Happy Halloween everyone! Two weeks ago we went to the Blaze event at Van Cortlandt Manor in the Hudson Valley. It was just the ticket to get us in the Halloween mood. I saved writing about it because I thought it was perfect for today.

It was a crisp Autumn evening with no moon. Perfect weather for viewing this pumpkin extravaganza. Van Cortlandt Manor is in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. Over 4,000 hand-carved pumpkins are illuminated, either by candles or electric bulbs in over 20 different themes.

There was a graveyard with skeleton heads and hands rising out of the ground.

The manor house itself glowed eerily against the night sky.

Its double staircase was lined with grinning pumpkins.

Intricately carved pumpkins were everywhere.

This gentleman was kind enough to point out the way we should go.

Over 700 new pumpkins are carved each week to replace those that may have rotted. That’s a lot of carving! Some of the pumpkins were really “funkins.” The funkins were used when the display had to stand up to making it all the way through all three weekends of Blaze without rotting. Made from polyurethane foam they are the perfect medium for the detailed carving of this prehistoric crowd.

Watch out for the giant snake!

Tombstone effigies taken from the Sleepy Hollow graveyard (which is only a few miles down the road.) Perfect!

Celtic knots.

A creepy graveyard filled with glowing tombstones was the perfect foil for a miniature Stonehenge of pumpkins!

We also passed these sailors rowing merrily along in their boat.

It took about one hour to make the complete loop, stopping at times to take a closer look. A pumpkin-perfect night. The only thing missing was the appearance of the Headless Horseman who had a previous engagement just down the road.

If you want to watch a video clip from Martha Stewart’s show about the Blaze event and how they make it happen, follow this link.

Have a safe and spooky Halloween!