Source: YT user, 32Stardust

To see more of Eric’s amazing artwork, visit his blog: Monstror. And for info on Sephiroth (Ulf Soderberg), you can visit the Official Sephiroth Page.

I recently contacted Sephiroth and am awaiting Ulf’s response. I’d love to feature works from the album, “Draconian Poetry” in the Halloween Radio section!

A little skeleton action:

Some “Monster Cereal” action:

I’ve received the okay from another really talented, dark ambient artist, Kammarheit, to feature some tracks from the album, “The Starwheel” in the Season of Shadows Halloween Radio player. Tracks 11 through 13 are “Klockstapeln,” “The Starwheel (Counter Clockwise),” and “Spatium.” I’ve been a fan of Kammarheit’s music ever since Victor of Haunted Hot Sauce turned me on to “The Starwheel” over a year ago, so it’s a huge honor for me to feature these works! I hope you enjoy the new additions to the player as much as I do.

As I’ve spent time walking along the Bosque (meaning woods or forest in Spanish), here in New Mexico, I always do my best to take a mental snapshot of the spooky imagery. Then, I try to infuse the feelings that imagery evokes into the creative process of making my props and setting up my yard haunt.

Just in case you don’t live near any creepy woods or happen to have access to the Bosque, YT user, oRisinai has created some footage that will bring those locations to you. Though it’s very short and has no plot or major storyline, the vid does a great job of capturing the haunting atmosphere and ambiance I love about woods and forests.

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Unfortunately, ZombieStomper4 didn’t provide information as to where these images came from. However, I happen to know a few of the Halloween postcards are from Flickr user, riptheskull’s collection. And several of the old photographs came from another Flickr user, stevechasmar.

If anyone knows the source(s) for the remaining images, please let me know.

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You know you’re obsessed with Halloween…

…When your sole criterion for purchasing a home is based on its “yard haunt potential.”

When the idea of a rubber band digging into the back of your head, and plastic pressed against your sweaty face makes you nostalgic for trick-or-treating.

When your local Spirit Halloween Store is on speed dial.

When you can no longer listen to music that doesn’t contain chants, moans, groans or the sound of crunching leaves.

When you shed a tear on November 1st.

When co-workers ask where you’ll be going during your upcoming vacation, and your answer is, “HauntCon.”

When you can provide precise customer service for Walmart’s, Target’s, and Kmart’s Halloween sections, though you’re not employed by any of them.

When your vehicle sports a bumper sticker that says: “My Other Car is a Hearse”

When your phone’s ring-tone is set to either the “Halloween” theme, “Tubular Bells,” or the “The Addams Family” theme, year round.

When going to hardware stores, you don’t see their purpose being for home improvement, but instead for home haunt improvement.

When you’ve actually spent time searching for formaldehyde scented candles.

When there’s an ENORMOUS presidential election campaign during your October haunt prep; and you sincerely respond to the question, “Who are you voting for,” by saying, “Who am I voting for, for what?”

When you organize a grassroots movement against Rob Zombie to prevent him from making another installment in the “Halloween” series.

When UPS delivers fake body parts and styrofoam skulls to your house on a weekly basis.

When the UPS delivery person grows quite comfortable delivering fake body parts and styrofoam skulls to your house on a weekly basis.

When you landscape your yard, strictly for the purpose of achieving the ideal haunt layout.

When all labels, describing the scents of your toiletries, begin with the word “pumpkin.”

During sporting events, you only cheer for teams wearing orange or black–and, when neither teams’ uniforms contain those colors, you just don’t give a damn.

Whenever someone uses the phrase, “skeletons in the closet,” you take it literally.

When you’re willing to incorporate clothing from an old Halloween costume into your everyday attire.

When you own, and happily use a Spirit Halloween Store credit card, even though the interest rate is 75%.

When the smell of fog fluid gives you a rush.

When you wear a jack-o-lantern tie to the office Christmas party.

Whenever the doorbell rings, you quickly answer it with a fistful of candy—in July.

When you visit Season of Shadows on a regular basis.

I hope you enjoyed my list. I have to point out that I was completely joking about Spirit Halloween charging 75% interest—in fact, I don’t think they even have a credit card.

If you have a few things you’d like to add to “You Know You’re Obsessed with Halloween…” I’d love to hear them.

After using cornstalks in my haunt during 2007 and 2008, I decided not to include them last year. While I liked the haunt a little better without the massive wall of corn behind my graveyard’s overseer, it was a little strange not having the stalks as part of the display. So, for Halloween 2010, I’ve decided to compromise — no wall of corn, however, I am going to bring the stalks back to the haunt. But this time, I’m going to place them in those lean-to bundles around the edges and back of the graveyard. And, in the vein of Tuesday’s post about Witches and Broomsticks, I decided to do a little digging on the history of those lean-to cornstalk structures, called “shocks.”

I learned that over a century ago (prior to major technological advances in farming), after stalks were cut down, farmers made shocks in the field so the cornstalks could dry out. After drying in shocks, the stalks were either loaded on wagons and hauled to another location for shucking, or they were shucked right in the field.

Today, this same practice is continued by the Amish, as is evident by the great footage of shocks in this vid:

Source: YT user, knoeful

There’s certain imagery that immediately captures the feeling of fall; seeing shocks is one of those for me. While I’ve never lived near an Amish community and machinery has removed the need for shocks among farms that embrace technology, associating those lean-to structures with Halloween and fall must go back to my youth. I used to consume a steady diet of Halloween books that included old artwork. A lot of that artwork featured creepy fields full of shocks, guarded by a lone scarecrow — all illuminated by a full moon.

“Shocks” image source: Wikipedia

A great resource for learning about the use of shocks and other aspects of pioneer farming is: Camp Silos.

One such decoration is the ever so common portrayal of a witch riding her broomstick. Whether it’s in the form of a cutesy cartoon, a decrepit looking old crone, or a sultry, scantily clad, black magic woman, witches are rarely depicted without their accessory for flight.

In the following video, YT user, esotericonlineradio discusses this very subject:

If we look elsewhere online, similar explanations, reflecting the video’s commentary are shared. All point to this “flying ointment” as being a real concoction, primarily composed of herbs, and/or molds, aka hallucinogens. Not all agree on the manner in which this ointment was applied, but they do agree it was not ingested due to either toxicity or because digestion was a poor means for delivery.

If someone was looking for the fastest means available (topically) to shuttle the flying ointment into the bloodstream, then it may not be too far-fetched to envision what esotericonlineradio alluded to in the last 30 seconds of the video. Now, whether or not the broom was employed as a method of aiding in that quick delivery of ointment can’t be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, but it does provide a strong clue about our modern day portrayal of witches and their brooms.

As the ointment took effect, the individual would experience amazing forms of hallucinations, trips, and flights; hence the idea of witches soaring through moonlit skies. Many of these experiences probably took place at night, in isolation, because of harsh judgments. This, no doubt, also led to the modern portrayal of “evil” witches doing so-called ungodly deeds during their nightly gatherings. That’s not to say the people involved in these experiences were even witches; most probably weren’t, but they quickly received the label of witch when their behaviors happened to be witnessed by neighbors, town folks, etc.

Overall, the connection between Halloween witches and their broomsticks probably stems from a variety of old references and practices, but the broom’s use in conjunction with flying ointment seems to be the most commonly discussed.

For more information on why we portray Halloween witches riding on broomsticks, I highly recommend the following articles. A few contain descriptions and very old artwork that some may find explicit, but all are presented in a very respectable manner:

What Really Happened: How Did Witches Come to Ride Brooms? (Contains an interesting collection of witchy artwork and its evolution over the last several hundred years.)

Science Blogs: On the Origin of Witches and Broomsticks

Straight Dope: What’s the Deal With Witches and Broomsticks?

Angelfire — Girls’ Paradise: Do Witches Ride Broomsticks? (This site creates a pop-up, but it should be harmless; just make sure your pop-up blocker is turned on.)

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