Crypt

Okay, listen up all fans of the spooky, haunted and ghoulish variety. I've just found out there is a new gastro pub in Savannah called the Crypt Pub and it is on my must-visit immediately list. They have glass skulls to serve drinks in, drinks with mysterious vapors people! Isn't it great when new places open up? I have a bad habit of always going to the routine favorite places and forgetting to check out the new offerings, so my goal is to try one new Savannah restaurant each month. In fact, tonight we are headed to Ele which means October will be well covered for trying something new. How about you - do you find yourself at the same 3 or 4 restaurants all the time or do you always aim to try new places and mix up the routine?

Halloween Wish List

Halloween time is full on, and I couldn't be more delighted. In my quest to one day have the ultimate Halloween house, I have added some excellent decorative pieces to my Halloween wish list. Since I can't afford to buy everything that catches my fancy, how about I tempt readers with these lovelies instead.

First up, these creepy medical encyclopedia drawings from Pottery Barn are to die for but certainly on the pricey side. I found some similar items on Etsy in the Halloween decor shop from Owl Studio and Golden Rococo.

Another Pottery Barn item that caught my eye was the Halloween Countdown Calendar. As a kid I loved Advent calendars and this is basically the same idea. The scalloping gives it a lovely vintage Halloween touch, but I would really like to try my hand at making my own version out of felt. I think a haunted house with a graveyard in front would translate quite well and give lots of interesting pockets in the windows, doors, and gravestones.

One more Etsy shop that makes me want to add many items to the shopping cart is Pumpkin Hollow. Are those some perfectly spooky Jack O'Lanterns or what? The shop owners also have a blog called Pumpkin Rot where you can check out the splendid Halloween set ups they create each year. To borrow the words of Liz Lemon, I want to go to there.

Anything Can Happen on Halloween

I spend the entire summer waiting for fall to get here, and the first signs of my favorite season turn up in the craft stores. While it may seem early to some people, Halloween has been on my mind for several weeks. I am going to officially declare that while the calendar may still be stuck in August, it is time to start planning your Halloween costumes and decorations. After all, there is no reason to miss out on savoring a favorite holiday for as long as possible. Now that the supplies can be found, I've taken my Michaels coupons and picked up a few items to create two Halloween decorations.

The style I'm working towards is a Gothic Victorian - not a gory Halloween aesthetic but more of a spooky, mysterious and dark vibe. That means black lace and candelabras, dark silhouettes, witchy potions, and creepy creatures like bats, spiders and rats. I have fantasies of doing a proper and massive Halloween set-up, complete with fog machines, these lace curtains, tombstones, a giant spider web, old-timey optical illusion portraits, and ghoulish organ music. A fun Halloween party idea borrowed from recent wedding trends is to make a photo booth for guests to enjoy. A spooky backdrop and some props based around a Halloween theme sound like a fun time to me. Some quality animatronics would be splendid as long as I'm being honest here. Every year is a chance to build up the collection of Halloween props, and here is what I'm currently working on.

The first item is this skull terrarium. I had a leftover glass cookie jar that didn't make the cut for our wedding candy buffet, and I just knew it would eventually come in handy for something. A little florist foam at the bottom of the jar gives the skull some height, and I've covered it with moss. The skull plus a few creepy spiders and now I have a spooky centerpiece.This is a super easy diy project if you don't have much time or energy.

My second project is from another major fan of Halloween, Martha Stewart herself. This black flower wreath fits in perfectly with a Gothic theme. I found black fake roses in the Halloween aisle at the craft store, which allows me to skip the step of spray painting the flowers. Here is the inspiration photo from the Martha Stewart website.

By the way, do you have any favorite or less-known Halloween movies? Last year for the first time I saw "The Worst Witch", which is where the title of this post comes from. Any fan of Halloween and/or Tim Curry should put this in the Netflix queue pronto.