Throwback Thursdays – Treat-or-Treating

Will trick or treating be a Halloween tradition that survives the apocalypse?

Past:

Trick-or-treating can be traced all the way back to the Celtic celebrations of Samhain, on what is now known as October 31st, the night when the dead were believed to come back to the living. Villagers disguised themselves in costumes made of animal skins to drive away evil spirits. Food and drink were left out. Bonfires were lit. Sacrifices made. Basically, the Halloween party life hasn’t changed much, well, maybe we don’t sacrifice as many bodies as we used to, but, we’re still lighting shit on fire and eating and drinking until we pass out. By the middle ages, people dressed in more elaborate costumes went door-to-door asking for treats, even performed for treats. Christianity took hold and their diehard zealots tried their best to push out pagan ceremonies of All Hallows eve, October 31, and All Hallows Day on November 1, with their own for All Saints Day on November 2. Everything only got muddled and combined. Immigrants brought their Halloween traditions, including trick-or-treating, to the USA, but by the 1920s, pranksters almost got Halloween canceled with their viciousness, horrible pranks, and acts of violence, that’s when parents started to organize community-wide events like parades, carnivals, or festivals.

Present:

Whoohoo, trick-or-treating is back, baby! According to Statista.com, Halloween spending is up to $10.6 Billion dollars in 2022, with $3.6 billion dollars being spent on costumes, and deep-pocket pet owners shelling out $710 million dollars to dress up their pooches and kitty-cats. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, they estimate about 42 million trick-or-treaters this year and 128 million dwellings offering treats, and a recent article from US News and World Report says the top three costumes were: the witch, Spiderman, and that funny inflatable dinosaur.

Future:

Mask or no mask, let’s face facts, you need people to trick-or-treat. You need people to pass out candy and you need kids, small people, to collect it. I mean, the USA couldn’t make it through a manageable pandemic without hoarding toilet paper and staying inside to stop the spread of a highly infectious deadly disease, it’s doubtful the majority of the population is going to make it through one of IET‘s 13 hypothesized apocalyptic doomsday scenarios.

The good news is, when the dust clears, I believe there will some form of a society, and probably one in need. Going door-to-door to collect food and handouts could become commonplace again, not mention to leaving “treats” to ward off evil (people) from doing good folks harm and you can be sure, as long as someone remembers October 31st is Devils night, somebody is going to be up to no good. I think trick-or-treating will most definitely survive the apocalypse.

Trick or Treat art by Raluca Iosifescu.

Throwback Thursday – Visiting Haunted Attractions

Will haunted attractions be a Halloween tradition that survives the apocalypse?

Past:

The mention of real haunted houses dates back to First Century A.D., when Roman author and politician, Pliny the Elder, wrote a letter about a man haunting his house in Athens, ever since then, people have been telling stories of ghosts and haunted houses. That’s its own topic for another day. This post is about haunted attractions, live entertainment inspired by haunted places and things.

In 1802, Madame Marie Tussaud opened the first wax exhibit, which took the public by storm, depicting gruesome decapitations of public figures such as Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Her permanent museum on Baker Street in London featured what she called the Chamber of Horrors, wax figures of notorious murderers and villains. This is thought to be the very first horror attraction. Sadly, Tussaud’s closed in 2016.

Madama Tussaud Chamber of Horrors Guillotine

Over 100 years after Tussaud’s, the first-ever electrified haunted attraction ever recorded was the Orton and Spooner Ghost House, at the Edwardian Fair in 1915, as part of the steam collection, in what would become known as dark rides, moving vehicles, trains, and boats that took passengers through scenes, like a spooky house or the tunnel of love. It didn’t take long before attractions featuring dark rides popped up in carnivals, world fairs, and exhibitions worldwide.

In 1969, Walt Disney opened The Haunted Mansion featuring groundbreaking technology and audio-animatronic ghosts. This is when commercialized haunted attractions were thought to have become a cultural mainstream. The idea was born in 1951 between Walt Disney and his Imagineers, when early illustrations created by the Legendary Harper Goff, of the proposed park featuring a church, a graveyard, and a “run-down manor perched high on a hill that towered over main street”, but Walt didn’t like the idea of a rundown house in the middle of his brand new park. It’s said that after a visit to the Winchester House in San Jose, CA, with its creepy deadends and stairs leading to nowhere, Walt was inspired to fashion the mansion in a similar way. It originally was going to be a walkthrough too, but Walt and the team decided on making it a dark ride that would carry passengers through their animated “Museum of the Weird” and christened their vehicles “doom buggies.” During the planning years, The Haunted Mansion grew darker and stranger, and took on several iterations, not to mention several years to build. Sadly, Disney died in December of 1966 and never even had the opportunity to experience one of his most popular creations.

Since The Haunted Mansion’s opening in the late 60s, there have been hundreds of commercialized haunted houses or carnival dark rides, too numerous to count. Haunts popped up in abandoned buildings and farmhouses across the USA, People capitalized on both rumored and actual haunted places, offering tours, mazes, hayrides, and festivals in honor of legendary ghosts and American haunts. According to AmericaHaunts.Com, there was even a book written on the subject authored by Jim Gould and Tom Hilligoss, who detailed makeup FX, scene ideas, and marketing strategies. Over 20,000 copies were sold and Gould and Hilligoss became known as the first Haunted House experts. They would go on to create the Haunted House Company, one of the first outfits to sell FX, masks, lighting, costumes, etc.

Present:

After Hollywood’s horror boon during the 1970s and 1980s, horror movies became more mainstream and an entire industry of itself. Bigger theme parks found a way to offset seasonal attendance by offering haunted mazes and attractions. In 1973, Knott’s Berry Farm turned part of its fairgrounds into Knott’s Scary Farm. Today it boasts 160 acres featuring haunted mazes, spooky characters, scary rides, and scare zones. Universal Studios would cash in on the craze during the1990s, using its extensive film history with classic monster films and newer horror franchises as inspiration for haunted mazes and attractions. Soon after, all haunts everywhere featured popular characters from horror books, movies, and television. These days, I’ve heard there are something like over 4000 amateur-made, professional, or commercialized haunts every Halloween.

Future:

No people, no haunted attractions. We’ll all become ghosts. Every place will become haunted. Simple as that.

Throwback Thursday – Jack-o’-lanterns

Will jack-o’-lanterns be a Halloween tradition that survives the apocalypse?

Past: Centuries before the Native Americans introduced pumpkins to puritan societies, the Celts (ancient Irish peoples) were carving gruesome faces into turnips and potatoes and filling them with candles, all in an effort to guide wandering spirits to safety and ward off evil spirits during Samhain.

Ancient Celtic jack-o’-lantern at Carnegie Museum of Natural History

By the early 1800s, the Irish began telling the story of Stingy Jack, a man cursed to roam the earth for eternity after being rejected entry into both Heaven and Hell.

“As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as “Jack of the Lantern,” and then, simply “Jack O’Lantern.”
https://www.history.com/news/history-of-the-jack-o-lantern-irish-origins

Present: Irish immigrants brought their legend of Stingy Jack with them to the America and replaced turnips with pumpkins, which were big and easier to carve, not mention, the most economical gourds to cultivate, growing almost anywhere with the proper care.

With the commercialization of Halloween, we saw the pumpkin carving grow into a elaborate artistry and jack-o’-lanterns made out of every material substance known to man.

Future: According to an article “Could Humans Grow Food During a Nuclear Winter?” in Discover Magazine from March 2022, any sun-blocking catastrophes, i.e., volcanic eruptions, meteor crashes, or nuclear war would likely reduce sunlight by 40%, causing global permafrost and reducing much need precipitation. A Nuclear disaster would most surely ruin the earth’s soil, at least for a good 5 years or so. Without good sunlight and moderate soil temps, it would probalby be a number of years before survivors could grow fields of pumpkins again, or any food for that matter.

We have already experienced reduced crops in the last few years due to climate change, with soaring temps, severe rain storms in the East, and record-breaking droughts out West. Mini pumpkins, which can grow in controlled environments and small spaces, may be the only variety of pumpkin that survives.

All said, carving jack-o’-lanterns is arguably the oldest and most beloved Halloween tradition. I think as long as there’s a candle or a light, a metal bucket, and one human being left on the planet caring enough about Halloween, the jack-o-lantern will survive.

Throwback Thursdays – Bobbing for Apples

Will apple bobbing be a Halloween tradition that survives the apocalypse?

Past:

Apple bobbing dates back to antiquity and is commonly associated with the Celtic festival Samhain, where apples were a sign of abundance, fertility, and good harvest. The game goes like this, several apples are placed into a tub filled with water, then, children or adults, with hands bound behind their backs, try to catch apples with their teeth. There were several variations of the game, including one called Snap Apple where the apple hangs from a string tied to the ceiling. Eventually, apple bobbing became a fun courting act between young ladies and potential suitors, particularly in regions of the United Kingdom. A young lady would drop her apple, representing the man she most desired, into a barrel and attempt to bite the apple by dunking her head into or near the water. Catching the apple in one try meant the romance was destined to succeed, while more than three tries meant the relationship was doomed. Hard to believe that’s how many a marriage started before the 1900s, but there you have it. Young women even put their apples under their pillows the night before for extra luck.

Present:

Health and safety concerns pretty much keep bobbing for apples a thing in the past. The fear of catching Covid, Influenza, or some other illness from contaminated water is high and parents of small children especially fear drowning, not to mention the high possibility of eye injuries from accidental scratches or infections. This game is more dangerous nowadays than it ever was in the past. Most instances of apple bobbing events happen during private parties or fall festivals and more often than not, involve schoolchildren. No young lads want to mess up their coiffeurs and any ladies looking for a soulmate will find that match.com is a far easier and safer way to attract a good man.

Future:

Whether due to the radioactive contamination from the fallout of a nuclear war or worldwide freshwater shortages due to climate change, it’s hard to imagine the earth will be fertile enough in the future to grow orchards full of apple trees needed for apple bobbing. Soil and water would both be irradiated in the event of a nuclear explosion, so, growing any crops at all will be a challenge. Given the high chance of scarcity of food during the apocalypse, I don’t anticipate apple bobbing to be a Halloween tradition that survives. Still, only one apple is truly needed to play, so, all hope is not completely lost. Let me know your thoughts in the comments or hit me up on social media.

Happy Halloween!

31 Days of Halloween 2022

Happy October! After starting late this Halloween season, I’m now ready to post the schedule of this year’s 31 Days of Halloween Celebration. The theme this October is dystopian Halloween. With the doomsday clock ticking down, due to savages like Russian dictator Vladamir Putin and gun-crazed trump-loving jesus-freaks, it’s probably way past time to think about how humankind plans to survive the apocalypse, in particular, how we’ll preserve our traditions and holidays, like Halloween.

Part of the month, we’ll have some fun with the dystopian Halloween-horror theme, but I have decided to mix in some good old-fashion Halloween traditional themes as well, cuz, I just love talking about those Halloween memories.

Have a safe and happy Halloween season!

31 Days of Halloween Schedule

Monday Macabre
Mondays are always dedicated to Haiku, but every Monday in October we’ll explore a dystopian Halloween.

Tuesday Terror
Every Tuesday, I’ll share my favorite scary movies that I believe make great Halloween season viewing.

Wicked Art Wednesdays
Every Wednesday, I’ll share some spooktacular Halloween art with an apocalyptic twist. I might even post some my own original Halloween pencil stencil art.

Throwback Thursdays
Preservation of Halloween traditions is important for several reasons. Every Thursday, let’s explore the origins of some Halloween traditions and muse over whether these traditions might survive the apocalypse.

Friday Fright Nightcaps
Ghosts aren’t the only ones who like to get sheet-faced on Halloween. Check back every Friday for Halloween season-inspired cocktails.

Sinister Saturdays
In the past few years, Sinister Saturdays have always been dedicated to food and Halloween recipes. The problem was, besides my being the worst cook in America, people are simply reluctant to let you share their recipes online, even if you give them complete credit and link back to their website. So, in the true spirit of Sinister Saturdays, we’re just going to let the demons loose that day and see what they come up with.

Poe Sundays
This year’s tribute to the master of macabre, Edgar Allan Poe, will feature my thoughts on the best Poe adaptations on film.

4^th Annual Halloween Haiku Challenge 2022
#Halloweenhaikuchallenge

Share your most original or scariest visual Halloween Haiku photos during October for a chance to win some prizes.

More details about the haiku contest will be announced on October 18^th.

Join in the fun, and follow me @Halloweenhorrorhaiku on Instagram and @Halloweenkristy on Twitter

Throwback Thursdays: Vintage Halloween Cigarette Ads

Cigarette makers were some of the first to use Halloween in advertising. For at least a hundred years, people were fooled into thinking cigarettes didn’t taste like ashtrays.

Famous actors and entertainers would personally vouch for products, back in the day when celebrities were thought to have integrity and such opinions could be trusted.

There was the disturbing common practice of real medical doctors declaring some cigarette brands healthier than others and even making claims that smoking was beneficial.

Old Gold took the high road and chose not to lie about selling products that kill people.

What a waste of a good hat!

Excess was king during the 70s. From cigarettes to Halloween costumes, everything was sexy.

Newport brands liked to show pretty young couples having a ball carving jack-o-lanterns and picking out pumpkins to show how romantic cigarettes can be. I guess the couple that smokes together, loses a lung together.

In the 80s, Camel made huge profits off its Joe Camel character and sexy ads selling cigarettes that made you look cool.

By early 90s though, the jig was up, whistle-blowers started coming forward about the lies big tobacco companies told the world about their filthy products and the print ads all but disappeared in a puff of smoke.

So, whether we want to admit it or not, our favorite holiday definitely helped sell cancer sticks.

Throwback Thursdays: Vintage Halloween Store Ads

I’m not ashamed of my age nor to admit that I miss the old stores like K-Mart, F.W. Woolworth Co., and Toys ‘R Us during Halloweentime. K-Mart and Woolworth’s were like one-stop shopping. They had everything.

Up until their demise in the early 90s, I was weekly shopper. In fact, I used to work at the mall and went Woolworth’s every day during my lunch hour. They had some cool Halloween ads too.

Once the center in American lives, most of these department stores no longer exist.

Selling cheap Halloween costumes became big business in the 60s through the 70s and 80s. Most were made of highly flammable plastic. They tore easily and it was hard to see through the little eye holes. These days, costumes like that would get canceled before they were even loaded onto the truck, but they’re considered vintage Halloween antiques now. A rare, unopened, or one in pristine condition could be worth quite a lot of money.

Osco Drug Store is still in business. I believe it’s part of Albertsons/CVS family now. Do you see those candy bar prices? Those were full candy bars too!

A few years ago, Tucson.com dug up old print ads from the 1920s through 1960s to prove that Halloween has always been a big celebration in Tucson. There were far too many to post here, so go check them out by clicking the picture below.

Goodmans print ad from feature article found at Tucson.com

I find it funny that people complain about the overcommercialization of Halloween, but these vintage ads prove stores have been cashing in on the Halloween craze since the 1920s.

Happy Halloween!

Throwback Thursdays – Vintage Halloween Ads

It’s no secret that advertising played a big part in making Halloween the $8 billion dollar industry it is today, but, did you ever see some of those vintage Halloween ads and say, what were they thinking? Here’s a few I really just had to question:

Cuz nothing says shoe polish like a scantily clad witch on Halloween. Is there even enough shoe to polish there? Is she supposed to ignore the creeper behind her just cuz he’s got nicely polished shoes? Did you even notice this was an ad for shoe polish?

Do tots buy more candy from sexy witches? Do sexy witches sell more candy to tots? Do moms need to be a sexy witch to hand out candy to tots? What is the message here?

Number one rule in advertising, know your audience, candy is for kids, but mommy does the buying, with daddy’s money, and daddies like sexy witches.

The health benefits play second fiddle to scaring off men with bad breath.

Ah, the good ole days when drinking carbonated sugary drinks made us skinny!

Coca-cola bringing the world together, very closely, like super close, too close, why are they so damn close?!

This is no brainer, we should carve pumpkins in our undies cuz our dresses might get dirty!

Throwback Thursday: Night of the Comet

Night of the Comet (1984)

I saved the best for last. If you ever hear a Cyndi Lauper song in a horror film, this is peak 80s in all its surreal neon day-glowiness!

At face value, Night of the Comet is a mindless mash-up of several low-budget B-movie horror Sci-fi gems from the 50-60s, but look closer, and you’ll see Writer-director Thom Eberhardt actually penned a smart, witty satire, in tribute of such fine films. The question asked, what happens when two valley girls are the only two people left after a comet wipes off everyone on the planet? If your first guess was ‘they go mall shopping and then get attacked by zombies’, give yourself a prize!

Two sisters Regina and Samantha played by Catherine-Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney, are more than just gum popping, ripped-denim, leg warmer wearing bimbos full of sass. As if!
They’re actually pretty smart, and they manage to fight off armed invaders with Uzis in a sinister turf war, blood-seeking evil scientists with one-foot in the grave, and of course, comet-induced flesh-eating zombies, that always seem to come outta nowhere, all while working through why always-absent daddy married that money-hungry bitch Doris.
Level one up for the ladies of the eighties!

It’s true, there’s a lot of “family drama” with our feather-haired heroes, and less zombies than an average Walking Dead episode these days, but there’s still plenty of fun-filled comedy and bursts of non-gory action. That’s right, no gore in this one, which is probably while the movie missed its mark as a really great horror film, but horror fanatics can’t live on blood-splatter alone. We need something to break up the monotony. If your eighties Halloween movie marathon contains Nightmare on Elm Street, any Hellraisers or early Maniacs, or John Carpenter’s The Thing, consider throwing in this campy zombie romp as a breather. You’ll thank me later.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Throwback Thursday: The Toxic Avenger

These movies are so painstakingly 80s, they serve as a tubular tribute to both spandex and bloodsplatter.

The Toxic Avenger (1984)

Today is National Cheese Curd Day (10/15) and cheese curd is basically immature cheese that hasn’t gone through any proper process. That’s kinda how I view Troma movies, films shot, cut raw, and served to the masses as unrefined horror. It’s definitely an acquired taste. The Toxic Avenger is a story of a bullied young man who gains superhuman strength after falling into a vat of toxic waste. The new mop-carrying hero promptly sets out to get revenge on those who tried to kill him, but also manages to clean up his small town of Tromaville, by getting rid of the bad guys and corruption along the way.

Directed by Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman, who also helped write and produce the film, The Toxic Avenger was panned upon its initial release but gained a strong cult following after being the featured midnight show at a popular movie house in Greenwich Village in 1985. The rest is history. Troma Entertainment went from making campy sex romps to campy horror, building a franchise of Toxic Avenger movies, which spawned five films and even a short-lived cartoon television series.

Armed with a specialized in a brand of satire, Troma effectively exaggerated the issues of the 80s drug-fueled excess, gym craze obsession, raging crime, political corruption, and clear class divisions, while serving up a satisfying revenge fantasy. The Toxic Avenger is campy, it’s gory, it’s silly, and may have played on stereotypes of the time, but once you swim through the bloodsplatter and Aquanet cloud, the Toxic Avenger is just as heartwarming as any of those John Hughes teen comedies of the 80s, and it had a lot to say about teen bullying. The Toxic Avenger isn’t the best-looking superhero on the planet but he sure is the hero the world needs.