THE RED GODS CALL.

“The slow fire spreads from the blazing maples to the gold of the birches on our high slopes. The threat of winter is not yet upon the land, but rather a sense of awakening from the sultry bondage of summer—and the Red Gods call. The smell of burning leaves in the still dusk, the bells of night-wandering cattle, brittle limbs on enormous moons, mists aglow in the valleys—these and a hundred such will always be New England October. And to them even the dullest heart must make some answer.”
—“October,” by Ben Rice, October 1945, Yankee Magazine

WELCOME TO HALLOWEEN SEASON: 2024.

These days how I cherish Halloween and Autumn has evolved. While we all appreciate the retail stores going all out for the season as they get creatively competitive with their $300 dollar skeletons, witches and clowns, there’s just something so corporate about it at the end of the day. It’s all entertaining as hell and I love it — but it doesn’t quench my thirst for the real down to earth stuff.

Hayride smell. The crunch of leaves under boots. Rotting apples falling from trees. Moonlit cornfields. Walks at dusk. A rusty scythe. The old town church with the steeple. The old town burial ground. The old town werewolf. Driving aimlessly through country roads. Pumpkins on stone walls. The local DIY haunted house. Horror movie marathons. Tales from a creepy, old book. Apple cider donuts. A hearse driving by.

My words may not be as poetic as Ben Rice’s of 1945 — but this is what I’ve got for you. To me, this year is all about getting back to the essence and purity of our favorite holiday. The little moments count…and they usually come without notice.

I remember back a few Octobers ago I was watching Pet Sematary (1989) one evening. The living room was a bit stuffy so I opened up all the windows to get a feel of that 62° weather outside. The cool night air filled the room and within seconds and it became an immersive movie experience. There we sat watching Pet Sematary with chilly winds blowing in and it goes down as one of the best movie experiences of my life. For a movie I’ve seen 900 times.

Another moment was driving home from visiting a horse cemetery a few years back (yes a horse cemetery in Littleton, New Hampshire). We stumbled on a beautiful and haunting small town a few miles away with virtually no people existing. TNUC’s Halloween Mixtapes were playing in the car and it felt like we were the only people on the planet. We had no GPS directions or any planned route. Just taking random roads to see where they would lead. Right as the next song started, we pulled onto a street called COFFIN LANE and gazed out at the foliage behind it. Spooky season stars aligned and what a moment it was.

You can’t really predict or plan out events like that. They just sort of happen in the moment but it’s what I’m always chasing during the season. Aside from splatter flicks and fun-sized candy, that is.

As for around these parts, expect plenty of ghosts, goblins, werewolf transformations, pentagrams, grim reapers, foam tombstones, graveyard guitar solos, monsters, gigantic gorillas and sexy girls in 3D bikinis! You know, the usual.

Check out this year’s “Harvester of Sorrow” artwork by Sarah aka @slushiehellhound! Can’t thank her enough! The TNUC Manimal sure knows his way around a moonlit cornfield.

Happy hauntings this October, disciples. Stay close!