You can't kill the boogeyman!

Halloween post two days after October 31st? Yeah, that's how I roll.

With another Halloween in the rearview, I just wanted to take a minute to re-cap this season. I've heard all sorts of folks calling Halloween 2023 a bit of a let-down, but I have to disagree.

Now, first off - as you know - I live in Canada. We don't get anywhere near the Halloween fanfare that my friends in the US do. Things have gotten better over the last few years, but it's still not even close.

As a result, we can't measure the season based on cereal, coffee, promotions, and knickknacks (although, in my estimation, we did alright in this department). You have to get creative and make it your own. And I did that big time this year.

I wrote in an earlier post about how on the first weekend of fall, with all my plans for the weekend ready and waiting, I got sick. Well, that was just the start of illness after illness striking my household. We basically spent a month in the house nursing ourselves back to health again and again. It was terrible!

But, I continued to make the best of a bad situation! Even if it was just a quick outing to grab some groceries and scope the cereal aisle or watching a spooky movie with a seasonal treat, I tried to make sure I was doing something to enjoy my Halloween season to it's fullest.

Now, let's take a look back at some of the evil consumer stuff that came out this year!

• What the Fanta!? 2023 - jet black soda flavoured like blood orange? Absolute win.
• Return of the Timbits Halloween Bucket - very limited, but I got lucky on this one!
• Burger King Ghost Pepper Chicken Nuggets, Halloween Crowns, and Halloween Bucket - I didn't score the bucket, it was some sort of limited reward in Canada, but good on them for bringing one out!
• McDonald's Boo Buckets Return! - I only scored the Frankenstein (really wanted the vampire, but it wasn't in the cards)
• McDonald's Trick n' Treat McFlurry - a Canadian exclusive! Wild!

And this is by no means an exhaustive list. This is just what I could remember from my camera roll!

This year I made a personal goal to get out more and enjoy some different seasonal offerings, like hay rides, pumpkin patches, haunts, etc. While I didn't get to some of the haunts I wanted to, I did make it out to several fun locations, like apple picking, a pumpkin patch, and a haunted barn for the kids. We usually do the apple picking, but I'm glad we made it to a few more outdoor events this year. And next year - with a little luck - we'll make it to a few we missed!

And I can't forget, we somehow managed to sneak Thanksgiving in there, too. I say that, because it landed smack-dab in between two of the plagues that struck the house. We somehow got lucky enough to have two or three days of health before getting knocked back down again, but hey - we had a delicious supper, pumpkin pie, and Charlie Brown! What more can you ask for?

I'd also be remiss if I didn't remind you we had a full-blown Friday the 13th in October this year! I usually spend the day watching whatever movies I can, and this particular Friday the 13th was no different, but just having it occur during the Halloween season is special, so I had that much more fun.

(I also got a little buzzed, which is not the norm for me these days, so that didn't hurt.)

I also got to take in a beauty of a full moon this year! I know, this one is spotty at best. You can never be sure with the weather, but I got lucky and had a solid hour doing some moon-gazing with my new telescope! I couldn't figure out the smartphone-attachment-doodad that came with it, but hopefully next time I can post some proper photos!

And the scary movies, oh the scary movies. I won't belabour you with a list. If you check out my Letterboxd you can see for yourself, but I had a great time in the horror movie department this year. One highlight was definitely Joe Bob's Helloween from The Last Drive-In!

Then finally, there's Halloween itself! I haven't take the day off from work the last few years. Usually, since I work from home, there aren't many meetings, so I can throw on a movie or two while I work. This year I had a block of meetings, so I wasn't hopeful, but then each one of them was cancelled! I practiced what I've been preaching several times this year, and threw on Turner Classics for the day. I enjoyed Taste the Blood of Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and The Invisible Man. Doesn't get much better than that!

My wife and I have three boys, so trick-or-treating can actually be a bit tough. When they were little, we'd just do a small neighbourhood early in the evening and then be back to hand out treats at our own place before the sun went down. These days, the kids want to go with their friends, so this year (while my wife stayed home and gave out treats - thanks, Beb!) a bunch of us parents took a huge crew of kids out and I had an absolute blast!

There were so many houses that were decorated amazingly. I don't want to share the photos or videos because of the kiddos in them, but there were even a few people who made their homes into mini haunts! I couldn't believe it. Of course, the kids scored massive bags of candy, which at the end of the day, is actually what this is all about.

As per usual, I took in my late night walk. I've mentioned it in previous blog posts and on my socials, but the short version is that I go for a quiet walk before midnight on October 31st each year. It's so serene and if I let my imagination run away with me, I can actually feel something in the air.

I'm glad I did keep that tradition, because the next day we were treated to this...

I joke with my kids sometimes about how back in my day we often had to trick-or-treat with snow suits on, but honestly - with the weather patterns we get these days - I was pretty shocked to find November 1st a snowy, bitterly cold day.

Honestly, it was a clean break from the Halloween festivities. I managed to get all my decorations in and packed away (go me) before the snow hit and it was kind've nice. I got to enjoy a really great spooky season, but now it's time to breathe and get ready for the next holiday.

You know the one.

I hope that if you're a fellow Halloweenie that you had a great holiday. It seems like there's a resounding "meh" swirling around social media, but I think if you stop and take a look back at all the individual bits, you'll see you might've had it better than you remember. And, if all the consumerism and list-checking is getting you down, just remember ol' Linus, sitting in his sincere pumpkin patch, and enjoying the cool night air.

(By the way, I also grew a pumpkin this year, check it out!)

See ya later, Halloween 2023! Looking forward next year!