Resuming intermittent countdown

I must admit to being disappointed that I won't get to do all the things I wanted for this year's Halloween celebration, but there was no way to predict illness.  The party must be postponed until next year, and the prop-building will be minimal.

On a rare break from the hospital last week, I put up a few more items in the house (more to cheer myself up than hubby), and got a little bit done yesterday.  It's become apparent I need MORE STUFF.  I did order one of Shellhawk's jack-o-lanterns (can you spot it?) and tonight ordered some of Bean's baby jack-o-lanterns. 

Here are a few inside photos:

On the TV in the guest room

On top of the china cabinet in the dining room.  I bought the styrofoam wig heads to corpse, but won't have the time.  This reminds me of the "Wicked" posters.

Gotta love that creepy cloth--all of $1.00 from the Dollar Store. I went back and bought the last 5 packages, but haven't put them up yet.

The skull's eyes light up at intervals when you press a button.  Dumb, but fun.

I didn't realize how much I would like the brass candlestick look.  Got it at a yard sale this summer along with the twisty black ones, and I think I'm gonna keep my eyes open for more.

Gargoyles also from the dollar store. If the organ were in better shape, it could really be effective.

The fall tablerunner and potpourri will come off this weekend.  Got the "bleeding candles" from Spirit, who left my "glass grabber creatures" out of the shipment.

I need to print out some labels and rearrange this a bit, but it shows promise in my kitchen.   hehehe.

 I'm finding it difficult to get much done, unfortunately. Maybe after some of these doctor appointments have passed....

Halloween Winner

I won!  Mr. Macabre was giving away 250 custom greeting cards and I won them!  Woohoo! 

This year's Halloween party had to be scrapped, as hubby was in the hospital for a week and still needs a liver biopsy and there just isn't time over the next two weeks to finish around the house, much less plan and "execute" a party, so this will be perfect for next year!

Thanks, Mr. Macabre!

Keep your fingers that all goes well over the next two weeks and I can get the yard done and photos taken!

Blogging Hiatus

Had to put DH in the hospital--will resume this blog in a few days, hopefully with some Halloweenish items! 

A Tip of the Hat

This is the week I really miss Albuquerque--during the annual Balloon Fiesta. I miss the chill of the morning air, the scent of roasting chiles, and the sight of hundreds of balloons adorning the unbelievably blue skies.

Here's a salute to the Festival:

image source

image source

I don't know where the above two shots were taken.  But THIS one is definitely in NM:
New Mexico PhotoJournal: October 2005 (Oct. 30)

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Countdown Day 4

Remakes would be more enjoyable if you hadn't seen the original.

War of the Worlds, Halloween, The Stepford Wives--three I remember off the top of my head that boasted far better originals than the remakes. The Day the Earth Stood Still has been one of my all-time favorites. ("Gort! Klaatu barada nikto.")

I have resisted seeing the remake with Keanu Reeves, though I hear he does a good job with crappy material. Oh, and just saw the remake of Children of the Corn --also a disappointment. I wanted to kill the bitchy wife myself.

However, ttonight I watched the latest (3rd) remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Invasion with Nicole Kidman was tolerable. Jeremy Northam, who was terrific in The Net, was no more believable than Daniel Craig. But the little boy was adorable and I appreciated the maternal aspect--a watered-down Aliens mom--but a mom, nonetheless.

I mean, what's scarier than someone wanting to kill your child?

Beginnings

Do you remember when you first became enamored with Halloween and all that it entails? I've tried to remember (and when you're 50-something, there are a lot of memories to cull through!),  and two incidents jump out at me.

The first occurred when I was about 6 years old, or thereabouts. My parents had put me to bed, and were watching a scary movie on TV.  Unbeknownst to them, I had sneaked into the hall and was watching it, too--until a commercial came on and Mother got up for something.  Busted!  She tucked me back into bed, admonishing me to go to sleep, and shut my door.

Sleep didn't come for a very long time, and when it did, it was full of nightmares about oddly-acting people with strange marks on their necks. My parents, seizing the opportunity to make a point, told me the nightmares were from watching movies made for grown-ups.  I knew better.  It was because I hadn't seen the ending. My imagination filled in the gaps for me.

Did you figure out the movie?  It was 1953's Invaders from Mars.

It was years before I got to see it again--and I found it satisfyingly spooky.

The second incident happened in the fall of my second grade year.  We'd moved to Dallas after school started, and I was new to the class and a little shy. There was to be a school show of some sort, and auditions for a witch were held in my class. I was an unlikely candidate, being a chubby little thing with wavy blond hair, but I tried out anyway.  It was almost certain the part would go to another aspiring actress, a slim little girl with long black hair, and indeed, it came down to the two of us.  However, what I lacked in looks, I made up for with attitude and cackle.  I got the part, much to her chagrin.

It was only a small skit.  My lines will be familiar to most of you, though I don't remember anything more than this:

 "Double, double, toil and trouble, Fire burn and cauldron bubble."

I was hooked forever.

Halloween Love Story

Countdown to Halloween has started, and I was fortunate enough to find it in time to participate this year. It's going to be difficult to tear myself away from all the participants' blogs, but if I don't, there'll be nothing to post.

Mr. Macabre posted a question several days ago, dealing with spousal support for Halloween enthusiasts. As I stated there, hubby indulges me, but doesn't really get into it all, probably due to his disabilities.  But there was a time....

In the late 1960s (probably before most of you were born, children), DH was a youth and music minister of a Baptist church in Alabama, where we both grew up.  I had met him not long before my 15th birthday, when he was a student at a local University and came to help out one of his fellow students  (my choir director) by singing in the youth choir. I was hopelessly smitten, but as there was a 4-year age difference, our friendship was more of a sibling-type relationship.

My senior year in high school, DH planned Halloween "socials" for 3 different church youth groups, and recruited two of his cousins and me to help. One of them, Steve, was really into theater and the arts, and did a great job transforming DH, Bill, himself and me into a vampire, corpse, wolf-man, and lady vampire, respectively.  I remember it took Steve hours to individually apply clumps of hair to his face and hands.

DH wrote the script for us, and though the storyline is long since forgotten, what I do remember is a lot of teeth-baring and discord among the characters, and some improvisation when we couldn't remember our lines.  After the final social, when we weren't quite ready to give it all up, we drove around awhile, scaring other drivers at stoplights (I told you Steve was good) and stopping at a 7-11 for some Slurpies and photos by the store's proprietor.

Within 2 years we were dating, and in 1971, I married this blue-eyed, dimpled vampire.  Our first Halloween, he positioned the huge stereo speakers out in the bushes by the front porch and played the only 2 record albums of spooky sound effects we owned.  We turned off all the lights in the house, and I sat just inside the open door, dressed all in white, under the rays of the blacklight, beckoning ToTs to come, come.  The shivering was real--it was COLD that night--and very few children ventured up the sidewalk, let alone came to the porch for candy.

Years passed, we worked, moved, and moved, and moved across the country and back again, endured a catastrophic illness and financial quagmires, and Halloween pranks and events took a back seat to trick-or-treating with our daughter.

Now we are older, still loving scary movies, living in a great neighborhood with increasing numbers of children, and there's a plethora of information and how-tos out there.  Halloween has ascended to a whole new level of technique, finesse and fright, and it's exciting to discover and try them. DH humors me and even makes a suggestion now and then.  I think there may still be a bit of vampire lurking behind those blue eyes and dimples...