[Laurie S.]

So, we all go through withdrawals during November, and surrender to the warm fuzzies of December, but by which month after that are you kicking it hard to get your way with the upcoming Halloween season? I'm usually dormant 'till about May (excluding the need for 'Scary Movie Saturdays' and reading a great horror novel anytime I want), but then it's ON....

 

[22606]

December gives me the chills, not warm fuzzies Truly, I feel like I am in withdrawal the entire rest of the year, impatiently waiting for the season to roll around again...

 

[Hilda]

I too have found my heart aching all through the year, for late summer and the season to begin.
I craft my way through winter, build my way through spring, shop my way through summer. LOL

 

[ooojen]

I enjoy every season for what it is, and find things to enjoy all year, but right now (late March through early April) is the time I get antsy to do some building. It's still too cold outside, and the ground is too damp.

 

[boo who?]

November. I am usually busy working and am overwhelmed by all the Halloween stuff I need to sort and put away. Ugh!

 

[Spats]

Now.

Once St. Patrick's Day has come and gone, the neighborhood starts greening up. Daffodils open, tulips stretch skyward and rain returns to the forecast.

Life is returning, hope is in the air, and I'm already preparing for the inevitable funeral to come. I turned Halloween Radio on two days ago. It will be a regular selection from now until November.

Soon, the air will grow heavy and hot. Monstrous mountains of cloud will sail across the landscape, sometimes dangling tongue-like tornadoes to taste the earth as they roar through the heavens. Trees will sag with greenery. Droning insects will fill the air. Newly hatched birds will take their first unsteady flights. Local children, freed from the narrow hallways of the nearby schoolhouse, will take to the sidewalks and rule the asphalt like mercenary bands in peacetime, bored and hungry for diversion.

As for me, I'll be lost in the nightmare notions and vile visions that all Hallowfiends know so well. It's the siren song of the cemetery, sounding in our skulls even as we savor the smoke from the grill, or slide our spoons through melting ice cream. Whether sweating in the proud and arrogant sun or hiding in air-conditioned shade, I'll be walking dismal, more dastardly spaces in my mind.

By the time the grass withers and pumpkins squat on porches, I'll have been mothering the macabre for many months.

Perhaps Spring has sprung, and Summer is on its way. Let the sun have its temporary zenith. I'll begrudge it nothing.
I know the bloody and baleful ending of this seasonal ballad.
Halloween is Coming.

 

[ooojen]

Beautifully stated, Spats!

 

[UnOrthodOx]

I know this might sound REALLY weird, but I'm a rather extremely shy introvert with serious issues involving crowds of people.

Of course, that means I willingly throw a party the day before Halloween with more than 100 people coming over, and have close to a thousand over ON Halloween.

I enjoy these, really, on my terms. And while a lot of you are ready for a second Halloween the next night, I'm spent. I'm done. I need to sit back and take some time to recover. But November and December throw me into this whole firestorm of gathering after gathering of loads of people outside my control. I HATE these months. Work party, family party, Wife's work, more family, another work party just because....It takes me 10 months to recover from this dreaded fiasco to be ready to see people again.

 

[Laurie S.]

I love your words, Spats!!

 

[RCIAG]

I'm w/Spats, usually around now.

Maybe it's the whole spring cleaning thing where I'm purging stuff in general to make room for other stuff or just to make room to breath. You find that craft thing you want to do, you find that book you forgot you had, that Christmas present you hid & finally found, etc.

We had a pretty unusually cold, sub-zero on occasion, winter & all I wanted to do was eat & sleep. Now that there's more daylight there's more time to see, do & make stuff even though the only place you might find true Halloween is here & the occasional Goodwill/Salvation Army/thrift store trip.

 

[kprimm]

right after Christmas. I keep November for Thanksgiving and December for Christmas, right after that I start on Halloween.

 

[booswife02]

I too have found my heart aching all through the year, for late summer and the season to begin.
I craft my way through winter, build my way through spring, shop my way through summer. LOL

Hilda I do believe you just organized my to do list for me! Your schedule is awesome. I should hit all of my crafty projects while it's still cold, get them over with so I can focus on building in the spring. Then yard sales and flea markets in the summer

 

[booswife02]

I never stop Halloween. The week before Halloween I decide my theme for next year so I can get things on clearance. I ask for props for Christmas, my birthday, Mother's Day and so on... I'm constantly searching for things for my scenes 365 days a year. Every now and then I wonder what is wrong with me haha....

 

[Paint It Black]

Other ideas for the off-season - I sketch out display plans and ideas for props, keep lists of materials I need, search online for techniques for making things. Spring generally brings lots of rummage sale opportunities. I enjoy yard sales too, but the rummage sales organized by high schools or churches give you a better selection of items in one spot. There are a couple of resale shops that I frequent all year. They only put out Halloween during the season, but I find good outfits for my skeletons and mannequins there too. Summer is fun to watch what the stores here will start to offer for Halloween. That's when the budget goes all to heck. I just try to save enough to hit a sale or two on Nov. 1.

 

[McBernes]

For me it's "months". Around April/May when the weather starts getting 75 degrees and over my dread begins. I start feeling better around the end of September. We are already planning and putting together costumes this year, so maybe the summer will be more bearable lol.

 

[Gym Whourlfeld]

My Feelings and routines differ a bit. I Do like having a "say" as to how many and who comes through the front door to see the house,this is VERY important, whereas a drunk sneaks in with sober people , they can ruin the whole experience I am trying to provide for my customers.
There actually was one time when I thought it was still October (like October 38th? Versus Oct. a mere 31 nights long) After opening at 7pm I was later complaining ,trying to figure out what was happening because Only 20people had come through ,and it was only 9:30, So Where is EVERYBODY?"
Then a kid said, "20 people for NOVEMBER 7th ain't to bad."
This was my life's routine:1:Wake up- get dressed- work on the house. 2:It's getting dark,time to take a shower ,put on my black clothes,see who is going to show up. 3o house tours till they stop showing up 4: Close down,go to bed...
My wife tells me I seem to get cranky during the Winter,but then I'm shoveling all the snow here and 4 blocks away at my garage. A year ago I finally gave up on the old furnace ,put in a new one and about froze to death while I was installing it ! (Not fun)
There will always be about... 10,000 things that need doing here,whether I feel like doing them or not! Much of it will always be very physical, a good thing to keep me in better shape.
I have brought this old Inn" back" a long ways in 28 years, but there is more to do than I can foresee ever getting done. I guess this challenge helps keep me going.
I assumed we might have had a house tour tonight from an afternoon conversation in the parking lot,but.. oh-well?
But I STill had to get the house ready for the tour.
I really like giving tours in this "Off-Season'. I often ask people before the tour begins if they are on a timetable-schedule? If not, I have more fun giving an extensive show here. Sometimes we will be in the first room for over an hour,an hour of storytelling,haunting, history,house-history, along with funny things,then more fun stuff,some jumps, jerks,screams.. in no predictable order. hahha!
A young man wrote a review on the Ravens Grin Facebook . He had a 2 or 3 hour tour here and loved every minute of it,and even drove 3 hours to arrive at our door,and still loved the experience (Driving for hours through cornfields over dark roads is not for some "City"people. ,but then hairy,quick creatures live alongside our roads and make mischief sometimes for the uninitiated.)

 

[Skeletoncrew]

I do not enjoy December at all!

I put on a smile for my family and go about the whole rigmarole .. Decorating, visiting, cooking, baking, presents.
I seriously could do without it .. I partake for my children's sake .. My Dh feels the same way I do.
By New Years I'm very relieved it's over for another year .. Sad, but true.

 

[byondbzr]

I'm starting to feel the pull right now!

 

[scareme]

I too have found my heart aching all through the year, for late summer and the season to begin.
I craft my way through winter, build my way through spring, shop my way through summer. LOL

My husband would love you. I, on the other hand, Shop my way through winter, shop my way through spring and shop my way through summer. One of the things that helps keep up my Halloween spirit are the secret reaper exchanges on the forum. Sorting through the skull box, carving a tombstone or whipping up a witches cape helps keep you in the mood. And finding things for the exchange also gives me a chance to do one of my favorite things. Shop!!!

 

[printersdevil]

Laura, you crack me up!