Costumes - Even a website can play dressup - Check out these Halloween seasonal styles!
Doors - Do a bit of digital door to door trick-or-treating in our virtual Halloween neighborhood!
Writing - Open up The Sensationalist Spectre Spectator and enjoy some Halloween-themed writing!
Frankensite - It's liiiiiiive! See the results of our experimentation with forces beyond our comprehension... a website stitched together from submitted parts!
Thank you to everyone who participated in any manner - big or small! We hope you enjoy all the sweet & spooky submissions to the 32-Bit Cafe's 2024 Halloween extravaganza.
4o4.au — Throughout this story, I will talk about events connected to death, since we are in Halloween-time.
There are many festivals, observances and celebrations of the deceased around the world. I’m sure this is due to the inevitability of death, but another thing that is inevitable is seasons. In whatever form they may take in each part of the world, be that the northern hemisphere, southern hemisphere, wet season or dry season, our cultures are shaped by our surroundings and the events we have lived through.
I live in a part of Australia that really only has a wet season and a dry season, so know that if you too do not live in a place where your seasons line up with this calendar, know that you are not alone.
Spring
In what is usually considered Spring in the northern hemisphere, events tend to connect to growth and rebirth after Winter. We know this to be a time of spring cleaning, of animals being born, and the world coming alive again.
15th day after March equinox (between April 4 and April 6)
Tomb-Sweeping Day involves Chinese, Chitty, and Ryukyuan communities offering food to the dead, burning joss paper, sweeping graves, and worshipping ancestors.
You may see the day referred to as 掃墓節, Qingming Festival, Ching Ming Festival, 清明節, Chinese Memorial Day, Ancestors’ Day, Clear Brightness Festival, Pure Brightness Festival, Qingming Jie, or 清明节.
Second Monday or Tuesday of Pascha (Easter)
The Day of Rejoicing commemorates the departed in Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian communities. The day is also called Radonitsa, Ра́доница, Ра́даўніца, Radunitsa, Radonica, Radunica, Provody, and Прóводи.
Thursday between the Easter Sundays of the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions
Thursday of the Dead is when Arab Christians and Muslims in the Levant honour the souls of the dead. The day is also called Thursday of the Dead, Khamis al-Amwat, خميس الأموات, Khamis al-Amwat, Thursday of the Secrets, خميس الأسرار, Khamis al-Asrar, or Thursday of the Eggs.
Summer
Summer is home to just one festival of the dead in Japan. Maybe Summer is too hot for remembering much at all for most (or that’s certainly the case for me).
15th day of the 7th lunar month, August 15, or July 15 (Kantō)
The Japanese Ghost Festival in which Japanese communities honour the spirits of their ancestors. The festival is also called Obon, お盆, Bon, or 盆.
Autumn
Autumn is where we see the most events related to death, most likely because we see trees begin to drop leaves in preparation for the Winter ahead.
15th day of the 7th lunar month (late August to early September)
During the Festival of the Hungry Ghosts you may see Buddhist or Taoist communities worshipping their ancestors with food offerings, burning joss paper, and chanting scriptures.
You may also see this festival called the Ghost Festival, Hungry Ghost Festival, Zhongyuan Festival, Yulanpen Festival, Spirit Festival, Ghost Day, Pudu, 普渡, or Zhōng yuán jié.
First day of Pratipada of the month of Bhadra month of the Lunar calendar (August/September)
In honour of their immediate relatives who died the year before, the Festival of the Cow is celebrated by Hindu Newars. On this day you might find carnivals, dances, and rallies.
The festival is called Gai Jatra, गाईजात्रा, Sa Paru, or सा पारु.
15th day of the 8th lunar month (Late September or Early October)
Autumn Evening is when Korean communities may visit their family’s hometown, worship their ancestors, and attend harvest feasts with songpyeon (half-moon-shaped rice cakes) and rice wines. You will see the day called Chuseok, 추석, Hangawi, 한가위, or The Great Middle of Autumn.
16 days (late September to early October)
The Fortnight of the Paternal Ancestors (Pirtru Paksha or Shraddha) is 16 days where Hindu communities pay homage to their ancestors with food offerings.
These days are also called Sixteen Shraddhas, Pitru Paksha, Shraddha, पितृ पक्ष, Pitarpas, Pitri Paksha, Pitr-Paksha, Pitri Pokkho, Sorah Shraddha, Kanagat, Jitiya, Mahalaya, Apara Paksha, Akhadpak.
31 October
On the last day of Autumn, the eve of the first day of Winter is when we see such events as Halloween, All Saint’s Eve, Allantide, Nos Galan Gaeaf, Zadušnice and Autumn Dzaidy. It is or was considered a night when spirits are abroad, where there is a communion of the living with the dead. On this day you may see people observing with church services, prayer, fasting, vigil, offering food to ancestors, requesting candy for costumes, or celebrating.
This day is celebrated as many different events, such as Halloween, Hallowe’en, Allhalloween, All Saint’s Eve, All Hallows Eve, Allantide, Saint Allan’s Day, Feast of Saint Allan, Nos Kalan Gwav, Nos Galan Gaeaf, Noson Galan Gaeaf, St Demetrius Day, Zadušnice, Zadušnica, Autumn Dzaidy, Forefather’s Eve, Allan Night, or Allan Day.
Winter
Winter is a time of feasts and a time of rememberance. Perhaps it was a time to light candles for warmth and cook feasts of stocked food in a season which is for much of the northern hemisphere a time of hibernation of the surrounding nature.
1 November (or Sunday after Pentecost)
The first day of Winter is marked by multiple events such as Samhain, All Saint’s Day, and Calan Gaeaf. On this day you may see people out to church services, praying for the dead, visiting cemeteries, creating bonfires, ‘guising’, ‘mumming’, using divination, ‘saining’, venerating the dead, or feasting, depending on where and who is marking the day.
Another day celebrated in many forms, you may see it celebrated as All Saint’s Day, All Hallow’s Day, Feast of All Saints, Feast of All Hallows, Solemnity of All Saints, Hallowmas, All Saints Day, Kalan Gwav, Calan Gaeaf, Kalan Goañv, Day of the first day of winter, Dy’ Halan Gwav, or Samhain.
2 November
The second day of winter is well known for the Day of the Dead (el Día de Muertos), as well as The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed. On this day you might see people observing the second day through prayer for the departed, visits to cemeteries, decking of graves, special pastries and food, creating home altars to remember the dead, and cooking traditional dishes.
This day is celebrated across the world in many ways including as Day of the Dead, el Día de Muertos, el Día de los Muertos, The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, All Soul’s Day, Zaduszki, The Day of Prayers for the Souls, Grandfathers, Soul Day, Day of the Dead, Parental Saturday, Fixed Day, Дзяды, Задушница, Душница, Мъртви съботи, Мъртъв ден, Ден на мъртвите, Dušni dan, Mrtvih dan, Задушница, Мртва сабота, Родительская суббота, Урочные дни, Задушнице, Zadušnice, Spomienkový deň, Pamiatka zosnulých, Dušičky
Last Sunday of the Liturgical Year
The Sunday of the Dead is also celebrated further into Winter, Lutherans and Reformed in Germany spend this day commemorating the faithful departed, praying for the dead, lighting votive candles, and visiting cemeteries and graveyards.
The day is also known as Eternity Sunday, Totensonntag, Ewigkeitssonntag, or Totenfest.
divergentrays.com —
The Mogollon Rim in Arizona is 200 miles long and cuts across the state of Arizona. Starting in northern Yavapai County and running southeast almost to New Mexico, it's an area full of gorgeous landscapes and is popular among outdoor enthusiasts for the camping, fishing, hiking and other outdoor opportunities it provides. If you decide to visit the Rim to partake in its beauty and enjoy nature, you might find something you weren't looking for - The Mogollon Monster.
What is this strange creature? Why, it's one of Arizona's very own cryptids! It's uncertain when the creature was first seen. There is an incident that happened in 1903 in the Grand Canyon, which is north of the Rim and out of the general area of all the sightings, but some consider that to be the first one due to the similarities of what was seen then and subsequent encounters. But the first definitive sighting was in the mid-1940s. The witness was one Don Davis, who was a teen at the time (and, interestingly enough, grew up to become a cryptozoologist). Don was on a Boy Scout camping trip when he encountered the Mogollon Monster. He was asleep in his tent when he heard someone rummaging through the campsite. When he woke up, the creature was in front of him. Don recollects the creature was huge, man-like, with a massive upper body and a powerful, horrid stench.
That was only the first of many sightings by campers and hikers. The creature seems to have a penchant for going through campsites and rummaging through items. It's not a dainty visitor! It knocks things over, rips things up and steals food during its nocturnal visits. Hikers say they have had stones thrown at them from within the forest and have heard all manner of strange sounds - loud screams and shrieking, howling, whoops, whistles and wood knocking.
There have also been numerous sightings by residents of towns located on the Rim. One resident who saw the creature said it was tall, black and took large strides and another is reported to have said there were more sightings than ever before. Even a member of one of the local police departments said that residents have placed calls for help when the creature has been caught looking through their windows.
Similarities in encounter reports include the following features: a powerfully bad smell, a body covered in hair but with a hairless face, red eyes; great height and huge footprints.
So what is our mysterious creature? Some think that it is a local sasquatch. Scientists, though, believe people who think they are seeing some kind of unknown forest creature are actually misidentifying one of the numerous animals that live in the Arizona forests - mountain lions, bighorn sheep, mule deer, elk, possibly even bears. They also theorize some of these reports could just be outright hoaxes.
Please, come visit us here in Arizona and enjoy the beauty of the outdoors! But if you suddenly hear a strange noise, see strange footprints or maybe just sense that you're being watched, well - just be careful!
The Time I Got Trapped in a Cemetery, and Possibly Rescued by a Ghost!
Surge
versipellis.net — picture it: Chicago, the summer of 2018.
not a particularly creepy setting, i know. but it's the backdrop for perhaps the most goth thing that has ever happened to me, someone who could be described as strongly goth-adjacent. i'm not clubbing or rocking Killstar 24/7 (usually i'm just in a black t-shirt and jeans), but i've always been fascinated by the dark, macabre, weird, and spooky, and as such, i enjoy the common goth pastime of visiting a cemetery. it's a relaxing experience for me, as cemeteries are almost always places of quiet and reflection, with pretty landscaping to look at as you examine the graves. it's like taking a walk through a park, with an added layer of history on top— i like trying to spot the oldest gravestones, especially the ones that look so old and poorly-maintained that it's very likely no family exists to take care of the gravesite anymore. i try to imagine what the person's life was like and who they were. i don't truly believe in the supernatural, but if an "afterlife" does exist, i figure these long-departed people would appreciate that someone is still taking time to consider that they were once a human being.
that being said, on this extremely hot summer day in Chicago, 2018, visiting a cemetery was the absolute last thing i wanted to be doing. i was visiting Chicago (my hometown, but i don't live there anymore) to see a concert with a large group of friends. the concert had been the night before, and i was super tired, my feet hurt, and i just wasn't in the mood to trek around this cemetery. it was Rosehill Cemetery, the largest in the city of Chicago, and while it is a very old and beautiful place with many notable graves—not least of which Mr. Oscar A. Mayer, of wiener fame—it was just way too hot out for me to be happy walking around out there.
but my friends insisted, and it was our last day in the city before we all went home, so to the cemetery we went.
now, upon arrival, it was already around 3 PM, and according to Google the cemetery closed at 5, so i was apprehensive. we did ask the single employee at the gate, who couldn't have been older than 20, if they would be closing soon. let the record show that this employee assured us the gates would NOT be locked after closing. i don't know if the kid misheard us or genuinely didn't know, but that was the information we were given. i was still unsure, but the majority of the group trusted the employee's information, so we went ahead.
despite the sun doing its best to melt the skin off of my face, it was beautiful inside. we walked for a long time, because there was a particular grave that one of the friends in our group wanted to see, and it was pretty far in. Rosehill has an area of 350 acres, so it was a solid hike, but a scenic one. several of the graves have grand sculptural elements, and there are ornate mausoleums in different architectural styles. deer roam around freely and the grounds are full of mature trees that provide plenty of shade, but didn't do much to mitigate the heat that day. i was sweating and my feet were aching, but i was having a good time regardless.
after wandering around, going to see the grave my friend was interested in, and taking pictures, we were ready to head out, so we made the long trek back to the cemetery entrance.
this was when disaster struck.
the gate was, in fact, locked. i would have felt very cheeky about being right if i had been on the other side of it. we tried opening the gate ourselves, thinking maybe they had just shut it without locking— nope, it was definitely locked. this also appeared to be the only way in or out of the cemetery.
our first idea was to try the office, but that was also locked and seemed to be deserted. our second idea was...nothing, because where else are you supposed to find a living person in a cemetery? someone in the group suggested calling police, but we really didn't want to bring cops into the situation, so we decided to just walk and see if there was another way out.
so we walked. and walked...and walked...
it bears mentioning that, later that evening, my now-husband was due to catch a bus back to his home state to see a different concert. needless to say, he was not going to make that bus. the funny thing about this was that the concert in question was Aurelio Voltaire, a well-known goth musician. my husband was super mad about having to miss the show, because he had been a fan of Voltaire since childhood and had never gotten a chance to see him before, but i reassured him that he at least had maybe the gothest excuse ever for not being there, and that next time he got a chance to see Voltaire, he would have a funny story to tell him.
anyway, we walked so long in the blistering heat that we felt like the last of the dinosaurs, roaming the lifeless, arid desert after the asteroid impact. except instead of other dinosaurs, there were dead people everywhere. it was a good thing we were all dressed in black already, because i felt like i was about to keel over and fall into the first available open grave. the late afternoon sun was starting to give way to early evening, but the hot air still lingered oppressively over our heads.
we eventually reached an area so far back into the cemetery grounds that there were few graves, just some grassy hills, and all hope seemed lost— there were no signs of an exit anywhere. our lighthearted laughter at the absurdity of the situation had died down by this point. we were out of water, overheated, and too tired to walk back to the entrance. my head was pounding from a combination of dehydration, sleep deprivation from the night before, and how hard i had been squinting to keep the sun out of my eyes. also, in 2018, i had not had top surgery yet, and the moisture situation inside my binder made a cruel mockery of our empty water bottles. bad times.
then, we came across something strange and unexpected: in this hilly area, still within the cemetery grounds, there was a little boy running around and playing by a small pond. a woman we assumed to be his mom stood watching him nearby.
weirdness of watching your kid splash around in a pond at the back of a cemetery after-hours aside, she must have noticed that we all looked absolutely haggard, because she asked if we were okay. we told her we had been locked in and asked how she'd gotten in. she pointed off in a direction and said, "oh, i've been here, but if you walk down that way there's a hole in the fence you can cut through."
we thanked her profusely and followed her advice, and sure enough, we found the hole in the fence that opened into a little grassy spot between some buildings. i could have knelt down and kissed that grass. we were able to walk to the street from there, and called ourselves Ubers to get back to our hotels and BNBs, thoroughly sunburnt and exhausted.
it wasn't until some time had passed that we all started talking about how strange that woman's presence was in the cemetery. it just seemed like such an odd choice of place to take your kid to play when that part of Chicago has plenty of parks to use, especially since she was technically trespassing by being there after hours. to this day we joke about her being a friendly ghost, but whether she was living or not, she really saved our asses.
several years later, when my husband finally did get to see Voltaire, he told us that missing the show was forgiven, because the story was just about the gothest thing he'd ever heard.
versipellis.net — picture it: Chicago, the summer of 2018.
not a particularly creepy setting, i know. but it's the backdrop for perhaps the most goth thing that has ever happened to me, someone who could be described as strongly goth-adjacent. i'm not clubbing or rocking Killstar 24/7 (usually i'm just in a black t-shirt and jeans), but i've always been fascinated by the dark, macabre, weird, and spooky, and as such, i enjoy the common goth pastime of visiting a cemetery. it's a relaxing experience for me, as cemeteries are almost always places of quiet and reflection, with pretty landscaping to look at as you examine the graves. it's like taking a walk through a park, with an added layer of history on top— i like trying to spot the oldest gravestones, especially the ones that look so old and poorly-maintained that it's very likely no family exists to take care of the gravesite anymore. i try to imagine what the person's life was like and who they were. i don't truly believe in the supernatural, but if an "afterlife" does exist, i figure these long-departed people would appreciate that someone is still taking time to consider that they were once a human being.
that being said, on this extremely hot summer day in Chicago, 2018, visiting a cemetery was the absolute last thing i wanted to be doing. i was visiting Chicago (my hometown, but i don't live there anymore) to see a concert with a large group of friends. the concert had been the night before, and i was super tired, my feet hurt, and i just wasn't in the mood to trek around this cemetery. it was Rosehill Cemetery, the largest in the city of Chicago, and while it is a very old and beautiful place with many notable graves—not least of which Mr. Oscar A. Mayer, of wiener fame—it was just way too hot out for me to be happy walking around out there.
but my friends insisted, and it was our last day in the city before we all went home, so to the cemetery we went.
now, upon arrival, it was already around 3 PM, and according to Google the cemetery closed at 5, so i was apprehensive. we did ask the single employee at the gate, who couldn't have been older than 20, if they would be closing soon. let the record show that this employee assured us the gates would NOT be locked after closing. i don't know if the kid misheard us or genuinely didn't know, but that was the information we were given. i was still unsure, but the majority of the group trusted the employee's information, so we went ahead.
despite the sun doing its best to melt the skin off of my face, it was beautiful inside. we walked for a long time, because there was a particular grave that one of the friends in our group wanted to see, and it was pretty far in. Rosehill has an area of 350 acres, so it was a solid hike, but a scenic one. several of the graves have grand sculptural elements, and there are ornate mausoleums in different architectural styles. deer roam around freely and the grounds are full of mature trees that provide plenty of shade, but didn't do much to mitigate the heat that day. i was sweating and my feet were aching, but i was having a good time regardless.
after wandering around, going to see the grave my friend was interested in, and taking pictures, we were ready to head out, so we made the long trek back to the cemetery entrance.
this was when disaster struck.
the gate was, in fact, locked. i would have felt very cheeky about being right if i had been on the other side of it. we tried opening the gate ourselves, thinking maybe they had just shut it without locking— nope, it was definitely locked. this also appeared to be the only way in or out of the cemetery.
our first idea was to try the office, but that was also locked and seemed to be deserted. our second idea was...nothing, because where else are you supposed to find a living person in a cemetery? someone in the group suggested calling police, but we really didn't want to bring cops into the situation, so we decided to just walk and see if there was another way out.
so we walked. and walked...and walked...
it bears mentioning that, later that evening, my now-husband was due to catch a bus back to his home state to see a different concert. needless to say, he was not going to make that bus. the funny thing about this was that the concert in question was Aurelio Voltaire, a well-known goth musician. my husband was super mad about having to miss the show, because he had been a fan of Voltaire since childhood and had never gotten a chance to see him before, but i reassured him that he at least had maybe the gothest excuse ever for not being there, and that next time he got a chance to see Voltaire, he would have a funny story to tell him.
anyway, we walked so long in the blistering heat that we felt like the last of the dinosaurs, roaming the lifeless, arid desert after the asteroid impact. except instead of other dinosaurs, there were dead people everywhere. it was a good thing we were all dressed in black already, because i felt like i was about to keel over and fall into the first available open grave. the late afternoon sun was starting to give way to early evening, but the hot air still lingered oppressively over our heads.
we eventually reached an area so far back into the cemetery grounds that there were few graves, just some grassy hills, and all hope seemed lost— there were no signs of an exit anywhere. our lighthearted laughter at the absurdity of the situation had died down by this point. we were out of water, overheated, and too tired to walk back to the entrance. my head was pounding from a combination of dehydration, sleep deprivation from the night before, and how hard i had been squinting to keep the sun out of my eyes. also, in 2018, i had not had top surgery yet, and the moisture situation inside my binder made a cruel mockery of our empty water bottles. bad times.
then, we came across something strange and unexpected: in this hilly area, still within the cemetery grounds, there was a little boy running around and playing by a small pond. a woman we assumed to be his mom stood watching him nearby.
weirdness of watching your kid splash around in a pond at the back of a cemetery after-hours aside, she must have noticed that we all looked absolutely haggard, because she asked if we were okay. we told her we had been locked in and asked how she'd gotten in. she pointed off in a direction and said, "oh, i've been here, but if you walk down that way there's a hole in the fence you can cut through."
we thanked her profusely and followed her advice, and sure enough, we found the hole in the fence that opened into a little grassy spot between some buildings. i could have knelt down and kissed that grass. we were able to walk to the street from there, and called ourselves Ubers to get back to our hotels and BNBs, thoroughly sunburnt and exhausted.
it wasn't until some time had passed that we all started talking about how strange that woman's presence was in the cemetery. it just seemed like such an odd choice of place to take your kid to play when that part of Chicago has plenty of parks to use, especially since she was technically trespassing by being there after hours. to this day we joke about her being a friendly ghost, but whether she was living or not, she really saved our asses.
several years later, when my husband finally did get to see Voltaire, he told us that missing the show was forgiven, because the story was just about the gothest thing he'd ever heard.
cobycat.neocities.org — Trick-or-treating was something I’d only ever seen in American TV shows and movies. But here in Belgium? The Halloween spirit has never fully taken root. Sure, stores and even some families will put up decorations, you'll find plenty of themed candy and scary movie nights on TV, fright nights in theme parks, and occasionally there’s a Halloween party or themed event (like guided Halloween tours). But the classic American tradition of trick-or-treating? Nope, no dice. Halloween is first and foremost a commercial outing here. And this association with commercialism is also frequently cited by people opposing Halloween.
I did give it a shot as a kid, though, and to say it didn’t go as planned would be putting it lightly. The best we got was leftover candy, sometimes even expired. But one person allegedly even called the police on us! Looking back, I'm both amazed at the bravery I showed back then, and mildly amused by how confused my neighbors must have been.
We already have our traditions like Carnival for dressing up in elaborate costumes, and New Year's caroling, where kids go door-to-door singing for sweets and coins in the morning preceding New Year's Eve. And in some regions, but not mine there's also Martinmas in November, where kids walk around with beet lanterns at night gathering candy thrown around by Saint Martin. But I still feel like Halloween offers its own nice twist on that formula—a spooky, whimsical celebration I’d love to see thrive here someday, even if it’s too late for me to go knocking on doors. I think I’d still find it fun to watch kids running around in their costumes, living out the Halloween dreams I only ever truly experienced through the screen.
Music
One example of homegrown Halloween media is a 2001 music video for the song Halloween (they obviously thought long and hard about that one), by the ephemeral tween girl's band M-Kids. The opening bit quite clearly references Backstreet Boys' Everybody. It's quite a corny song, but I appreciate the willingness of such a band to indulge in some relatively scary descriptions.
Hahahahahaha! I am the ghost of Halloween and I will show you horrible things!
A mummy falls out of the closet.
We're scared to death and all scream!
Strange creatures are just crawling inside.
There on the stairs are dirty big spiders.
A house full of screaming white spooks.
ghosts in the basement, hiding.
Rolling heads, severed arms,
five kilos of rolled-up intestines!
Halloween is my favorite feast,
then I am dressed up as a creepy beast!
On Halloween, you are welcome in hell.
You get the creeps, you shiver out of your skin!
And if you dare, you look under your bed:
a big green monster spoils all the fun.
The wet slime drips from the wall.
Witches dance rolling on fire.
You let out a horrible scream:
a spider crawls over your buttocks!
— Halloween, by M-Kids (translated from Dutch)
Several years earlier, in 1999, another song titled Halloween topped the charts. Da Boy Tommy's cover of the movie Halloween's theme music was one of the seminal works of Belgian jumpstyle music, together with Candyman, a cover of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells (best known for its use in the soundtrack of The Exorcist).
Odds and ends
I recently learned that pumpkin spice is not a pumpkin-derived product, but is actually the spices used in a pumpkin pie. Generally consisting of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and allspice, it's very similar to the speculaas spice mix that is associated with our feast of Saint Nicholas. So that's yet another example of Halloween just being several different holidays in a spooky trenchcoat, at least from a Belgian point of view. 😛
Flemish folk etymology often (wrongly) links Halloween to the Song of Lord Halewijn. It's a ballad about an evil man who lures women with his song, in order to murder them. He gets outsmarted by a princess, and loses his head to her.
FRIGHTFUL FRANKENSITE!
This page was put together by xo for the 32-bit Cafe.
