My 4-year-old niece, Matilda, is VERY into unicorns and rainbows. I happen to be very into Halloween. Since there will be no trick-or-treating for her this year thanks to the pandemic, I offered to send along some Halloween decorations. I picked out a few things I thought would be fun to hang in the house and outside, along with a surprise: Oriental Trading Co.’s unicorn skeleton.
I honestly wasn’t sure if it would terrify Matilda or be a hit. Well, let’s just say 1-week-old Jelly Bean is now a custom-painted rainbow unicorn skeleton who stands proudly in the front yard of my brother’s house. (The idea of the rainbow paints came from a photo on Oriental Trading’s website.) When my brother sent a photo, he texted: “She thinks it’s pretty much the best thing ever. I think if she were old enough to get a tattoo, this is what it would be.” A tattoo might not be in the cards right now, but I’m happy I’ve added a little magic to this All Hallows’ Eve.
The 43-inch-long by 27-inch- high unicorn skeleton is $49.98 at orientaltrading.com. — E. Clarke Reilly
I’ve always loved Halloween. And my dad got me into stamps when I was a kid. While I’m not a collector by any stretch, I do still love browsing all of the different designs and commemorative stamps when I stop by the post office or visit usps.com.
So when news broke about the U.S. Postal Service’s funding crisis this summer and the call came across social media feeds to help “Save USPS” by purchasing stamps, I took the opportunity to stock up. The U.S. Postal Service’s Spooky Silhouettes stamps ($11 for a sheet of 20; usps.com or at your neighborhood post office) feature four designs with black silhouettes of cats, ghosts, spiders and bats, all with iridescent backgrounds.
Since trick-or-treating is (mostly) getting a time-out this holiday, I’m planning to spread Halloween cheer with a few cards in the mail.
As with all Postal Service “forever” stamps, the Halloween stamps can be used for 1 ounce of first-class postage no matter how much postal rates rise in the future. — E. Clarke Reilly
PJ Vogt is a scaredy cat, and he was fine with that until 2017. That’s when Jordan Peele’s movie “Get Out” came out, and Vogt felt left out. Everyone was talking about it and he was just too scared to go. So this year he had his buddy Alex Goldman, who loves horror films, work up a cure for his afraid-ness. Through an escalating series of movie viewings, Vogt would build up a tolerance for horror. Think of it as immersion therapy.
They made a podcast about the journey, five episodes in which they dissected the films and Vogt’s reactions. “The Scaredy Cats Horror Show” started with “The Exorcist,” then moved up to “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Alien,” filmmaker Ari Aster’s “Hereditary” and “Midsommar” (a double feature) and ended with “Get Out.” Vogt had to watch them at night, in the dark, alone, without pauses. “I was scared from the title sequence,” he said of one viewing. But (spoiler alert) he makes it through “Get Out” and he likes it.
Before you get all judgy, they acknowledge that they’ve only brushed the surface of the genre. There’s only so much a scaredy cat can take. Find the episodes, and transcripts, at gimletmedia.com/shows. — Betty Shimabukuro
When the supernatural drama “Evil” debuted on CBS in September 2019, I instantly got hooked.
The show follows skeptical forensic psychologist Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers), who teams up with a Catholic seminarian (Mike Colter) and a technology guru (Aasif Mandvi) to investigate supposed supernatural incidents. The trio tries to figure out if they can be explained by science or religion.
I’m not normally spooked by TV shows or movies, but this show rattled me in its very first episode when a creepy, yet impish demon, George, visits Kristen during a night terror. I actually had one of my own after watching that. What I love about the show is that a lot of the tension is built on what you don’t see, playing on your psyche and our own paranoias. Look for the superb Michael Emerson (he was Benjamin Linus on “Lost”), who plays the diabolical Dr. Leland Townsend, and Christine Lahti, who is an edgy but supportive mom to Kristen.
You can binge-watch the first season on CBS All Access or Netflix so you’ll be caught up ahead of the second season, slated to be released on CBS before the end of this year, pandemic dependent. — E. Clarke Reilly
By Hollywood standards, cemeteries are often places where scary things happen. In reality, they offer comfort to families visiting relatives who’ve been laid to rest, and can provide a calming quiet for those in need of a respite from everyday life. They are also wonderful windows into the history of places — fascinating stories told on gravestones, beautiful funerary artwork including obelisks and sculptures. Oahu Cemetery in Nuuanu is one of my favorite cemeteries to explore. I’ve spent afternoons getting lost in reading the names and researching their stories on my phone.
Founded in 1844, the cemetery has many notable burials, from sea captains and missionaries to politicians and sports pioneers. With over 18 acres, the outdoor grounds are practically made for socially distant strolling. Don’t forget your (non-Halloween) mask. Located at 2162 Nuuanu Ave. Open daily from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. — E. Clarke Reilly
