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PSA Be sure to join me for the CPG 2025 Pipe of the Year Reveal this Sunday! BORN FROM THE SHADOWS: ANNOUNCING THE 2025 HALLOWEEN LINE A Conversation with Glen Whelan by D.H. Billings As has been thoroughly documented already in Post #423, Halloween is my favorite non-religious holiday. Not just the trick or treating – but also the costumes, the decorations, the general spookiness, the scary movies, the exploration of the night, the community, the history of the holiday itself, etc. – I absolutely love it. Considering this, a recently-developed tradition for me as a Pete Geek has been to wait for each year’s Halloween line with great anticipation. More than any of their other yearly releases, I believe that this particular line has extra room for experimentation and the ability to just play around with new ideas. The 2025 HALLOWEEN PIPES will drop Wednesday, October 1st, at 6pm EDT--and 10am Dublin Time!   As with most things Peterson, in order to look to the future of the Halloween line, one must first look back. The 2021 line was a series of System Standard pipes dressed up in the Dracula finish, with a black sandblasted bowl, nickel mount, and a P-Lip stem swirling in red and black. 2022 was a series of traditional shapes with black sandblasted bowls, nickel mounts, and bright orange stems. 2023 brought us my personal favorite so far, with another series of System Standard pipes – only this time dressed up in the Jekyll & Hyde finish (bowls split down the middle with the smooth side being a reddish brown and the rusticated side being jet black). Last year, we discovered that Dracula Has Risen From The Grave, but in this go around the red and black finish was on a series of tavern pipes; this particular line was the most surprising for me because I normally like short, chunky pipes with large chambers, but I found myself falling in love with my long, slender pipe with the tasting-sized chamber. (Side note: I’m still waiting for a Halloween line inspired by a witch’s brew with a green and purple stem, but I digress), Since the last time I interviewed Glen Whelan, there have been some significant changes in his life – including his becoming the Managing Director of Peterson and the passing of his father Tony. And at least from what I can see, he is doing a great job in his new role. Not only is he revamping old ideas in new ways (think this year’s Pipe of the Year, for example), but he is also helping put the faces of Peterson forward so that we can get to know those people who are making our pipes. Personally, I think this helps make the company feel more personal and less like a big box brand (like some of other pipe factories out there). But that also makes him busier than ever before, and I was unsure if he would even have the time to…