I find myself looking forward to November.

A Frank Zappa Halloween Costume

I think I just found my Halloween costume for this year.

How did I ever miss this? It debuted just last year for the 40th anniversary celebration of Frank Zappa’s legendary Halloween concert series at The Palladium in New York. Zappa did Halloween concerts throughout the entirety of his career, but the one in 1977 is generally considered to be the apogee of that grand tradition.

To commemorate that series of shows (which ran from October 28-31), the family released a massive box set that includes all six concerts on a USB stick, in 24-bit WAV audio for a flawless sound experience, PLUS a jaw-dropping adult size Frank Zappa costume in vintage 70s plastic style. Worth every penny, and still available from Walmart for around 80 bucks.

The Halloween & Hauntfest Convention

Normally scheduled in late August, the Halloween & Hauntfest show is appropriately billed as “a gateway event to the Halloween season.” To those of us who kick off our official celebrations with the start of Dinosaur Dracula’s Halloween Countdown on September 1, the timing hits that perfect sweet spot. The anticipation, that period of time I like to call “the run-up to the countdown”, starts to build throughout August, so that by the time this event rolls around Kassi and the kids and I are practically bursting with Halloween excitement.