Good afternoon, my lovely ghosty pals,

Even though I start getting excited about Halloween toward the end of the summer, every year I try to wait til at least the start of October to actually start doing seasonal decorating. (There must be something in the air, though, because I’ve been seeing Halloween decor up in the neighborhood for at least three weeks!)

Anyhoo, yesterday we had our first official decorating moment. Behold!!

This year the big social trend hitting my algorithm is “90s Halloween”, so I’m sure I’ll be discussing that a lot over the next month. It seems to mean different things to different people - for some, it’s about “de-influencing” (buying less, hand-making more), or going back to more retro items like the classic Beistle cutouts (see below) or stovetop popcorn, or maybe just stringing up a lot of orange-hued lights and calling it good while you bask in that warm glow. I do think overall it’s about evoking a general sense of coziness, which I can certainly get behind.

How about you, are you doing “90s Halloween” this year? (Or another type? Hit reply and let me know!)

Here’s an hour of Basil Rathbone reading Edgar Allan Poe stories (The Cask Of Amontillado, The Facts In The Case Of M. Valdemar and The Pit And The Pendulum) from 1960.

On the note of reviving a 90s childhood, listening to this makes me want to buy a vinyl copy…what do you think, should I go for it?

Til tomorrow,
Laura

October 2, 2026
Laura E. Hall
@lauraehall
lauraehall.com