I Survived Halloween
Nov 1st 2008
Suzanne EnochWhen Goddesses Fall To Earth
Ah, the day after Halloween. I’m sluggish, just beginning to recover from a candy-caused coma, and deciding when it would be appropriate to take down the outdoor Halloween decorations.
Yes, I decorate for Halloween. I love doing it. In fact, all three of these pictures are of my actual front yard on Halloween. There are a couple of things you can’t see – the sound-activated spider, the black lights and glowing cobwebs on the porch, and the cauldron and glowing pumpkin in the front window. I lit it up Wednesday when the nephews came to carve jack-o-lanterns, and they were my ‘spooky’ test subjects. Based on their reactions, I realized I needed a little more light, so I unscrewed two of my three porch lights, and went with the one. After all, if the kids don’t come to the house, there’s more candy for me to eat.
This year I didn’t dress up to answer the door, though in the past I’ve been a Victorian grave-digging ghoul, a witch, and a princess. My main reason for not dressing up this year was the heat – at sundown it was 80 degrees and very muggy here.
Coming to my door, I saw (among many others) a lot of Spider-Men, a Wolverine, tons of princessess and pirates, and one 2-year-old Dracula. And I will make a confession – I hold back the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups until I’ve given away everything else. They are my favorite candy.
Did you dress up? What was the most outstanding costume you saw? Did you give out candy? And tell the truth – did you hold any back for yourself?
37 Comments »
37 Responses to “I Survived Halloween”
Shashi on 01 Nov 2008 at 3:03 am #
Halloween isn’t as big here in Australia as it is in the US, but I did happen to see a little ninja running down my street…
evlqn on 01 Nov 2008 at 3:16 am #
We just wore our ritual garb but the boys dressed up.Elijah wore a skelton sweatshirt that the hood zips up the front to make a mask. Darius wore is football uniform and he and some of his team mates were football ghouls.
The cutest outfit I saw on anyone was little girl about 3 who was a giraffe complete with padded buns and a tail. Hands down the best this year. Elijah and my sister made a coffin for our porch so he could lay down in it and scare people coming to the door.
We didn’t hold back any candy but we did buy what we wouldn’t mind eating ourselves. Clearly in the spirit of not wasting anything don’t ya know.
evlqn on 01 Nov 2008 at 3:19 am #
Suzanne I love your yard you ROCK!!
Chez on 01 Nov 2008 at 4:00 am #
For the first time ever we actually got trick or treated. A posse of little personages dressed up (spiderman, pirate, fairy, transformer)and braved the land of no trick or treat (Australia). Of course I didn’t have anything ready to give them and had to mad dash to the cupboard for cake. It was cute and they showed me their stash which was obviously the result of other mad dashes to think of stuff to give them which even included money LOL. Of course now this has occurred I bet next year there will be more once they tell all their mates at school.
LisaK on 01 Nov 2008 at 5:46 am #
No Halloween here, so I’ll simply lean back and enjoy your stories. Keep ‘em comin’!
Kathy/Cookiedough on 01 Nov 2008 at 5:46 am #
I didn’t do anything for the event this year other than to scan the tv for something spooky to watch. I settled on the marathon of The Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror.
My doorbell rang only 4 times, freaking the cat out each time. I heard my landlord making the trek down to the front to fill the bags with goodies.
I was planning on going up to see what “my girlies” were wearing but both sets of grandparents were descending on their house, so I declined to be part of the madness. I ran into their dad earlier in the day and he warned me away with a chuckle.
Tonight my pal is coming over and we are having a fright night movie fest.
We both do things out of order. I called her last night in the middle of her giving away treats and she was hanging out by the door watching It’s a Wonderful Life on a portable dvd player. I, on the other hand watched Predator while trimming my Christmas tree last yr.
We are best friends for a reason! lol
Sweet Jane on 01 Nov 2008 at 5:49 am #
Halloween is such an Anglo-Saxon tradition. I’ve never celebrated it in any way since I left Canada, which was quite a while ago. Not mentioning that it’s mainly fun when you’re still a kid (either that or have kids of your own). I’ll gladly take up celebrating it again if I ever get the chance, though… ie if I find myself living in the right country at the right moment!
Kathy/Cookiedough on 01 Nov 2008 at 5:53 am #
Sweet Jane, what part of Canada are you from? I live in Nova Scotia
Margaret on 01 Nov 2008 at 7:01 am #
I am amazed to find out that Halloween isn’t “done” in other countries. Canada does, but now I’m wondering about Mexico. I know they celebrate Day of the Dead today and tomorrow. While yummy food is involved, I don’t think Mexicans trick or treat.
I would imagine that the kids on US military bases around the world trick or treat within the base compound. A way to keep a semblance of home, I think.
The old saw is true. You learn something new every day.
Margaret on 01 Nov 2008 at 7:06 am #
I forgot to mention that I don’t hand out candy anymore. The first year I lived here in my mobile home, I had a ton of it. I turned on the porch light and waited for the spooks. Waited and waited. There were none! I live on a cul-de-sac of 12 homes. All adults here. The main part of the park is separate from here by the Texas Eastern Pipeline. That’s where all the kids live. Across the highway is a housing development. But those kids don’t come over here.
I used to go to my daughter’s as she decorates like you do, Suzanne. Now, I just stay home with the porch light off and do other things.
Suzanne, was your glow-in-the-dark cobwebs green in daylight? My daughter’s were. Looked a bit odd. Your yard was super. Did you have spooky music, too?
PJane1031 on 01 Nov 2008 at 7:42 am #
Suzanne, my house decorations go up on October 1st, and don’t come down until Thanksgiving. . . .granted, most of those are inside since I live in a townhome, but since yesterday was my birthday, I have a tendency to ‘celebrate’ for two months with the indoor decorations (plus I’m lazy, so that means I only have to make one large mess when transitioning from Halloween to Christmas decorations!).
I am usually not home to give out candy–I spend it with my family (at my mom’s), so I save a bunch on $$ and the waistline by not having the treats in the house.
A friend of my sisters stopped by yesterday with her two boys. . .one was a clown and the other a building contractor. I was digging out carrots in my mom’s garden, so of course, being boys, they had to help me dig stuff out. .. got more dirt in my hair WITH their help, than without!!!
Emmiebee on 01 Nov 2008 at 7:46 am #
Wow, Suzanne, you know how to do Halloween right! DH and I went to the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem MA, for their amazing costume party. I was a Vegas showgirl, and he was a WWI Aviator. I froze, he sweated, but we danced the night away. At home, we gave out Rubber Duckies and Glow Bracelets from the Oriental Trading Company, so all we have for leftovers is plastic. HA! DH will take them as “prizes” to school on Monday- the high school kids really seem to get a kick out of earning these little toys in class for correct answers and good quiz grad scores. Apparently, “Duckie Bragging Rights” are now a hit in his school, thanks to the new craze he has started! For international news, my Mom in Spain said that my cousin’s daughter’s class (five year olds) decorated pumpkins for the first time this year. Mwaahaahaaa! The creeping of Halloween continues. It is one of my favorite holidays, and I will be dressing up until the day I die!
Freshechelle on 01 Nov 2008 at 7:58 am #
Kind of missed Halloween this year because I was in the office 9a – 8p (making up for a week spend in Laguna Beach – lucky me!!! but yeah, Suzie, what was with the humidity this week?). Your house decor sounds fab!
Anyhoo, on the commute home (in NYC) my colleagues and I kept seeing what we thought were the usual Midtown nut jobs and repeatedly had that “oh yeah, it’s Halloween” moment.
The best costume I saw was 4 probably tipsy women in their early 20s dressed as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. What made it funny was watching one of them cry while her friend was scolded her for being a jerk. The crying wasn’t funny, the surreal-ness of it.
Sabrina Jeffries on 01 Nov 2008 at 8:15 am #
“we did buy what we wouldn’t mind eating ourselves.”
Yeah, we do that, too. Hubby picks all the candy he likes, although I did insist on buying some candy wrapped to look like eyeballs, cut off ears, and fingers.
One year I’m going to decorate for Halloween, I swear. Right it’s Christmas that gets all of my energy. But your decorations are so cool!!
Deb Marlowe on 01 Nov 2008 at 8:26 am #
Oh, great spooky decor, Suzanne!
We did the Trick or Treat thing and my oldest was invited to a party. Mine were an elf/knight and a punk rocker. Last year I was Goth Mom, but this year I didn’t dress up.
We did see a girl with a real live pet rat at the party–and she came *this* close to losing it. Grabbed it by the end of its tail as it made a break for it. All I have to say is that if she’d have lost a pet rat in my house, that would have been the end of the party! Ugh!
I think my kids had the best costumes!
One of the houses we were at had set up a whole haunted house in their yard and garage that scared the hee haw out of my youngest. And he wanted to do it again!
Lisa H on 01 Nov 2008 at 8:28 am #
Suzanne, your house looks like the kind of house my kids always want to hit on Halloween. “Ooooo, they must be fun, Mommy.” My three year old was Spiderman. He was adorable and loved the whole trick or treat experience.
My daughter had her traditional party with her girlfriends. She was Jeannie, one friend was a 50’s girl, one a soccer player and one a princess. My 13 year old son was sick.
I of course was Captain Jack’s woman, and yes we saved the Snickers, Reeces and Kit Kats to put out last!
Judy F on 01 Nov 2008 at 9:07 am #
no trick or treaters at my place. I live in an apt and we don’t get any. Did see some dressed up though, the cutest was a lady bug. My great niece was going to be goldilocks I am dying to see pictures of her.
Great yard there.
elsiehogarth on 01 Nov 2008 at 9:12 am #
Halloween is my favorite holiday. I always decorate and, this year, my 13 yr.old godson Jeffrey helped. He’s my Dr. Frankenstein/Ty Pennington/Donald Trump all around young man. I had giant spider on my roof that would jump down electronically, smoke machine, ghoul heads hanging on my porch with red glowing eyes, tomb stones on the lawn, cob webs all over and a Gate Keeper by the door-Jeffrey, to scare only the older teens and of course the eerie music and sounds. Good times, good times.
I didn’t dress up but I did dress, in black, with my Universal t-shirt with “The Original Rockers” on them: Dracula, Frankenstein, the Bride and the Wolf Man. I will start making my costume for next year…I want to be the Queen of Hearts with a ghoulish twist.
I did hand out candy but I didn’t buy anything I liked….to avoid temptation and keeping them for myself.
The costumes were great: Bumble Bees, Lady Bugs, Indiana Jones, Batman, Alice in Wonderland, Vampire Princesses, Punks-( I told that group- to try harder, next year, because I know that’s what they were to school every day).Spiderman and the cutest one was a brother and sister that were Dalmatians.
Jessie on 01 Nov 2008 at 9:40 am #
Awesome decorations Suzanne! The skeleton is my favorite.
My mom gave me some old decorations to put up in my dorm/apartment/don’t know what to call it. Most of them were candle/votive holders, though, and we’re not allowed to have candles in the building, even if they’ve never been lit. Still, they added some much needed festiveness to the place.
But I went home for Halloween. We haven’t handed out candy for the past two years since my grandma died. My mom just hasn’t wanted to. So I went to a friends house to help out. My friend was dressed up as the Joker, and he looked amazing. I went as Pam from The Office–actually, Pam pre-Jim with hair pulled back, colorless clothes, white sneakers, and an engagement ring. I only had an hour to think up the costume, and I think it was pretty good.
I ate a few boxes of Nerds, but the friend didn’t have any chocolate, so I didn’t eat a lot. (Seriously, how can you not have a little chocolate on Halloween?)
We didn’t get a lot of trick or treaters, but the ones we did get were cute. The best were the 7-year-old Clone Troopers. We asked if they were Storm Troopers and were immediately informed that we were mistaken.
So, all in all, a successful Halloween.
Jessie on 01 Nov 2008 at 9:46 am #
Off-topic:
Oh, Sabrina, I’m writing my honors thesis right now, and I’m about to use a couple of your quotes! My paper is going to be so awesome because of them.
SheridanLA on 01 Nov 2008 at 10:06 am #
ok, I love the rubber duck idea for handing out as treats… how fun!
I did not go out this year, though I had invites to quite a few events. I was just not feeling up to getting the costume ready (and not inspired as to what to wear) and did not feel like dealing with the crowds.
I guess I was rather curmudgeonly this year
Suzanne Enoch on 01 Nov 2008 at 10:11 am #
Oh, evlqn, I would have loved to see the giraffe!
Lisa H, yes, I saw a TON of kids. And being that I decorated, I absolutely had to give out more candy. Handfuls in each bag. But I still managed to have some Reese’s left over. *g*
Suzanne Enoch on 01 Nov 2008 at 10:14 am #
Thanks, Jessie, for the skeleton compliment.
Funny aside: right after I put up the decorations we had a bout of Santa Ana winds, and my skeleton lost a hip bone (it’s just realistically colored styrofoam). For two days I hoped I wouldn’t wake up to see a neighbor’s yard covered in police tape while the CSIs looked for evidence of the rest of a body where the hip bone was discovered. Then the 3rd day, the hip bone showed up again on my skeleton. It was cracked, but some brave soul returned it to me. *g*
cail on 01 Nov 2008 at 10:44 am #
Last night the DH and I went to see a few friends play with their band. The band handed out masks and such. We didn’t wear our full costumes since we’re having a halloween party at our house night and we didn’t want to ruin any of it, since they were complicated to make.
Best costume I saw was a triceratops. the man was dressed in all green and had a home made mask. I also saw santa and an elf, and a few girls who made ‘beer bottle’ costumes which were really awesome.
I’ll post pictures of my real costume after the party tonight on the forum.
Claudia Dain on 01 Nov 2008 at 10:51 am #
I love Halloween. Love the kids coming to the door in their cute outfits, love the whole pure fun of going out in the dark to get candy while wearing a disguise.
We only got 15 kids, but I think it’s because not every house on the street “does” Halloween. What’s with that? That’s just so unneighborly!
RachelG on 01 Nov 2008 at 11:06 am #
I had no trick or treaters. Not one. As a result, I have a pumpkin basket filled with candy. I can feel myself getting larger.
Rachel
Karen Rose on 01 Nov 2008 at 12:22 pm #
We only had five kids, all in one slew. I have bronchitis, so this pleased me. I laid on the sofa and snoozed.
But now we have is a whole big bowl of candy plus a bag of 3 musketeers left. Sigh.
Sweet Jane on 01 Nov 2008 at 1:18 pm #
Kathy-I was born in Montreal, Qc.
Your stories are so cool. I want a family (like, kids, but even only a husband will do for now).
And I didn’t celebrate Halloween, but I eventually did passively take part in the celebrations for All Saints’ Day… It’s a vivid and charming tradition here to light candles and bring flowers to the graves, making cemeteries look incredible at dusk! It was like being in a movie scenery, I said to my friend as we paced down the alleys and observed the sky darken between the tree branches. And it was, too.
dbrown3400 on 01 Nov 2008 at 1:57 pm #
Our town has a Halloween parade and the costumes were outstanding. One Cleopatra must have spent a fortune on her costume. I’m sure it didn’t rival the parade in the Village in NYC, but it was a close second. Or third? *g*
We had a door decorating contest in our building but only a few people participated. I’ll try to post my entry on the Forum. We had a party and there were prizes. In the spirit of the occasion, the office manager gave a Dunkin’ Donuts gift certificate to everyone who entered. There were a few trick-or-treaters who came by and my very large friend who dressed up as a gorilla was pleased they did. He had been planning for this holiday for weeks.
Suzanne Enoch on 01 Nov 2008 at 3:15 pm #
Oh, KarenR, I’m sorry you’re sick! But the 3 Musketeers bars should help a lot. *g*
Kay on 01 Nov 2008 at 3:43 pm #
Feel better, KarenR.
We don’t usually decorate much for halloween–just a few carved pumpkins and “cauldron” for handing out candy. Until yesterday.
I sent my DH out at about 3 pm to get some batteries for the fake candles for the pumpkins. He came home with BAGS of stuff. He said it was all on sale. He proceeded to spend the next 3 hours decorating the yard and front hall. I can’t even describe it all. LOL
The only problem with this is that we are starting a MAJOR remodeling project in a couple of weeks, and we have no place to store all of the extra STUFF. I’ve been trying to GET RID if stuff for weeks. He was so proud of himself that I just smiled and kept my mouth shut.
My kids were a werewolf and the great pumpkin. Most of the kids I saw last night were disney characters or superheroes.
One mom was dressed as Mrs. Incredible—I wish I had the figure to wear that costume!
Posting late today because I promised myself not to blog, email, surf until my word count is done each day for nanowrimo. Day one—1,710 words–yea me.
29 more days to go……..
Lisa H on 01 Nov 2008 at 3:51 pm #
Go Kay! Wow. I’ve written zilch so far today. However, I did go shopping…
Nicole Jordan on 01 Nov 2008 at 4:14 pm #
Wow, great decorations, Suzanne!!
Halloween isn’t big in our neighborhood since the streets are so steep. I went to an H party instead of staying at home. Didn’t wear a costume, although a few people did… the most fun was a lady who dressed up like a 60’s hippie.
Yasmin on 01 Nov 2008 at 8:43 pm #
Very creative yard decorating. I wish we had been home to give out candy. We went to my lil brother’s football game and had a blast even though we lost but it was very fast paced and exciting. We bought several bags of assorted candy that we now feel ” obligated” for the sake of the chocolate to eat. It was raining yesterday , here in central california, and today in the morning. I felt bad for the trick o treaters. At home I usually decorate only with window clings. One year I bought a huge spider web and filled it with creepy crawlies. then decorated with fake stringy spider webs. i put up orange lights and some ghost lights. The kids came and stoles all the crawlies and destroyed the arrangement. I even spoke to a mom about her child and she claimed her child was at the park across from us the entire time even though her child had the crawly in his hand the entire time I was speaking with her about her child’s behavior. Since then, I decorate outside unless it is light and way out of reach.
Janae on 01 Nov 2008 at 9:15 pm #
Our street gets very few trick or treaters with the school across the street. We didn’t get any this year, but we did have one bag of candy on hand just in case we did get trick or treaters. So we have candy for ourselves.
I didn’t get dressed up. My 5 yo daughter went as a mummy and my 8 yo son went as Harry Potter. I couldn’t convince him that since he has red hair, he should go as Ron. My daughter is hysterical. She was constantly cracking one liners. At every single house we went to, she told them that she didn’t like peanut butter. It worked for her because she got one Reese’s peanut butter cup that she instantly gave to me.:D
I have to say that it was about 70 here in coastal SoCal, which was soooo nice.
I love your yard. I wish I could get dh to decorate.
Santa on 01 Nov 2008 at 11:53 pm #
Great yard! Our neighbors usually go all out with blow up stuff, statues of Frankenstein and the odd vampire, creepy music, etc. Everyone was sad this year that the happended to go away. Hopefully, they’ll pick it up again next year.
We had a great Halloween. My DH’s sister comes every year and carves pumkins with the kids and she goes trick or treating with them. They LOVE it.
I saw some old standards like Superman, angels and princesses. Not too many witches.
Pesky on 03 Nov 2008 at 8:14 pm #
I dressed up like a harlequin and went out with a group of people where one was dressed like a tree, morocco mole, braveheart (he called himself Seamus), and a biker chick.
We live in a college town that has a fairly large halloween parade so there were a bunch of kewl costumes. The lit up jelly fish were great and my favorite was this college student that made a HUGE tinfoil covered igloo, and painted himself green with antennaes and stuck his head out of the middle. (Alien in a flying saucer)