October 13, 2009

20 frightfully awesome Halloween blogs

With less than three weeks to go until All Hallows Eve appears, I thought it would be fun to share with you a list of some of my favourite Halloween blogs. Growing up in a small town I was often the fanatical person in my class/school/Girl Guide troop/neighbourhood/etc about this autumnal holiday, a point that made me happy but also a bit self-conscious. Thus it was a huge thrill to discover years later via the internet that there are others like myself out there that think, breath, eat and sleep Halloween all year long, not just on October 31st!

Of course one doesn’t have to be obsessed with Halloween to adore it. This eerily fun holiday means many things to many different people. For some it’s a chance to dress up and take on a different persona – if only for one night, for others it’s about the treasure trove of happy childhood memories Halloween brings to mind. I have adored Halloween for as long as I can recall. Each year my decorations come out their boxes like (friendly) vampires emerging from coffins, to line my shelves and tabletops, bookcases and counters. I certainly don’t have the world’s largest collection of decorations (not by a long shot), but I do love the witches, bats, pumpkins, monsters, scarecrows and all other manner of Halloween themed items that I’ve amassed so far.

While I’d be content to keep my Halloween decorations out year round, this isn’t always feasible when you live with someone else (and when you have a precious little cat who thinks all festive decor items – regardless of the holiday – are delightful playthings that get sprinkled around the house just for her amusement), so in order to keep the Halloween spirit flowing long after the last Jack-O-Lantern candle has burned down, I turn to a slew of fantastic blogs run by fellow fans of this spirited holiday all year long.

Though not all of these blogs cover vintage related topics, it’s not uncommon to find posts with antique, vintage or retro themed Halloween images or topics. As well many of them highlight Halloween handicrafts, decorations, party and costume ideas, and recipes that could easily weave their way into a vintage themed Halloween celebration.

Join me, won’t you? As I countdown twenty of my favourite Halloween blogs by listing their names and sharing a spooky, beautiful, old school or just plain marvelous image from each respective site that caught my eye (of newt) and spoke to my adoration of this beguiling holiday.





1.) A Nostalgic Halloween





2.) AranaMuerta





3.) Cat In The Moon





4.) Creepy Cupcakes





5.) Frog on the Pumpkin





6.) Hallow E’en Witches’ Flying Machine



{*Please note, the blog header image on this site contains frontal nudity and may not be safe for work – or younger viewers. The rest of the site is “work and family safe” from what I’ve seen in the time I’ve been following it.*}


7.) Halloween Folk Art by the Holiday Queen





8.) Haunt Style





9.) Johanna Parker Design





10.) Musings from Behind the Easel





11.) Orange and Black





12.) Pumpkin Hallow





13.) Pumpkinrot





14.) The Courtesan Macabre



{*This site is technically devoted to Gothic themed fashion, but I feel that such a topic makes it a great addition to this list.*}


15.) The Gallows





16.) The Halloween Tree





17.) Through the Patch





18.) Trixie’s Treats





19.) Vintage Halloween Collector





20.) Weird Hallow





A jaunt (or flyby on your broomstick) through these wonderful sites can’t help but get any Halloween enthusiast even more in the festive mood – I know each of them is certainly helping to fuel my excitement this year!

Do you have a favourite Halloween blog or website that isn’t mentioned above? I’m “dying” to know about it if you do! :D

39 comments:

  1. I'm honoured. Both to be included on your list and to be part of such a wonderful group of bloggers.

    You've made my day :D

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  2. Oh wow there are so many cool looking sites.

    btw I just adored your cute little ghost moving around on my bloglist. Loved him :)
    xoxo

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  3. hey...great list! thanks for sharing it!

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  4. Hey Jessica. Great post. I love Halloween. It's always been a holiday that is special to me. I can't wait to check out all of these sites. They all look fantastic. Hope you're having a wonderful week. Cheers!

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  5. The pictures alone are wonderful!!! :-)

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  6. What a neat collection of blogs! Thanks for sharing the links, you know I'm a total blog addict. lol

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  7. I luuuuuuuuv Halloween ;P

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  8. Thanks for sharing these wonderful blogs with us! I had no idea that there were blogs completely devoted to Halloween, but then again I suppose there's blogs devoted to just about everything ;)
    I love Halloween so much too, I can't wait until it's here! :)

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  9. Marvelous list, Jessica! Thanks so much for putting it together! I feel a "must visit" blog at this time (and any time) is A Fanciful Twist by Vanessa Valencia. Amazingly creative and soooo Halloween! – g

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  10. Love the links! I'm coming back to enjoy those after work.

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  11. Wonderful! I may need to post some Halloween-style hair-dos now...

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  12. This post is marvellous! We don't celebrate Halloween here (well, during these last years people started to replicate some awful lil version of the thing...so bad!) and it's painful! I always loved everything Halloween themed since I was a girl, long before the internet, hearing of it only through american tv series, movies and books. Then three years ago I went to New York and I finally saw all those fantastic decorations - the over the top ones from Upper East Side and the cozy ones from Queens and Brooklyn - and I loved them both. The atmosphere was definitely magic!
    I'll go check every site you mentioned here for sure, thank you so much :-)

    Oh, and don't you think this paper doll below is fantastic?

    http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32297524

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  13. Wooowwweeee!

    Never knew that there were so many halloweeny blogs out there!

    Thanks for sharing, I'll be checking them out!

    xx

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  14. dude i didnt even know there were halloween blogs! wow gonna have to check em out!

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  15. Thank you for sharing such wonderful blogs about such a "sexy" holiday.. I love the dressing up thing and all the vintage items you can find....great! Thank you my friend for such a BOOtiful card! I love it.. your detail is cherised and appreciated.. hugs and love to you my dear friend... Tracey

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  16. p.s. an award for you!

    http://www.mynetfinds.blogspot.com/2009/10/sweetest-thing.html

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  17. What a cool post! Love the Arana Muerta stuff. Hope you are having a lovely week dear Jessica!

    Xoxo

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  18. OOOH! Those halloween cakes are just amazing.
    Halloween is pretty much a non-event here in Australia, so i'm pretty jealous!

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  19. These are amazing! My, what frightful blogs you've found!

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  20. Hey Jess, i love your blog more and more everytime i go to it, and whenever we go out to an internet cafe i always load your site and keep it up, so i can read all the posts when i get home! i love the idea of those halloween stensils where the woman is dusting the icing sugar over, those would be so awesome to use for a halloween cake, me and ty used stencils last year and made some really great carved pumpkins, ill have to send you photos of them sometime.. miss you!- love katie

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  21. @ Halloween Spirit, thank you for your lovely comment. I adore your blog and greatly enjoy and appreciate the dedication to Halloween that you have. Thank you for the wonderful inspiration your site continually provides me with and for your friendship, honey.

    @ Dustjacket Attic, awwww, I had no idea my little ghosties would be fluttering around on your bloglist, that is super adorable! :)

    @ Jaz, that pleasure is all mine, I had an absolutely blast putting this post together and am so happy you enjoyed it!

    @ Keith, Halloween is really special to me too for a multitude of reasons. It's really neat that we share this is common. Hope you enjoyed perusing all those Halloween blogs, my friend.

    @ Kathie, thank you very much, sweetie! I aimed for vintage-y images firstly and then just for whatever caught my Halloween loving eye :)

    @ Maggi, I'm an absolute blog addict, too, so I fully understand what you mean there! Having massively eclectic tastes only makes my "blog addiction" all the "worse" ;D

    @ Stéphanie, thank you very much, honey!

    @ Jennifer Lee, I do too, darling, no other holiday gets me fueled up for its arrival quite like Halloween does! :)

    @ You're super welcome, my dear. Until a couple of years ago I had no idea either, but with the explosion in popularity of blogging, there seems to be no end in sight to the number of really cool Halloween blogs out there. While putting this post together it occurred to me though that I only know of a couple Christmas ones, and will definitely need to find more such blogs once November 1st rolls around :D

    @ Georgianna, thank you dearly, sweet soul. I really appreciate your terrific suggestion, as I adore that site, too (it is truly an absolute must-see site for creative and artsy types of all kinds!).

    @ Sher, thank you, hon, I hope you had a marvelous time exploring all those Halloween blogs!

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  22. @ Gabriel, thanks, sugar! Halloween inspired hairdos would be tons of fun - can't wait to see any that you decide to share with us!

    @ AlicePleasance, I can can scarcely imagine growing up without Halloween, but at the same time I know that far more of the world doesn't really observe it than does. My husband is from Italy, too, and I think I baffled him a bit with my enthusiasm for Halloween our first year together ;D Fast forward a few years now and he loves this holiday and gets right in the spirit for it, too (my love for All Hallows Eve has clearly rubbed off on him!).

    It's awesome that you got to see New York all decked out for Halloween, that's something I'd really enjoy getting the chance to do one day, too!

    Awwww, that paper doll set is sooo adorable, thank you very much for sharing the link to it, sweet heart.

    @ Madeleine Miranda, there are tons, I agree, and new ones seem to pip up all the time, too. I hope you enjoyed visiting the ones listed above, my dear!

    @ Elena-lu, there are indeed, sweetie, and oodles of them to boot! :D Have a great time zipping around these fantastically fun Halloween sites!

    @ Tracey, you are immensely welcome, my lovely friend, for the card. I'm delighted to know it reached you already. Thank you very much for your great comment and for letting me know my Halloween greeting arrived :)

    @ Kathie, huge thanks for the wonderfully sweet award! It was really kind of you to bestow it upon Chronically Vintage.

    @ Simply Colette, thank you, honey! I really enjoy her amazing work, too. I would love to be able to add a piece or two to my Halloween collection one day.

    @ Trishiekoh, thank you, my dear! I'm sorry that Halloween isn't as big of a deal in Australia. I hope that, if only a little, my blog can help quench your thirst for all things Halloween related this season.

    @ Katie, hi my preciously awesome sister, thank you so much for your comment. It was all I could do to hold back the tears when you said that you load Chronically Vintage and leave it open in your browser so that you could read it even when you're not at an internet cafe. You are so special, sweet heart! I love and miss you to end, sis, thank you very much for the beautiful comment.


    Huge thanks everyone for your terrific comments, I always love hearing from you and sharing in the spirit of not just vintage - but whatever festive event is taking place at the moment - with each of you!

    Have a stellar and fun-filled weekend - tons of hugs!!!
    ♥ Jessica

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  23. @ Lemondrop Marie, thank you very much, my dear! I hope those sites didn't frighten you too much ;D

    Big hugs & blissful weekend wishes, honey!
    ♥ Jessica

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  24. Very cool blogs. Thanks for finding them!

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  25. Love all the halloween pictures! The drawings and the cakes are my favorite! I haven't dressed up for halloween in so long, I hope to get out and do something fun this year though!
    Hope you are doing well!!

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  26. @ Amanda, thank you very much, sweet heart!

    @ Trains and Sewing Machines, big thanks! I just love those cake stencils, too, they're such an simple, yet strikingly pretty, way to add a real dose of artistry to any home baked cake. (I hope you're able to dress up and immerse yourself in the Halloween festivities this year, too, honey.)

    Thank you each very much for your lovely comments, ladies! I really hope you both have fantastic Mondays and weeks ahead!

    Big hugs,
    ♥ Jessica

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  27. EEK! I love it! What a great idea, HALLOWEEN IS MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY!!! Blogs + Hallows Eve = LOVE

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  28. LOVE ALL OF THIS WOW !!!!!

    here are some vintage halloween fashion ideas: http://fashionableearth.org/blog/2009/10/27/vintage-halloween-deas/

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  29. I really enjoyed reading the Halloween blog. Yes, you're right, Halloween has a different meaning to everyone. Some women like dressing up in costumes, others like to cook, and many still go out trick-or-treating, like me.

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  30. Hi there!

    I just came across your yummy blog while seeking out Halloween... THANK YOU for featuring my blog here as one of your favorites sources for all things vintage October 31st!.... I appreciate it! :)

    CHEERS and see you in the "web".... hehe
    ~ Johanna

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  31. Hi Jessica, this list is awesome. The pictures are amazing.

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  32. Great list!! I'm following them now! Thanks :D

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  33. These are all fantastic picks and, as a Halloween Addict, many that I visit daily myself!
    Great list!

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  34. The great thing about these crafts is you can make them for relatively inexpensive prices and spend some quality time with the family while doing so. The result adorable lanterns that can line the sidewalk or walkway as a cute and spooky path for trick or treaters to take a trip down.
    halloween contact lenses
    Everything from a simple face of triangle eyes and a smiley face, to an elaborate picture of a spider in a web can be completed with the use of a pumpkin and a carving knife! One you have carved the pumpkin, simply fill with a tea light candle and you have a beautiful Halloween decoration. This is great for parties and inviting others over to your home for Halloween night! Felt is an essential Halloween craft and really works well for versatile craft ideas. Finally, one of my favorite crafts I made last year is a life sized skeleton made form plastic pipes and a milk jug head. You simply connect the pipes in the shape of a skeleton, you the painted white just for the head and add some hands. The result is a spooky skeleton that is perfect for hanging out on the porch or in a front window.

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  35. Wow! I've got a lot of inspiration for next year!!!!!

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  36. May I say hello, here I am fellow bloggers. :)

    http://halloweenlove.com/

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  37. Loving your page. Found it while searching for Halloween makeup ideas and related stuffs. I actually don't have that creativity but it's fun so collect such photos and tutorials on my Pinterest board collection. Please allow me to pin some of your photos, pleaseeeeeeeee! thanks much and God bless!

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