Halloween Haunts: What’s Halloween Good For, Anyway? by Matthew Warner

Horror industry laymen offer me a standard observation when Halloween rolls around.  “This is like your high holy day, isn’t it?” Why, yes, Mr. Joking To Cover Up Your Discomfort, when I’m not carving upside-down pentagrams into my 4- and 6-year-old boys’ heads, you’re exactly right.  In a way, Halloween is our “high holy day.”   It’s an important springboard for our family traditions. But it ain’t holy for us.  We’re not religious, so we’re gonna burn, you know.  Wikipedia says the holiday has something to do with Christianity and Samhain, but all we care about is the candy, man.  (And…

October is All About the Creepy

by Matthew Warner As we near Halloween, I'm reminded of all the creepy children's artwork my local newspaper has run on the back of the "A" section over the weather report. I've been collecting them in my own Field Guide to Creepy Art for some time now, and I'd like to share with you some of my favorites.     A family of spirits floats in a netherworld of blue nothingness. Who were they in life, and more importantly, why are they smiling?     Beware the shade of the headless penguin, standing vigil at the void of chaos.  …