7th Year Anniversary Blog

It’s my anniversary month!

I started this blog seven years ago to channel my anger and frustration. After the last election, I thought I could steer my negative energies towards creativity again, but I seem to be running full-tilt daily instead. Some days it feels like we’re living in a real live horrorshow.

George A. Romero’s
Night of the Living Dead, 1968

But this isn’t a political blog, it’s a Halloween blog, and a safe space for like-minded individuals. To have survived this long seems like a miracle. It’s not big or popular, I’m no influencer, but I’m not trying to be either. In fact, I basically quit on social media. I’m not interested in what people are selling. Period. I just want to celebrate and share my love for Halloween, horror and all things spooky.

First Blog Post on April 12, 2018

I can’t believe it’s been 7 years though. I had to go back and look up the date of my first post. I mean I didn’t even post on my actual anniversary, so, you know, life happens. This year, there’s no grand celebration. No contest. No prizes (that was getting really expensive with diminishing returns), no, this year I’ve decided to lay low and let the haiku and spooky posts do all the talking.

My second blog post, Why Halloween Haiku?

Halloween Horror Haiku blog has changed a lot, and in some ways, not at all. I’ve changed the name, the look, the logo, I’ve experimented with different formats and tried out different social media platforms, but no matter what creative road I go down, my Halloween haiku is still front and center.

So, whether you’re a new reader or you’ve been with me for the last seven years, I thank you for giving me your time and energy. I hope to be a light in the window and bring more Halloween happiness in these times of uncertainty!

Monthly Haiku Corner – May

The recent flood of Halloween images swarming my social media has filled my little dark heart with happiness. So, for May, let’s continue celebrating the halfway point to Halloween. This month’s theme is Dreaming of Halloween.

lost in a dream,
paper jack-o-lanterns
and witches’ cackles.

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Happy 6th Anniversary to Halloween Horror Haiku!

This month marks the 6th anniversary of Halloween Horror Haiku. While, I’ve stepped back this year to focus on work and my health, I do still post new haiku once a month and on special occasions.

I want to thank everyone for stopping by to check out my blog. Originally, I was going to do a traditional haiku challenge and run a contest for a few weeks, but time constraints keep me from posting as often as I’d like this month. So, instead, I’m holding a flash haiku challenge for 24 hours, starting at 12pm PST on April 30th until 12pm PST on May 1st.

Since April 30th also marks the official halfway point to Halloween and Walpurgisnacht or Witch’s Night, our themes for the contest will be Halfway to Halloween or Witch’s Night. Your original haiku must feature one of the two themes to qualify. Traditional haiku rules apply. Good luck!

SUBMISSIONS:

Only 3 haiku permitted per contestant. You may post here in the comments section or on Instagram or Threads. Don’t forget to use #halloweenhaikuchallenge in your social media posts AND tag me! @halloweenhorrorhaiku

Please see Contest Rules and Eligibility Page for more details.

PRIZES:

1st Place Winner wins a Halloween prize pack, retail valued at $50 (see contents below). 2nd and 3rd place winners will win a Halloween Disney Pin from 2022 season and their choice from the Halloween Grab Bag. I’m emptying the grab bag, so this is a great chance to nab a Disney Halloween pin collectible for free!

1st Place Winner Halloween Prize Pack: Wilton Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkin Halloween Non-stick Cake Pan (1); choice of a collectible Haunted Mansion Bride pin, Mickey Halloween Pin, or Mickey and Minnie Halloween pin set from 2023 season (1); Disney Halloween magnet from 2022 season (1) and some Spooksieboo springtime spooky stickers.

2nd & 3rd Place Winners: 1 Collectible Disney Halloween Pin and a grab bag item, plus some Spooksieboo springtime spooky stickers.

Thanks again for all your love and support! Only a few more months until the unofficial 2024 Halloween season is upon us! It’s gonna be big. I can feel it!

Monthly Haiku Corner – Halfway til Halloween

Today, April 8th is auspicious! There’s a solar eclipse happening. If you miss it, the next one comes around August 23, 2044. Actually, all of April is special because it marks the halfway point til Halloween and the 6th anniversary of Halloween Horror Haiku. I’ll post more on anniversary celebrations later. For now, finish making your fancy glasses and step outside to watch the universe wink at you, puny human.

the moon blocks the sun
eclipse of sight and feelings
months ’til Halloween

Congratulations to our Halloween Haiku Challenge winners!

Haiku of the Week

Part IV and the conclusion of the Halloween Dreams and Nightmares series.

Sandman’s own dreams
forgotten and revived by
The Halloween King

Cubist, surreal Halloween art made with Starryai.

Haiku of the Week

Part II of the Halloween Dreams and Nightmares series.

pumpkin lined streets,
dreaming of spooky fall nights
and Halloweentime

Happy Thankskilling! Special Haiku of the Week

Here comes another controversial American holiday whose roots and traditions are built on whitewashed historical lies. Now I actually dislike this one for personal reasons, so flipping it is easy. Even if I can get behind being thankful and wanting to spend time with family and friends, the glutinous excesses of over-eating and commercialization of Christmas (another holiday covered in lies) truly make this one of the scariest holidays Americans hold, so here’s a special haiku to honor the horror of the holidays!

baked mystery pie
cannibals at the table
Thanksgiving dinner

Monthly Haiku Corner – May

Happy May! We’re halfway to Halloween. Hang in there just a few more months, my friends.

In honor of May being Cemetery Appreciation Month, this month’s theme will be cemetery life.

sunny days ahead
freshly dug forever homes
cemetery life

A Spooky Renaissance is Coming

I announce the return of the monthly blog! Random musings and kitsch movie lists for my fellow horror lovers, that’s what I’ll offer at the end of every month. Can you believe it’s already the end of May? We are well past the halfway point to Halloween. This is a crucial time of year for many Halloween fans because it’s been 8 months since we’ve seen a jack-o’-lantern, Summer, the most dreaded season, is right around the corner, and we desperately need something that will satisfy our cravings until October. We’re hunting down springtime scares and often finding comfort in horror nostalglia. Halloween lovers might be a little prickly right now.

Most of us still have Covid anxiety and after a year of living in and out of lockdowns, nobody knows how to act. Mass shootings have returned and vaccination lotteries are all the rage. Human beings have to be bribed to take care of our health. How the hell did we get this far? Anyways, it’s suggested that we ease back into society, gingerly, like curious cute kittens, ready to explore, adorably pounce on butterflies we can’t catch, and slash the hell out of anyone who messes with us. This is why I predict a cautious summer with steady routines and subtle day trips to our favorite local hangouts, where we can get used to being around people again, wearing clothes that don’t stretch, and obeying traffic laws. By Fall, however, we should be ready to party. I’m really looking forward to that.

Halloween season is the perfect time to get adventurous, try new things, and travel the world, or maybe just to the next city over, if you can’t afford a plane ticket. Trust me, it all counts. Visually, one half of the world will be stunning, so get those cameras ready. I’m hoping climate change hasn’t doomed our favorite autumn landscapes just yet. Another reason why we should take plenty of photos this fall. In fifty years, no one will believe we had bountiful harvests, tall trees, and grass this green. But, let’s table the rest of this discussion for later this year.

Halloween is a holiday that can be shared by communities and we’ll be needing to build up the goodwill and learn to trust society all over again. Trust each other again. What better way to do it over a shared love of pumpkin spiced lattes and creepy yard haunts, plus, there’s extra incentive in finding the beautiful abandonment of a pre-covid world. Abandoned places. Restless spirits. Scary monsters. Haunted people. Only time will tell how much we’ve changed after this pandemic. The anger. The fears. The death. We’re gonna need to channel these dark energies, and the arts, the culture, music, movies, comics, gaming, literature… it’s where we’ll go to bear our souls. Fear not my friends, I feel a spooky renaissance may be on the horizon.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments section or hit me up on social media.