As most of you know, I’ve been working on a book about Halloween off and on for the last several years. As part of motivating myself to finish the book—and hopefully eventually find it a home with a publisher—I thought I’d share some notes, excerpts, and fun bits with all of you this Halloween season. So starting Monday, September 12, I will be sending out one new post each week leading up to Monday, October 31. The series will be called The Unreal History of Halloween (for reasons that will be explained in the very first post).
Q: What is The Unreal History of Halloween?
A: I’m calling it “a cultural history of Halloween,” but really it’s a mix of historical research, cultural criticism, interviews, and personal narrative. Hell, maybe I’ll even write a poem! (I won’t write a poem.)
Q: Is it scary?
A: No, it’s not scary—but as we shall see in the weeks ahead, Halloween wasn’t always scary, either.
Q: What are you going to write about?
A: So much! We’ll answer questions like,
Was The Wicker Man historically accurate?
What’s new in fake blood technology?
Why is everyone in old-fashioned Halloween cards wearing kilts?
What does Halloween have to do with animal bladders?
Not to mention digressions into Pinterest moms, fortunetelling, Tim Burton, Martha Stewart, pumpkin spice, the Satanic Panic, corn maze design software, and the Women’s Auxiliary Druidesses.
Q: Why are you writing this series?
A: Because I love Halloween!—But if you want a more specific answer: I’ve been working on a book about Halloween for a few years and having finishing it, so I thought that by creating this project for myself—and bringing you all along with me—I’d find the motivation to get through the book while also sharing the process with others.
Q: Are the posts all-new?
A: They’re mostly all-new. A few subscribers may recognize sections from Halloween newsletters from years past, often reworked or placed in a slightly different context. Part of my project here is to tie together a lot of the Halloween-related writing I’ve done in the past into one comprehensive work.
Q: Do we have to be paid subscribers to read it?
A: Nope! The whole series is free and available for sharing. Financial contributions to my Ko-Fi account are always very much appreciated.
Q: How can I be involved?
A: I would be so delighted to get questions, comments, links, reading suggestions, you name it. I’ll try to incorporate reader contributions as I go, and anything I can’t get to this time around I still hope I can use for the book.
Q: How can I help?
A: Share, share, share! I’d love to get as many people as possible thinking and talking about Halloween with me this year.
Q: What are you going to be for Halloween this year?
A: I usually wear several costumes throughout the season. One PG costume I wear when volunteering for school events, one less PG costume I wear when I go out at night, usually a couple’s costume I do with my husband Zac, and sometimes a more jokey costume I do with my sister. This year I know I’ll be bringing back Goth Mermaid when I hand out candy to trick or treaters because our yard haunt theme this year is Spooky Ocean.
Q: What’s the best couple’s costume you’ve ever done?
A: Certainly this one.
Feel free to come visit my hometown, the Halloween Capital of the World (yup, really - Google us!) Either for research or just for fun, I'd be happy to introduce you around, take you on a Ghost Tour, and really - Minnesota is the perfect place to do late October. ;)
It's lovely here. Hope the book goes well - I look forward to updates!