Summerween 101

It shouldn’t take a genius to figure out Summerween is a portmanteau of “summer” and “Halloween”, but there still may be a lot of people out there who haven’t heard of my favorite new completely made up holiday of the year. So, here’s a quick crash course. Make sure you stay ‘til the end for an invite.

The word and concept of Summerween first emerged in the Disney animated series, Gravity Falls, during season 1, episode 12, which aired on October 5, 2012.

The episode revolves around characters celebrating Halloween twice a year, once in the traditional fall and again during summer, with jack-o'-melons and trick-or-treating. While the idea was originally fictional, the term and the concept have gained traction in real life, becoming a popular unofficial holiday celebrated in the summer months. -Google synopsis

That ‘popularity’ was brought to my attention last year through online videos via social media posts like this one:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C64D4i8LtaG/

Which…is obviously a vibe. A vibe that’s most often co-opted by those of us who are trying to figure out a way to enjoy the summer heat while waiting for all those sweet, sweet spooky season vibes that start to blow in come September and October. Summer, for a lot of us, is just purgatory before paradise—or the inferno, pick your pleasure. The point is, summer is on its way, why not make it spooky? Hashtag halloweenallyearlong.

Wanna’ know more? A quick Google search turns up several YouTube videos with ideas how to celebrate and this New York Times article from 2024 notes how the fictional holiday is heating up.

In Gravity Falls, Summerween officially lands on June 22nd. So that’s when I’ll be celebrating too. But, much like Halloween, you can start your spooky summer as soon as it starts heating up in anticipation for the holiday.

Personally, I start kicking things off in a big way on the first of May and surf the Summerween waves all throughout June. This is where the invite comes into play.

three out of the four graphic novels we read the first year

Every Summerween has a theme. The first year was 80's summer camp, the second was aliens invade the 90's! Every year I host an online book club. I choose four spooky/scary/horror graphic novels based around the theme and read through one each week of June. I post a review at the end of each week and encourage everyone to join in and read along. Since it’s all online, it’s an open invite. You can read one book or all four, the only rule is to have fun with it. Intrigued? This year's book list isn't posted yet, but when it is you can find it here. I'm also thinking about hosting the book club in-person this year too, in addition to online. So, if you're local, and you wanna' hang out and talk comics this summer, let me know!

How you celebrate Summerween in other ways is completely up to you! In addition to the graphic novel book club, I’ll be sharing new illustrations I’ve created specifically for the holiday. And, if you stick around (hint hint, subscribe to my newsletter) I'll be sharing a Spotify playlist, new illustrations, and a sticker sheet all based on the theme for the year.

There are 3 ways join in the fun. Subscribe to my Substack to get the weekly newsletter and updates on the book club activities. Sign up to my e-newsletter via my website which will be delivered to your email-much like Substack. Or-in my opinion-the best way to participate is to join my Patreon! Free Patreon followers will get regular updates, but if you join those who have upgraded to a paid membership you’ll get updates in real time, behind the scenes on making the art and a Summerween sticker sheet which I’ll send to you via snail mail.

this is the first year’s sticker sheet (it was 80’s slasher themed)

Summerween is coming for you! Are you ready?