Confessions of a Practical Blonde: Ghouls gone wild!
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I did a little googling about Halloween before I sat down to write. I was curious about the origins of Halloween. I knew that Halloween originated from a Pagan Festival, but I didn’t know the Pagans were the Celts of Ireland and Great Britain.
So what Wikipedia is telling me is that the Irish invented Halloween as well. Brilliant!
Pumpkins and Snoopy
Besides the candy, pumpkins are my favorite Halloween treat. Carving pumpkins have never been my forte, but I give it a shot every now and then. My least favorite part of carving is pulling out the orange, gooey guts!
But I think my real affection for pumpkins comes from a little cartoon that CBS plays every year. You might know it, "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown."
Every year, to this day, I look forward to watching that cartoon. I think its because I long for those years where everything seemed so much simpler. But there’s also the Snoopy factor.
I LOVE Snoopy. Snoopy is the coolest dog. Yes Odie, Fred Basset and Marmaduke are also very cool, but for me, Snoopy is the top dog!
During the Great Pumpkin, Charles Schulz came up with a very creative way to involve Snoopy in Halloween. Snoop's alter ego is a World War I flying ace. During the scene snoopy is out tracking the Red Baron. The idea of a dog that has such a vivid imagination, like a human being, appeals to me. It makes me think there is more going on in Remy's head than "when can I get her to give me another biscuit."
Haunted Houses
As soon as the calendar changes to October 1st, I see immediate signs from my neighbors that they appreciate Halloween as much as I do. Several houses actually decorate more for Halloween than for any other holiday, including Christmas.
Orange and purple lights, giant spider webs, skeletons, witches, jack-o'-lanterns and pumpkins, and giant inflatable spiders are just a few of the decorations adorning the lawns and front porches of my neighbors.<L2>
One of my neighbors has been in the habit of changing jack-o'-lanterns every few days during the month of October. When I walk Remy at night, I try to guess whether or not they have changed their jack-o'-lantern and if they did what type of face it will have. It's always a treat to turn the corner and see what they have done.
Here's something I bet you didn't know. Boston holds the record for most jack-o'-lanterns lit at one time? They set it in October 2006. I think we should try and break that record with a Pumpkin Carving Contest next year.
Bewitched
For as long as I can remember, I have been enchanted with the supernatural. I think it has to do with a television show called Bewitched.
I used to pretend I was Tabitha, Samantha's daughter. I would try and try to wiggle my nose like Sam. I thought if I could do it, certainly those veggies in front of me could turn into an ice cream sundae.
I think it was my fascination with the magic on the show that sparked my imagination and led me to fall in love with such TV/film genres as science fiction, thrillers and fantasy.
It’s all about the costume
What better time of year to indulge in our fantasies? Halloween allows you to, literally, put on a mask or costume and pretend to be someone else.
If your inner self is a pirate, or in my case a cowgirl, then I say go for it. On Halloween you could choose to be someone famous (Elvis, Marilyn), someone scary (Frankenstein, Dracula, George W. Bush), someone funny (clown, cow, tourist) or someone cute (ladybug, Harry Potter or Hannah Montana).
Being someone else is exciting. It gives you a sense of freedom from the humdrum daily routine. Just by putting on my cowboy hat, I feel a shift in my mood and confidence. And it makes me smile.
The neighborhood I grew up in was teaming with kids my age, so we had quite the group making rounds on Tulsa Street. We used to have these costumes that you could put on right over your clothes and there was a mask with an elastic band and a couple of holes for you to breathe out of. I think I had a Wonder Woman costume at some point. My brother Jay was lucky enough to get a Kiss costume one year. Bet he wishes he still had that mask.
Most of the time my parents would let us choose our costume and contribute to making it. I remember coming home from school one year with what I thought was a very cool idea: I wanted to be a robot. I took a brown grocery bag cut out holes in the top and on the sides for my head and arms, then carried on by decorating the front of the bag with what I imagined a robot would look like.
Unfortunately, I didn't try the bag on before I decorated it and when I went to put it on it ripped. Luckily I have a Dad who was pretty handy at coming up with costumes on the fly. I think that year he dressed me up as "bum." He took a cork from a bottle heated it up and made me look like I had a five o'clock shadow. I put on an old jacket of his that was way too big and one of my grandfathers hats, and I was transformed.
Spirits in the Material World
I have never seen a ghost - I think. I know I have heard some strange noises at night, and sometimes even during the day. I know I hate walking down in the bowels of the hospital where the morgue is. It gets pretty creepy down there.
I did see a loved one who had just passed the day before in a dark corner of the house. I tend to chock this up to emotional distress. But it really had me thinking for a quite some time afterwards. Was he really there, and was he trying to say something to me?
When I think of ghosts, the first one that pops into my head is Casper. However, I don’t think Casper is what you would call the standard for ghosts. Do you remember the "Sixth Sense?" That movie sent chills to my bones. Why? Because some of the things that happened in the movie, I have experienced. Ok, maybe one thing. You know how you are in a room and all of a sudden a chill comes over you? Well that has happened to me.
I've also woken up in the middle of the night and swear that there was someone standing by my bedside. That's why I make Remy sleep on one side of the bed. Well partly, she keeps me warm as well.
Frightfest
I'm not a fan of the scary movie. I prefer comedies, usually of the romantic variety, but I do watch a scary movie every now and then.
The best scary movie theatre moment of my life came when a group of the neighborhood kids and a couple of parents went to see "Poltergeist." Mrs. Gaudet still talks about it. I was on the edge of my seat the whole movie. When they got Carrie Ann out of the TV, I thought the movie was over and got up and told everyone, "OK, let's get out of here." I was wrong; so wrong. The scariest part of the movie was about to begin.
And don't get me started on Freddy Kruger. We actually got to see A Nightmare on Elm Street at the Cinema X movie theater where we only paid one dollar. I definitely got my money’s worth out of that one. I couldn’t sleep for days, and for years would not watch another Freddy movie because he freaked me out. He kind of still does.
If Trick or Treating is not on your agenda and you would still like a good heart thumping moment, check out these other frightfully wonderful movies.
●"Halloween," the original
●"The Shining"
●"Rocky Horror Picture Show"
●"The Exorcist"
●"Young Frankenstein"
●"Sleepy Hollow"
●"Seven"
●"Jaws"
●"Psycho"
●"Beetlejuice"
Whether you're out trick or treating with the kids or watching a scary movie, enjoy the day. Its not often we get to be somebody else for the day, so enjoy it. And if you get any good tricks, let me know about them.
