…and it was an excellent one!

We kicked it off on Thursday by going to Rich’s Fright Farm. AS YOU MIGHT KNOW, I have been super psycho about getting this one done as early into the season as possible because I wanted to be able to complete the Fright Farm Quad of tickets in the back of my haunted house journal! TWO REASONS:

• I’m nearly done with my current HH journal and wanted to get it in there before moving on to the next one;
• Last year we went the last week in October and as all my TRUE FRENZ know, we weren’t given a paper ticket that time! I panicked about it through the entire haunt until deciding that I would revisit the ticket booth on my way out and ask them DIRECTLY what was up with the NO TICKETS GIVEN situation. They told me they didn’t have enough and were running out so they stopped using them altogether. AND THEN THE LADY ASKED IF I WANTED ONE OF THE EXTRA ONES. What a damn angel. OFC I wanted one! So this year I wanted to get there early in case that happened again!

Anyway, I was happy to get my hands on one last year without having to ask for the manager (totally wouldn’t have done that but probably would have cried about it on Reddit until someone offered to just give me their 2025 ticket). Happy to report that this year’s ticket was procured much more easily and I got to put that final piece in the back of my haunted house journal. I was literally saving room for it because LOOK AT HOW PERFECTLY THE FRIGHT FARM TICKETS FIT TOGETHER.

And I’m almost ready to start a new haunted house journal. I love the feeling of starting a new journal! I have the perfect one waiting in the wings.

LOL we were sitting facing the bonfire and Henry was slowly expiring.

AS USUAL, I will spare you the details of this haunt since I keep that in THE JOURNAL, but I did want to mention that there was this woman I was talking to for a while at the Armor For Sleep show last summer and I am PRETTY sure she was sitting across from us with her son at another picnic table at Rich’s when we were waiting for our group # to be called.

I also want to add that we listened to Hayley Williams and The Black Queen the whole way there. What you listen to on the way to the haunted house matters.

PEENLOP!!!!

She is eating much better, btw, thank you for asking. Definitely has gained some weight back and doesn’t look or feel skeletal anymore, I’m so relieved. She had us so worried for a while there and it was so much trial and error trying to find food that she will actually eat now.

Saturday morning, we met Wendy at Groove Coffee out her way. I hadn’t seen Wendy (in real life, virtual meetings don’t count!) since LAST DECEMBER when we were in the office for the holiday party. That is just ridiculous.

Anyway, I had been wanting to come to this cafe for a while now and then they announced their October horror movie-inspired line of seasonal drinks. I was eyeing up the FREAKY NIKKI because it was pumpkin tiramisu but then I was swayed by the matcha homage to Michael Myers called the Boogeyman. It was just OK but I appreciated that the toasted marshmallow was  speared with a butcher knife-capped toothpick!

(Also, it was peach-flavored which was a choice considering this is a fall drink menu.)

There was a photo booth so I made Henry hulk and lurk around the super busy counter to ask for change because it only took $5 bills lol. (Literally, we got there right when it opened and a huge line formed almost IMMEDIATELY behind us and was steady staying out of the door the whole time we were there. Crazy!

Wendy wasn’t ready for the second snap and didn’t like herself in that one so I pumpkin’d her out of respect. I can be a good person sometimes.

We stopped at a pet store on the way home to get Princess Peenlop more food (speaking of pumpkins, she’s obsessed with foods that have that in it currently and I super hope it’s not a seasonal thing for cat food to have that as an ingredient) and we got her this cutie Pusheen Halloween bowl too. <3

Saturday night, we went to Portals of Fear in West Mifflin — we went to this one when it was new, sometime when Chooch was in high school and still (mostly) going to haunted houses with us. It was a charity-run haunt in a church back then and so not TOO pricy, but then I saw last year that it was bumped up to $30!! IN THIS ECONOMY??? I couldn’t believe it. We did NOT go but then this year curiosity got the best of me so we gave it a shot. Well, it’s not a charity-run haunt anymore, and now it’s super high-quality, three floors, sacrilegious, all of the things I love! It was pretty damn good, honestly.

But even better is that they had a DJ outside playing actual haunted house / Halloween apropos jams – A/K/A GOTH DANCE HITS. I was so into it. That fucking Fright Farm pisses me off with their Cotton Eye Joe, Cupid Shuffle and Benson Boone bullshit making me feel like I’m at a firehall wedding reception (no hate but YOU KNOW WEDDING DJs CAN BE BASIC AF!!!!). There are HOCO DJs probably spinning better shit than that.

Plus, that whole parking lot area has vendors (food/beer/crafts/etc) so there is something to do while you’re waiting in the virtual queue (yes, they have a virtual queue and we love to see it!). We chilled with a Back Alley Festbier to share, a cookie each, and super nostalgic Darkchat Greatest Hits. It was such a vibe.

Sunday afternoon, we went to Kinder Being for a cafe break for three reasons:

1. this is easily one of my favorite cafes in the city – great people, great coffee, great atmosphere all around;
2. they have an ube latte that I wanted!!
3. SANDY LOAF just made them that caterpillar on the wall up there! SANDY LOAF + KINDER BEING COLLAB? Let’s fucking gooooo.

Too bad this wasn’t where we were meeting Wendy, LOL. She is hands down the biggest clown hater I know and wants NO PART of our newfound GBX shenanigans.

My favorite version of Henry is “Rolled Up Flannel Sleeves Henry,” in case you were wondering.

“Take a picture of me with my cookie.”

“Take a picture of me writing in my haunted house journal.”

I AM ACTUALLY 8 YEARS OLD IN MY HEAD.

NOT PICTURED (although I do have Charmera snaps!) is our late lunch at Fredo’s afterward. Then I basically spent the rest of Sunday recapping Riot Fest Day 2 so that someday in 13 years, I can look it up on her to remember whet shirt I was wearing, who even knows, why do I keep blogging after all these years?!?! It’s so dumb but I can’t find a way to stop.

Anyway, it was seriously such a great weekend and now it’s Monday and I’m sad but I’m looking forward to NEXT weekend which is shaping up to be equally as good (I hope??).

OH P.S. not weekend-specific but Girl Buddy had babies in our porch roof and they are slowly making their way out to the porch, At first, I thought there were two, but yesterday I realized that there ARE AT LEAST 5 and it sounds like they’re a little furry construction company up there, hammering away. It’s so cute because when I go out to talk to their mom, one or two will poke their heads out of the spout hole thing, and then another one will try to force their head through too like, “MOM, WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO???” <3

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