HALLOWEEN HIGHLIGHTS 2025!
Welcome to Leftover Pizzas 2025 Halloween Highlights! Check back frequently from now up until the big day for bite-sized entries and updates of spooky findings!
10/26 - THE CARVING - GRIMEY
Today started and ended exactly how I'd hoped. I woke up and did some grocery shopping for the week, then decided to stop at Dunkin to sample some new seasonal items. Grabbed some refreshers and donuts for the girls at home too. It was a beautiful fall morning—the kind where leaves are practically raining from the trees. Won't be long now before they're all bare, just in time for winter to transform them into sparkly frozen sculptures. Pennsylvania's really got that "dead trees covered in ice" aesthetic down to a science.
I stopped at Dollar General to grab a few essentials: candy for the handout pile (nothing smells like Halloween like a plastic cauldron filled to the brim with a variety of candy), some knives and spoons for pumpkin carving (because I somehow left mine at the old house), battery-operated tea lights (because fuck asthma), a spooky rug for the front door (because how cute??), and a variety of freezer foods that can all be made at once in the oven—or at most two sessions, since this oven was left behind with only one rack. Living the dream.
We have nine big pumpkins this year, three of which my girlfriend's father grew for each of her daughters—a yearly tradition of theirs. Unfortunately, one was completely rotted through the bottom—discovered only when one tried to pick it up and their hand about went straight through into what can only be described as pumpkin soup. The other eight survived the quality check and none of them attempted to consume anyone's hand, so we're calling it a win.
This year, I had the pleasure of sharing pumpkin carving with the girls and one of their boyfriends (after I hollowed the pumpkins all out first of course—the kids were thrilled with this). As a Halloween enthusiast, I'm always curious how newer generations view the season. It's not exactly the same as when we were young, but there's a lot to appreciate listening in from the sidelines. Through the night, I got to hear all the banter: how terrible the frozen pizza was (it was indeed terrible—Digiorno and I need to have words), what costumes they'd wear, how dressing up as the Joker is apparently "mid," and perhaps the best part—hearing about the pranks they used to pull on each other, like using ketchup instead of strawberry syrup for milk and switching salt for sugar. At one point, the oldest confessed to fake running away by walking down the street with a suitcase full of her belongings—to which the youngest promptly replied from the next room, "why didn't you keep walking?" Sisterly love at its finest.
The faces they carved are my favorite kind: very classic-looking. The youngest even carved a kitty cat and used the eye cutouts for ears, somehow managing to keep that classic jack vibe. Watching them work, listening to their stories, being part of this with them—it reminded me why I love this season so much. It's not just about the decorations or the candy. It's about these moments, the ones where you realize that Halloween is still magic, just in different ways than you remembered. This is new to me, but sitting there surrounded by pumpkin guts and laughter felt pretty damn good.
10/20 - New Props & An Incredible Sequel - Derek
I think it’s safe to say that this Halloween has been a bit more low-key for me than the past few seasons, and I think it’s exactly what I needed. While I had a blast last year cranking out an ungodly amount of episodes with Grimey for Friday Night Frights, truthfully, it completely drained me. So the focus for 2025 has been keeping everything small, manageable and going at a relaxed pace - taking the utmost care to not get burned out on the holiday I hold dear. Thankfully, the approach is working! It’s working so well, in fact, that my Dad even convinced me to make some new props with him for Derek’s Dead-End Drive:
You see, nearly a decade ago I came to him with an idea for a haunted tree prop and my Dad being the construction wiz he is, knocked it out like an absolute champ. Well this year he had the idea to expand upon the haunted forest theme, but this time by incorporating the many trees already on the property.
I mean sure I helped him a tiny little bit, but these are basically him all the way. From the inception to the design to the lighting rig, this was birthed straight from his brain. They look absolutely killer! Nothing gets me more in the spirit than spending a day out in the beautiful Fall weather and taking a big whiff of fresh spray paint. Does anyone else also have Halloween memories that are tied to the smell of spray paint, or is that just me?
Moving on from my new decor, I also finally got back to a movie theater after close to (if not more than) a month away to see Black Phone 2. First off, I am having a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that the first movie released three years ago. Time no longer exists in my world, I fear. Anyways, I remember liking the first movie well enough but not thinking that it was anything worth revisiting regularly. A perfectly fine story, as it were, with what seemed to be a wildly definitive ending. So imagine my surprise to hear that a sequel was on the way. But why? But how?
Now that I’ve seen it, the why and the how are painfully obvious. Dare I say they’re essential to the identity of The Grabber, and The Black Phone as a whole. It’s one of those rare sequels that actually makes the source material better, and elevates with the added context given in part deux. In short, I sure did love this movie. The Grabber is looking like he very well could be our new Freddy Krueger, and I am so fucking here for it, man. Also BP2 takes place entirely in the snow, which makes me love it even more. Why yes, I did want to see a nightmare man skating on a frozen lake while trying to up his kill count.
10/11 - A Haunted Book Barn - Derek
We had plans at a friends house for a classic autumnal bonfire, the perfect night for it too. Just the right amount of chill in the air and fallen leaves on the ground. But considering we had to travel a ways to get there, we decided to make the most of our journey and ended up at the Book Barn in Niantic, CT. Book Barn was unique in that instead of one singular building, there were multiple themed stations on the property, each housing the different genres that you’d expect to see in a standard book store. Best part? Lots of them had been gussied up for the Halloween season.
Just look at that gorgeous, hand painted, original art. AI could never. It’s the perfect amount of weathered too, to make it feel as if you were stumbling on something like an old fairground. Shit, if anything is going to get me to pick up a book, it’s making the store feel like a carnival. I’ll take three Stephen King’s and a cotton candy, please!
My favorite display was easily this charming, hand crafted cemetery. In a world full of perfectly curated Home Depot tombstones, it was almost refreshing to see a whole mess of simple wooden grave markers. It brought me back to my middle school years when I had first decided to do my own yard haunt. Obviously strapped for cash & unable to afford the “real” stuff, my grandparent’s yard looked pretty similar to what you see above. Quaint and classic. I didn’t end up buying anything because my book backlog is about ten miles long, but the experience and photos were worth the trip alone.
I’ll leave you with this beautiful portrait of my beloved:
10/10 - A Fun Little Haunt - Derek
Yessir, it sure feels good to head back out into the cold October air and get spooked. I was fortunate enough to stumble upon this charming little event a mere 30 minutes from my house called Haunted Gallows, one that friend of LP, Dann, had reviewed last season. I think what he wrote covers the bases fairly well so I won’t be doing a “full review” or anything. If that’s what you’re looking for, I urge you to click that link and check out his.
In short, we had a great time. It had that very rag-tag, pull yourself up by your bootstraps “we’ll do it ourselves” sorta attitude that you just don’t see in more “professional” haunts. As we were walking through, all I kept thinking to myself was that this is probably how it felt to visit Spooky World in it’s first couple years. Something I missed because I wasn’t, uh, alive. How stupid of me.
I am in love with all the hand painted set pieces.
One of the two haunts, this is the one I can’t pronounce!
There were some cool things about Dark Fair 2, but ultimately I found it confusing at times. Trying to innovate, they had turned this sequel house into a maze with branching pathways. Cool idea in theory, but in practice it kinda fell flat for me. I think there’s a diamond in the rough there, waiting to be refined into perfection. Bathseba’s Woods was great though, with a lot of unexpected locations to visit throughout. My favorite bit was a mineshaft built on the side of a hill that gets shorter & more narrow as you walk “down” into the mine, forcing you to fully crouch before finally exiting. Equally entertaining was the gag where you enter a kitchen scene with seemingly no exit, until you realize you need to open the fridge and leave through a hidden passage. Neat.
I hope to check this one out yearly as I think there’s a lot of potential for growth here. But in this moment it just has that special something that I can’t quite put into words. The whole event nestles snugly between my yard haunt and a more professional, regional haunt like Witch’s Woods. Everything here feels like it’s built out of pallets, spray foam and a whole lotta passion, which totally clicks for someone like me.
10/01 - It Begins - Grimey
There's something different about October this year. As I strung up cornstalks and positioned pumpkins on my front steps, I realized this was the first time I was creating a Halloween display that was entirely me. Every choice, every placement, every creative decision—all mine to make. It's a strange feeling, decorating solo in a house I've only called home since August. Not bad strange. Not good strange. Just... different. In moments it felt empowering, other times it felt lonely and most of the time both. But I think that's okay. New chapters don't come with instruction manuals, and neither does decorating your first house alone. You just try things, see what works, and adjust as you go.
Looking at my front yard now, I can't help but laugh. The right side screams "charming farmhouse" with its hay bales, orange mums, and tasteful arrangement of pumpkins leading up to those lovely rotten wooden steps. Very Pinterest-worthy. Very "I'm a responsible homeowner who knows what lattice skirting is." Then there's the left side of the yard.
At night, that farmhouse charm transforms into what I can only describe as a cornstalk cult gathering—an eerie congregation of illuminated stalk creatures. I've caught more than one dog walker freeze mid-stride when they notice. That's exactly the reaction I'm going for. After winning last year's Halloween decorating contest back in my old neighborhood, I'll be damned if I'm starting from scratch in a new town without making a name for myself.
Beyond the front yard transformation, I've also been hunting down some of the newest Halloween goodies this season, and let me tell you, the haul is impressive. I'll be reviewing all my finds here on the blog and you can start here if you haven’t already. Stay tuned and check back frequently if that's the kind of thing you're into and, let's face it—if you're here, you're into it.
Until then, happy haunting, everyone. May your October be filled with perfectly placed pumpkins, atmospheric lighting, and whatever traditions—old or new—bring you comfort in the changing seasons.