Things I love about October: leaves changing color, widely available pumpkin spice options, and Halloween decorations and movies.
Leaves are ablaze with color here in the Marquette area. The most spectacular fall displays in the Upper Peninsula are actually in the Keweenaw Peninsula, in case you’re planning a visit. It’s a couple of hours drive from our home to the middle of the Keweenaw. Hubs and I made the drive up with friends to enjoy the fall color a few years ago. Seeing the brilliant foliage was wonderful, but we also had an ulterior motive. We wanted to make a run to The Jampot in Eagle Harbor before it closed for the winter. (The website says it closes for the 2022 season on Oct. 15).
The Jampot is affiliated with Poorrock Abbey, a Byzantine Rite Catholic Monastery. It makes and sells amazing jams and jellies, raising money for the monastery. Once snow comes to the U.P., the backroads location of The Jampot becomes inaccessible, which is why it always closes for the season sometime in October. If you ever get a chance to visit, I highly recommend the blueberry and thimbleberry varieties.
Speaking of flavors, I know pumpkin spice is a contentious issue. Some people love it, some hate it. I unapologetically LOVE it! I currently have a bag of pumpkin spice coffee on my kitchen counter. I only make it when hubs isn’t home or isn’t drinking coffee. He cuts his caffeine consumption off earlier in the day than I do. He avoids caffeine after noon. I don’t. That is, I don’t avoid coffee anytime of the day or night. In the fall, I generally also keep some pumpkin spice flavored creamer around. This allows me to make regular coffee for both of us and spike my mug with pumpkin spice. I also enjoy pumpkin spice doughnuts and spicy pumpkin pie, which is my favorite Thanksgiving dessert, or maybe pecan pie. Or maybe it’s a tie.
I don’t do a lot of Halloween decorations. Traditionally, I just put up a Halloween-themed wreath on the door. But frankly, I misplaced it a few years ago. Mysteriously,I find myself attracted to mini-pumpkins and other small gourds at the grocery store this time of year. I’ll end up buying a few cute gourds and piling them in a bowl in the middle of the dining table. This pleases me and puzzles my husband.
I’ll be watching a series of Halloween-worthy movies between now and the end of the month. I like classic old films with Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Vincent Price. So far this year, I’ve only watched The Mummy (Karloff). I rarely miss a year also watching House on Haunted Hill (Price). Other favorites include The Corpse Vanishes (Lugosi), Clue, and Rocky Horror Picture Show.
I prefer campy, creepy fun films. You won’t catch me watching truly scream-inducing movies, like Halloween, Nightmare on Elm’s Street or Chucky. Although, The Sixth Sense, The Others, and Young Frankenstein fit the bill, along with everything Hitchcock.
When I was a kid, the opening theme song to Perry Mason was actually a little scary to me. True story.
What do you love about October/autumn? What about pumpkin spice — love it or hate it? Do you have a favorite scary/Halloween movie? Or maybe one that was so scary it traumatized you for life? Share in the comments.
Chicks on the Case 
I like that I can be the introvert that I am and hibernate
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Dru, I don’t think of you as an introvert. Isn’t that funny?
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I’m ready for hibernation about now, Dru!
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Fall is my favorite time of the year, plus both my wife and I have October birthdays, so I’m quite partial to the month. Last year, I started my own Spooktober viewing. Like you, I tend to stick to the classics. Over the weekend, I watched the 1942 version of Cat People and The Giant Gila Monster. Fun times!
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Jim, it’s been years since I watched Cat People. It was fun watching The Mummy again recently.
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I love autumn! I love Pumpkin Spice and most pumpkin things, but pumpkin spice coffee doesn’t always love me back.
I love all sorts of Halloween movies. Rosemary’s Baby is the one that got me though. Oh, Pet Cemetery didn’t sit well either, but yet I can read S. King books! Go figure! Lol!
October is the best month! I complete another trip around the sun, so free excuse for cake!
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Happy birthday, Tracy! I think I prefer Stephen King books over the movies, too. But then the book is almost always better than the movie! (Author bias, maybe?)
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October is a weird month in NC. It can have cool, crisp fall weather or hot, humid summery weather. Usually, we get some of both.
Here are my top three horror flicks of all time. The first two are from H.P. Lovecraft stories.
Reanimator (1985 with Jeffery Combs)
From Beyond (1986 also with Jeffery Combs)
Candyman (1992)
None of these are campy fun films, but they make Halloween, Elm Street and Chucky look like fun films.
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You are braver than I, Tom!
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I don’t care what native SoCal rez say, we do not. Have. FALL. At least the fall I grew up with. I’m visiting my mom in NY as I write this and the leaves haven’t peaked here yet but they’re still beautiful. That’s one of my favorite things about fall. As to scary movies, the only one I’ll watch is The Haunting because it’s brilliant. I even went to a 50th anniversary screening around 2010 where I heard Russ Tamblyn talk about making the movie. Loved it!
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I need to watch that one, Ellen. I recently saw the remake starring Liam Neeson and Catherine Zeta-Jones and it wasn’t great.
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Haha! Yeah, sorry, there’s no real fall here. Sometimes there are a few trees with potential, though.
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El, I’m glad you’re getting to enjoy a bit of fall color in NY! Hope you even get a bit of rain while you’re there since I know you are a pluviophile!
Fall is beautiful now, but I don’t expect it to last long. We had a very light dusting of snow a week or so ago. Winter is what we do best here!
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Pluviophile–adding that word to my internal dictionary, Vickie!
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Lol, Jen! Pretty sure I learned that from rain-loving Chick, Ellen!
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I’m so-so on Halloween, but I love the rest of it. The colors, the crisp temps, and yes, pumpkin spice (in moderation). I was in Erie over the weekend and the leaves are starting to turn, so it should be in full blaze here by the end of the month.
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I don’t do much in moderation. I’m an all- in kind of gal, Liz!
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As a kid, I ran away from the TV if the Addams Family theme song came on (the TV was up high in a tiny alcove, so I couldn’t switch the channel myself). I think I just found out it was a comedy series when the movies came out. In my defense, I had a bad experience with an episode of Dark Shadows (wait, that was supposed to be funny, too?). And now I want Dunkin’ pumpkin Munchkins with my coffee, Vickie. I have been known to drink pumpkin beer, but I wait until at least mid-October. No one likes it here in NH but me, apparently (with plenty of cinnamon and sugar on the rim)–so it’s still on tap by St. Patrick’s Day.
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Lisa, I’ve never tried pumpkin beer! I do like hard apple cider, and and sometimes drink a lemonade beer shandy in the summer. Overall not a big beer fan — an occasional Red Stripe. I’m a Jack Daniel’s over ice kind of gal!
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I’m not huge on Halloween (although I used to–and my kids still do–love the candy). Growing up, my family enjoyed horror movies–and I got scared all the time. Oddly, though, I did have a little draw to Dracula-themed ones.
I enjoy pumpkin spice…but not too much. Enjoy October, everyone!
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Jen, kids make Halloween fun! And candy.
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Yes! But I’m now remembering that one year as a young couple when we did *not* stock up on candy and had to rummage in our cabinets!
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Jen, we actually had so many trick-or-treaters one year that we ran out of candy and had to start handing out quarters!
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I like pumpkin spice, but I generally mourn October. It means cooler weather is coming, and I’m a summer guy. Then there’s the fact that we usually get the strong Santa Anna winds I hate in October. Nope, not my favorite season.
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Mark, I toast you with a pumpkin spice coffee. Cheers!
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Not a bit fan of Halloween fan here, nor of pumpkin spice. I do, however, enjoy the bit of fall foliage we get in Northern California, which is pretty much limited to the Japanese Maples and Liquidambar trees. But mostly I look forward to fall, as that’s when Robin and I flee the approaching cold weather and head for Hawai’i.
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Leslie, I chuckle at your “approaching cold weather.”! I expect we’ll have snow here by the first of November. But, Hawaii is a pretty swell place to flee to!!
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I think I must be the only person in the world without an opinion about pumpkin spice. Hubs and I just double-featured Hocus Pocus and Hocus Pocus 2 over the weekend. Both cute!
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I’ve been seeing billboards for Hocus Pocus 2… Planning on maybe watching Hocus Pocus with the kids this year.
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Becky, I didn’t even know there was a HPII! I’ll have to look for it.
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Streaming on Disney! And so is the original.
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I watch the news, and that’s enough horror for me. Also, I’m a purist on coffee–nothing but the coffee. But pumpkin spice in pies, muffins, even ice cream and cheese cake, is fine by me. FYI beautiful color in Minnesota now.
FYI 2, I saw the UP for the first time this summer–great place!
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Priscilla, although we’re not native Yoopers, we really like it here! If you ever visit Marquette, DM me and we’ll have coffee! (Sans pumpkin spice, of course.)
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Have to agree on the news, Priscilla–it makes horror movies look tame (even for me!).
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I’m with you on Perry Mason music–and Perry Mason period after watching Rear Window!
I’m pro-pumpkin anything. And apple spice everything. And Halloween candy. Basically I find October to be a tasty month all around!
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Kathy, glad we’re Twinsies on creepy Perry music! Enjoy some black licorice for Halloween — but maybe don’t give it out to the kids!
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Wow! I don’t feel like such a scaredy-cat anymore. The Perry Mason theme music always scared me when it was on originally on the air. (I was only about 8 years old when it was first on, and already in bed. My parents watched it, and I could hear the theme playing, as the living room was next to my bedroom.)
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Mary, I thought I was just a nut! You and Kathy have affirmed that Perry Mason can be scary sometimes. Thank you!
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I certainly never told anyone my feelings* about the “scary” Perry Mason music. How did the first time you saw “A Christmas Carol” go? I was in the 4th grade and saw the Reginald Owen version on tv. The opening scenes terrified me. (Yet, “A Christmas Carol” in print and on film is a favorite now. I read it every December and watch three versions over the holiday season.)
*Who wants to be mocked and laughed at such a tender age??
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