Witch and Mummy
Pez dispensers. circa 2005, retired, image ©️Pez

Pez is celebrating 100 years and has released two limited edition Pez Dispensers this year. PezPals has the exclusive look at the newest Dia de los Muertos and Pamp Suisse Pez Dispensers. Images below ©️PezPals.

Only 2500 Pamp Suisse dispensers have been released for 2026

I really love Pez and I wish I had the money to be a collector. For now, I’ll admire from afar. Good luck to you Halloween collectors out there!

Happy Halloween!🎃

Wicked Art Wednesdays 2026 – Spookiesboo

Artist: Kimmy Perez
Company/Studio: Spookiesboo

Where to Purchase Goods: https://spooksieboo.com/

Happy Nightmares art print by Spookiesboo

Why we love it:

Spookiesboo is the epitome of spooky and cute! It’s been so great to watch her little independent art shop grow into a full-on art branded merchandising business, including exclusive collaborations, with Laika Studios, Coraline, Paranorman, Yo Gabba Gabba! and many more!

Explorer Coraline Enamel Pin, $15, Spookiesboo x Coraline (TM)

Social Media:

Instagram

Tiktok

Coraline(TM) x Spooksieboo (TM) Ghost Children T-Shirt, Hot Topic (currently sold out)

In addition to her online shop, you can find Spookiesboo in-person at San Diego Comic Con, Midsummer Scream and various trade shows across the nation throughout the year.

Paranorman (TM) x Spookiesboo (TM)

Trick or Treat Tuesdays – Witchy Trivia

Happy Trick or Treat Tuesday! Only a witch (or a really motivated person)  can answer these witchy movie trivia questions correctly.

Post your responses in the Comments Section.

  1. What was the name of this 1922 silent Scandinavian film showing the evolution of witchcraft?
  2. This role proved to be a cursed part for this actress when she and her stunt-double were badly injured  in two different pyrotechnic fires while filming the Wizard of Oz.
  3. Name the two actresses who attended Satan’s School for Girls before becoming “angels”.
  4. In 1999, this witchy tale gave birth to a whole new sub-genre of horror films.
  5. Robert Egger’s directorial debut about a puritan New England family plagued by witches was also the big screen debut of which actress?
  6. Amy Madigan won an Oscar portraying this witch in Zach Creggar’s folk horror Weapons.

Happy Halloween!🎃

Monday Macabre – Week 1

Posting a special Halloween haiku every week for Monday Macabre.

Our theme this month is Halloween Carnival.

bright lights, big top
ferris wheel spinning ’round
evil clowns lurking

Happy Halloween!🎃

October People

“October Country” that is how Ray Bradbury described us.

“October Country . . . that country where it is always turning late in the year. That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and mid-nights stay. That country composed in the main of cellars, sub-cellars, coal-bins, closets, attics, and pantries faced away from the sun. That country whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts. Whose people passing at night on the empty walks sound like rain. . . .” ~ Ray Bradbury

October is where we find the spark that relights our fires after long hot summer. Fall fills us with creavity, joy, and wonder. It’s the time when communities come together and share in the spirit of Halloween. October is a mysterious month, supernatural even. Yet, it’s a truthful month. It brings the harvest. It warns us of the winter to come. It’s where we go to time travel and discover our innocence. It’s not just a shift in the colors but a shift in mood. Embrace the magic.

Wishing you all a happy October!

Sinister Saturday – No Bake Cherry Cheesecake (Semi-win!)

Sinister Saturdays in October is the horror part of my web blog, with my failed baking attempts that are simply terrifying!😄

Today I tried Jell-O brand’s No Bake Cherry Cheesecake. Perfect choice for me, not only is it 103 degrees in SoCal.🥵 No baking means less chance to screw up the recipe.

Ah, but I didn’t say zero!

This looks easy.

First thing you need is a box of Jell-O brand’s No Bake Cherry Cheesecake. Super easy, only 3 other ingredients needed, milk, butter and sugar.

Next, you follow the instructions on box, mixing butter and sugar together to make the crust first; and then, add milk to create cheesecake mix.

Unfortunately, my attempt to make a   crust with just two ingredients, just two, derailed my plan to successfully make a no bake cherry cheesecake.

Does this look thick to you?

The crust results were so awful and I got so frustrated, I forgot to take a picture before tossing. Basically it was too clumpy and wouldn’t lie flat in the pan. It was just a big mess. No idea what I did wrong. Too much butter?

But folks, this ain’t my first rodeo. You can look back previous years to see I’m no Rachel Ray (Haunted cake pan fail). I suspected I’d mess up and so I bought a back-up. Keebler elves to the rescue!

Poured the mix into my store bought ready made graham crust and popped it in the fridge for a few hours.

Finally, time to decorate by adding the cherry topping.

This is not my pie crust!

The cherry filling packet was actually a little sparse. I suggest buying a can of cherry pie filling to supplement. It’s probably how other people’s pictures of their cherry cheesecake looks so good. Mine, not so much.😄

Now, anyone about to chastise me about using store bought ingredients or lazy baking, let me tell you to fuck right off as plainly as I can. I have no time for that. I have no time for you.  Go hit up the Food Network. The rest of us got a Halloween to celebrate! This is Sinister Saturday, bitches!🎃

Happy Halloween!