Beautifully designed, stylized images depict all the usual elements of fall: pumpkins, bare branches, changing leaves, tombstones, and a full moon. Large, contrast-colored, serif-font typeface announces autumn’s arrival with a “crackle” and a “cackle.” A pale-skinned, curly-haired witch in striped stockings laughs as she crosses the moon on her broom, and a big owl calls “Who, who.” But instead of the anticipated rhyme, it’s a shock: “Ghost says Meow!” Small, egg-shaped Ghost sports a succession of varied accessories. Initially, pointed ears and a striped tail whisper “Kitty,” but then glasses and a mustache, cowboy boots and a hat, and other mini-disguises suggest mutable identities. The “meow!” poses a perplexing puzzle: Is that a cat under a sheet? To later prompts, Ghost responds, “Ribbit” and “Mooo.” The skeleton, owl, black cat, bat, pumpkin, and witch cat object: On this night, anything but “boo” is “wrong.” Ghost accepts “boo” but pleads for the unconventional: “Why not try out something new?” That’s persuasive: The holiday crew decides to comply, with unpredictable expressions of other identities: “Beep,” “woof,” “howls” “growls,” and “clanks,” as Ghost concludes “Happy Halloween!” Black and orange are enlivened by unexpected touches of blue in this surprising take on pushing acceptable boundaries.
