It’s that time of year: Spooky Season!  Kids are returning to school, pumpkin everything is in stores, and all of a sudden, everyone really loves ghosts, zombies, and all things spooky. In the Ghoul house, we have some strict rules about how early in the year I can decorate for Halloween.  Which is kind of fine with me since some things should be special events 

Plus, I enjoy the ritual of transition. Those moments that signify the start of something exciting and new. Even someone like me, who lives in horror, takes joy in setting up all my extra Halloween decorations knowing that for the next two months, basically everyone is going to try to love spooky stuff as much as I do. 

How Do You “Celebrate” Spooky Season?

A main part of Spooky Season is the haunts. These open roughly the weekend after Labor Day through November 2^nd.   All the big parks have started their events, and the local haunts are open on the weekends. Haunts are a bit of a mixed bag for me since, as I’m terribly photophobic, I can’t do most of them. The majority of haunts use strobe effects and those are quite difficult for me.  Every year, I have to watch YouTuber’s videos to see what haunts I might be able to do. Halloween Horror Nights and Woods of Terror in North Carolina are the worst for strobes. Bush Gardens Williamsburg’s Howl-O-Scream has been the best.

This is a bit of a sore spot as I do believe that horror and haunts should be for everyone. I know that strobes and lighting effects are a traditional method of highlighting scare actors and animatronics, while obscuring functional elements. I also know that more of an effort could be made to try new, non-strobe things.

Ok, What Else You Got?

But there are other things besides haunts to help celebrate the season. Every October, H³ (Horror Hating Husband) picks four horror movies that he actually wants to watch.  Sometimes, he likes the movies we pick. He enjoyed The Fog and the first two Halloweens. The Thing, not so much. We haven’t solidified this year’s line-up yet, but I’m hoping for some giallo, and a good ghost story or two.  

See, the point isn’t to terrify him beyond recovery. What I want from every event I go to, every blog I write, and Spooky Season in general, is for people to understand why I love what I love and maybe love it a little too. I want horror to grow as a genre, whatever that looks like.

How I End the Summer

Which is why this past weekend’s Mad Monster Expo was a little disheartening. For me, the end of August horror convention is the start of spooky season.  When I’m getting burnt out on endless scary movies, being surrounded by die-hard fans and gore hounds perks me right back up. This weekend was no exception. We met some fantastic people and had great conversations, but the whole show felt a little quiet. The line-up was great: David Arquette, Linda Blair, Corey Feldman, Doug Jones, and Corey Taylor from Slipknot were some of the guests.   Their lines were pretty busy all weekend long, except for Corey Taylor who was not there on Sunday. But the show just felt smaller somehow.  

I know that going to conventions is a luxury, and right now luxuries may be hard to come by for a lot of people. We had a great conversation with some fans late Saturday night about how different the show felt this time.  We hypothesized about the reasons for the seeming decline in attendance. Price increases came up a lot, especially for celebrity autographs. 

Fandom is Expensive

It’s a big draw, being able to buy a moment of your favorite’s time. Spending $60–120 to have a very short conversation and get an autograph on a photo or personal memorabilia has to be one of the first items to get reconsidered on a trimmed-down budget.  Especially when the same stars are charging $10–20 more than they did a few years ago for the same experience.  Personally, this show I got fewer autographs than I have at any other show. Not because there weren’t worthwhile stars, there are probably some I’ll regret not getting in a few years, but just due to budget and value reasons.  I did get David Arquette, Kevin Durand, and Linda Blair. And honestly, all three were totally worth it. 

How Was it Worth it?

Linda Blair was the most expensive, but she donates proceeds from her signings to her animal charities. The two people ahead of me were clearly autograph resellers and they pissed her off by taking pictures they hadn’t paid for and just generally being picky and douchey.  But as soon as they left, she shook it off and gave me a huge smile like it never even happened.  She is an icon and everything about her was truly wonderful.

‘Kevin Durand did one of the funnier panels I can remember. He’s a great storyteller and since he’s done over 100 movies, he had a ton of stories, including one that included a hilarious Nic Cage impression. He also took the time to talk with me while I was getting my autograph: a photo from Clown in a Cornfield. Y’all, I’m really coming around on horror comedies. I should also mention that the person in front of me was getting a poster from Planet of the Apes signed for his son. Durand did his character’s voice and posed for a picture in the character’s signature pose. It was worth it just to watch him shift in an out of character so effortlessly.

The Headliner – At Least for me

But the absolute highlight, both for a meeting and panel, was David Arquette. He’s who I came to see after all. I got the photo/autograph combo, and the photographer at the table took so many good pictures of the whole thing. The best part was I got to say the things I wanted without being too weird. His panel was also funny and sweet. A reoccurring theme for all the actors seemed to be their appreciation of the fans who came out to the show, and it was super apparent with him. 

We also did a photo op with Doug Jones. The monster actor! That was really more of a H³ thing, since he’s Saru in Star Trek: Discovery. He was also lovely. As an added bonus, he was at a party we attended later that night, so that was super cool. 

Ok But, Was the Con Really Worth it?

Look, value is hard to justify to an outsider. Sometimes it’s hard to justify to myself. Is it worth the money to go and hang out with horror fans for two days?  For me, it’s one of the most important things I do in a year. There will be other spooky season activities: Howl-O Scream and hopefully much more. But Mad Monster is the big kickoff.  I love supporting the artists and craftspeople, meeting new friends and old.  It’s the perfect way to get into the spooky spirit just before Fall. 

And now, I’m ready. The con is over, and I’m once again reminded of all the reasons I love the horror and its community. I’ve stocked up on hard-to-find foreign movies, bought some cozy horror-themed flannels, and I’ve set the mood with spooky candles. Ok, one of them smells like very unspooky peach rings, whatev.  Soon I’ll start decorating, putting the finishing touches on the transition from summer to scary.   And hopefully, spreading the love of horror just a little bit further. 

Let the Spooky Season begin!