There is something about July...

Discussion of general Halloween topics
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MacPhantom
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There is something about July...

Post by MacPhantom » Sun Jul 27, 2014 8:25 pm

There is something about the month of July that makes me start thinking a lot about Halloween. It usually comes when a cold front moves through, bringing clouds and cooler temperatures, making me nostalgic for the autumn air. And I'm not alone. Today marks the four year anniversary of my wife, Ciuin, joining this forum. She joined in the middle of the summer, because there is something about this month that gets the Halloween blood flowing.

We haven't been on the forum much lately. We got married last October (a Halloween wedding, of course!), the paperwork for my adoption of her daughter finally went through in November (she's been the Phantom of the Opera for Halloween the last two years in a row, so she's really been my daughter all along), and Ciuin gave birth to our second daughter in January. We've been busy and not sleeping great (little baby-macuin doesn't like to sleep more than three hours at a time, and I call her my little monster). But we're getting into a Halloween state of mind, because there's something about the month of July.

Don't get me wrong; we are ALWAYS kinda thinking about Halloween. Our living room is decorated with skulls and candles and lanterns and a creepy poster of Kramer (inherited from my late brother), and we spend all year discussing different costume options for the coming October. Ciuin and I love watching scary movies, and we look forward to when the girls are old enough to show them all the classics. But there is something about July.... Maybe it's because my birthday is in August, and the end of August is when the Halloween stuff starts showing up in stores. Maybe it's the back to school bulk stack in the middle of Walmart that's making us think about the fall. Maybe it's the storm rolling across the east coast right now, heading our way. Maybe it's all the terrifying talk on cable news about Hillary running in 2016. But whatever it is, I can't stop thinking about pumpkins and skeletons and spiders and mini-Snickerses. Oh my god could I MURDER a bag of mini-Snickerses right now......!!!

I'm fighting the urge to raid the plastic storage bins in the basement and start pulling out decorations. I find myself standing in front of the pantry with a can of pumpkin in my hand, mulling over the pie crusts in the freezer, and I don't even remember getting up out of my chair. I found some shelving when I was cleaning behind the couch today, and in it I saw the shape of a tombstone, crying out for me to bring it forth with my jigsaw, spray it gray and etch it with a witty name of the deceased. If I could get a pumpkin I'd be carving it right now, but the watermelon in the fridge may just have to do instead.

Halloween brought my wife and I together. It is the capstone of our family. It is in our blood. We need it to be Halloween soon.

It's coming.......
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Andybev01
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Re: There is something about July...

Post by Andybev01 » Sun Jul 27, 2014 9:32 pm

I feel the same way about July.
Independence day is my personal end of summer.
I start perusing the magazine rack in the supermarket, looking for the first cover with fall colors on it.

Its good to hear that your brood is hearty & hale.
All you that doth my grave pass by,
As you are now so once was I,
As I am now so you must be,
Prepare for death & follow me.

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Re: There is something about July...

Post by witchy » Sun Jul 27, 2014 10:02 pm

Awww!!! She is sooo freaking cute!! I'm soo glad you guys are back!! I'm jonesing for fall and all that goes with it!! :bounce:
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Re: There is something about July...

Post by NeverMore » Sun Jul 27, 2014 10:21 pm


Congratulations on the marriage and becoming a papa, Mac. Two daughters? Better start shining that shotgun. The boys will come calling sooner than you think.

Now that Comic-Con is over my thoughts are tuning there too. Actually, when you think about it, this makes the end of July the perfect time to start thinking about costumes, all those great ideas from the con. io9.com has a pretty good roundup.

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Re: There is something about July...

Post by Murfreesboro » Mon Jul 28, 2014 9:57 am

Your baby girl has the most beautiful eyes! Welcome back, and best wishes to your entire family!

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Re: There is something about July...

Post by JonH » Mon Jul 28, 2014 10:00 am

here in the midwest, the weather is making it easy to get anxious for the fall. Its been an almost non-summer, lots of cool Canadian air constantly (tonight's low temp is supposed to be upper-50's again). I can practically smell the pumpkins.

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Re: There is something about July...

Post by Fall fanatic » Mon Jul 28, 2014 10:52 am

Congrats on all of the new family beginnings!

And ditto on the buildup to the Halloween season. I am very excited that on Friday I will be able to say that the Halloween decorations go up next month! That means in just about 60 days the rest of the country will start to get in the spirit!

And I bought some candy corn yesterday for the first time this year! It was wonderful. And the pumpkin spice coffee should be coming out soon.

Even though I put out my Halloween décor until late September, I like to spend the entire months of September and October with my pumpkin spice, scary movies, and soaking it all in. One more month...

Have a great day.

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Re: There is something about July...

Post by tantraman » Mon Jul 28, 2014 7:43 pm

I do the same thing, I start the halloween music, if I get new decorations at garage sales I usually put them out on displey. I have some partical board bumpkins in my front lawn already.
happy happy halloween silver shamrock.

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Re: There is something about July...

Post by MauEvig » Tue Jul 29, 2014 10:11 am

Congrats on everything MacPhantom! I don't know if you remember me or not but I used to be "Demonslayermau" on here, but since I couldn't log into my old account I decided to take up my standard internet moniker and go by MauEvig instead.

October is indeed a wonderful month. It's the month me and my boyfriend first met and it's special to us as well. Not to mention Halloween is such a fun holiday.

I think you're right, especially after my Birthday rolls around, and maybe even earlier still, when all the summer fun is over, we tend to look forward to what comes around the corner. We've already been having "fall weather" here, although I haven't seen any trees start to turn yet. Maybe some dying bushes or shrubs in town but I don't think that counts. lol. If I get a chance to go to the fair, that'll be the last hurrah for summer for me.

I'll probably wait to decorate though, it's been a pretty busy month for me. Even though I am excited to get started on it this year. Though since we just moved, I think we're going to keep things nice and simple. Still, I'm having a cup of Pumpkin Spice coffee left over from last year, and that gets me more in the mood for fall. Although I think my co workers would disagree with me. I could go for some Halloween candy, and I had an odd craving for candy corn myself the other day.

Nevermore, is comiccon fun? I'd like to go one day.
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Re: There is something about July...

Post by NeverMore » Tue Jul 29, 2014 12:37 pm

MauEvig wrote:Nevermore, is comiccon fun? I'd like to go one day.
If you like negotiating huge crowds and waiting in line all day, then yeah, it's a blast. I enjoyed it more back in the days before Hollyweird moved in. Now the event is all about the flash and the comic related events are being phased out. In fact, Chuck from Mile High Comics said this is most likely his last year with a booth there, after 42 years. He can make more money at the smaller local cons. I honestly think this thing is about to collapse from it's own weight.

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Re: There is something about July...

Post by MauEvig » Tue Jul 29, 2014 8:13 pm

i wonder why they don't just call it "Moviecon" then if they're going to focus on Hollywood and movies and such. I think I'd be better off going to an amusement park then, at least I could get on a ride after I'm done waiting lol.

There are other conventions I'd like to go to. I wouldn't mind going to an anime convention, Bronycon, or even a video game convention. That would be cool.

I used to really be into the Sonic the Hedgehog comics by Archie Comics but now they're full of more plotholes than most dirt roads have pot holes.
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Re: There is something about July...

Post by NeverMore » Tue Jul 29, 2014 9:30 pm


Well... I guess there are some who think it's still about the comics...


I'm probably a little disillusioned because I'm not a fan of big crowds. It's been a few years since I've even attempted to get tickets. Heck, 10 years ago it was getting ridiculously crowded inside and now the same is happening outside. I guess it's still worth going to San Diego though... after all, it was the first. Now a lot of other towns are getting pop culture/fan conventions, but just like other towns have Mardi Gras celebrations, there's only one Naw'leans.

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Re: There is something about July...

Post by MauEvig » Tue Jul 29, 2014 10:33 pm

It looks like it's not limited solely to American comics then. I used to really be into Manga as well, although I don't read it so much anymore. I did buy an Inuyasha book I've been meaning to read (along with a few regular books, not just comic books) but that's about it as far as manga goes.

The Sonic comics, in particular the Knuckles the Echidna Spin off series was great when Ken Penders was around, but I'm not sure what made me stop reading them. Was it the fact that the Knuckles comics were cancelled? Maybe I just felt I was getting too old for comics, which I can laugh at now and say that's silly because no one is ever too old for comics, or it could be that I didn't like what Penders was doing with Knuckles at the time in the "future" story arcs. But now that Ian Flynn is doing the comics, I just can't get into them anymore. I think I rather just play the games, the games are what make Sonic famous anyway.

Regardless, I am a bit of a nerd. I did take a photoshop class from Dawn Best, who used to work on the Sonic comics and was working on a web comic with Flynn (who I'm finding is a good writer, he just may not be right for Sonic the hedgehog IMO) and it looked good so far, but I haven't seen an update in a while. The thing with webcomics though is that you can't really make any real money off them unless you sell merchandise with them.

Comic Con may still be something worth going to then. I'm not a big fan of crowds either, but usually if I feel like I'm going to be trapped around a bunch of people is when I get really anxious. I think I'm more anxious when I feel trapped in a crowd than anything. Yet, crowds themselves, as long as I can move around people like in Walmart for example, I'm fine. I'm also ok with closed spaces like closets. I just don't like the combination of closed spaces involving people. I get that at work, especially when I'm working the register in the middle and it gets busy, the other register next to mine will have people going to that, and it's hard to get in and out of the little "station" with people right behind me, and then you have people in front of me too. Of course, if I'm doing something fun like going to a festival or an amusement park, I tend to over look the crowds a bit more. But I think that's a little different too. It may just be that I have anxiety about being at work and it might not have to do with being trapped, or it may be that I feel trapped at work.
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Re: There is something about July...

Post by Demonic Duck » Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:28 am

Welcome back Mac and congrats on the wedding and monster. I too have started thinking about Halloween...hence my return here. Every year I say I'll check in more often in the off season(like any of us are ever off from Halloween) but things got busy as usual. Between searching for a job and taking care of my little girl(13 months now) refered to as my pumpkin, finding a job, trying to keep it,taking care of the little one losing said job, searching for a new job, taking care of the pumpkin, finding another new job, taking care of the pumpkin, and now making SURE I don't lose this job(and taking care of the pumpkin). However I will be on more often now. I have been bit by the bug. Halloween is on my mind. I want to buy/make new decorations. The wife and I have preliminary costume ideas. I don't want summer to be over but...I'm ready for Halloween!

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Re: There is something about July...

Post by MauEvig » Wed Jul 30, 2014 10:16 am

I know what you mean there Demonic Duck. Part of me wants Summer to continue because there's just so much to do during the summer months, especially if you're an out doors kind of person. But for me it's been so hectic, and most of the things I've been looking forward to this summer are overwith now like the visit with my family, festival and Birthday have all come and gone. There's a fair coming up that I hope I get to go to, which will be my last hurrah for the summer, but I am getting the Halloween bug as well. I've been drinking more of my leftover pumpkin spice coffee, and it feels like fall weather. I love this weather in October but it's so strange to have it in July. I think I am seeing a few leaves turning already, but it's usually by the end of August that I really feel like I'm ready for fall. But I am looking forward to it.

Good luck on the job search. Personally I don't like my job all that much and want to find something better sometime down the road. Or maybe my book I'm writing will hit it big on the shelves. I can only dream.
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