Ah, yes. It is the most wonderful time of the year because it's October and time to begin the month-long celebration of my favorite holiday... Halloween! Woo hoo!
My love of Halloween is probably due to my weird fascination with horror movies, ghosts and ghost stories, graveyards (picture at left was taken by moi at Atlanta's Oakland Cemetery), and all things spooky and creepy. Come on! How can you not love Halloween? It's a purely hedonistic holiday, at least in its current incarnation. Think about it. For one night, you can dress up as something you want to be in only your wildest dreams (Superman! Wonder Woman! Vampire! Captain Redneck!), go around the neighborhood begging for candy just because you can and when no candy is received, you roll the house just for kicks. It's great!!!! Being sneaky and spooky is the name of the game, getting your sugar on is expected, and watching movies and telling stories that are guaranteed to keep you up all night with the lights on is what it's all about. Heck, I even break out the tarot cards for this one special night to give readings. I suck at it, it's purely for fun, but for one night I feel like a gypsy fortune teller.
On September 1st, the Halloween itch descends upon me. My Halloween radar perks up and I find myself perusing the Halloween decor aisles at my local stores. Do I need this bat/spider/crow/tombstone? Sure, of course I do! I have twenty others, but one more won't hurt. I was ready to invest in a really creepy 5 1/2 foot tall grim reaper for the front yard before Ty-man put the kibosh on my nefarious plans. I start compiling the "Now Showing" list of horror movies to show for friends and family at our annual horror movie month. By September 30th, the Halloween spook rash is in full swing and the Halloween decor boxes come up from the basement. Candy corn-scented candles are lit and the family gets in the mood. By the next morning, I've thrown on one of many Halloween t-shirts (my wardrobe for the next month) and the festivities begin. Instead of tinsel and Santas, it's cobwebs, spiders, and bats. The white candles that drip red go on the mantel, gourd Jack-o-Lanterns adorn every available shelf space and the black cats lurk around corners. I've always threatened Ty-man with the future ownership of a black cat and an orange cat named Trick and Treat. Oh yes, it will happen, they will be mine! Mwa-ah-aaaaaahhhhh!!!!
The car CD player cues up my special Halloween mix CDs (if you would like a song list, let me know) and I jam out to such gems as Oingo Boingo's Dead Man's Party or Nick Cave's Red Right Hand.
And it's not just me who's in the Halloween mood. AMC (a classic movie channel) shows a good bit of older horror movies during this month. The Oxygen channel shows old Roseanne Halloween episodes (my faves!), the new season of Ghost Hunters cranks up on the Sci-fi channel, and the Chiller horror channel goes from scary to absolutely horrifying during this month. It's a gore-fest, people!
So, even if you don't like horror movies or ghost stories, I know you've got to love dressing up and eating candy. So, take Halloween for what it is - a fun day to gorge on sugar and to be someone else. Enjoy it! It only comes once a year!
BOO!
2 comments:
I'll drink to that! Off to grab my Halloween decorations now! Great post--it really is a fun holiday. Though in my hubbie's culture everyone visits the family graveyard and places candles on the stones. It is an AMAZING sight to drive by the larger cemeteries and see THOUSANDS of lights twinkling in memory of all their loved ones.
No 5 1/2 foot tall grim reaper? That's just wrong!
I wonder what Heather's going to get for Christmas? ;-)
Post a Comment