Halloween 2019 and The Enchanted City, Fall in Steampunk

My favorite holiday has come and gone, of course I am talking about Halloween.

This year I had many plans to decorate my house and yard, which I do every year.  Unfortunately, mother nature had other plans for that day it rained and rained during the day and into the night.

Being so wet out, I did not trust to put out my electrical based decorations outside.  I was instead limited to a few I knew could sustain such a wet environment.

Even with the limited amount of decorations I still wanted to share them with you.

I buy many small Styrofoam pumpkins at the dollar store.  I cut them as Jack o’ lanterns or simply cut a whole in the button.  I then put a small chem light inside, and then they glow.  This is a wonderful way to light up my sidewalk.



Several graves in my yard.

My werewolf, this I made with a simple werewolf costume, plastic Ping-Pong ball eyes and a inflatable mannequin I bought at my favorite place, The Costumer.

I was able to project through one of my doors a video of zombies trying to break through.

Because of the weather, I had very few trick r treaters, but the ones that did come to my house were rewarded with lots of candy.



Enchanted City, Fall in Steampunk: The Haunted Hedley

On October 25, The Enchanted City hosted its first ever “Fall in Steampunk: The Haunted Hedley at River Street Market in Troy, NY.


In basic terms Steampunk is a relatively new subgenre of science fiction. Some consider it an offshoot of cyberpunk, in which there is high technology and low value of life, almost in a dystopian setting.  Steampunk incorporates known technology, upgrading it into a setting such as Victorian era or the old west.  One of the earlier concepts of this would be the series “Wild West” were the villains would use a form of steam power (hence the name) to create advanced (for the time) machinery. Earlier links could be established to the works of H.G. Wells or particularly Jules Verne. Another earlier work could be considered steampunk is one of my favorites Edgar Allen Poe’s stories The Man that was Used Up. A wonderful tale of a valiant solider who ends up being made of gears and machinery.  Each night he must be taken apart and be cleaned and repaired and reassembled in the morning.


I have attended a steampunk party once, and to be honest I could have taken it or left it.  I could not get into this aesthetic form of cosplay myself. The Fall in Steampunk festival changed my mind completely on this topic.


I have to say I enjoyed myself very much there. Everyone was friendly and charming. The people who ran this really went beyond to put on a great event.  Not only was there food, dancing, vendors, a costume contest, there was also a Ghost Tour of parts of the Hadley building where it was held (and I attended it) and so much more.


Here are some pictures of the event.

I dressed up as a Blimp Navigator.

I am definitely going to other steampunk festivals (and future ones put on by The Enchanted City), and so when the Spirit Store ran its after Halloween specials, I bought some steampunk themed costumes and I will expand on it over the next year.

Make sure to check out The Enchanted City Facebook page and see when the next event is occurring.  I trust you that you will truly have a wonderful “enchanted” time.

W.A. Rusho is a professional wrestler, author and historian. Contact him via his website or email.


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