Places I've been Haunting

My goal for October was to try and participate in as many Halloween events as I could before my husband started groaning. I think I've done pretty well. We have one more weekend and I only have a few more activities up my sleeve. I haven't told him yet. Not a problem, he doesn't read my blog.

The unofficial start to the season was a visit to Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA. It's a National Historic Landmark, being one of the first cemeteries in this country designed to resemble a park. We spent two hours wandering the paths and it was simply gorgeous.

Mount Auburn Cemetery

We officially started the season with a local production of Evil Dead: The Musical. I wrote about it earlier this month.  The musical was funny and gory with streams of blood flying everywhere.  My husband laughed so that was a good sign.  He hates musicals.

Evil Dead: The Musical

On October 1st, we invited a few friends over for a Halloween kick-off party. The best part of the night was bobbing for nips.

One night I made mummy-dogs for dinner.

Pre-oven Mummy-Dogs

Our biggest adventure was traveling to Damariscotta, ME for the Maine Pumpkin Festival. Despite the rain, we had a great time. The house we rented for the weekend overlooked a cemetery that overlooked a river- perfect. You can see the white house we rented in the background.

Damariscotta, ME Cemetery

We attended a parade, the pumpkin catapults and, of course, the pumpkin regatta. Carved pumpkins lined the street. Put this festival on your calendar for next year. 

We watched the pumpkin regatta from the auditorium (it was live-streamed) because it was raining and I couldn't get close enough to see at the water's edge.  That was fun too, though because the auditorium had popcorn. Contestants carved out giant pumpkins, climbed in, and raced them around a series of bouys. Several sank. It was funny.

Of course, I bought pumpkins from a farm just down the street from our house. For $20 I filled up my trunk!

A week ago we attended a lecture by Robert S. Cox. He spoke about his book Body and Soul: A Sympathetic History of American Spiritualism. Cox discussed the start of Spiritualism in this country- before it because a stage for charlatans. It was interesting and although I've read a fair amount about Spiritualism in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries I had never read about the true beginnings and philosophy. I've added the book to my reading list.

Robert S. Cox: Body and Soul

This past weekend we attended The Sleepy Hollow Experience at Old Sturbridge Village. Old Sturbridge Village is a 1830's New England living history museum. This year OSV brought The Sleepy Hollow Experience, first performed at Georgia's Senenbe Playhouse, to the museum. The performances take place in the dark after the museum has closed. The audience walks around the site together along paths lined with torches to witness a play that "reimagines Washington Irving's iconic 1820 tale" of a headless horseman. 

The Sleepy Hollow Experience

The production was fantastic. The eerie lighting and sound effects combined with the starry, cold evening set the perfect mood. My grumpy husband even said he'd see it again if it came back next year.  I didn't take any pictures because I wanted to focus on what was happening. You'll have to rely on their website for more information or better yet, head over to J. W. Ocker's blog Odd Things I've Seen. He also attended and took some great pictures (that's why he's the professional.) I see that they just posted an additional show (it's been sold out for weeks). If you're in the region, act quickly to get a ticket.

So what do I have planned for this weekend? Well, some friends have invited us to a backyard bonfire on Friday where we'll tell ghost stories. On Sunday, I'm thinking I'll carve a few pumpkins and mysteriously leave them around town. The inspiration is The Great Pumpkin Project. If all goes well, you'll read about it on Halloween.