Happy October!

It's heeeeere! October is upon us, and now begins the final stretch of creation and completion. For many haunters, it's also the time to start setting up our displays, though I know many wait until the final week or days even. I can't even imagine the sustained flurry of activity that requires.

And I gotta think about my costume. I waited till the last minute last year to decide what I wanted to be (Sam, from Trick 'r Treat) and it was a made scramble to pull it together. Of course, since the movie didn't have a splashy, movie theater debut, no one knew who the heck I was. Some will say I'm already late in deciding what it will be.

In like a lion
With the weather expected to be rainy for most of the month here in the northeast (according to the Farmers Almanac and the Old Farmers Almanac) you might want to delay for as long as possible setting out your paper mache props. The month is starting out with rain, so perhaps like March, it will go out like a lamb and the forces of Nature will smile upon us with a cool, crisp -- dry! -- Halloween.

Party time!

Don't forget to finalize the plans for your Halloween party too. I'll be having my 2d annual bash (you're all invited!) but this time it will be the week before Halloween, as last year I was drained and unenthused when the holiday finally dawned. Of course, it only took the first trick-or-treater coming to the door to get excited again, but I want to be rested and ready for the day.

Still there's a lot of work to do! We've got more mache to lather on forms, more Monster Mud to clean out from under our fingernails, and more hot glue to drip on our hands and legs (amazing how it manages to find all exposed parts of your body).

So set to! It's October, and it' truly the best time of the year!