Trend Report: Spooky Season

Finds, insights & AI weed witches.

Friday, October 13, 2023
Time to read: About 5 minutes. Contains 1,023 words. 

I’ve written a dedicated October dispatch for the last couple of years about the latest Halloween-themed drops and interesting activations playing to stoners’ love for the supernatural. They’re always a hit, and although cannabis lovers’ affinity for witchy, occult things is nothing new, there are always novel ways brands are casting seasonal spells to write about. This year is no different. 

In our time of all-knowing smartphone awareness and remote work environments/digitally-based work and social lives, the unknown retains a weighty allure, especially in regard to the natural world. Adaptogenic sports drinks, a bloom of psychedelic and nonpsychedelic mushroom products, and ayahuasca retreats—the wellness space is increasingly dominated by plant medicine. The younger generation is less religious in the traditional sense, but more interested in crafting their own new-age spiritual practices.

Today’s newsletter includes Seance Supplies—recent drops of smoking accessories and restocked pieces that harbor my fascination—IRL Incantations, and Ghoulish Gaps of experiences and equipment surprisingly yet to be delivered. Plus, more AI weed witches I created* in a procrastination haze earlier this week. 

*Using the only free, no-membership-or-credits-required platform that would let me use the word “cannabis.” The results range from terrifying to charming and every off-putting hand in between.

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When AI writes the weed-y fable.