Summerween: What Is Halloween in Summer?

The sun is high, ice cream is melting on the table, and you are thinking about fog, pumpkin faces and your next horror movie. Who decided the uncanny should appear only in October? Summerween is Halloween in summer: a playful combination of warm evenings and spooky culture.

Where does Summerween come from?

A well-known pop-cultural reference is the animated series Gravity Falls. Its first season includes an episode called Summerween, in which the town celebrates its own summer version of Halloween. The simple idea is that people who love spooky stories do not need autumn weather.

Jack-o'-Melons belong to this summer Halloween: watermelons carved with faces. Green rind and red flesh give the familiar lantern idea a wonderfully odd twist. A melon grins from the garden table as the last sunlight fades.

When do people celebrate Summerween?

There is no universally fixed date for private Summerween parties. Choose an evening in June, July or August. What matters is the mixture: warm air, dark stories and a little anticipation of Halloween.

Do not confuse Summerween with Samhain. It is a modern pop-cultural and leisure concept. Samhain and the history of Halloween have a different historical background.

Just a silly trend?

For us, the answer depends on what you make of it. A plastic bat put out early may not excite everyone. An evening with friends, homemade decorations and an old favorite movie needs no justification from the calendar.

The Gothic scene is diverse. Not everyone dressed in black hates sunshine or spends summer in seclusion. You can enjoy the beach and still prefer a ghost story to another beach-party playlist. Summerween makes room for that combination.

Ideas for a spooky summer

• A horror-classic movie night with bat-shaped snacks.
• A carved watermelon with an LED light as your garden-table centerpiece.
• Dinner with friends, dark table decorations and homemade ghost stories.
• Your favorite eerie T-shirt, without a seasonal dress code.

Find dark artwork in our Halloween collection. A love of the uncanny does not disappear when the temperature rises.

Source & context

Disney+: Gravity Falls, season 1, episode 12, “Summerween”. Party ideas are editorial suggestions from Dark Shadows Arts.