There came a point midway through October when I had an existential question that I hadn’t considered before. Among my Halloween viewing options was the Cartoon Network miniseries Over the Garden Wall, which, as an Infinity Train fan, turned out to be an amazing experience. However, the more reviews I read on Letterboxd, the more I found a certain sentiment emerging. This was something that reminded people of The Fall and, thus, created a conversation around what everyone’s favorite season was.
I recognize that there are only four to choose from, but even so, it was hard to determine what specifically appealed to me most. As someone from So Cal, weather has ranged predominantly from cool to hot. There’s no snow, very little rain, and so little veers from the path. If not for decorations, billboards, and music on overhead speakers, you could take a photograph of the same day every month and not know the difference. It’s the type of phenomenon that makes me understand the appeal of other regions that may have their own perturbances, but at least they have those few magical moments that are somewhere outside cool and hot.
Breaking down the four seasons comes with its own mix of pros and cons. My heart wants to say Summer because that is my birth season, but it’s when the heat is most miserable and, as I age, often finds a lack of enticement that can’t be found in the other months. To younger crowds, I get how Summer embodies that sigh of relief between school semesters, where the magical moments happen. However, when life feels too much like “just another day,” heat is heat, and it can get obnoxious. Also, no offense to August, but August is the literal embodiment of haze and, had it not been for Ethel Cain, would’ve been a very boring month this year.
To speed run the other months, I’ll touch on The Fall and Winter together. I guess I would like The Fall better just because the quality of cinema improves and the weather (used to) dip to cooler temperatures. There’s a lot of festivities going on to keep you anticipatory for what’s next. I think there’s something New England-y about The Fall that seems magical if you grow up around a natural environment. I love the iconography, and Halloween can be delightful and campy. With that said, Winter WOULD win solely because it has my favorite day of the year (New Year’s Eve), but the abscess of Christmas takes away some of its own magic. Winter feels too obligatory when it should be about de-escalation and taking in the ambience. I don’t want to hear the music. I don’t want the iconography and forced joy. I just want to put on Emancipator’s “Soon It Will Be Cold” and vibe with my environment (I’ve also been high on Blood Orange’s “Essex Honey” as of late). Which is all to say that I would give Spring the edge because it’s the symbolic rebirth, but it’s also the most meandering period of the year, sandwiched between the community of Christmas and New Year’s and the upcoming Summer.
I’ve contemplated writing a full essay about this before, but Over the Garden Wall has gotten me thinking about what time of year excites me the most. As someone who is, at best, temperamental and can’t tell you how welcoming I’ll be in six months, I don’t know. I would say Winter, but it’s more the melancholic reasons of self-reflection, of a peaceful stillness that is antithetical to the overcompensating public narrative. In that regard, maybe I am looking forward to November and December. Maybe I am not. It’s been hard to say, given how the world is spinning. Maybe what I need is a sense of connection to remind me that the world is not ending, even as I find myself in disbelief.
October 2025 finds me in good spirits. Even if I shed the need to celebrate years ago, there is more passion in my heart for the spooky festivities. For what it’s worth, I have achieved the rare feat of watching a horror movie every night for 31 days, ranging from old school silent films set in asylums to modern slashers (the Terrifier franchise sucks ass) and wacky imports. I have loved forcing myself to parse through the supernatural options on streaming services and take chances on the schlock that I normally pass on. There’s a lot of innovation out there, and it has helped me understand why Halloween is so beloved. The well is limitless, in constant need of reinvention, and you can never go wrong.
It helps that Disney+ has a channel dedicated to streaming The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror series, of which has helped me get more acquainted with later seasons that haven’t been as much in syndication. I know it’s dumb as rocks, but the Venom/Denim segment finally won me over. For what it’s worth, Halloween season hasn’t been the same without new American Horror Story, even if later seasons haven’t been all that “sticky.” I would also like to shout out Giorgos Lanthimos for getting in on the fun with today’s release of Bugonia (2025), which I want to believe will be another grand slam. I’m personally not sure why Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein (2025) wasn’t out this month, but I also can’t wait to have that injected into my veins.
This is all to say that I’m trying to figure out if October went so well because I have found a lot of distractions to make me happy. Even as I stay in touch with the news, there’s been more of a push to appreciate art and expression. There’s Thomas Pynchon’s kooky “Shadow Ticket” and the remorseful end of WTF with Marc Maron. There’s the new HBO series The Chair Company starring Tim Robinson in what is a discomfort comedy by way of paranoid thriller. I love The Lowdown, and Fionna and Cake is back as a very niche comfort show. Lily Allen’s “West End Girl” is there to remind me that I am apparently in the age bracket for divorce pop.
Yes, there have been a lot of distractions to make the days go by easier, but I also think it’s because of how busy life has been. Before I shift into that, I may as well address the elephants not in the room. Unless something significant happened between my final edit and publication, I am living in a country that is under a government shutdown. Based on the circulation of news, it would be hard to believe this is true because of how much the president has achieved without Congress functioning underneath him. As D.C.’s finest attempts to get a plan together, parts of The White House have been demolished, “Venezuelan drug boats” have been blown up, threats of nuclear invasion are rising, citizens are losing their economic benefits, airports have had to close due to lack of air traffic controllers, the president has metaphorically defecated on the general public while wearing a crown, LGBTQIA+ rights continue to be at risk… and he still has the gall to troll with a hat alluding to a 2028 campaign run. As Dead Domain once suggested: we don’t have a government, we have influencers.
I get that we must keep priorities in order, but there is an exhausting amount of nonsense and sidestepping that makes it hard to want to keep moving forward. Without anybody to keep power in check, what is to stop America from continuing to spiral into the selfish wants of one man? 2025 has been the year that’s felt most antithetical to my values, and all I can do is try to keep an eye on my family, doing what I can to notice what is a rational opinion and what is the byproduct of being online too long and starting to buy the irrational. It’s clear that it’s infected the federal buildings, and unfortunately, it’s had a profound impact on people’s lives. I think of the hundreds or thousands that have lost jobs solely because of a few men’s egotism and false assurance that they are making government more efficient. The fact that the institutions that I thought were fortressed with guardrails could fall so easily has me worried, and I can only hope the reconstruction starts before he demolishes the other wings of The White House in a perfect symbol of how he sees the history of the land that I love.
In that regard, October has been a sad, uncertain month, recognizing the follies of basing your entire platform on “sticking it” to the other side. Can we please take away the mudslinging? You are all grown-ass adults who, I assume, have collegiate degrees or at least experience negotiating with the general public. There must be recognition that nobody should always get what they want, that compromise is a vital piece of America’s puzzle. It hasn’t always compromised in good ways, but ideally, the “more perfect union” clause suggests a willingness to learn and improve. Given that we’re coming up on 250 years as a nation next year, I want to spend it more kumbaya than banzai. Is it so bad to imagine a conflict-free life for all involved? I’m not sure the people with the power realize the damage they have done, or, more specifically, don’t care enough. Enough with the he said/they said. Just restore some trust in leadership before we fall into complete anarchy.
I’m sorry if that seems too innocent a view. Obviously, government is a much more difficult body than shaking hands. However, I think there has to be a way to push past ego-driven conspiracies and notice that everyone is flawed, that mistakes happen, and by admitting it, you’re not seen as weak. You’re seen as not completely out of touch. Right now, everyday Americans are struggling to get by because of some petty in-house fighting, It’s not funny. The 2028 hat is not funny. The defecation video is not funny. If No Kings protests upset you, recognize the rights to a peaceful protest without clutching your pearls and immediately jumping to Anti-American rhetoric.
I pray that the government shutdown is over by the time you read this. It shouldn’t have gotten to this point, but that’s how things are nowadays.
Much like the new Madi Diaz charmer, I guess I am a fatal optimist on this one. That more than likely stems from a need to view progress as favoring positive outcomes, if for no other reason than my core tenet that we are supposed to make things easier for the next generation. As I look at younger relatives, I recognize their inability to recall a time before 2016 and, thus, only ever knew this country by the modern standards, where everyone must be hyperaware at all times and any joke is immediately met with an overdefensive deconstruction of why it’s not funny. At times I’ve longed to return to the innocence of a decade ago if just to recognize a more joyous, untethered world where everyone seemed a lot more spontaneous. Maybe this is just an age thing. Maybe I am getting out of touch by refusing to engage with Gen Alpha slang. Still, I try to stay open-minded in the hopes that I can be there to see the beauty if/when it returns.
Because it is there. A lot of my free time has been eaten up with babysitting and, as a result, has forced me to engage with certain truths. My relatives are intelligent. They have their own worlds and their own friends, and I get to see the most external of factors. I’m forced to engage with the math homework and entertainment they consume, noticing that for all of the darkness, there’s still something beautiful and simple about their lives. As much as I worry about them being part of “the screen generation,” I am doing what I can to suggest there’s a world outside. Unfortunately, that includes hearing K-Pop Demon Hunters (2025) more than I’d like, but the rest is reassuring. You recognize fragility and how you can inspire curiosity and foster that potential. We tie-dyed shirts this month. I never knew you had to fold them in certain ways to benefit the pattern, which goes to show you learn something new every day. Also, they rebooted Reading Rainbow, and Mychal the Librarian is doing a pretty good job.
So yes, there’s a lot in my personal life that feels conflicted at the moment. I look at the bigger picture and question if I’m doing enough to not make the near future worse. Am I being too distracted by entertainment to make any difference? The art I produce is very much informed by the moment, so I believe I am keeping independent expression alive and encouraging whoever wants to drop $2 on a short story to make something that matters to them. Is it enough? For what it's worth, I’m not metaphorically chopping the tree down. If anything, I’m tending to it and hoping to see it grow in this way-too-hot October.
As for now, I am also enjoying The World Series. While I am a bandwagoner in the traditional sense, it’s been fun watching The Los Angeles Dodgers pull a potential comeback, even if I’ve begun to feel like The Toronto Blue Jays have more endurance at this point. I am generally more impressed by Canada’s arsenal and think that they have made for a more enjoyable playoff series. If I had to guess, I’d argue that tonight’s the end of the road, though I can’t be sure. Maybe we’ll have another 18-inning game where nobody knows when the ball will fly over the fence. But yeah… if I wanted to be premature and jinx things, I’ll just say The Jays have it tonight. Done in 6. Maple syrup flows down the street. Pure pandemonium. Our Neighbors to the North™ continue to thrive during these tumultuous times.
And with that, I am going to end there. I will say that I’m looking forward to the months ahead for a few reasons. Even if I am not an enthusiastic Halloween supporter, I have enjoyed driving around to Kraftwerk’s “Autobahn” and seeing the 10-foot-tall skeletons and the creative displays. There is a real spirit there that transcends the mainstream media’s weird obsession with pushing Christmas merch in the first week of October. If you want to know why Yuletide gets a bad rap, it’s stuff like that. I don’t want to go to Home Depot right now and see a giant candy cane. Give me Kit Kats shaped like skeletons. Give me those dumb sound effects. The fact that I have been curious to go to a Spirit Store for morbid curiosity suggests something good for the last two months of the year.
What will it possess? I’ve been watching more NBA games than the previous year. There’ a handful of shows – including a Ben Platt residency – coming up that make me anticipatory of the closing stretch. No matter what, I must continue to work on figuring out what matters to me and how I can keep the larger despair of this nation from pulling me down. Again, I hope this shutdown is over soon. I can’t be cynical and say, “That’s the GOP for you.” I need to see solutions because, quite frankly, somebody has to. I’m doing what I can to be at peace with everything and not just call this the worst year ever. It’s not for one reason. I’m not in a crippling depression. There are people who count on me for joy. Try and keep those things in your personal perspectives. It’s difficult, but you must realize that misery breeds misery. If you see the beauty, then you see the hope. I’d like to imagine it blossoms sooner than later, but these things take time. I hope you have a good Halloween. Save a piece for me.
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