I love Halloween. And I love Halloween stores.

It’s a little more than a week into September, but yes, the first Halloween stores are open and Halloween stuff is popping up around town.

Expect to read a lot more about Halloween in this blog between now and the night itself, but here are a few iPhone shots I took tonight.

What says Halloween more than some bloody, severed fingers? Actually, I’m not that crazy about the dismembered body parts element to Halloween decorating. But here’s an acknowledgement of that interest.

Now this is more like it: Your good old fashioned spooky ghost type dude, hanging in mid-air. When you show up at somebody’s house in September and they have one of these babies up, you know they’re serious Halloween people.

One of my favorite things about Halloween is the creative costumes. Good homemade ones are the best, but sometimes professional costume makers come up with some funny ideas. Of course, I’m not sure most of us need help with an oversized belly costume, but in case you do, they have you covered.

Now this is a creepy mask. If I walked into someone in a dark room wearing a ventriloquist’s dummy mask, I would leave one of those Wile E. Coyote-style hole in the nearest door.

More soon!