Haunted shows on The Travel Channel

It's as if October suddenly passed by the summer months and decided it wasn't going to wait any longer! This evening, I discovered one spooky show after another on The Travel Channel. I remember watching most of them the weeks before Halloween, and now they are showing them again. 'The World's Creepiest Destinations' and 'The Most Terrifying Places in America' are among the shows being broadcast tonight. I am surprised, considering it is only mid-May, but I also love it. I have been curled up in bed watching just like I did shortly before Halloween's arrival last year. The shows, along with the unusual fall-like weather we've been having lately, really make it seem as though October were here. I am loving it.

http://www.travelchannel.com/Schedule

The Halloween Bonfire

Bonfire on Samhain

(Courtesy of www.hauntedbay.com)

As I was driving home from work one night last week, I was surprised to see a rather large bonfire high up on a hill overlooking the dark, windy road I was driving along. It was just after 9 p.m. and I could see and smell the smoke as I approached the lower hillside. I could see the tips of the flames almost licking the spindly branches of the oak trees overhead, and I suddenly felt a surge of excitement rush through me as I immediately thought of Halloween. It was the last thing I expected to find on my way home at such a late hour of the night. I slowed down slightly as I approached the side of the hill to get a better look. I wanted to stop my car and walk up the hill and really take it all in. I wanted to feel the warmth of the fire surround me. My imagination went wild with images of costumed partygoers dancing and laughing around the fire. I imagined music playing, and the scent of burning oak, along with brightly burning pumpkins. I wished I had a camera with me to capture the scene. Even though it is far from October, the sight of a roaring fire in the pitch blackness, and the smoke that permeated the chilly night air made it feel as though Halloween were near. It was wonderful.

This sight reminded me of an article I had seen some time ago on the Haunted Bay website about the ancient tradition of Halloween bonfires. It had a picture of an awesome bonfire lighting up the night, with a full moon glowing in the background (see picture above). I wanted to jump into that picture and join the small crowd of onlookers. I love the idea of gathering around a huge bonfire on a cool Halloween night. I didn't realize this was actually a tradition on Samhain going back years. It was believed that the fire would ward off any evil spirits.

I decided that one of these years, I am going to have myself a bonfire on Halloween. I have never been able to do this before, but somehow it seems as though it would be the perfect way to top off a Halloween celebration. Maybe I'll even dance around the fire in my costume, singing praises to the Harvest moon, as they did in ancient times. That sounds like my idea of a perfect Halloween night!

To read the full article, go here: http://www.hauntedbay.com/history/bonfire.shtml

Halloween twice a year!

Last week on the Disney Channel was 'Halloween in April'. I discovered this about halfway through the week, unfortunately. Nonetheless, it was exciting to see that Halloween has become popular enough that even a major company like Disney would devote an entire week to Halloween shows! It occurred to me that we are now about halfway until Halloween's arrival. It almost seems like October around here lately. The weather has been more like Fall than Spring, raining a lot, and so chilly that we've been wearing sweaters and jackets again. I love it when I get a taste of October and it's still a few months away. If only the stores were filled with Halloween goodies, and porches cluttered with grinning pumpkins!

http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/schedule/halloweeninapril/index.html

A few of my favorite things (from past Halloweens)

Halloween village

"Left Behind" ('09)

Another of my carvings, The Headless Horseman.

One of my carvings from '08. The blurriness is from the flash being turned off.

Grinning Jack

Halloween plug-in

Spider lamp

Haunted lamp

It almost seems like Halloween time

Some of my favorite shows on TV are 'Haunted History', 'MonsterQuest', 'Scariest Places on Earth', and 'Ghostly Encounters'. I've been catching a lot of these shows lately, and every day and every night I search the TV Guide channel to see when they will be on. They seem to be showing them so much lately that it almost seems like it's the Halloween season! I remembered watching these shows almost every night in the days leading up to Halloween. I looked forward to them every night. I love it when shows like these come on when it isn't even Halloween time. In some strange way, it seems to satisfy my Halloween yearning. Today, there was even a special show on about Vlad Tepes, a.k.a. Dracula.

They will be repeating a 'Haunted History' episode at 1:00 a.m., and I have every intention of staying up to watch it (or at least trying!). It was about haunted places in New York and the surrounding area. I only caught a bit of it this afternoon when it was on, and I'm looking forward to watching it all the way through. I have never been to the east coast, but I'd really love to. It is, after all, where one of my favorite spooky tales takes place- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I can't wait to visit many of the world's supposedly haunted locations.

I think I'll go grab a little shut-eye before my favorite show comes on!

A little Halloween treat for late-January

Shortly before this last Halloween, our local newspaper published a bunch of recipes sent in by readers from the surrounding areas. I think there must have been at least two or three whole pages that were devoted entirely to making Halloween drinks, appetizers, and desserts. I was so excited when I saw this that I saved the newspaper so I would have the recipes handy to make for the following year. One of the recipes that sounded especially good to me was a Pumpkin Dip, which won third place in the 2009 Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin and Harvest Festival. I love dips, and I love anything pumpkin, so I figured this would probably end up being a new favorite. The combination of pumpkin and cream cheese made me think it probably tastes a lot like pumpkin cheesecake- definitely at the top of my list of delicious desserts! No, it isn't pumpkin season, but I'm missing Halloween and longing for a taste of it, so I decided to give this one a try. Being the health-conscious person that I am, I did buy the reduced-fat cream cheese to try. I have used the reduced-fat kind in things before and didn't think I noticed much difference. Below is the recipe, if you care to try it for yourself. Let me know if you make it, and what you think!

Pumpkin Dip

2 cups canned pumpkin
Two 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 cups powdered sugar
Gingersnaps or sugar cookies

In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, combine pumpkin, cream cheese, cinnamon, and ground ginger. Beat until well blended. Add sugar and beat until smooth. Serve dip with gingersnaps or sugar cookies.

Per 1/4 cup: 208 calories; 28 g carb; 10 g fat.

Halloween musings

Almost four months have passed since our favorite night of the year. Christmas has ended, and All Hallow's Eve is a long nine months away. I sit here listening to the haunting music of Nox Arcana, on a cold, windy, rainy night near the end of January with thoughts of Halloween occupying my mind. I miss it; long for it even, and so I decide to search the Web for more images, stories, or poems to add to my already huge Halloween collection. It doesn't take long until I come across something that my eyes immediately become fixed upon. A simple typing of the word "Halloween" into a search engine, and dozens of dark images pertaining to Halloween appear on my screen. I am searching for a new muse, and almost immediately I have found one. He sits atop his black steed as the moonlight creeps steadily through the twisted branches of a haunted forest, illuminating an ancient gravestone. A victim of the Horseman, perhaps? He waits there for the next one to come along, surrounded by stillness, his large gloved hand gripping the scarred end of his sword. His horse, one leg raised as if ready to lunge forward at the urging of his immortal master, chomps anxiously at his bit. He knows that at any moment the race will begin and he and his dark rider will once again be off in pursuit of another helpless soul.

And so they wait in the blackness, quietly, a thick fog dampening the fallen leaves, with only a glowing pumpkin to light the way. Its twisted grin and glowing eyes a reminder to all to beware, for it is Devil's Night. It is October 31st. His rampage begins.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow....one of my favorites. I look at this picture and I want it to be October 31st all over again.