364 Days til Halloween

I hope we all had a great Halloween, I know I did! I got a little wrapped up in things and didn't have a chance to pop in before the big night.

 

 This is my humble yard setup. It's not much but I'm the only house on the street with anything more than lights for decorations. A few parents complimented the setup last night, and that's really why I do it. I mean, I love Halloween but I want to share it with everyone that comes by!

 

And I made my usual trip to Salem to creep some people out. Okay, it's not so much a trip when you live about 15 minutes away. There were tons of people, most in costume. Not as busy as I'd expect for Halloween being on a Saturday but it was still a lot of fun.

 

If you folks have any pics you want to share, send them to dex1138(at)gmail.com and I'll post them here. Thank you all for keeping our little tradition going. Always happy to see returning faces year after year. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN/HAPPY SAMHAIN...WE ARE AT GO! #CountdowntoHalloween2026

Oh, my dear boo-tiful people...HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

 YES, we have made it! It is Halloween already here in the UK and this household is revving up. It is guarded by a Salem witch, and her daughters are preparing fully now for the little tricksters to come by in a few hours. Those girls, as I write, are sitting on the kitchen floor carving pumpkins.

The excitement is so refreshing and welcomed!

Down the street at a local pub, they have already begun welcoming the little ones in for a fun time. I hear they are at full capacity. Around 8 or 9 PM, then the adults will take over until midnight. We are hoping to get in to that party, but it may be called for us due to a nasty bug who decided to crash our party here. (The whole family including myself got the flu. My friend and I are on day 5 of this nasty creature.) Shoo, I say (swishes her wand) we have magick to attend to.

The resident cat has taken up his station and awaiting the fun and as always, protecting this realm as it happens. *Cue the song, "Room Where It Happens"* 

As for my part in this whole mele? Well, I am taking my broomstick for a ride and simply enjoying the whole scene. It is giving me such joy to be able to celebrate with folks who love this season.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN AND HAPPY SAMHAIN!

Yours,

Crypt Keeper, Michelle

Bat Brain and A Howl-lowing Thank you! #countdowntoHalloween2026

Photo credit

You all are the best! Seriously! I had so many comments of welcoming back to the Crypt that it made my heart HOWLLLL. I seriously love you pumpkin, blood and guts, orange, monster, candy eating people! 

Time is broom flying over here in the UK. Did I mention I am here for a little bit? Anyway, there is a town nearby where they have their own resident witch and everything there is witchy. The odd thing is, they also tried to oust her at one point. Hmm...this sounds like a post to my own personal blog. Stay tuned for that.

...

Where was I going with this? Oh the cobwebs in this bat brain of mine! UGh! Oh well, carry on my dear Halloween enthusiast. Tomorrow is day 10 with all new delights. I shall be around to see some of you.

NOTE: Dex did see some notices that links to some blogs were not working. Please check out your links and make sure they are. If not, post in comments and Dex will fix them pronto!

Happy Hauntings!

~Crypt Keeper, Michelle

PS> My friend, and guest host here in the UK brought me Twix today! She knows I like them. Ah, good friends like that in this crypt are keepers!

I am back!

 Hi everybody, I am back after being in a 2 year hiatus. I asked Dex to allow me to return from the haunted house I got lost in for awhile.

The cobwebs have cleared and I am ready to peruse through rhe pumpkin patch. The one above was grown by the hands of my friend.

Dex, you have done an incredible job holding these reigns. I am so proud of you and really all of us getting the accomodations that we have as one of the best Halloween blogs.

I shall be around to leave a Halloween treat aka comments to all of you.

Happy October everyone! In Dex's words, Keep it creepy!

Crypt keeper, Michelle

Happy October!

 

We made it!

It's "officially" Spooky Season!

Sign ups for the Blog-Along are closed but you can still sign up by emailing me at Dex1139(at)gmail.com.

Have a great season and don't forget to drop in on your fellow Cryptkeepers! 

2026 Countdown Badges

Flesh off the presses, the 2026 Countdown badges have arrived courtesy of dark artist Chad Savage.

 

So far we've only had about 30 folks sign up so if you know anyone that might want to join in our little internet block party, send em this way! I'm updating the 2026 Cryptkeeper list over on the right as people sign up. 

 

UPDATE To make sure everyone sees it: I update the Cryptkeeper list on weekends. If you sign up during the week and don't see your blog, check back on the following Monday. If it's still not there, let me know. 

 

As I'm working on my own Countdown stuff today, I'm rockin out to some heavy metal horror in the shape of Van Helsing's Curse: Oculus Infernum narrated by Dee Snider.

 

2026 Countdown

Sixty days to go and the Spirit stores are wide open! 

Sign ups are available over on the right.

 

As always, I'm looking for a volunteer, or two, to conjure up the blogger badges for this year. We typically have around 4-6 every year so even if you only want to contribute two, it's a big help!

 

I know a lot of us have our own Halloween traditions throughout the spooky season but is there anything you do to "officially" kick things off every year? For me, the first piece of macabre media I consume is The Story and Song from the Haunted Mansion album (Disney, 1969) starring lil' Ronny Howard. Join me, won't you?

 

  

 

Top 20 Halloween Blogs

 

Happy first day of Summerween!

 

I got an email from Feedspot this week letting me know that our very own blog was included in their Top 20 of Best Halloween Blogs to Follow! We're in good company with the likes of Spooky Little Halloween and Your Best Halloween Ever. You can check out that list here.

 

Does Code Orange count for Summerween? If so, I spotted some very cute throws and matching pillows at Walmart.

 

 With this being just the first day of Summerween, I'm sure we'll be seeing more merch on the shelves!