It's Over

 

The Case of the Stuttering Pig

Saturday, November 15, 2025

Watched the old Looney Tunes short, The Case of the Stuttering Pig on DVD this morning. This was one of my favorite Warner Brothers cartoons as a kid. I found it creepy and scary although kids these days would probably roll their eyes at it. 

Although not specifically Halloween themed the plot involves Porky and his siblings holed up in their house on a dark and stormy night with no parental figure to be found. The animation and music are well done and add to the eerie flavor of this animated short. I found the antagonist to be menacing and foreboding as a kid. 

As a kid I these old Warner Brothers shorts were shown on TV on the old Clancy and Willie show on WCCO-TV, Channel 4, on weekday mornings and Sunday mornings as well when I'd watch them before school or church. I also remember them on KMSP, Channel 9, before school when I'd watch them eating my Cheerios. 

Halloween to Christmas Part 5

 Saturday, November 15, 2025

The information here is from an Instagram account I follow called christmaspastofficial. The owner of the account, Brian Earl, hosts a podcast called Christmas Past. 

Young Goodman Brown

 Friday, November 14, 2025

Picked up the book October Shadows, a collection of ghost stories, a few weeks ago at Common Good Books over in St. Paul. The first story in the anthology, Young Goodman Brown by Nataniael Hawthorne dates back to 1835 and seems to be an allegory for, I'm guessing, temptation and sin. 

In the story a Puritan, the titular Young Goodman Brown takes a late night walk in the woods and meets up with a mysterious man who, more than likely, is the devil. Goodman Brown discovers there are many other people in the woods, some of whom, he knows and he discovers they may never have been quite who he thought they were. Upon his return he starts to live with the reality that his late night sojourn into the darkness may effect him for the rest of his life. Sufficiently creepy.

Seth's Ghost Stories for Christmas

Wednesday, November 12, 2025

Seth's tradition of illustrating and releasing 3 classic ghost stories for Christmas per year continues. Last week I picked up the 3 most recent. Will wait until December to read them but it's nice to have them on hand. Here are the teasers from the back of each book:

"When Marcia is sent to stay with relatives, she's drawn to their houseguest, Lady Ferry: a mysterious old woman who wanders the gardens, with an impossibly long memory, everyone has rumours to share, and Marcia soon wonders if Lady Ferry is cursed to live forever - or if she's even alive at all."

"In preparation for the upcoming Christmas celebrations, the servants of wealthy Mr. Braxton unwittingly cut a tree from the sacred grounds of Lucky's Grove. As the guests arrive, injuries, illness, and mysterious occurrences soon plague Abingdale Hall - with the worst to come on Christmas Day. 

"From the moment Miss Anderson begins her new teaching job she encounters ghostly figures and a strange scent of smoke. Whispers of arson and murder circulate among the staff, but Miss Anderson soon discovers there might be more to the tragic story of the woman in black."

The Jack-O-Lanterns' Last Hurrah

 Tuesday, November 11, 2025

Another cigar this afternoon. 

Brought the jack-o-lanterns back outside. 

Today'll be their last hurrah. 

I smashed them when I tossed them between the garages. 

Smoked a Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur.

While outside I listened to Autumn by George Winston.

And Love by Rosemary Clooney. Both albums made me think of Mike as we've listened to them in the autumn whilst smoking cigars together. 

Last Night to Light the Pumpkins

  Monday, November 10, 2025

 

The jack-o-lanterns are starting to get old. 

They're getting moldy on the inside. Tomorrow I'm gonna get rid of them.

Brought them in from the porch, put 'em on the dining room table, and lit 'em up. 

Decided to head outside for a cigar. Brought the jack-o-lanterns with me. 

I think they look pretty cool. 

I didn't get much of a chance to look at them when I was passing out candy on Halloween. 

I don't ever remember carving more than one jack-o-lantern per year. This Halloween it was fun having two.

Maybe next year I'll do three.