I love Halloween. Ever since I can remember, it’s been my favorite time of the year and if I had to pin it down as to why I love this season so much, I’d have to say it’s because of the drama. Everyone dresses up, or at least accepts those that do. Name one other time of the year where you can show up at work dressed as Spongebob Squarepants, or a vampire, or a Rockette! OK, maybe Mardi Gras, but that’s not as universal of a holiday as Halloween.
One of my favorite authors as a kid was Ray Bradbury. I fell in love with his non-technical imagery. His science fiction is more organic and when I was young, I found it easier to sink my teeth into than say Isaac Asimov After reading the The Martian Chronicles and Something Wicked This Way Comes, I stumbled on a book that he wrote that was completely blew me away. It was called The Halloween Tree and oh what a book it was.
The lead characters were all children my age and the story takes place on one Halloween night when their best friend Pippen falls ill. The rest of the children go on a magical journey through time as the strange character Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud leads them through the history of Halloween. It’s a fantastic book and after reading it the first time, I would re-read the book every October. I would start on the 13th of October and read one chapter a night until Halloween. I haven’t done this in years, but I did share the little ritual with Holly when we were dating and she found it a lot of fun. It’s not too scary and it’s a little educational at the same time.
It’s been a few years since I’ve read the book, or even really participated in Halloween like I used to. One year, I made a coffin, dressed like a vampire and setup a PA system with voice effects to scare children as they approached. When they got close to the house, I would rise from the coffin and give everyone a good scare. 🙂 Since we moved to Nashville though, I really haven’t gone to such lengths. First we lived in an apartment, then after we moved, my mind has been on my business and I simply haven’t thought about it.
This year I did make a step though. I setup two sawhorses in the yard and placed a scrap piece of sheetrock over the top. I then cut a hole in the sheetrock and placed an old table cloth over the entire contraption, thus giving me a table. I cut a hole in the table cloth and then cut a hole in a plastic silver serving tray and then surrounded the hole with candy. When the time came, I simply slipped my head through the holes and I was instantly a head on a table. I also put on some white makeup and added some fake blood for effect. Knowing that some of the kids wouldn’t be scared by this setup, I hid a leaf blower under the table with me. If someone acted all tough and un-afraid, I’d start the blower and blow it at them. The loud sound coupled with the blast of air on their legs gave them a good fright. 😀
Holly dressed up as a witch complete with a scary mask that we have that looks really good and green and black stripped stockings like those in the Wizard Of Oz. She looked great and would lead the kids from the street to the my head. The rest of the yard had tiki torches and a couple of real and artificial pumpkins.
Speaking of pumpkins, I tried to make another Palm Pumpkin this year. It’s been a few years since I did one and I thought it was high time for another one. Especially since the new pa1mOne corporate colors include orange. The idea was to carve the pa1mOne name into the upper face of the pumpkin and carve the T3 in landscape mode below. I got as far as the name and then I ran out of time. Since I didn’t finish it, I didn’t post it on the NPUG web site, but I did take a few pictures which you can find on my Moblog.
Now that Halloween is over, we’re now into the grey days of November, one of my least favorite times of the year. Yet I can look back on the fun we had at Halloween and remember that winter doesn’t last forever. When you break it all down, that’s the real point of Halloween anyway. 🙂