Halloween Tree Painting Progress

I'm not a painter. I don't know how to paint. I've never done it. Kind of. If you don't include my office in my last house, that is.

But considering I've been away from clay for so long, and Hallowe'en calls so loudly -

And Aaron Brothers is out of business and had a sale on everything having to do with painting -

I decided to try.

So this here is my very first painting on canvas.

I have no idea what I'm doing, but in spite of that, it seems to be turning out well. 

Eventually, I'll get it done.  There are lots of pumpkins to paint.

Once it's done, I'll get some prints made.

Meanwhile, I might just be able to get my segment for the Charmed Pot done before the show this week...

A Couple More

Here are a few more shots of The Halloween Tree Plate, this time, taken with my "real" camera. Of course a couple of the close ups I wanted turned out blurry. Oh, well!

Currently freaking out about my workload vs. time I can't make stuff, which is upcoming. Eek! The good news is, the new kiln is coming tomorrow! HOORAY!

R.I.P. Ray Bradbury

Author of my favorite book, "The Halloween Tree," Ray Bradbury, dies at the age of 91. 


Thank you for my childhood, Mr. Bradbury. You'll be missed.

Classic Beauty

This illustration always gets me in the mood for Hallowe'en! Thanks, Mr. Mugnaini.

Good Hallowe'en Reads

If you're one of those folks who is new to cruising the Hallowe'en blogs, or only cruise them at this time of year, you may have missed some of the best Hallowe'en literature out there. I've compiled a short list of Hallowe'en and spooky reading for you.


October Dreams has got to be one of the best compilations of personal stories and scary stories out there. I discovered this gem through Pumpkinrot's recommendation, and got it almost immediately. I'm really glad I did. The Official description says this: "Classic novellas, never-before-published stories, essays on the history, literature, and films of Halloween, and real-life memories of October 31st-from today's best practitioners of fear." With offerings from Ray Bradbury, Dean Koontz, Poppy Z. Brite and Peter Straub, you are constantly entertained by the upper echelon of our passion.


One of the things I love about this book is that it is in that short-story style, so you can read a story and put it down for a little bit and not worry about forgetting where you were. I really recommend this!
The Halloween Tree, is a near-legendary Hallowe'en story by Ray Bradbury. For those of you who haven't had the chance to read this, now is really the time, because you can't call yourself a true Hallowe'en enthusiast if you haven't. Disneyland has gone so far as to build their own Halloween Tree and dedicate it to Mr. Bradbury. There's a video about The Halloween Tree and Disneyland with Ray Bradbury here. They dedicate and light the tree towards the very end, but it's worth watching the whole thing for some tidbits about Something Wicked This Way Comes and other Disney things...


I covered The Halloween Tree in Hauntcast 24, so if you want an engaging and incredibly intelligent synopsis, you should give that a listen! ;o) The book itself is a very articulate read, almost a poem in its rhythms, and the pictures it paints are fantastic.


Speaking of Hauntcast, by now you've downloaded the new show and heard all about The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
In the show, I recommended you read the original classic for yourself. You can get the copy pictured for free and download it to the Kindle for PC app, or you can browse the other free apps for Kindle here. I can't stress enough what a joy it is to read the original text describing the mad ride of Ichabod Crane as he's pursued by the Headless Horseman. The buildup of tension is wonderfully creepy, and sure to give you vivid dreams!


Well, what are you doing here, still? Go read something!

Halloween Tree and the Charmed Pot

Those of you who listen to Hauntcast (and I know that's all of you, right?) are aware I did my segment on Ray Bradbury's beloved book, The Halloween Tree. Long ago, I did a blog post on The Halloween Tree, as well.

I don't often get mail directly to my mailbox after one of my segments, but one man is pretty consistent with his comments and feedback: Robert Beech, groundskeeper of Brandywine Cemetery. He, too, loves The Halloween Tree, and was kind enough to share this wonderful story with me, and graciously gave permission for me to pass it along to all of you, as well:

While I was living in LA many years ago I was very impressed with the animated version of Hallowe'en Tree. So much so that I sculpted a Moundshoud mask. I made 5 copies before the mold broke. One, I sent to Ray.
On Hallowe'en afternoon, 1995, I received a telephone call at work; "Thank you, thank you, thank you for that wonderful mask you made!" It was Ray.
Kind of made my day.
The other masks made their way to collectors. One went to John Debney, the composer of the music for the animated version. For that I own the only legitimate full version of the soundtrack.

Thanks again for the segment.

BTW, I really hope that someone (Michael Dougherty?) makes a live-action/CGI version of the book someday. A version that more closely resembles the book than then animated version.

Thanks again, Robert for sharing this, and for your continuing support of Hauntcast.

Last day to Enter!

Today is the last day you can enter to win some of my hand made jack-o-lanterns. Go to this post for details!

And just to let you know that I've been busy, I'll include pics of my hanging jackos. I think they''ll make a nice addition to any Halloween Tree, don't you?

Again-pics are copyrighted, so please ask permission before you use them!

"They rounded the far side of the house and stopped. For there was the Tree. And it was such a tree as they had never seen in all their lives. It stood in the middle of a vast yard behind the terribly strange house. And this tree rose up some one hundred feet in the air, taller than the high roofs and full and round and well branched, and covered all over with rich assortments of red and brown and yellow autumn leaves."

"But," whispered Tom, "oh, look. What's up in that tree!"

For the Tree was hung with a variety of pumpkins of every size and shape and a number of tints and hues of smoky yellow or bright orange.

"A pumpkin tree," someone said. "No," said Tom. The wind blew among the high branches amd tossed their bright burdens, softly.

"A Halloween Tree," said Tom.

And he was right.

I wanted to give my contest winner the chance to have one of the very first jacko pots I've made, before I start to sell the rest of them. They'll be posted to eBay on Friday. I've also decided to have two winners, with the first name drawn out of the hat getting first pick, and the second name out receives the second jacko.

Good luck, all!

The Halloween Tree

One of my favorite stories since childhood is Ray Bradbury's "The Halloween Tree." It's one of the few Halloween things my mother did for me: she bought the book for me and even read it to me. I remember the cover you see at the left, with the dynamic original illustrations by Joseph Mugnaini. Lucky me, I managed to hold on to my original copy through two divorces and countless moves.

"The Halloween Tree," for those who have never read it, is a story that combines the exuberance of a group of boys on the best holiday of all, with a mysterious house on the hill, the history of Halloween, death, and, possibly, a deal with Death Himself, in the guise of Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud, (A name that gives you a little shiver down your spine.) to save their frined, Pip's, life. According to Wikipedia, the novel started as a screenplay in 1967, with an eye to having the marvelous Chuck Jones animate it. Sadly, that version wasn't made, but in 1992, Bradbury was successful in getting The Halloween Tree produced, winning an Emmy Award for it. In 2005, he released a longer version of the book, including both his story elements from the screenplay, and the 1967 version.

For those of you with time to spare, I've included as much of the 1992 version as I could find on YouTube. Narrated by Ray Bradbury, himself!

Finally, on October 31, 2007, Disneyland in California invited Bradbury to the unveiling of its very own Halloween Tree, to be part of the park's Halloween decorations every year. About time, I say!