I was going to write a very long-winded, multi-post skeet on Bluesky the other day when I realized, what the hell am I doing? I have this whole blog I never use! So here it is.
I've been finding it difficult to hold that autumn spirit the last few weeks. On the rare occasion that I have enjoyed it, I've had to drag it out of me kicking and screaming. I usually take a day to myself every fall as a sort of Halloween pilgrimage, so I thought that might just be the ticket.
As usual, I kicked things off with a million calorie pumpkin spice Frappuccino from Starbucks. I get exactly two drinks from Starbucks every year. One of these and a peppermint mocha around Christmas, so I allowed myself the luxury.
With my seasonal drink in hand, I decided to try one last time to get a box of Count Chocula. I don't want to bore you with the same schtick as usual, but over the last few years we're lucky to even get Count Chocula here in Atlantic Canada. Occasionally you'll see Franken Berry, last year we actually got Carmella Creeper, and I'm told that once upon a time Boo Berry graced this land, but alas I've never found it myself. We did get our own version of Monster Mash a few years back with Boo Berry in it, but that didn't really scratch the itch.
And the real truth I like to keep buried deep down inside myself is that I really don't like fruit-flavoured cereals, so I'd probably only actually eat Count Chocula anyway, but it's the principle of the thing! I want that Boo Berry!
Anyway, the thing to write home about in 2025 is that General Mills finally changed the damn Count Chocula box. Although my American friends have enjoyed many varied packaging and varieties of Monster Cereals over the years, we've had the exact same box with the cut-out mask since 2014.
After going on failed mission after failed mission to find any sort of Halloween cereal over the last couple of weeks, I finally spied a box of Chocula at the very back of a local grocery store and I was elated to see the Jim Henson box art!
I've been on a diet lately (disregard that giant boat-load of sugar I showed you above) so I likely won't actually eat any of the Count Chocula, but my kids love it and I love the chase.
Keeping that momentum, I figured it was nigh time I hit Halloween mecca... Spirit Halloween! Here's the obligatory pic of the store, jammed in between CAA and The Shoe Company, in the dead husk of an old Roots store. Just like nature intended.
As is usual, Spirit Halloween is a serious infusion of the holiday spirit and I really enjoyed my time walking around the store, but I must say I wasn't nuts about this year's location. The last few years they've been in a space like two doors down from this, which is much more roomy. It was so big, it actually allowed for their little "haunt within the store" setups.
There wasn't any of that in this location. They did their best to setup some of the jump scare animatronics in the middle of the shop, which was a nice touch, but it felt a bit cramped. Rumour is that we're getting a Dollar Tree where Spirit has been located the last few years, which would explain it having to move down the road.
I took about a billion pictures in the store, mostly of kids costumes to aid my children in figuring out what they want to be for Halloween this year, so I'll spare you those.
The highlights were this light up skull Pumpkin Peeper, which I had to buy on the spot - I can't wait to get that bad boy into a jack-o-lantern - and this E.T. mask that scared the ever-lovin' shit out of me as I was browsing their sea of masks. His glossy, blue, dead stare chills me even now.
After that, I figured it was time to hit up HomeSense. If you're not familiar with that store, it's because in the US it's called HomeGoods. I've been stopping by every now and then since August, when everybody and their dog started posting pictures of those sweet Charlie Brown Halloween mugs (image credit to Trash Witch on Bluesky, who I believe was the first person I saw to get the mug), that features the gang at Violet's Halloween party.
For many years, I purchased myself a new Halloween mug on my pilgrimage, but in the last few I've stopped because I just had too many damn coffee cups, but I decided I'd come out of retirement for this bad boy.
But alas, after several trips it became clear to me that we wouldn't be getting that mug in my area. Now that's not to say there was any lack of Peanuts-themed Halloween stuff there. If anything, the store was overflowing with it.
As I was about to leave empty-handed yet again, I saw this out of the corner of my eye.
La pièce de résistance! Feast your eyes on this incredible set of stacked cups, depicting the opening sequence of It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! This picture doesn't do them justice, they look amazing and I was so excited to find them.
We are having my wife's family over for Thanksgiving this year, so I'm trying to hold off on breaking them out until then, but once I do I hope you'll be ready for my entire Bluesky and Instagram feeds to become a dedication to these four mugs and these four mugs alone.
Riding on that high I decided it was time to pack it in and grab some lunch. I took a meandering way home, while I listened to old episodes of the Purple Stuff Podcast (also an important part of the yearly pilgrimage) and I found myself near a Burger King.
I had seen several posts online of folks with those Scooby-Doo kids meal toys and I figured I'd pop in and check if they had them, so I could take my kids at a later date. Sure enough they did!
Even though I'd obliterated my daily calorie count with that gargantuan frap at breakfast, I decided I couldn't leave without getting a kid's meal, so I snagged one and I scored a Daphne. She looks very cozy with the rest of the toys that adorn the old desk TV.
And there you have it! A very successful Halloween pilgrimage, which was just what I needed to get into the Halloween spirit. I still have lots of other family activities to do in the coming weeks that will just amplify my mood, but I feel like this solo adventure is always a good kick-off.
How about you? Do you have any sort of Halloween/autumn traditions you partake in every year that are just for you? Feel free to reach out on my socials and let me know!
I hope you're having a great season so far and here's to many more spooky adventures to come!
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