Woooooooot—it’s Halloween! At long last!
Halloween is particularly fun when it’s on a Friday. My little town “observed” trick-or-treating last night, but I’m going with Dr. Fiancée and my niece and nephews tonight (we’re not dressing up, but the kids are). I’m looking forward to some family time.
How are you celebrating tonight, readers?
With that, here is 31 October 2019’s “Happy Halloween!“:
The reblogging of this spooky post is now more relevant than ever. It seems that, in addition to a lot of other controversial (i.e.—interesting) topics, discussion of spiritual warfare and demonic influence has become mainstream again. It feels different, though, than the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s-1990s, although now I’m beginning to wonder if there was some Truth to that as well.
When Tucker Carlson has a guest on his show to discuss mystical Kabbalah and its influence on computer programming and artificial intelligence—and the goal to create a golem-god that will, inevitably, turn on its fallen creators—you know there’s some serious wickedness and witchcraft afoot. I’ve long maintained that a cadre of shadowy elites partake in some form of Satanism and/or Gnosticism (although, really, the two are the same); it seems that I was, sadly, correct.
With that, here is 10 October 2024’s “TBT^16: Things That Go Bump in the Night“:
Pickup my newest release: Spooky Season III! Use promo code spooky to take an additional 20% off all purchases on Bandcamp! Code expires at 11:59 PM UTC on Thursday, 31 October 2024—TONIGHT!
At long last, it’s here—Halloween! Regular readers know that I love Halloween (perhaps a bit too much). The season always seems to fly by, though, no matter how hard I try to cling to every pumpkin-spiced moment.
Yours portly was disgracefully late with putting up my decorations this year, but I’ll likely be disgracefully late taking them down, too; it’s not unheard of for me to be heading into Thanksgiving Week with a rotting Jack O’Lantern still festooning my slug-infested porch.
Speaking of, here’s a look at the Jack O’Lantern while still fresh; I did a very thorough job of scraping and scooping the little guy of his gooey innards, so he’s holding up a bit better this year:
If that dubious knife play doesn’t get you excited for Halloween, perhaps these classic Halloween posts will.
With that, here is 2 November 2024’s “TBT^4: Happy Halloween!“:
Spooky Season III is out now on all streaming platforms (including Spotify)! Pick up the digital download at Bandcamp, and take 20% off any Bandcamp purchase with this promo code: spooky (code expires at 11:59 PM UTC on Thursday, 31 October 2024).
Last night was the Spooktacular, and Halloween is mere days away! I don’t know how much more prepared I can be, but this past week saw some awesome posts about spooky fun:
Happy Sunday!
—TPP
Other Lazy Sunday Installments:
Pickup my newest release: Spooky Season III! Use promo code spooky to take an additional 20% off all purchases on Bandcamp! Code expires at 11:59 PM UTC on Thursday, 31 October 2024.
Today I’m featuring the fourth track from my latest album, Spooky Season III, “Boneyard Blues.” It’s a swingin’ little tune that evokes a cool skeleton jiving about in the old boneyard.
Yours portly hasn’t had much time to watch movies the past two weeks, and I can feel the glory of the Halloween season slipping away with each busy day. October has always seemed to fly by like a witch fleeing Walpurgisnacht, and all those months of gleeful anticipation seem to culminate in a celebration that passes in an instance. The older I get, the fast all time seems to pass, but especially October.
So in casting about for a good movie to review, I was coming up empty. Whenever I run into this rare bit of writer’s block, I walk over to my bookshelf and inspect the DVD section. That usually helps to jog my memory, and this time was no different. My eyes swiftly went to my box set of Ghostbusters (1984).
I remember purchasing this box set, which also includes the unfairly maligned sequel, Ghostbusters II (1989). My very first girlfriend had dumped me, and I undertook a quest to purchase a DVD of at least the original Ghostbusters film as some misguided way to ease my pain through the magic of retail therapy—and laughter.
This quest took place in March 2010. The world was quite different at the time. While I could have ordered it from Amazon (I think), I wanted to buy it in a store. Living in rural South Carolina, the task was more difficult fourteen years ago, but not impossible. It required, however, going to a brick-and-mortar retailer—remember those?—and hunting down a copy.
I was living—unhappily, and not just because of the breakup—in Sumter, South Carolina, which had a few more amenities than Lamar, but was not exactly a thriving metropolitan center. There was a failing mall and a slightly-more-successful Walmart. I think I tried the Walmart first, but with no success, so I hopped over to the mall and its little chain music store (I can’t remember what franchise it was—Suncoast, maybe?)—and there it was: an overpriced two-DVD set of the classic films. Even used—yes, it was a used copy!—I paid $13. That’s the equivalent of $18.80 today.
It was a complete ripoff, but I was looking to be taken advantage of by a faceless corporate entity. Anyway, I had a quest to complete—and laughs to enjoy.
Spooky Season III is out now on all streaming platforms (including Spotify)! Pick up the digital download at Bandcamp, and take 20% off any Bandcamp purchase with this promo code: spooky (code expires at 11:59 PM UTC on Thursday, 31 October 2024).
The spooky season keeps on rollin’! Hopefully by the time you read this post yours portly will have completed some Halloween decorating, and maybe even some pumpkin carving. Fun!
Happy Sunday!
—TPP
Other Lazy Sunday Installments:
Pickup my newest release: Spooky Season III! Use promo code spooky to take an additional 20% off all purchases on Bandcamp! Code expires at 11:59 PM UTC on Thursday, 31 October 2024.
Today I’m featuring the third track from my latest album, Spooky Season III. It’s called “Curious Little Ghosties,” and it’s similar in style to last week’s selection, “Dancing in the Graveyard.” According to my music journal, I jotted down the main melody for this piece on 5 September 2024.
Ah, yes—Spooky Season is back! I love this time of year, so much so that I’ll say if you don’t, you’re a buzzkill.
Indeed, there’s a weird kind of “horseshoe” overlap where extreme progressives—who are notorious buzzkills—meet with extreme Christian fundamentalists, where both end up denouncing Halloween. Look, I’m probably a Christian fundamentalist by most standards, but, c’mon—I love fun. I’m pretty sure God Does, too.
And what’s more fun that getting candy and running around in the dark dressed in some kind of hilarious costume? Well, probably a lot of things if you’re nearly forty, but I can at least appreciate the spooky aesthetic of Halloween.
Anyway, you get my point—this time of year is fun. I don’t know if ghosts are real (probably not, if you believe in the Bible), but I don’t see any harm in speculating wild about the topic.
With that, here is 12 October 2023’s “TBT^4: Things That Go Bump in the Night“:
Spooky Season III is out now on all streaming platforms (including Spotify)! Pick up the digital download at Bandcamp, and take 20% off any Bandcamp purchase with this promo code: spooky (code expires at 11:59 PM UTC on Thursday, 31 October 2024).
The spooky season is here, my friends! To help you get ready, I decided to look back at some classic posts highlighting the fun and the fright of this magically mysterious time of the year:
Happy Sunday—and Happy Hauntings!
—TPP
Other Lazy Sunday Installments:
The Portly Politico 