Today we're talking to Mike, the head of All Hallow's Geek!
Welcome, and please introduce yourself to our readers.
My name’s Mike and most people these days know me from my spooky pop culture blog
All Hallows Geek. A site dedicated to putting the “eek” in geek by developing content year-round based on that section of the Venn diagram where geek culture and horror culture intersect. There you’ll find coverage on movies, television, toys, games, comics, events and more. I have a lifelong passion for all things horror and Halloween that is rivaled only by my love of music. Growing up some of my favorite things were video games, LEGO, and comics and those are still some of my favorite things to this day. Essentially, everything you see on All Hallows Geek stems from my lifelong love of the things I cover.
What was Halloween like when you were younger?
It’s crazy because when you think of Halloween, you think of streets lined with fall leaves and kids trick or treating on a cool autumn night, but in Southern California you don’t really see that seasonal change. You don’t see a lot of leaves changing and most October nights are still fairly warm. So for me my fondest memories of Halloween are tied more to us creating the seasonal change in our neighborhood by haunting our yard. For years my family and I would setup an elaborate Halloween display in our front yard.
It started out pretty basic with just a few tombstones in the front yard but over the years it expanded to include monsters made out of past Halloween costumes, spiderwebs, ghosts, and a life size grim reaper watching over it all. It was a lot of fun until the later years when people started stealing stuff, which kind of killed the tradition for us. It definitely made us the hit of the neighborhood on Halloween night though because at the time yard haunts weren’t nearly as popular as they are now.
Do you have any special Halloween memories to share?
I do and actually,
I wrote about it in detail over on All Hallows Geek a couple of years ago when trying to get a bloggers challenge going where people talked about the first time they were truly scared. But it happened when I was probably eight or nine. Some neighborhood kids and I had gathered in the backyard during Halloween season and were telling scary stories. As we were telling stories my dad slipped on an old Halloween mask and snuck around the back of the house. As I finished whatever scary story I was telling he jumped from behind the house scaring me and all of my friends. Though it was supposed to be just an easy jump scare, in the moment it terrified me. The scare actually put me through the full spectrum of fear, first reacting in a fight or flight mentality as I threw my popcorn to jump and run, then coming down from the adrenaline after I realized I was safe and I started bawling. As embarrassing as it was at the time it’s a memory that has stuck with me and a story that I think completely captures the spirit of the Halloween season.
What about a favorite costume?
The award for favorite costume has to go to my 2018 costume for a few reasons. First, it was the first costume I remember really piecing together on my own, which actually made the whole costume experience a bit more fun and rewarding once it was done. The second reason it’s a favorite is because it was a surprise for my daughter. She was going as Eleven from “Stranger Things” and had kept begging me to be Hopper. I kept telling her no even though secretly I was piecing together the costume in the months leading up to Halloween. I went all out for the costume even hunting down a Hopper name plate and replica Hawkins Police patches. She was completely oblivious to the plan and on Halloween night as we were getting ready to head out trick or treating I ducked into the bathroom, changed real quick and surprised her as I walked out for us to leave dressed like Hopper. She was overwhelmed, a little teary eyed, but it made for a great Halloween memory and we got a ton of compliments on the costume pairing.
How do you celebrate Halloween now?
My wife and I used to throw huge themed Halloween parties, but after having kids that tradition died out. Now that they are older that tradition will likely pick back up soon, but these days we pretty much just wing it when it comes to celebrating Halloween because the month is so crazy due to covering so many events and haunts for All Hallows Geek. We do make a point of trying to go to a pick your own pumpkin patch each year, we carve pumpkins as a family usually the week before Halloween and of course we take the kids trick or treating on the big night.
Do you have any Halloween traditions?
I do. It actually started the first year my kids went trick or treating and has become an annual tradition ever since. Every year after taking the kids trick or treating we come home, order pizza and then watch “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.” My kids are 11 now and while they aren’t as into the Peanuts as they were when they were little, they look forward to this annual tradition every year.
Why do you think some of us don't outgrow Halloween?
I think it’s like anything that sticks with us into adulthood. It’s nostalgia. Most of us who still hold the holiday so dear do so because it was such a magical time for us as kids. I think those of us who loved the holiday when we were younger try to rekindle that feeling we had as kids each year when Halloween season comes around.
Inside the Spookster's Studio
The worst thing to get while trick or treating was those peanut butter taffy candies that came in the black and orange wrappers. Seriously, I’d rather get pennies than those things. 🤮
My favorite thing to get was Kit Kat.
My favorite monster cereal is Count Chocula. However, last year I actually mixed Boo Berry and Franken Berry together and it was really good.
Where can people stalk you online?
If you want to capture the full All Hallows Geek experience you need to be sure to follow not only the
website but also social media. On
Facebook you’ll catch the latest stories from the site. On
Instagram you’ll get a glimpse of all my latest hi-jinks, roundups from my Halloween hunting trips, and a lot of my events coverage.
Twitter is a mix bag of all of the above as well as content shared from other spooky creators. And of course you can also
subscribe to the All Hallows Week newsletter, which is a weekly roundup of things from AllHallowsGeek.com you may have missed as well as spooky stuff from around the web that may interest you.
A huge thanks to Mike for stopping by today!
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