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!
Hello and Happy New Year! This month’s theme is the winter wolf. The winter wolf braces for the long cold months with courage and intelligence. Having already grown in its winter coat and possessing the gift of adaptability, this magnificent creature is well equipped to survive brutal harsh weather.
A few years ago, I quit Facebook. Last year, I quit Twitter. I was never on Tik Tok, and so, this year, I’m widening my self-imposed ban on social media to include Instagram and Threads. My time and energy can be used much more productively, and my money and support, well, that’s reserved for ideals I believe in.
Art by DrakoArt
Wolves are highly intelligent, social creatures. They’re caring, playful and all about the family and pack. When an enemy appears and threatens said tribe (like a buncha Nazis, kidnappers, rapists, slavedrivers, terrorists, treasoners, and their followers, who sadly allowed their cowardly, greedy, jealous minds to get hijacked), it’s time to get strategic about how to fight this evil, just like how they got strategic in their takeover of America. I’m choosing with my wallet and my eyeballs first. The battle has already begun.
The only thing I’ll miss are friends. I don’t expect any friends to do this too. Everyone needs to decide which roads to travel on their own. I do expect my real friends to understand and love me. Maybe we’ll see each other again and pick back up, right where we left off.
So, what does all this mean for my little web blog? Not much here is going to change. I’ll still do monthly haiku, a monthly blog post, post movie lists or reviews, post art and images, recipes and fun stuff associated with Halloween, horror and haiku. Who knows, with all that extra time and effort not spent catering to bots and an endless sea of scrolling eyeballs, I’ll produce something more impactful to culture and humanity.
I urge everyone to spend less time on social media, less time listening to big media, less time thinking about non-existent issues that racists, mysognists, and religious zealots want you to worry about. Make art instead. Write poetry. Watch movies. Listen to music. Buy from small mom and pop, brick and mortar stores. Protect the planet. Pay attention to climate change. Practice good DEI. Fight true evil pretending to believe in a fake god, and seriously, fuck nazis.
Happy Creepmas! Christmas is a mere 5 days away. It’s crunch time to get a spooktacular gift for your favorite Halloween and Horror lover. Books are the answer!
Kindle Yearly Subscription
Normally, I would recommend a hard or soft cover physical book since I love the feel of real book in my hand, but these days, it’s all about the convenience.
Audible Yearly Subscription ($149.00)
Totally worth it for those voracious readers. You get a credit back each month which is really nice. But, there are lower priced tiers, and if the subscription is canceled, readers keep anything downloaded or bought with a credit.
Book Gift Ideas – These spooky audio or ebooks will make great gifts!
Rob Weldon – The Omnist Series (Soft Cover, Kindle, Audible)
If you’re into magical noir, then this your jam! Get lost in this engaging, funny urban fantasy world featuring endearing characters that you want to root for.
Maria Alexander – A Bloodline of Yule Trilogy (Soft Cover, Kindle)
If you love a dark creepy Christmas, then this series is for you. The first novel, Snowed, won 2016 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel.
Paul Tremblay – A Head Full of Ghosts (Soft Cover, Kindle, Audible)
This spooky psychological thriller will leave you guessing up until the very end.
Stephen King – You Like It Darker (Soft Cover, Kindle, Audible)
The King of Horror returns to form with a new anthology of short horror fiction.
They’re calling it feminist witcherature, and honestly, I think we need more! I’m just enjoying three stories of three different women experiencing the same b.s. in a span of 100 years. It gives you the feels.
I love this story. I was swept away by this dark enchanting thriller set in the 1950s. Another classic with themes of enpowerment and independence. This cover was best too. Such mood.
Check out this stunning new digital zine from the creative talents of The Samhain Society, designed by Jackie Cheuvront of Eclipse Afterglow Studios and edited by Miranda Enzor of Spooky Little Halloween, featuring a collection of artworks, DIY projects, recipes, short stories, and more!
I am so honored to be part of such a creative collaboration with the most talented group of artists, writers and creators in the Halloween community. Click on link below or the picture.
Hello, I hope everyone is staying safe, staying healthy and staying home. Even Halloween fans must do their part to help to flatten the curve of Coronavirus, in hopes to minimize deaths and buy our overtaxed health workers a little time to get the crisis under control. Since the situation is so fluid, volatile and a vaccine is over a year away, who knows how this will play out, but citizens have a chance to save the day by staying indoors and doing absolutely nothing. It’s not going to get easier than that.
That said, I bet there’s a whole lot of people out there feeling anxious and stressed by the Covid-19 crisis though, so I came up with a list of things that Halloween fans can do during the quarantine to keep ourselves busy.
Write a Short Story
“Double, double, toil and trouble, Fire burn and cauldron bubble”
Don’t let anxiety and depression take over your brain! Get those feelings out on paper. Writing under duress sometimes produces the most creativity. Look at Shakespeare, that dude turned out Macbeth, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, and dozens of sonnets during the black plague. Yep, it’s true. The Bard of Avon was surrounded by the horrors of sickness and death every day for most of his life, and yet, he spent his time writing about love. I mean, isn’t that what life’s all about? Death and love?
Witches Brew by Ka7 on DeviantArt
Binge-watch 14 seasons of Supernatural
“The road so far”
Coronavirus has interrupted the production schedule of the CW’s Supernatural, television’s longest-running paranormal show. Maybe 2020 is upset as we are that this is the series finale. It’ll be hard to say goodbye to the Sam and Dean, and their angelic sidekick Castiel, which is why we should binge-watch all 14 seasons now, to mentally prepare for the end! It’s a 15-year story that demands closure. Does anyone even remember why the Winchester brothers are hunting demons in the first place?
Create a Spooky Terrarium
“Life springs from death”
Creating a spooky terrarium is a lot like putting together a Halloween diorama. You get to work with miniatures to create a haunted scene, but somewhere in your terrarium, globe, or glass container is a real living plant. The upside is going green for Halloween is always a good idea. The other upside is if you forget to care for your living plant and it dies, well, a dead plant will fit right in with your theme. Win-win!
Work on your Halloween Smash book
“Something wicked this way comes”
Halloween junk journals are still all the rage. All you need is a journal or notebook, and some Halloween ephemera, postcards, printables, or stickers. There’s no right or wrong way to do it, just follow your heart. Make ’em big. Make ’em small. Get artsy or just manage your collection of pumpkin stickers. Since we never enough time to do all the things we want to do with our smash books, quarantine life is like a gift from Father Time.
Create a Witchy Halloween Playlist
“But the talk got shackled by the howls and the cackles From the bowels of the Black bayou”
Creating your own Halloween playlist is one of those suggestions that always end up on lists like these, but I’m challenging everyone to get specific. When you’re done creating a witchy playlist, with only songs about witches, make a zombie one, then, werewolves, vampires, okay, apocalyptic tunes to dance to, you get the picture. With any luck, the rabbit hole you fall into should last the entire pandemic.
∴∴∴
You’ll notice I left off reading scary books and watching spooky movies, not because they’re not great ideas to keep our minds entertained and occupied during these surreal and unsettling times, but because those are things you should be doing every day anyway.
Let’s practice good physical-distancing, so we’re all here when Halloween 2020 rolls around this October!🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃
January’s full moon is nicknamed the ‘Wolf Moon.’ It’s believed the howling of wolves could be heard more during the time. Today’s Wolf Moon marks the first full moon of 2020, which coincides with the lunar eclipse.
This is a sign.
Earlier this week, I rebooted the Monthly Haiku Corner. After spreading myself too thin in 2019, and failing to accomplish my goals, I’ve decided not to write weekly haiku. This year, I’m choosing quality over quantity. Although I’m a sucker for monthly holidays and pop culture, I am dedicated to writing darker, more, haunting haiku than before.
I’ve found that writing haiku is a learning process. I’m not the most talented or skilled writer but this is all my heart really wants to do. I love horror and over the years, I’ve started several novels and abandoned them. This year, we answer the call. Only courage can navigate the dangerous waves of fear.
Make no mistake, I am still committed to sharing the love for Halloween, movies, entertainment, and creating cool, spooky original content for this blog. That won’t change. Besides, April marks the second anniversary of Halloween Haiku and I have big plans to celebrate! Plus, I’m already drawing up a game plan for this year’s Halloween. Halloween 2020 falls on a Saturday this year, under a full moon, a blue moon, no less.
I love a good summer storm. Anyone else? Warm breeze. Dark clouds. Rumbling thunder. Lightning strikes. Can you smell and feel the hot rain?
September is like a good storm brewing. It’s a sexy month. The weather dances the tango with you. The unbearable heat embraces you and swings you around, dizzying your mind, and just when you can’t take it anymore, there’s a cool nip at your nose, keeping you on your toes. You never know what September might be thinking. She’s as tempestuous as the sea, like a wild woman searching for the calm.
September likes to remind us of what we love and who we are. She brings back memories and yearns for new adventures. She makes us lose track of time. We’re constantly dreaming. She sees through the false smiles. She wipes away our summer tears and nudges us to do things that make us feel whole. Do not ignore her.
This is your time. Look out upon the horizon and take in the electrifying light show of last summer storm. Enjoy September. She has so much more to offer than being a pre-month. September doesn’t live in the shadow of October.
September is the lover you wish you could hold onto.
I’ve been struggling with my writing for several days. Weeks, really. The summer blues have had a strangling hold on me this year. I had several ideas on how I wanted to approach this month’s blog post. At one point, I wrote out a long piece about suffering from summer depression. It read like a book report on Seasonal Affective Disorder, and it had nothing to do with Halloween. As my deadline came and went, guilt followed, then, the shame of failure set in, and soon, it was hard to write anything at all, not even one of my goofy movie lists.
Group therapy
I belong to a few Halloween groups around the web, wherever I can find like-minded creatures. Halloweenophiles always seem to find each other. It’s nice not to feel the burden of being the weirdo sometimes. It’s a sure bet, the second Halloween merch hits the stores, people post pictures and store locations. We know how to comfort each other, most importantly, we understand why it’s important to do so, no explanation needed.
Sensing the buzz, off I went, in search of Halloween, looking for pumpkins, skeletons, black cats, and any sliver of orange and black. My local Michael’s did not disappoint.
Australian illustrator Selina Fenech is one of the world’s most popular fantasy artists. She creates beautiful magical worlds filled with fairies, mermaids, goddesses, unicorns and other enchanted creatures. Her art has been featured in books and magazines and is available on licensed products worldwide, ranging from clothing, coloring books, dolls, figurines, jewelry, tarot decks and dozens of other items. She is also a published author of YA fantasy novels titled: Memory’s Wake TrilogyArtist: Selina Fenech
Website: https://selinafenech.com/
Where to purchase goods: https://selinafenech.com/shop/
Social Media: https://twitter.com/selinafenech https://www.instagram.com/selinafenech/
Happy March! It’s the month of strange Irish legends, ominous warnings, over-indulgence, abstinence, and all things green.
February got a bit crazy. I missed all my writing deadlines, struggled to find time to work on the site, and much to the chagrin of this Halloween lover, Valentine’s came and gone without being changed into a second Halloween. But, sometimes, you just gotta roll with the punches and there’s no time to mourn February because we’re too busy looking forward.
This month, I’ve got some great haiku, fantastic art, cool movie lists, beautiful photos and lots of yummy Halloween recipes to share with everyone. I love reading your comments, and please, keep on rating those haikus.
In parting, I leave you with this wonderful quote from the Celtic Twilight by William Butler Yeats:
Let us go forth, the tellers of tales, and seize whatever prey the heart long for, and have no fear. Everything exists, everything is true, and the earth is only a little dust under our feet.
Artist: Selina Fenech
Halloween Horror Haiku 
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