Captain Halloween
Schoolchildren taunt and tease Peter "Pumpkinhead" because of his love of pumpkinseeds, which ultimately leads to a schoolyard dare: to trick-or-treat at the haunted house of the wicked witch on Halloween night. Peter never returns. For a generation, Halloween is all but banned. Until a brave schoolgirl named Clare takes the same Halloween dare Peter once took. In costume eerily similar to Peter Pumpkinhead long ago, a school-age Captain Halloween, along with a black cat named Boo, saves both Clare and Halloween from the wicked witch, forever!
Captain Halloween was the first professional illustration project that I received after college. The connection was made, loosely, via Schoolastic Book Fairs, though the client broke ties with them midway through the project and published independently. This allowed the author to branch out and the character of Captain Halloween became a staple in the St. Louis Halloween Parade!
