OMG! Halloween!

There was a facebook thing going around earlier this month, about how for the first time in 666 years, Halloween was going to be on Friday the 13th. It traveled around with a spooky picture for a bit until too many people said it was stupid.

The "first time in 666 years" part caught my attention rather than the 13th / 31st switch. That just didn't seem reasonable - and I looked at my calendar - and then realized the rest of it -

Was a slow brain day.

I will pretend not to be home and finally be able to train the dogs to ignore the doorbell!

My excuse? I live in the UK.

Or I could just buy all the candy and eat all the candy.

I never know how much candy to buy. One year, we buy two huge bags and get like four kids. The next year, we buy one small bag and I'm sending my husband out to the store at 6:30 to get more.

We live in one of those neighborhoods where people drive in from outside so their kids get the good candy. The only problem I have with it is that many of those people don't understand the "front porch light" rule, and long after we've turned ours off, they're still ringing our doorbell.

My kids, on the other hand, like the housing development across from their school for even better candy and decorations.

Myrealana said:

I never know how much candy to buy. One year, we buy two huge bags and get like four kids.

Click to expand...

I...fail to see the problem with that.

**raids the Hallowe'en candy again**

My late husband, a third grade teacher, decided one year to give the kiddies a healthy Halloween so he bought a basket of apples and gave them out instead of candy. A high school teacher myself, I could see the flaw in his plan but he could not. My daughters and I refused to go to the door. We hid out in a darkened room.

The door bell would ring. We would hear an urchin exclaim "An apple?" And, towards thee end of the evening, my husband would snap "It's good for you, you little ...person!"

The older trick -or -treaters would get to the end of the yard and, as often as not, return the apples in a barrage against the house. Then my husband would rip open the door and holler "I hope your teeth rot out you little bastards!"

Sigh. We don't have fun Halloweens like that anymore--s6

robjvargas said:

It's Friday the 31st this year! Aaah!

Oh, wait... that's...

Nevermind

Click to expand...

Reminds me of that bit from Shriek If I Know What You Did Last Friday the Thirteenth, where they were listing all the "things" coinciding with their plans to go out to the evil house, such as it being Halloween and a full moon. The dumb jock slab also brings up that it's Friday the 13th... turns out he was dyslexic.

That said, Friday was always the best day for Halloween, because you could stay up later - no school the next day - and you had a couple days to just veg with your candy loot. (Back in my heathen childhood, we did Halloween parades in public schools if it fell on a weekday. This, naturally, explains why I'm a baby-eating worshipper of the Dark Horned One who has single-handedly destroyed American family values.)

For me, Halloween means it's time to write three or four short stories, and maybe a humorous article or two, so they can be published in time for next Halloween.

Such is a writer's life.

I live in a very small town, but every year it seems like the population quadruples on Oct. 31st. Out here, people come from other tiny towns with their kids in the backs of pick-ups, or on trailers, and let them off at each neighborhood. We literally get hundreds of kids in a town of about 3000 people.

Oh, goodie... the one night of the year I can justify sitting in the dark, ignoring the doorbell, while eating all the candy myself.

What? Doesn't everyone do that?

Jamesaritchie said:

For me, Halloween means it's time to write three or four short stories, and maybe a humorous article or two, so they can be published in time for next Halloween.

Such is a writer's life.

Click to expand...

haHA! So it's not just me.

When a holiday theme is coming up, I never have any good ideas. Once the holiday is here, I am inundated with ideas but it's too late to do anything with them but to save for the following year.

I get to participate in a COSTUME PARADE this year! Woooooo!!!! Well, technically, the parade is for the kiddies, but everyone at the library is allowed--nah, enouraged!--to dress up, and I love how into it everyone's getting. It's awesome.

I love my job.

As for the "What if we have leftover candy??" issue--check around to see if you have any places participating in this. My dentist does it every year, and it's a great way to get rid of the extra if you don't want to gorge yourself too much. I'm okay with the eating of much candy, especially chocolate, but I never know what to do with those wafer thingies and candy corn that ends up lying around.

bearilou said:

haHA! So it's not just me.

When a holiday theme is coming up, I never have any good ideas. Once the holiday is here, I am inundated with ideas but it's too late to do anything with them but to save for the following year.

Click to expand...

It's amazing how fast ideas desert me when it's time to actually use them. Most of the magazine I sell to have a six month lead time, but if I add how long the stories can sit in a slush pile before being read, and how long it takes me to stop procrastinating and actually get them written, I always write holiday stories a year in advance.

It takes some of the pressure off.

But I really do love Halloween. It's a great holiday, and the candy just makes it better. It is time to work, though, which is also fine.

Hey guys! Rob wants you to send him ALL your leftover candy corn and candy pumpkins! ALL OF IT!

As with all holidays, halloween is about spreading good cheer at the festive time o' year. Sure you'll all do fine in that regard: putting smiles on youngsters' mugs. Now there's something to rejoice in !

We never get much of anyone at the door, Halloween has taken off in NZ a little, but where we live there is a lot of Christian backlash to it and they have a thing called "The Light Party" as an alternative to Halloween which is a little kind of a fair type thing to take the kids to. (Wear costumes to "The Light Party" but none that are "negative" or scary)

I'm not a Christian, but see no reason not to take the kids to "The Light Party" since it's right around the corner from our house. Actually my cynical, atheist teen will probably refuse to go to "The Light Party" this year. lol The younger one would probably love it.

Last year the girl from up the block came to the door dressed as the Mad Hatter (sans hat!?).

Now, I have a policy: trick-or-treaters must actually say 'Trick or Treat' before they receive any sweets. So this girl, saying nothing, stood there on our doorstep with her bag open and looked at me (since I wasn't handing it over) and I looked at her; she looked at me, I looked at her; look look look shaking our heads at each other and I finally said, "Aren't you supposed to say certain magic words?"

And with this uncomprehending expression on her face, she said: "Abracadabra?"

Her Dad was waiting for her at the end of the sidewalk laughing his ass off. He calls out to her, "Trick or Treat!"

She blurted (now with a look of total comprehension), "OH!! Trick or Treat."