I Want to Live in a Tim Burton Film

My longing to live in a Tim Burton movie goes back years. I guess it started with Sleepy Hollow. Oh, to live in a spooky world where pumpkins glow and thunder rumbles above trees of autumn orange … which lead me to The Nightmare Before Christmas and Halloween Town: a place where I would fit [...]

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Halloween Town: Ghosts of Phoenix and More …

Saturday night, dressed as my wicked witchy self, I had the pleasure of attending the Hotel San Carlos’ Ghosts of Phoenix tour. I was not disappointed. The Hotel San Carlos officially opened in 1928. It was the premiere luxury hotel of its day and the first hotel in Phoenix to feature air conditioning! Plenty of [...]

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Halloween Town: Dark Scares Haunted Attraction

Saturday, we had a Halloween extravaganza at my house. I made pumpkin chili. (It was delicious.) We had a huge spread of food, including—but not limited to—horseradish cheddar cheese and crackers, homemade guacamole with orange, fresh vegetables, and Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn. Did I mention the pumpkin beer? Because we had lots of pumpkin beer, [...]

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Halloween Town: An H and Five Ws with the Glendale Paranormal Chasers

Are you afraid of ghosts? These guys sure aren’t. They recently gave a presentation at the Litchfield Park Branch Library, and the room was filled to exploding. I guess we all want to know more about what happens to us after we leave this mortal coil … I decided to pick their brains a bit. [...]

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Halloween Town: Pumpkin Beer—Yum

I’ve made it clear that I’ll taste anything made of pumpkin—coffee, cookies, pies, and most importantly, beer. I wait all year to go to Total Wine mid-September and find rows and rows of seasonal pumpkin ale. I buy a bottle of each kind, figure out which one I like the most, and then, return to [...]

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Halloween Town: American Horror Story

When I saw the trailer for FX’s new TV show, American Horror Story, I knew I had to watch it, especially since they chose to premiere it in, duh, October, and I love ghost stories. The trailer was enough to make me uncomfortable; the pilot episode, well … To say “Parents Strongly Cautioned” would be [...]

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Halloween Town 2011

It’s October 3rd, 2011; do you know where your children are? Ah—spooky! Got a little ahead of myself … What I meant to say: It’s October 3rd, 2011; do you know what I did this weekend? I decorated the entire house in creepy, crawly Halloween critters, because I LOVE HALLOWEEN. We turned off all the [...]

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Halloween Town: An Epic Day of Celebration

Saturday morning, I woke up, made a batch of Pumpkin Spice coffee, and watched the first hour of Dead Silence—a horror movie about ventriloquist dummies coming back to life and killing people. Ew. I got dressed and was soon ready for the Dia de Los Muertos celebration at the Mesa Arts Center. For the ride, [...]

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Halloween Town: Slimy Innards

In a quiet, dark room, lit only by yellow candlelight, your fingers close around the knife handle. You’re terrified. It’s been a year since you’ve plunged a sharp knife into such thick, dry skin, and yet, as you near your victim, the sensation feels familiar. Your confidence grows, because you’ve done this before. You chop [...]

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Halloween Town: Dia de los Muertos

Despite early settlers attempts to “civilize” the natives with Christian tradition, Dia de los Muertos—or Day of the Dead—is still one of the most widely celebrated holidays in all of Mexico. And in the Valley of the Sun, too, so it would seem. Although Dia de los Muertos is closely associated with Halloween, the holidays [...]

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