Toy Tales
Halloween 2025
Archivist – The Halloween Retrospect by Joanna Hauser – Oct 31, 2025 The Friday Five.
What a most wonderful surprise! This Halloween 2025 is a special treat for The Halloween Retrospect! The archive has once again been interviewed by the fun-loving folks at Toy Tales (independent toy journalism website with a nostalgic focus) for their Friday, October 31st – Collector Spotlight series. And although last time, THR honestly tried to focus on the general foofaraw of the catalog collection (hoping perhaps to show the content was of interest to a broader audience), this time THR is just fine celebrating that true love for vintage Halloween collectibles – particularly in relation to its sixth book Halloween Artifacts, Volume 2: Festoons.
Halloween Artifacts, Volume 2: Festoons (release date October 21, 2025) for sale via Etsy.
Here is a quick overview (see below) and please read the interview from Toy Tales for further details on The Halloween Retrospect’s thoughts on collecting and researching collectibles:
The Friday Five: October 31st, 2025
1) an introduction to the latest art survey Artifacts book,
2) regarding the decision process and choices of essential data,
3) more on finding a balance of both visual and historical content,
4) personal thoughts on why vintage imagery is popular, and
5) what has changed at THR since the February 16th, 2024 interview…
Below is a short preview of the new book, but there is much that has been created over the last couple of year. There are, as of writing, six books in all (some with crosswords, posters, decor, etc.), as well as blog extras, and posts on Instagram @halloweenretrsopecs.
The newest book from THR on the shelves here at The Halloween Retrospect – see the Toy Tales article for more on this – particularly Halloween Artifacts, Volume 2: Festoons.
toytales.ca
“Toy Tales is North America’s premier independent toy journalism website with a nostalgic focus.c focus. Every day, our writers cover the toys, games, and objects that captured our attention as children and continue to fascinate us today. We chronicle the stories behind weird, wonderful, and entertaining toys and games, the people who brought them to life, and the modern-day individuals and toy companies that uphold their legacies.” (About Toy Tales, 2024).
Have you read this far and still have yet to visit Toy Tales? Well, the best way to experience (or re-experience) all the fun toy nostalgia is to visit their website for all the great stuff happening there. If you are still reading this… here are few target links get you there now! Check out this link for Vintage Toys and Games or this link for Pop Culture, or People (my current favorite being Collector Spotlight), or Places. Also visit Toy Tales on Instagram @toytales.ca and on facebook https://www.facebook.com/toytalesca.
THR’s Library of
Vintage Halloween
Collectibles books
There are now six books available from The Halloween Retrospect archive library publications.
So, to “bookend” this entry, above is a collage of the all six books so far released from THR archive library publications – which include two art survey books, and four research digests (that may include puzzles, posters, or decor). But don’t forget to also see blog extras, and posts on Instagram @halloweenretrsopecs which may contain information not found in THR books.
Follow THR on Instagram @halloweenretrospecs
Follow THR on Facebook Halloween Retrospect