Happy Halloween 2026!

We celebrate all 31 days in October and before I share the Halloween schedule this year, I just wanted to say a few words.

There’s a lot of misery in the world right now, and a lot of bad people. You have choice. Full stop. YOUR choice holds more power than you think. If it didn’t, so many people wouldn’t be trying to control it or take it away from you. Always remember that.

This is not just to remind my American friends to vote this November, it’s a reminder to all that sharing our cultural traditions helps preserve them and embracing our communities makes us stronger and breaks down barriers between human beings. This is the time of year when people do the most for each other, and the Halloween season is all about community.

Spirit Halloween’s charitable org Spirit of the Children celebrates 20 years!

So, I want to encourage people to go out and get involved in community events. Go to an art show, holiday fair or school carnival, visit a haunted maze, go to the theater to watch a spooky play or movie, invite some neighbors over on Halloween night and pass out candy together. Start a new tradition.

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, CA just opened a new horror movie exhibition.

I’m also going to repeat something I said last year because I believe in it so much:

Don’t let anyone tell you how to do Halloween. Decorate or not. Wear a costume or not. We can be scary and sweet. We can be spooky and cute. Let the teenagers trick or treat. Kids collecting candy are too occupied to do anything else. I truly believe Halloween makes people happy. It’s about community. We need our communities more than ever. It’s the only thing that can save America now.

Be sure to check back every day this October for cool, fun, and inspirational Halloween, horror, and haiku.

HALLOWEEN SCHEDULE 2026

Monday Macabre

Every Monday, I’ll be posting a brand new Halloween Haiku.

Trick or Treat Tuesdays

Check in on Tuesdays for some trivia fun. I’ve got treats and I’ve got tricks!

Wicked Art Wednesdays

Every Wednesday, I’ll showcase the amazing and unique talents of Halloween artists from around the globe. Real art, not ai made.

Timeless Thursdays

Every Thursday, let’s travel back in time and revisit the spookiest toys and games.

Friday Fright Nightcaps

Bubble bubble, drink away trouble. It’s the return of Friday Fright Nightcaps!

Sinister Saturdays

Decadent desserts from the darkside. I’m not much of a cook, so this could get truly evil.

Spooky Sundays

Spooky Sundays are for reading, relaxing, and recharging our brooms.

Let’s eat, drink and be scary!

8th Annual Halloween Haiku Challenge
#Halloweenhaikuchallenge2026

The Halloween Haiku Challenge returns for one day only this October. The contest starts midnight on October 30th through Halloween day and a winner will be chosen on November 1st.

More details to come, but for now, sharpen those pencils or pull up a blank page; I can’t wait to see those Halloween haiku!

Don’t forget to follow Halloweenhorrorhaiku on Pinterest and Blue Sky.

Have a Happy Halloween season, everyone! Be safe out there!🎃

Halloween Candy Alternatives

Happy Fall! The Halloween season has officially begun and instead of posting a horror movie list this month, I thought I’d share a list of best Halloween candy alternatives.

Anyone who’s been to the grocery store lately has noticed prices are up. Between cocoa and sugar shortages, trump’s stupid tariffs, rising manufacturing and packaging costs, and corporate greed, Halloween candy prices are also up again for the sixth consecutive year.

Now, I’ve always tried to keep optimistic about the over-commercialism of Halloween. I love how Halloween brings out the creativity, and the entrepreneurial spirit of some people, but left’s face it, sometimes capitalism goes too far.

Turns out kids actually like getting little Halloween novelty toys and glow sticks in lieu of candy. So this list is for those looking to please trick or treators without breaking the bank this season.

Silicone or rubber slap bracelets, squishy toys and fidget toys are all the rage. Many of these items can be found at dollar stores or Oriental Trading Company (OTC), a popular seller of bulk novelty, party, and craft supplies store that offers dozens of options of Halloween alternative items.

Bulk Halloween Character Rubber Duck Assortment – 60 pc $24.99, OTC

Personally, I’m more into eco-friendly wooden Halloween pencils, Halloween notepads, and cute little Halloween stickers or temporary tattoos.

Cash and coins are still cool, but not good if your neighborhood hosts a lot of trick or treators. Naturally, quarters are preferred over dimes and pennies, but hey, if you’re about to spend $40 on miniature candies and have around 150 trick or treaters, financially it works out about the same anyway.

Halloween Rubber bracelets, 32-pc $49, Kohl’s

Keep this mind, glow sticks, rubber bracelets and tiny plastic toys may provide instant happiness and are great candy alternatives, but they’re also not biodegradable, and that’s bad for the environment and unsafe for wildlife.

Halloween pencils, 16-pc set $1.50, Dollar General

Ask yourself if you’re looking to be more budget conscious or be environmentally or sensory friendly this season. There are so many alternatives about there!

Sensory-friendly Pop Fidget Toys, $1.50 Dollar General

Before you forego your candy treats, first determine your budget and the number of expected trick-or-treators you anticipate this year.

Free Halloween Printables from iHeartCraftyThings.com

There are still plenty of reasons and ways to celebrate Halloween without spending gobs of money. Don’t forget, you could always mix and match.

Whatever you decide, I wish you a Happy Halloween!

Be safe out there!

Welcome back ‘BER months 2026!

Happy September!

Finally, the ‘BER months return!

This is not just to remind my American friends to check if they’re registered to vote this November, it’s a reminder to all that preserving traditions and embracing our communities makes us stronger. It improves our mental health and well-being. So, I want to encourage people to choose to get involved with community as much as possible during the ‘Ber months. This is the perfect time of the year to do so.

This is the time of year when people do the most for each other. We’re all trying to bring joy into our lives and escape pain. Helping others will help youself. It’s as simple as that. It’s a proven time-tested theory. So, you wanna feel better? Get out there and be part of your community. Participate, volunteer, buy local and embrace the holiday spirit. There’s so much to do, see, and experience during the ‘Ber months.

Also, protect your wallet. People are scamming, at the highest levels. READ. Do research. See who you’re supporting and don’t support people and companies who hurt your community. We all gotta stick together and protect ourselves.

The ‘BER months are a magical time. Let’s make the most of it!

Don’t forget to follow Halloweenhorrorhaiku on Pinterest and Blue Sky.

Have a Happy Halloween season, everyone! Be safe out there!🎃

Creature Features

Creature features are any movies featuring a non-human horror element. They’re monster movies, man vs. monster, sometimes nature vs man, survival is usually on the line. Nearly all Universal’s classic monster movies are creature features, Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman, Creature from the Black Lagoon…and, we certainly cannot forget the legendary King Kong, 1933.

All vampire, werewolves, and zombie films are creature features, so are most of the Hammer Horror, and the atomic-age creatures from the 1950s, like The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, the giant ants of Them! and of course, the King of the monsters, Godzilla, along with all his friends.

Creature Features was a weekly American television broadcast that started in 1950s and ran through the 80s and featured Univeral monster classics, Hammer films and other British horror, RKO gems, American International Pictures, including Roger Corman b-movies, Toho Studios Kaiju films, and all the atomic nuclear monster hits of the 50s. If you ask any movie director, actor, or filmmaker over 30, I’d bet good money they’ll admit it was weekly theater matinees and these late night horror shows that inspired them to get into the business.

Animal horror from the 70s, 80s & 90s brought real terror with movies like Willard, Ben, Grizzly, Cujo, and Piranha, a bloody fun franchise with military experiments and girls gone wild. Spanning over 40 years, the Piranha and Piranha DD movies grossed over $100 million collectively.

As eye-opening as that sounds, it pales in comparison to the now iconic Jaws, 1975, the first summer blockbuster about a vengeful man-eating shark that spawned 3 sequels, its own shark horror sub-subcategory, domestic inflation-adjusted lifetime gross of $1.5 billion dollars (just Jaws 1) and hundreds of millions of people worldwide suffering from galeophobia, the fear of sharks. What a legacy!

Personally, I’m a big fan of scary movies featuring mythical forest beings like Bigfoot, wendigos, evil fairies, trolls, and whatever that terrifying Norse creature was in The Ritual, 2017.

While it’s true many are horror films, two of the greatest sci-fi movies, Alien and Predator, are considered the top-grossing creature features franchises of all-time, with Alien films grossing $1.6 billion collectively and Predator following close behind with $885 million. These two behemoths crossed over into each other’s territory in the 2004 film Alien vs. Predator or AVP.

Alien vs. Predator (AVP) 2004, (20th Century Studios)

Proving that creature features have no genre, anyone looking for quieter entertainment should search out Neil Jordan’s Ondine, 2009 starring Colin Farrell, set in Irleand, or Spring, 2014 starring Lou Taylor Pucci and Nadia Hilker set in Italy, a beautiful romatic horror film, one of my faves.

Of course, no one does creature features like the masterful Guillermo Del Toro, whose magnum opus Pan’s Labyrinth, 2006 won three Academy Awards, and changed the landscape of fantasy films forever. Ten years later, The Shape of Water, 2017, would also win four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, securing his place as the greatest creature feature director ever to walk the planet.

Pan’s Labyrinth, 2006 (Warner Bros. Pictures)

I could go on forever raving about how much I love creature features, but I better just let you go to watch some of these great films instead. Hit up Google or IMDB or check local listing to see where you can stream one of the movies listed above, and don’t forget to leave a comment and tell me your favorite creature feature.

Stay safe out there!

Happy New Year 2026!

Welcome January! Welcome back old friends and new guests! This is a safe place for people who love Halloween, Horror, and Haiku, unless you’re a nazi, bigot, religious fruitcake, scammer, and an otherwise intolerant hater. I hope this message is perfectly f’n clear. A country with such a huge lying govrmnent needs citizens who speak the truth.

As my blog enters its 8th year in existence, I find myself at a crossroads in continuing a minor blog that I cannot dedicate much time to and needing a outlet for my feelings and a place to fuel my creativity. I’ve decided the latter is more important in this current climate.

There will be no gimmicks this year however, no contests, no themes per say, just Halloween, horror, and haiku. I like to celebrate holidays, celebratory events, and significant days, particularly those pertaining to the Arts, so I will continue to do so with haiku.

I quit almost all social media except BlueSky and Pinterest, where I’ve got lots of cool boards to share. Please stop by! I also keep a Reddit page, but there’s no activity there. Happy to engage though!

I thank those who stop by and read my writings. There’s still freedom in America. It will be business as usual. So, channel your inner Lord of the Rings character and let’s make 2026 unforgettable!

Best Halloween and Horror Gifts 2025 (last minute gifts included!)

Happy Caturday! It’s the last day of Fall and the last shopping weekend before Christmas. There’s no guarantee you’d get any of these gifts by Christmas day without paying exorbitant shipping costs, so I included some spooktacular digital gifts to give to your favorite Halloween and horror fan this Christmas.

Scrub Daddy: Limited Edition Halloween Sponges, $5

Halloween season may be over but you can still find these adorable limited edition Scrub Daddy Halloween sponges online or in stores. They make great stocking stuffers!

Severin Films Horror Enamel Pins, $12

Last week, I mentioned these Severin Films enamel pins of famous horror directors and actors. I just needed to reiterate you could buy a beautiful enamel pin of horror legends Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. These are so incredible! If only they had Vincent Price, we could’ve had the horror trifecta in our stockings this holiday!

Ototo Designs: Vino, Corkscrew and Bottle Opener, $22.95

Your favorite Halloween fan will light up like a Christmas tree if you gift them this darling Ototo Vino bat corkscrew and bottle opener.

Nordic Ware: Haunted Skull Cakelet Pan, $38.50

Every Halloween I post pictures of pizza skulls and every year people wonder how to get their hands on the coolest pan they ever saw. The “skull pan” is Nordic Ware Haunted Skull Cakelet pan and they have tons of other cool pans for all the other holidays too!

Lego Halloween Wreath, $32.99

Legos are the gifts that keep on giving. Building Legos are calming and therapeutic. They’re collectible and you can rebuild them over and over and never get bored. The kid in us won’t allow it. Any spooky set makes a great gift, but this Halloween Wreath is fangtastic! You could get different results each time, it covers two holidays, and with 500 pieces, it shouldn’t take much time at all to complete.

Fangoria Classic Logo Tee, $25

The classic Fangoria.com T-shirt is good ole fashion horror supporting casual wear. Fangoria is one the first true magazines to celebrate horror movies, so we should give back by keeping them alive for generations of future horror fans.

Fangoria+ Subscription (Print+, digital, billed annually), $79.95

Or you could buy a year subscription and get this fancy free t-shirt instead.

Subscribe now and get a free t-shirt while supplies last

HORROR MOVIES

Horror fans love horror movies. Full stop! Sure, we love little trinkets and memorabilia, but what we love most is the very thing that captured our attention and hearts in the first place, HORROR MOVIES! So, when in doubt, buy scary movies, either DVD or Blu-Ray or a streaming service for a couple of months, (doesn’t even have to be a whole year, but that would nice!)

They can even be those cheapass bad two to five dollar bin finds. In fact, that might work out better! Trust me, we horror movie fans are a special bunch. We’ll even watch the small, indie, made in your backyard horror. We may not love it, but we’ll watch it and talk about it cuz we love talking about the spooky films we saw. So, yep, even bad horror movies make great gifts!

Blumhouse of Horrors, 10 Movie Collection, $35

It’s about time that Blumhouse started releasing box sets of their movies. I’d be happier to see Happy Death Day in its own box set, but at least it’s included here. Get Out, The Purge, and Split are also three of best “new” horror Blumhouse has ever produced anyway, so it’s in good company.

LAST MINUTE DIGITAL GIFTS

No time to shop. No time to wait. Gotta have it now, here you go:

Gifting instant access to thousands of scary movies is always a great idea! The two horror movie channels are very similar, except Shudder is little older, more established, maybe has a better selection. Debatable. However, a Screambox yearly subscription is cheaper, even if it has more ads because of it. Really comes down to your patience and wallet.

Bloody Disgusting’s own Screambox Yearly Subscription, $59.99

Shudder Yearly Subscription, $79.99

Foxblood Clothing E-gift Card, starting at $25

Give a e-gift card from Foxblood Clothing in Los Angeles to your fave Halloween and horror fan and let them shop all the after Christmas sales and get exactly what they they really want!

A Gothic Universe Digital Gift Card, price varies

Give the gift of ‘go shop for your own gothic ware’ from A Gothic Universe a fa-boo-lous retailer for goth merch. It’s a win-win!

Calm Subscription, $79

Help your anxious fan relax with the Calm.com app and hundreds of hours soundscapes, sleep stories, meditations and more. Calm may be normal but a well-rested goth has more time to go do cool spooky shit.

Concert Tix for 2026, price varies

Give the gift of live music. SoCalGoth.com has a great chart of all the goth bands out on tour next year in SoCal, but I’m sure you can use it to look up if these bands will play in your area or maybe plan a little trip. SoCal is lovely all times of the year.

Happy Holidays everyone! Wishing you all safe and happy New Year, may 2026 be kinder to us all. Be safe out there!

Dickens Sundays – Ghost of Christmas Past

Every holiday season, I share the wise words of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Dickens’ was a champion of the poor and unfortunate, particularly children. Having grown up destitute himself and enduring the abuse and ills of the labor houses, Dickens knew firsthand of the timeless topics he wrote about.

The Ghost of Christmas Past was the first of Jacob Marley’s three mercurial warnings to the cruel, greedy miser Ebenezer Scrooge to change to his lifestyle or endure a hellish afterlife like his old partner.

She turned back time to show Ebenezer his past, how happy he once was, how in love he once was, but the young Scrooge allowed ambition and greed to rule his life and lost everyone he loved so dearly.

“These are the shadows of the things that have been, that they are what they are, do not blame me!”

Spooky Shows to Binge over Thanksgiving Weekend

Happy Thanksgivingweek!

Whether you’re joining the shopping boycott on Black Friday to send a message to oligarchs or just need to recharge and rest, Thanksgiving weekend is the perfect time for binging spooky TV shows. Here are ten of my favorites.

Castle Rock (Hulu)

The fictional town in Maine that serves as the terrifying locale for most of the stories in the Stephen King universe gets its own supernatural show produced by JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot. True to any Stephen King novel, it’s a dark, mysterious, creepy mind-bender, filled with compelling characters. Sadly, it only got two seasons. A real shame cuz I had so many questions…

The Strain (Hulu)

Back when the CDC were the good guys, the show about a doctor investigating a viral outbreak with ties to an ancient strain of the vampirism was created by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan based on their vampire trilogy. Hollywood superstar showrunner Carlton Cuse of Lost fame wrangled this thrilling action horror for four seasons on FX.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Netflix)

Witches, warlock, humans, hobgoblins, old deities, and Satan, this ain’t your grandmama’s Sabrina. Forget the 90s WB sitcom, this is a much darker, scarier, and sexier show for Archie Comics breakout star.

Ash vs Evil Dead (Starz)

Evil Dead trilogy fans rejoiced when Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell brought their chainsaw-wielding hero and the Deadites to television for Starz in this action horror-comedy that squeaked out 3 seasons. It’s been 30 years since Ash left the Army of the Dead behind, working at Value Mart with his young friends Pablo and Kelly, drinking his lonely existence into oblivion and ignoring his responsibilities to protect the world until the evil dead come calling for the one that got away.

Stranger Things (Netflix)

Coming-of-age show about a group of friends investigating the disappearance of their friend and the supernatural acts happening in their small town of Hawkins, Indiana is Netflix’s most popular show. Season 5 premieres on November 26, so binging the first four seasons now is perfect timing.

The Haunting of Hill House (Netflix)

Mike Flanagan’s chilling first entry in the Haunting series for NetFlix was loosely based on Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel of the same name. Part ghost story, part family drama, horror maestro Stephen King hailed Flanagan’s vision of Jackson’s story as brilliant. I guess that’s why King keeps agreeing to let the guy direct movies of his own novels.

Brand New Cherry Flavor (Netflix)

A mind binding thriller set in the 90s about young female filmmaker in Hollywood, whose career gets derailed after mixing it up with a catty bohemian witch. This limited series wasn’t supposed to go beyond 8 episodes, but fans can still dream.

Marianne (Netflix)

This smartly written and wonderfully acted French horror show created by Samuel Bodin about a writer haunted by an ancient evil witch only got one season, but that’s probably for the best, cuz it’s the scariest show on the list. It’s better to watch in French with English subtitles. Your eyes will be glued to the screen anyways.

Kingdom (Netflix)

Not quite Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead, this Korean gem is filled with colorful characters, political intrigue, and hordes of zombies. Based on a webtoon series The Kingdom of the Gods created by Kim Eun-hee and Yang Kyung-il, this Josean period action thriller was never officially canceled, so fans are still hoping for Season 3, despite the many years that have passed.

The Walking Dead (AMC)

I once read in a Hollywood rag, that studio execs believed no one wanted to watch a zombie TV show and it would be far too expensive to produce. 15 years and 8 spin off shows later, Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead franchise is still churning in some form, while knock off shows have come and gone. I believe it’s all due to the genius of Greg Nicotero and his special effects and make-up team. It’s the first, and the best zombie TV show ever produced, period. And, it totally proved the world loves zombies enough to watch them every week!

Prize Pool 2025

The Halloween Haiku Challenge has ended, but I’m sharing the scares this year, so check back in December for a new holiday haiku challenge!

The prize pool (see below) started with leftover or unclaimed gifts. I also have a lot more Halloween stickers but you can only get so many in one picture.😄

Before every contest, please see Contest Rules and Eligibility page for specific details. It is player responsibility to know the rules before playing any games here.

Happy October 2025!

Happy October! It’s been a busy summer. I admit that keeping up with a blog this year has been challenging. On one hand I love it, I love sharing Halloween haiku and other spooky stuff, but truth is I simply don’t have the time to blog like I used to.

I did make time to visit Disneyland recently for some Fall fun.

I also know times are tough and depressing. It’s not going to get better anytime soon, we need Halloween! We need to celebrate our culture and traditions more than ever and we need to make new memories! Good memories! You never know when that may be the only thing you have. So after careful consideration, I will again be celebrating all 31 days of Halloween this year.

There will be two themes this month, Haunted Halloween and Halloween Happy. Americans are a haunted people, but we all deserve life. Halloween is for everyone. Full stop. The holiday combines both ancient pagan and religious ceremonies. The original purpose was to chase away the demons and bad ghosts that crossed over the spirit realm because of the thin veil between the living and the spirit world.

Don’t let anyone tell you how to do Halloween. Decorate or not. Wear a costume or not. We can be scary and sweet. We can be spooky and cute. Let the teenagers trick or treat. Kids collecting candy are too occupied to do anything else. I truly believe Halloween makes people happy. It’s about community. We need our communities more than ever. It’s the only thing that can save America now.