Our theme this month is A Vampire’s Fall
autumn leaves
a victim’s distraction
vampire mischief
Haiku of the Week
Poe Sundays
I couldn’t resist throwing in one last Poe Sunday before officially ending the Halloween 2021 season.
Poe created the modern detective story by creating many story elements that other writers would use in their own writings. He was the first author to leave clues for readers to pick up on, and the most significantly, Poe was also the first to create a recurring sleuth character in C. Auguste Dupin, a man of superior intellect and keen sense, who solves the mystery by analyzing the facts of the case through the power of observation. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle admitted to being heavily influenced by Poe, as his own masterful creation of Sherlock Holmes, shared many of the same qualities with detective Dupin.
You can learn more about the character here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Auguste_Dupin
Happy Caturday – November
While searching for something to represent our theme this month of A Vampire’s Fall, I came across this dark and atmospheric artwork from Cutwir3 aka Ghostly Theater. This is a whole mood.
Artist: Cutwir3
Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/cutwir3/
Where to purchase goods: https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/eduardosantiago/vampire-cat/
Big News! Halloween Haiku is rebranding
I’m in the process of redoing my blog. Halloween Haiku is changing its name to Halloween Horror Haiku. There will be a new web address, but until then, I can still be reached at Halloweenkristy@gmail.com
The transfer will happen soon and it might take a bit of time, so please bear with me. You may notice little changes here and there. I’m hoping not to lose any content in the transfer. Fingers crossed and any good vibes you can spare, I’d appreciate them.
I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I was going to wait until 2022, but I realized there’s no reason to wait. Plus, I wanted to secure the domain name.
I thank everyone for sticking with me on the journey thus far. I hope you’ll stay around to see the cool things I have in store for my blog.
HalloweenKristy
Halloween Haiku Challenge 2021 Winner
Congratulations to DeAnna Hammersley who submitted the winning haiku in the Halloween Haiku Challenge 2021!
DeAnna won the Halloween Icons Prize Pack, which includes an unsigned copy of Elvira’s new book, Halloween face masks, Halloween dish towels, a pair of candy corn socks, Halloween notepad, and Stay Spooky card.
Here are the results of winning runner-up haiku. Each will receive some Halloween stickers and small buttons.
2nd Place: Gary Blackwell aka Gaxthewonderpigeon
Silent as the grave
Moon beam loud, shrieking banshee
Death makes room for you
3rd Place(tie): Barbecue 17
Octobers Last Night
Awaiting the Great Pumpkin
November’s chill comes
3rd Place(tie): Ava Harrison
The spirits rise up
Humans run away and scream
The bedlam begins
I will directly contact winners to get mailing details. Please do not post personal information here or on social media.
Thank you so very much to everyone who participated in Halloween Haiku Challenge 2021. Choosing a winner is always such a hard decision, since there were some fabulous haiku. I’m amazed and inspired by everyone.
Wishing you all happy holidays!
Monthly Haiku Corner – November
Happy November! Our theme this month is a vampire’s fall
cold November nights
a killer on the prowl
a vampire’s fall
Happy Halloween!
jack-o-lantern laughs
midnight approaches
Happy Halloween!
Poe Sundays
Happy Halloween Sunday! On this last day in October, we pay tribute to Master of Macabre, Edgar Allan Poe.
You can read the entire poem here: https://poestories.com/read/raven
Fun Fact: After being first turned down by a publisher friend, Poe sold the Raven poem to The American Review for $9. Subsequent publishings followed and even made Poe famous, but the man received little financial success.
My Favorite Vintage Halloween Ads
**This was the planned post for Throwback Thursday, but real life problems kept me away from computer. Sincerest apologies.**
Let’s visit the amazing yesteryears of Vintage Halloween advertising.
Jell-O has been around for a long time and was big into promoting its brand during the holidays. This is one of my favorites because it includes this awesome Hallowe’en poem.
Another favorite from Colgate because of the Hallowe’en poem. Note the use of the old spelling of Hallowe’en, which dropped the apostrophe over the years.
“No amusement of modern times equals it.” If makers only knew how successful their product would be. Phonographs were instrumental in helping Halloween become one of the biggest holidays in American history,, if for no more reason than their popularity at parties.
These ads reflect the dark orange and black style, which was popular back in the 1930-1940s.
Curtiss Candy Company owned Baby Ruth and Butterfinger among many others, when it was bought out by Standard in 1964, who later merged with Nabisco in 1981. Nabisco then sold off Curtiss brands to Nestlé in the 1990.
Brach’s has been making candy since 1904. They’re most famous for Candy Corn, but once upon a time, Brach’s was the go-to candy store for Halloween goodies. Their ads were simply amazingly drool-worthy, appealing to both adults and kids. Look at all that candy!
Speaking of adults, with Halloween parties all the rage well into the 1950s, beer makers made some nifty ads for Halloween.
During the 1950s, some ads featured lots of graphics and were quite wordy. What some may consider serious advertising fails today, make for some awesome vintage Halloween ads.
7-Minit was owned by 6 O’Clock Foods, Inc. and that’s about the only history we know about either.
More random vintage Halloween candy ads circa 1940s-1960s
It’s always been fashionable to make punch bowls outta pumpkins!
Back in the day, people could trust drinking and eating right there on the front porch.
Okay, I’ll admit, I only love this ad because of the Headless Horseman. Is this too scary for advertising? Some might think so. People don’t like reminders of violence and disembodied heads is about as gruesome as it gets. Absolutely my favorite! BWAHAHAHAHA….
Happy Halloween!
Friday Fright Nightcaps – Frankenstein’s Martini
It’s Frankenstein Friday! Last day in October is always dedicated to the mad scientist and his big badass monster. Today, we toast Mary Shelley’s brilliant gothic horror with a variation of a sour-apple vodka martini, called Frankenstein’s Martini.
INGREDIENTS:
2 oz sour apple mix
2 oz vodka
1 oz pineapple juice
Splash of real lime juice
Mix all items well in a cocktail shaker and pour over ice, or not. I like my cocktails chilled like the dead.
I wish I knew a potion to instantly fill my empty bottles. I drank the last of my sour apple mix experimenting on this recipe!
Halloween Horror Haiku 
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