Ever since first reading Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire and seeing the Lost Boys movie a decade later, vampirism inspired my own personal Peter Pan complex for decades to come. I still don’t look in mirrors – for a variety of reasons.

An invitation to present “Unusual Assets” to the Estate Planning Council of Northern NJ scared the bejesus out of me last spring. I fumbled with my PowerPoint, my transitional glasses, my screen glasses, my paper notes, my laptop. What didn’t fumble like the Giants on the 1-yard line were the Vampire Killing Kits collection we had recently examined. The financial planners and attorneys sat up like zombies from their post-dinner & drinks coma to learn that if they were planning to travel to Transylvania (Romania) anytime (in the 19th c.), these kits were more important than Louis Vuitton luggage. One fancy one sold this past summer for over $15,000 in the UK, but if you think you need one, let me know!

By the way…. The necessary tools to slay a blood-sucker included said mirror, a pistol, silver bullets, crucifixes, holy water, wooden stake and mallet, rosary beads, a Bible, and maybe some garlic and brimstone.

For fans of the Grateful Dead, there’s the (Anti-Vamp) Grateful Dead. It was just three years ago that the original recording contract (dated December 1966) between Warner Bros. Records and the Grateful Dead, signed by William Kreutzmann; Jerome "Jerry" Garcia; Ron "Pigpen" McKernan; Phil Lesh; and Bob Weir sold for $50,000.

Rare Grateful Dead albums in sealed condition and/or signed, can fetch a pretty penny (in the $100s), but most Deadheads played the heck out of them. Original concert posters are highly desirable in the paper art market. A “Skeleton & Roses” 1966 near-mint Concert Poster sold last spring for an astonishing $110,000. Thanks to Deadheads begetting more Deadheads, it’s likely to be a while before this type of collectible dies.

An unused Devilish papier mache jack-o-lantern sold on eBay for $7,100 this month. That’s a lot of Skittles! Halloween collectibles like postcards, candy containers, bobble heads, and vintage witch and black cat figures are often rarer and more valuable than one might expect.

Halloween as we know it originated some 2,000 years ago, when Celtic people in Europe celebrated the end of the harvest season. Popular activities today include trick or treating, attending costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, pranks, visiting haunted houses and attractions, telling ghost stories and watching scary movies.

The modern imagery of Halloween comes from many sources, including national customs, works of gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein; or Dracula) and classic horror films such as Frankenstein (1931) and The Mummy (1932). Imagery of the skull serves as "a reminder of death and the transitory quality of human life" and is consequently found in memento mori and vanitas compositions; skulls have therefore been commonplace in Halloween, which touches on this theme.

Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween. Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, and mythical monsters. Black cats, which have been long associated with witches, are also a common symbol of Halloween. Black, orange, and sometimes purple are Halloween's traditional colors.

That said, whatever your preference, we wish our readers a safe and Happy Halloween. May you stuff your faces with candy and dress up as your favorite horror movie character. Last, but not least, what famous magician died on Halloween? Correct answer gets a trick or treat!

-Authored by Lynn Magnusson, President + Heather Zises, Marketing Director

Know. Like. Trust.

www.TheMagnussonGroup.com