In 2003, Los Angeles-based artist Julianna “JP” Parr had the idea of creating an online Halloween countdown calendar with advent-like goodies every day. She recruited several artists to provide the content, and things kind of grew from there.

Each year has a different theme, and this year is drive-in movies.

Ever go to a drive-in movie theater? Well, that is this year’s Gothtober theme. Driving along the highway in your convertible on a late summer evening, this sign beckons you to pull in, clip the speaker to your window, and get ready to see the spooky double-feature. Don’t forget to swing by the concession stand for some popcorn and hotdogs!

Their press release says that some of the features this year are a piece by animator Billy Kheel, a recipe by SLO Cooking, Paper folding crafts from Lush Newton, an instructional movie from “Art of Bleeding,” and works from filmmakers Christine Panushka, Amy Lockhart, Lori Meeker and Barry Morse.

The main Gothtober site is here. It doesn’t kick off until October 1, but you can visit the archive for a look at all of the pieces from past years. Also check out the Trick or Treat page for some downloadable goodies.

(Props to their Webmaster, who upon noticing that I complained last year about not discovering the site until the end of October, dropped me a line last week to remind me that it was about to launch again. That’s service.)