It is the week of Halloween and what better way for a newspaper to celebrate than with pumpkins on the cover and a pumpkin carving stencil on the inside?

It is always funny to me to see the extent people go to to celebrate Halloween. So much money is spent on costumes, candy, party favors, booze, pumpkins and more, all for one night. But October has become a month full of festivities. Bars host zombie crawls in the first week, reruns of “Hocus Pocus” start and pumpkins slowly rot on steps and porches, which play to overall motif of death. And how long will those pumpkins sit out? I’ve seen some on porches covered in snow, in January — eyes and mouths drooping, looking scarier than when they were first carved.

Now, this all may sound like I don’t like Halloween, but that’s not true; it’s a fun holiday.

In this issue you will find a story about the disappearance of TRIO, a review of “Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension” — which may not leave you shaking in your boots — and a spooktacular Halloween safety article.

On that note, please have fun with the stencil. My staff only asks that you don’t use the paper as your cleanup mat and to please tweet us @easterneronline to show us how your pumpkins turn out.