Witching Hour ‘hexplodes’ to kick off Halloween season

By Hal O. Weeniscoming
Staff Halloween Spirit Writer

 

The cauldrons were bubbling over with excitement last night as the creeps and crawlers of the underworld came screeching into the human realm — just in time to kick off the 2025 Halloween season with a shriek and a shiver.

 

The annual Witching Hour Boo-nanza in Witches Meadow lit up the midnight sky at exactly 12:00 a.m. on August 1, as the Spookportals of Transylveinya were torn open by a coven of cackling spellcasters at the haunted grove known as Spell Willows.

 

“The monsterverse crowd practically exploded out of the fog — claws, wings, tentacles and all,” said Hagatha, 2025’s high sorceress of the Moonshroud Circle and chairwitch of the Boo-nanza’s Welcome Committee. “They were howling with glee, ready to haunt, hex and horrify every nook and cranny of the human world.”

• The rush was more chaotic than a cursed costume sale:
• Poltergeists didn’t wait for a haunting appointment — they floated straight into attics and basements like they owned the place.
• Scarecrows left their fields without even a whisper of a rustle.
• Vampires skipped their evening snack in favor of front porch decorating.
• Lagoon creatures skipped the swim and headed straight to party planning committees.
• Clowns — the sinister kind — piled into clown cars three weeks ahead of schedule.
• Frankensteins left bolts behind in the mad dash.
• Mummies unraveled just to travel faster.
• Witch cats teleported.
• Ghouls forgot to groan.
• Demons left their tridents in checked luggage.
• Bats flew in broad daylight, because time no longer mattered.
• Haunted dolls sat politely in airplane seats, waiting to terrify toddlers later.
• Skeleton barbers snapped their scissors shut and bolted toward salons.
• Bog monsters got a group rate on broomstick rides.

Even the ancient ones stirred — a sure sign the Halloween season is in full swing.

 

“The veil has thinned, the pumpkins are plotting, and the candy corn pumpkins are listening,” Hagatha hissed. “So, if your lights flicker, your shadows twitch, or you hear whispers from your closet … don’t worry. Just scream. It’s tradition.”

 

With the season officially cursed into motion, the countdown to All Hallows’ Eve begins. So, lock your doors (they won’t help), carve your pumpkins (they might fight back), and beware of anything that says “Trick and Treat.”

 

Because the monsters are here.

 

And they’re just dying to see you.

 

For more about the Witching Hour, the beginning of Halloween season and the monster universe in general, check out "Transylveinya Traveler," the official guide to Halloween. Dig it up on the Halloweeniacs website.

Podcast: Ygor gets a 'Monster Monday'

By Matthew “Pod Man” Bennell

Staff Pod Writer

Ygor did it! He’s officially a monster.

The Jack-o’-Lantern Press Podcast dropped its latest pod (no, not those pods from seeds that reproduce themselves in the exact likeness of any form of life). It’s Monster Monday! And on today’s episode of the podcast, Mike and Tom discuss Ygor as the monster he really is with their dad. Check out the episode on APPLE PODCASTS or on SPOTIFY or wherever you listen to your shows.

And, if you’re looking to check out some of the cool stuff from the show, here’s an article Mike talked about with regard to Ygor and the case that he’s not human, but, in fact, a true monster: Click HERE for the article.

Don’t forget to view the show notes for the podcast to find links to some of the other items discussed, including Ygor garb. 

Like this SHIRT or this ACTION FIGURE. How about this YGOR MASK! Ygor says, “Represent everyone’s favorite monster this Halloween with Ygor merch.” 

Do it!

‘Give us something fun to take!’

By Trix O. Treets

Staff Goodies & Neats Writer

The Halloweeniacs are bringing a sweet treat to YouTube this month.

This week, our very own Michael Picarella digs into his trick-or-treat bag and shares a really cool tale from an even cooler Halloween anthology. Check it out HERE.

Now, if you want to get “The Halloween Store” and Ronald Kelly’s other Halloween anthology, “Mister Glow-Bones” (both only 99 cents each for a limited time as of this post), use the following link, which may or may not work depending on when you view this:

Click HERE to unlock Ronald Kelly’s Halloween magic.

View Ronald Kelly’s other works on his website HERE.

Happy Halloween!

Toon: Runway monsters model stylish new threads for Halloween

 

Cartoon by Frank M. Hansen, a freelance Los Angeles cartoonist and member of the National Cartoonist Society. He creates cartoons, illustrations and animations about life, history and politics, in addition to original comic characters and stories for print, online and television. He’s the illustrator behind JLP’s “Transylveinya Traveler,” a humorous travel guide to and through the monster universe. His work can be seen at fmhansen.com.

Spookiness is among us this month

By Wade Weird Staff Weirdness Writer

Oooooh, lots of weird stories out there. 

The Nightmare365 podcast just dropped a show to get you in the proper spirit for the spooky season. Matt from the show shares a number of creepy tales — true and maybe true — but truly terrifying. 

Let’s not waste any more time. Set your radio dials to N-365, the spooky leader in the spectral. Here’s the show on Apple, and here it is on Spotify. It’s also available wherever you listen to podcasts. Enjoy! And I hope you make it to daybreak.

Toon: October is Self-Improvement Month

 

Cartoon by Frank M. Hansen, a freelance Los Angeles cartoonist and member of the National Cartoonist Society. He creates cartoons, illustrations and animations about life, history and politics, in addition to original comic characters and stories for print, online and television. He’s the illustrator behind JLP’s “Transylveinya Traveler,” a humorous travel guide to and through the monster universe. His work can be seen at fmhansen.com.

Review: It's October — Who's that knocking at the chamber door?

This week in Jack-o’-Lantern Press, we're celebrating the beginning of October and the spooky season. Today, movie reviewer Dan Cook gets a knock on his chamber door. What better way to begin the week than with Edgar Allan Poe, Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and one of October’s favorite birds ...

THE RAVEN (1963)

Bluray Collection

“Shall I ever hold again the radiant maiden whom the angels call Lenore?”

“How the hell should I know?”

A cracking horror comedy starring three of the most legendary actors in the genre’s history, Roger Corman’s 1963 “adaptation” of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” is a ghoulishly hilarious romp that blends the gothic with giggles with hugely entertaining results. Twisting the immortal poem of grief into a fantasy farce, the film features Corman regular Vincent Price as a humble magician who joins forces with a fellow conjuror played by Peter Lorre to do battle with Boris Karloff’s evil Sorcerer Dr. Scarabus.

A far cry from the macabre tone of the other Poe interpretations that Corman and Price collaborated on such as “The Pit And The Pendulum” (1961) and “The Masque of The Red Death” (1964), “The Raven” is instead a much lighter, family friendly affair. And while screenwriter Richard Matheson’s creative liberty with the source material may annoy literary purists, the enjoyably hammy performances as well as the witty script make it one of the directors more widely accessible pictures.

Price, Lorre and Karloff are clearly having enormous fun with their respective roles — with Lorre in particular providing big laughs as the drunken Dr. Bedlo, arriving on the scene in the form of a snarky talking bird — while the atmospheric score by Albert Harris bounces between scary and silly with enjoyable relish. Throw in some ravishingly gothic sets, a very young Jack Nicholson as the dashing hero, the beautiful Hazel Court, and a spectacular wizarding duel with comedic timing reminiscent of the battle between Merlin and Madam Mim in Disney’s “The Sword and The Stone” (also released in 1963), and you have the perfect spooky movie to introduce kids to the wonderful world of classic horror.

Dan Cook is a movie reviewer on Letterboxd, and he also posts his reviews on Facebook. He’s a self-proclaimed film fanatic, avid reader and retro gamer who lives in Dudley, England, with his wife, Sam, and their two daughters.