It feels surreal to say this: The End of Summer: Thirteen Tales of Halloween was released exactly ten years ago today. Ten years—that’s bonkers. I mean, that must be witchcraft or something mystical to explain how quickly a full decade has flown by. That’s three whole Halloween sequels ago! That’s two whole Child’s Play sequels, a remake, and two TV show seasons ago! That’s zero whole Friday the 13th anythings ago! What the hell is happening!

A lot can happen over ten years, even if they pass by with barely a whisper. Ten years ago, I was in another city, working at another (awful) job, living in another home—the kinds of changes that can occur many times over the course of a life. Mostly, I became an uncle twice over, and ever since each of my awesome, bad-ass nieces were born, I’ve encouraged them to grow up with the same love and appreciation for Halloween that I did, and which I still have today. Before my eldest niece was born, my expecting sister-in-law issued a request: to buy the soon-arrival just one book and inscribe it to her. I chose Jerry Seinfeld’s kids book, appropriately entitled Halloween, and on one of its pages I wrote, “I can’t wait to meet you…and take you trick-or-treating!” Five years later, I did just that, and ever since then, and to this day, October 31, 2020 remains one of my favorite Halloweens ever; in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and even in defiance of it, we took those girls out trick-or-treating (safely, of course) and we all had a blast. Collectively, many of us sacrificed a lot during those 2-3 years as the pandemic raged outside our doors—during which I had the dishonor of celebrating my first and hopefully last Christmas away from my family—but we weren’t going to give up our Halloween without a fight. For coming up on ten years, sending Halloween care packages to my girls has become a tradition. Every October, I pack them a pumpkin-sized box of Halloween goodies that I hope will keep them entertained and enthralled for those 31 spook-filled days.

And all of this happened so quickly, so suddenly, that it feels like a trickster god snuck those last ten years into the timeline of the world behind my back.

The End of Summer doesn’t take up much, if any, brain capacity during my daily being anymore. In that regard, it does feel like ten years ago. Since then I’ve written an awful lot, mostly film-related retrospectives or reviews for various online peddlers. I’ve also written a couple of unpublished novels, the first of which was roundly rejected, and the second which has barely entered the submission process and is well on its way to also being roundly rejected. (Optimism!) Every new thing I’ve written, for whatever intended destination, has felt like a new layer, like the hidden rings in a tree, that’s packed on pockets of time and taken me further and further away from that little Halloween anthology. Yet, every so often, when someone asks me if I’ll ever write The End of Summer 2, I’ll admit it’s something I’ve thought about from time to time. The thirteen stories in my book cover only thirteen Halloween myths (or “tropes,” a word I’ve come to despise) and there are many, many more legends, especially those lesser known, that could make for fun stories. I’ve never given this any serious thought, but I do have a folder on my desktop with half-formed stories that could be finished and a document of ideas that could be fleshed out. What seems unlikely today could very well become reality tomorrow, so who knows?

Thank you to everyone who read the book, whether you liked it or not; thank you to everyone who took the time to write a nice review or blog post or comment somewhere; and thank you, especially, to everyone who contacted me directly through this website to share your kind words about it, the ways in which it made you yearn for Halloween, and why the spooky season means so much to you. It’s been beyond humbling and gratifying to not only receive these messages, but to remain in semi-regular contact with the people who sent them. There is a consistent smattering of people I hear from every autumn season with whom I swap Halloween tips, memories, anecdotes, and suggestions for movies, TV shows, and music. It’s been an unexpected but truly lovely Halloween tradition, and a nice reminder that The End of Summer has staked out a tiny place for itself in this huge pumpkin patch of a world and may continue to do so until long after I’ve become one of those ghosts I’ve written about.

It’s only the first of October, but you and I both know that people like us celebrate Halloween all year anyway, so, Happy Halloween.

P.S. If you’ve got any Halloween tips, memories, and anecdotes, or suggestions for movies, TV shows, and music, I’d love to hear them!