I LOVE Halloween!

Big Skull

I love Halloween! I don’t rightly understand those who don’t. My mom HATES Halloween. She’s a dental hygienist, though, so maybe we need to give her a break.
She dutifully crafted homemade Halloween costumes for us each year, then confiscated almost all of our candy.

Boneyard

That being said, the older I get, the more I enjoy this freakishly old holiday. Each year I fix up the front of our house and attempt to scare the bejesus out of our neighborhood kids. Then we give them extra-generous portions of candy, and the GOOD stuff at that! I only stock the “holy grail” candies: Reese’s Peanutbutter Cups, Milky Ways, Butterfingers and the almighty KitKats.

Spooky Steps

I did have moments of distress a few years back when bored gangs of un-costumed “children” came westward across the “Trenton Makes” bridge. They wandered our neighborhoods, looking for trouble. My massive “NO COSTUME, NO CANDY!” sign took care of that the following year, and I was able to avoid any further trouble.

Pumpkin King

We are known by neighborhood kids as Mr. Dave and Miss Tara, and each year I hear kids tell their parents “I remember THIS house from LAST year!” We are known to have an above-average amount of spooky decorations, lasers, fog, black lights and monstrous beings roaming our property on All Hallow’s Eve.

Grim Reaper

Each year it gets harder for me to go “all-out” as money and time seem to be present in ever-decreasing amounts in our lives. As I deal each year with the straight-lacers at work who wonder why this 39 year-old man goes so far out of his way to make his studio so “spooky” and why he takes a half-day on October 31, I often ask myself why I put this much effort into such a crazy institution as Halloween. Then, each year, I see these excited and breathless little faces on my doorstep, and know EXACTLY why I do it.

The Reason for the Season

end of line.

~ by davidgiuffre on November 6, 2008.