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Halloween Memories

My Halloween: Scott M. Baker

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Halloween 4Five questions asked over a glowing Jack o'Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds…in between mouthfuls of candy corn…with author Scott M. Baker (The Vampire Hunters)…

Why is Halloween important to you?

It’s the one day of the year where everyone wants to be scared. It gives those who ignore the genre for the other 364 days of the year an opportunity to know the thrill and enticement us genre fans experience daily.

Describe your ideal Halloween.

My ideal Halloween would be to own a home with a large enough front yard to set up a really awesome nightmare display. I dream of having desiccated zombies crawling out of the dirt along the driveway, corpses hanging from the tree, a giant spider precariously perched above the front door, and anything else my twisted imagination can dream up.  In my hometown lived a guy who used to deck out his house with so many Christmas lights that people would drive from miles around just to see it; I want people to do the same for my Halloween display.

What Halloween collectibles do you cherish, or hate, or both?

I like most of the Halloween decorations I put up around my place. The vampire bat with the four-foot wingspan that hangs over my garage. The decaying skeleton torso I hang from my bedroom window. The life-size Angel of Death I hang from the door knocker.

The collectible that is nearest to me is a simple ceramic skull that I set up on the dining room table every year. Back when I was a kid, my Aunt Bobby made it for me in art class because she knew that, as a Monster Kid, I would appreciate it. Today it wouldn’t scare a three-year-old, but that doesn’t matter. It reminds me of my aunt, who passed away almost ten years ago, and how she was one of the many family members who encouraged that weird little kid who loved monsters.

When was your very first Halloween, the one where you really knew it was Halloween, and how was it?

I don’t remember my very first Halloween. I do remember, however, Halloween as a kid in general. A few weeks before the holiday, my parents would take me to the costume section of the local department store to choose what I wanted to be that year. Back then, the costumes came in small boxes and consisted of a cheap, flimsy, overall-type outfit with an accompanying plastic face mask with eye holes so small they scraped the hell out of your lids. (You Monster Kids out there know exactly what I’m talking about.) Then on the hallowed night I would go out and prowl the neighborhood, where I thought I was the scariest/coolest monster on the block, and return home to eat myself into a self-induced sugar high.  I miss those simple times.

What's the one Halloween question you want to be asked and what's your answer?

Q: What would be your ultimate Halloween costume? A: I would want a make-up artist to deck me out as a rotting zombie with the whole nine yards: grotesque, oozing neck wound; ripped open abdomen with the obligatory intestines hanging out; and torn up face with exposed jaw.

I also have a standing invitation from a close author fiend to go out one Halloween with her and her daughter as Gomez, Morticia, and Wednesday Addams. I’m hoping to cash in on that someday.

My Halloween: C. Michael Forsyth

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PirateFive questions asked over a glowing Jack o’Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds…in between mouthfuls of candy corn…with author C. Michael Forsyth (Hour of the Beast)…

Why is Halloween important to you?

It’s the one day of the year when adults are allowed to play make-believe.

Describe your ideal Halloween.

A great big house party where everyone comes in costume and scary movies are playing on screens in every room.

What Halloween collectibles do you cherish, or hate, or both?

Mnnn, I don’t collect much…does a flexible skeleton you can hang from a noose count?

When was your very first Halloween, the one where you really knew it was Halloween, and how was it?

I must have been about seven and was wearing a rubber Frankenstein mask. It was awful because I could hardly breathe or see through it without my glasses, which didn’t fit properly under it. Still hate the smell of those darned masks.

What’s the one Halloween question you want to be asked and what’s your answer?

Q: What’s your all-time favorite Halloween costume?  A: I’d have to go with Zorro. What man doesn’t think he looks dashing with a black cape, mask, and a piece of cold steel (okay, plastic) in his hand?

My Halloween: Dan Dillard

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Dansmall1 Five questions asked over a glowing Jack o’Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds…in between mouthfuls of candy corn…author Dan Dillard writes mostly horror, but not always. Sometimes he writes about Halloween.

 

Why is Halloween important to you?

Not sure what it is about Halloween that is so magical. It could be the lore or the mystery. It’s like our one time to become one with the paranormal and there’s an odd feeling of safety about the day. Seems like I read that it was once a festival where families would light bonfires to warm the bones of their deceased ancestors who walked the earth on that evening. I like that idea. I’m also a huge fan of horror and the ghostly tales that seem to surround Halloween… and secretly I like the costumes and the candy. I like watching my children enjoy that aspect of it as well.

Describe your ideal Halloween.

My ideal Halloween would start with a well decorated house. That includes carved jack-o-lanterns. There would be a party with friends and family (in costumes of course). It needs to be a cool night, not too cold, and there has to be hundreds of kids bebopping from house to house with bags of treasure. Each of them ringing doorbells in hopes of scaring someone on the inside. After the kids come home with their loot, the wife and I get to watch a movie and steal all the Reese’s cups.

What Halloween collectibles do you cherish, or hate, or both?

Wow, collectibles? I’m not sure. I love the figurines from the movies…Nightmare Before Christmas is a favorite. I’d love to have Jack and Sally maquettes… maybe Oogie Boogie as well.

Demons cover When was your very first Halloween, the one where “you really knew” it was Halloween, and how was it?

My family always celebrated Halloween. I remember when I was really young seeing my brother dressed as the Hunchback… he had latex scars on his face and fake teeth and the whole nine… That was pretty cool. I might have been 4 or 5. Think I was superman that year.

At 7 or 8 years old, I wanted to be a Tusken Raider from Star Wars…I think my mother helped sew the costume out of a tan bathrobe and my dad made the gaffi stick out of wood and styrofoam…it was pretty awesome. Pop on a little vacuformed mask and I looked great in the mirror… I also remember being Batman, Freddy Kruger, a Ghostbuster, a werewolf, and this year I’m…wait, that’s top secret.

What’s the one Halloween question you want to be asked, and what’s your answer?

Q: Where can I get your book?

A: That’s a shameless plug. I hope to hear a bunch of hopeful “Trick or Treat” s… That will be enough.

But you can still buy his book, Demons and Other Inconveniences, and What Tangled Webs, too.

My Halloween: Scooby Stole the Snacks

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Scooby_Doo_Halloween Five questions asked over a glowing Jack o’Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds…in between mouthfuls of candy corn…Sammy from Scooby Stole the Snacks leaves the Mystery Machine for a moment to talk about Halloween.

 

Why is Halloween important to you?

Halloween has always been the only time of the year where I could go out in a Scooby Doo outfit and not receive any weird looks from the general population. Also, it has been a great opportunity for my family, primarily my 8-year old brother, to actually have fun together. Plus, free candy! That’s always a bonus. See, I go trick-r’-treating every year, and I just overall love that time of the year.

Describe your ideal Halloween.

My ideal Halloween? Well, honestly, I’m one of those simple people. My ideal Halloween would consist of it being on a weekend, so I wouldn’t have to go to school. There would have to be homemade Halloween goodies, like my peppermint patty spiders and mummy hot dogs. My family and I would carve jack-o-lanterns in the morning, then relax and watch good old black and white movies, such as Bela Lugosi’s Dracula. Then, we would go trick-‘r-treating, and come home and indulge on all the free chocolate.

What Halloween collectibles do you cherish, or hate, or both?

I personally cherish my old glow in the dark plastic skeleton that I hang on my door every Halloween. It’s cheap and simple, sure, but it’s a classic. I don’t particularly like those candy bowls that have the hand that grabs you when you reach into the bowl. It was creepy at first, but it’s really getting old every year. I both hate/cherish those fake spiderwebs that you can hang on bushes, trees, etc. They’re awesome looking, but just a pain in the butt to actually hang up.

When was your very first Halloween, the one where “you really knew” it was Halloween, and how was it?

The first Halloween I remember was the year I dressed up as a Hershey’s Kiss. I must have been around 2-3 years old at the time. My mom handmade the costume and I was the cutest Hershey’s Kiss ever. I don’t quite remember how it was, but I’m sure it was enjoyable, since I was smiling in all the pictures my mom took of me that night.

What’s the one Halloween question you want to be asked, and what’s your answer?

Q: What is the worst possible outfit that you can find at any Halloween store?

A: Any outfit involving Jersey Shore, or Lady Gaga

My Halloween: Nathicana

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Hadehat Five questions asked over a glowing Jack o’Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds…in between mouthfuls of candy corn…while Nathicana impatiently waits for the inevitable zombie apocalypse, she shares some Halloween spirit with us.

 

Why is Halloween important to you?

Candy. Lots of candy. OK, OK, not candy. Halloween is the only holiday I celebrate. I love that it doesn’t have all the baggage that the other holidays have; no worrying about gifts, no arguing with family members over a dried out turkey dinner, no secret Santa crap. It’s just pure fun. Honestly, it’s the only time of year where people seem to take pleasure in the holiday itself. Plus it lets me inflict my love of creepy things upon others.

Describe your ideal Halloween.

I’m pretty low key in my old age so I suppose my ideal Halloween is what we usually do every year. Two-day horror movie marathon (Hey, I grew up outside of Detroit: Halloween starts on Devil’s Night), then we have some friends over for a bonfire, and drinks. Maybe later we’ll terrorize the neighbors, howl at the moon, conduct a few virgin sacrifices. You know, nothing too exciting.

What Halloween collectibles do you cherish, or hate, or both?

They’re not collectibles but I just hate, hate those damn inflatable cutesy decorations people put on their lawns. They absolutely drive me crazy. Halloween is supposed to be spooky. Ugh, I’ll stop now before I go on a tangent about how I think Halloween has been sissified over the years.

Obviously, I love anything really creepy but my favorite item isn’t really a Halloween collectible. It’s a little statue of St. Francis of Assisi that I got from a church sale. It looks like it was created by Francis Bacon. It’s disturbing and hideous and it’s awesome. I don’t really have anything that would be considered a collectible when I think about it, mostly just decorations.

When was your very first Halloween, the one where you really knew it was Halloween, and how was it?

The very first Halloween that I remember distinctly was when I was seven. I was stuck at my Grandparents house sick with something or other so I didn’t get to go trick or treating. I did, however, get to stay up late that night and watch the local channel’s thriller double-feature: Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things and Night of the Living Dead. It was terrifying and gave me nightmares and I loved every second of it. That was the point where I began to love everything to do with horror, anything dark, macabre, or creepy. I might not have gotten any candy that Halloween but it was the best Halloween ever.

What’s the one Halloween question you want to be asked and what’s your answer?

Q: What’s your favorite movie to watch on Halloween?

A: Prince of Darkness. It’s an excellent film that I think is totally underrated which is a shame since it really has some great moments. Come on! “I have a message for you and you’re not going to like it. Pray for death”. That’s a freaking great line. I use it quite often, in fact.

My Halloween: Sideshow Cinema

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Fijimermaid Five questions asked over a glowing Jack o’Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds…in between mouthfuls of candy corn…Fiji Mermaid of Sideshow Cinema steps out of the Black Lagoon to celebrate Halloween with us…

Why is Halloween important to you?

Halloween is important to me because as far back as I can remember I’ve always liked monsters, whether it be toys, songs, movies and such. That interest is still there to this day and thankfully there is a Holiday and a month that really puts that monstrous vibe out there for everyone to enjoy. As soon as I see the first Halloween store open, or decorations start to appear, it gives me that feeling of scary fun that only Halloween can bring.

Describe your ideal Halloween.

My ideal Halloween would be to set up some spooky decorations around the house and have some of the haunted house sound effects I’ve collected over the years playing on loop through some speakers positioned in the windows to set the mood. Dressing in costume to hand out treats seems like the only way to do the job right, so I’d pick out one of my costumes from the “Halloween” bin. I think surprising or giving a bit of a scare to the kids coming to get candy will help to pass on that fun of Halloween. If years down the road they can sit back and think about their own Halloween memories of the scary guy who was handing out candy then I’ve done my job of keeping Halloween alive.

What Halloween collectibles do you cherish, or hate, or both?

I don’t have any Halloween specific collectibles, oddly. I love the season so much, but there hasn’t been a collectible outside of various scary film characters that were put into toy figure form that I can deem as collectible and fit into the spirit of Halloween.

When was your very first Halloween, the one where you really knew it was Halloween, and how was it?

My first memory of Halloween was pre-school Halloween party/parade and dressing up as Dracula. My mom had some small little handmade witch cape with yellow moons and stars on it that I wore over some “Sunday best” type of clothing. My mom did my make up for me. I had the slicked back hair, white face and blood dripping down the sides of my mouth. I’ve looked at pictures of this day and the other kids are clowns, cowboys, Luke Skywalker and such. I look like the only scary kid in the bunch.

What’s the one Halloween question you want to be asked and what’s your answer?

Ipodsongs Q: Do you have a Halloween playlist on your iPod and if you do what are you listening to?

A: Yes, of course. There are certain genres and artists I stick to with my general music listening, but when it comes to Halloween I’m all over the board. If the content of the song has any even flimsy Halloween reference, or scary topic, it shows up in the “Halloween playlist”. If it’s about Halloween or appeared in a horror movie, that grants it access to the list.

I’ll not bore you guys with my complete 2+hrs long list of songs, but here are some highlights. I recommend tracking these down if you don’t have them and adding to your own Halloween mix. They are sure to liven up any party this time of year.

  • Tim Curry – “Anything Can Happen on Halloween”
  • 3-Speed – “Once Bitten”
  • John Carpenter – “Halloween Theme”
  • Elvira – “Monsta’ Rap”
  • DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince – “Nightmare on My Street”
  • Misfits – “Dig Up Her Bones”
  • The Cramps – “Surfin’ Dead”
  • Wild Beasts – “Hooting & Howling”
  • Motorhead – “Hellraiser”
  • Dru Down – “Bloodsucker”
  • Henry Hall – “Here Comes the Boogeyman”
  • Classics IV – “Spooky”

 

My Halloween: Creeping Bride

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Halloween 1971 Five questions asked over a glowing Jack o’Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds…in between mouthfuls of candy corn…the Creeping Bride has just begun a SHOCK! and Son of SHOCK! viewing project this October, covering the 72 Universal and Columbia movies released to television in 1957 and 1958…

 

Why is Halloween important to you?

I love how subversive Halloween is. Halloween is a rupture in the day-to-day miseries of quotidian existence—it’s like Mardi Gras but with less drunken idiots in the street and fewer puddles of vomit everywhere.

First of all, people dress up in crazy outfits and stroll the streets and it’s never an issue (have you ever wondered what would happen to you if you tried to wear a werewolf mask in public on the Fourth of July or Memorial Day?). Secondly, you give away fun stuff to total strangers (cheap candy, mostly, but I also sometimes give out DVD-Rs that I’ve made of public domain horror and sci fi flicks). So you’ve got this complete undermining of normal, respectable decorum and the dull mechanics of capitalist exchange.

Halloween also undermines the edifices of Christianity that tower over daily life in the U.S. It is, after all, a vestigial reminder of the distant pre-Christian and pre-industrial agricultural past: a polytheistic pagan harvest ceremony and festival of the dead. In Europe, the Church tried in vain to eliminate festivals like Samhain among the Celtic people by creating All Saints and All Souls holidays, but the stubborn persistence of Halloween suggests that this effort to Christianize the pagans has failed. In fact, I would argue that the evangelical “hell houses”—those haunted attractions put on by fundamentalist Christian groups in late October that substitute drug addicts, porn-addicted chronic masturbators, Muslim terrorists, ob-gyn doctors who perform abortions, and gay men for ghosts, vampires, and other monsters—illustrate how harvest-time pagan festivals of the dead have had a profound influence on Christianity. If you can’t beat the pagan ideas that underlie Halloween, then join ‘em, I guess.

Finally, I like that Halloween is so geared towards children. Kids have a very loose grasp on what is real—they are not bound by the confines of language, instrumental rationality, or career-mindedness, so theirs is much more like a world of imagination and instinct and emotion. Celebrating Halloween is giving them a time when they have the run of the roost of the Real World, and this makes the day all the more subversive. I know a lot of people like New Year’s Eve and Fat Tuesday as holidays, where the world is turned upside down, but for me, there’s only ever Halloween. (At least until we figure out a way to get folks to celebrate Walpurgis Night, too…)

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My Halloween: Polka Haunt Us

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HellgaGoofy Five questions asked over a glowing Jack o’Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds…in between mouthfuls of candy corn…Veronique Chevalier of Polka Haunt Us, haunts us with her Halloween…

 

Why is Halloween important to you?

Besides the opportunity to masquerade as a different character than the person I am in daily life, I love Halloween because it’s a socially-acceptable way to celebrate our “Shadow Selves”- those dark portions of the collective consciousness that we try to keep at bay most of the time.

Because our society is so “Darkness Phobic” for want of a better term, Halloween is a welcome safety valve for many people to poke fun at, and with, the things that most folks would rather not have to address directly. And of course, it gives humans a ritual focal point for harvest season. Even though we are no longer an agrarian-based culture, we still seem to have a collective need to celebrate the change of seasons.

Describe your ideal Halloween.

I love performing at Halloween time as my “Hellga The Devil’s Beer Maid” character, because it’s one of the rare occasions when I get a chance to interact with people of all ages, be it private parties, Harvest Festivals, Halloween Carnivals, etc. Last year I performed at an all-ages punk show, and the kids accepted me as one of their own!

As someone who didn’t replicate, I am saddened that our society is so compartmentalized- families with kids interact only with other families and their offspring; and the singles mingle with others in similar situations, and the old folks are all warehoused together, off to the side. Dressing up in costume removes some of the barriers that separate us during the rest of the year.

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My Halloween: Too Much Horror Fiction

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Sleestak


Five questions asked over a glowing Jack o’Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds…in between mouthfuls of candy corn…

Will Errickson of Too Much Horror Fiction will never say there’s too much of Halloween.

 

Why is Halloween important to you?

I’ve loved monsters and the macabre and summer turning into autumn since I was a kid. And candy! Most people will say their favorite season is fall. I have lots of good memories associated with those things. It’s a time when I can really indulge my love of horror, although truthfully I do that all year long. Still, it’s fun to take an entire month and watch and read nothing but. And over the years Halloween has really become a huge money-making industry with decorations and costumes being more and more prominent, which I dig. I think it’s the mainstreaming of the early 1980s Goth-punk subculture, melding that with the kid-friendly environment of Halloween. Thank Tim Burton, I guess.

Describe your ideal Halloween.

Throwing a big Halloween party! My girlfriend and I did this a couple years ago, but we had it a week before, so it didn’t conflict with other parties—that’s always a problem. We also didn’t insist that people dress up because honestly, some people don’t like to do that. We made tons of food, got lots of booze, and decorated her apartment like crazy. It took us nearly a week to get it all ready! We had three or four TVs going with horror movies on—Hammer Draculas, Universals, Fulci, Price/Poe—and mix CDs filled with horror movie soundtracks and artists like the Misfits, the Cramps, Roky Erickson, Alice Cooper, Blue Oyster Cult, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Black Sabbath, etc. It was a huge success but we haven’t been able to recreate it since.

Candy-scaryskeletonsWhat Halloween collectibles do you cherish, or hate, or both?

I love monsters toys and whatnot and decorating with Halloween tchochkes all year ’round. I’m amazed at what a place like Target has for Halloween, so much fun monstrous stuff you can use anytime. Recently on eBay I found some kids’ monster books that I had when I was young; those bring back fun memories for me. And I love those skeleton candies that come in a little plastic coffin.

  When was your very first Halloween, the one where you really knew it was Halloween, and how was it?

My elementary school would have a Halloween fair in the gymnasium, complete with a haunted house and bobbing for apples and all that stuff. I can remember the cool fall night, walking over to the school in a costume—I believe a Ben Cooper Sleestak—and then winning some kind of Halloween toy. Probably came home and watched the Charlie Brown Halloween special afterwards! I was around 6 or 7 and knew about Halloween of course, but I think that was what made me a lifelong fan.

Monster1 What’s the one Halloween question you want to be asked and what’s your answer?

Q: Do you know what Mischief Night is?

A: Yes, yes I do. Google it if you don’t know!

My Halloween: Scared Silly

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Horror_comedy

Five questions asked over a glowing Jack o’Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds…in between mouthfuls of candy corn…with Paul Castiglia of Scared Silly: Classic Hollywood Horror-Comedies …

 

Why is Halloween important to you?

“Important” is too strong a word for me to use in this case. My relationship with Halloween is one of “pure fun.” Specifically for me it’s become a time to revisit some old-school horror flicks (the more black & white the better). I’m not a big costume guy – used to do that more when I was younger. And I’m on a diet so I’m trying to limit my candy consumption!

But there is one thing that has become a Halloween tradition for me: I hold an annual Halloween movie night at my office. I try to keep things on the light side with classic horror films and horror-comedies, or films that fall into the PG realm without graphic content (whether it’s classic TV movies like “The Night Stalker” or recent animated hits like “Monsters vs. Aliens”).

Describe your ideal Halloween.

I think I just did – as long as I can watch some fun spooky movies I’m set!

What Halloween collectibles do you cherish, or hate, or both?

I love movie posters and lobby cards, old movie magazines, trading cards, comic books, books about old movies and the films themselves (when I was a kid in the 1970s that meant Super 8 digest versions of the classics; as an adult it’s the entire films on DVD). Not that I actively collect any of the above with the exception of the movies and books about them. But from time-to-time if I run across an interesting item I pick it up.

When was your very first Halloween, the one whereyou really knew it was Halloween, and how was it?

I can’t recall the year but it had to the early 1970s. I had a Batman costume, but it wasn’t one of the cheesy vinyl costumes with the plastic masks – this was a cloth costume with a cloth cape and I believe it may have had a cloth pull-over cowl as well. I’m guessing this was from Sears or some other department store. Within a year or two of that Halloween, my sister and I made a Spider-Man Costume – she sewed it and I used permanent marker to draw all the webbing onto it! It was cool because it had a pull-over mask that fully covered my head and I insisted that we use gauze for the eyes so they could be white (enabling me to still see-through the mask).

What’s the one Halloween question you want to be asked and what’s your answer?

Q: If you could go back in time and watch any movie you wanted in a theater for Halloween, what would it be?

A: My answer would have to be the classic William Castle-directed Vincent Price starrer “The Tingler” – complete with the rigged seats!

My Halloween: Blog of a Dead Dreamer

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Five questions asked over a glowing Jack o’Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds…in between mouthfuls of candy corn…with Musing the Trauma of Blog of a Dead Dreamer shares a blast of October dreams…

 

Why is Halloween important to you?

Halloween is the greatest time of the year, by far. You can have your Christmas and all the others. Sure, they are nice, but for me, Halloween is my Christmas. It has been for a very long time. Each year friends can look forward to my patented ‘trick or treat’ bags full of all kinds of goodies and/or gifts. They may or may not get anything for Christmas, but at Halloween, it’s a guarantee that I will do my best to get everyone into the spirit.

Halloween is a great time where everyone just let’s go and becomes more relaxed. It doesn’t contain the formalities and etiquette of other holidays so there is a more relaxed air and no one has to put on any pretenses or be on their best behavior. It’s a time for people to gather and just have some fun and it doesn’t even have to cost you a dime. It’s a time of year that everyone, at least for one night, is especially friendly and fun, and what can be better than that?

Describe your ideal Halloween.

My ideal Halloween would certainly be spending that particular night in a documented haunted site. Something along the lines of heading to a spot with Zack and Aaron and the crew of ‘Ghost Adventures’. Maybe somewhere like Savannah Georgia or a scary little spot in England. Something definitely reported to be haunted, though, and with a team that has the equipment to do readings and video etc. That would be awesome. It used to be seeing Gwar live on Halloween but that got to happen. Gwar, Halloween, and being covered in fake blood from the band is a pretty good way to go on that night,too.

 

What Halloween collectibles do you cherish, or hate, or both?

As far as Halloween collectibles, I am in love with Spooky Town. I absolutely love everything about them. The artwork, the detail, the painting, the themes, the figures and sheer mass of variety. I could not believe that someone had finally taken the old, ceramic, classic Christmas Village theme decorations and turned it up a notch for Halloween. They are awesome and every year I look forward to adding to Spooky Town and putting it out. This is also the time of year I put out my collection of Todd Mcfarlane’s Twisted X-mas.Those never cease to get a comment by anyone who has never seen them before.

When was your very first Halloween, the one where you really knew it was Halloween, and how was it?

I don’t recall how old I was, maybe 6 or 7. this was the first time that I knew something special was going on for this holiday, so it must have been about 1977/78 or so. My brother and his wife went through a great deal of trouble to get together one very scary costume for me. It was a hand sewn Creature From the Black Lagoon costume and it was pretty cool. It probably could have been sold in any store for quite a bit, his wife was quite the seamstress. they knew loved monster because while most kids lugged around a teddy bear, I never went anywhere without my Godzilla.

What made it stand out, though, was that people were out in full force. It seemed to me at such a young age, that it was thousands of people and kids in costumes in my neighborhood. It was a neighborhood of row houses so it was an excellent spot for trick or treating. This was my first scare by someone in a costume, a very elaborate Dracula costume. I was frozen in my tracks with fear but couldn’t take my eyes off of him. This is when I knew what Halloween was about.

What’s the one Halloween question you want to be asked and what’s your answer?

A Halloween question I would like to be asked, hmmm?

I’m not sure about that one, but one thing I would love to know from others around the country is if Halloween is still going strong in their part of the world?

It seemed to me not as many kids were out and about, so I was stunned to learn that Halloween is actually the 2nd biggest holiday of the year. Maybe people just do more for the holiday in a controlled environment these days, such as parties, etc., and not so much with the trick or treating outdoors.

I guess my question would be, would you be upset if Halloween went the way of the dinosaur? My answer would be absolutely, yes. I would probably stop celebrating any holiday at all if that happened.

 

Here’s a little something I made just for fun about a year ago, and thanks again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IaGbTSoRzM

My Halloween: Halloween Addict

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Cropped - ben_cooper_darth_vader Five questions asked over a glowing Jack o’Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds…in between mouthfuls of candy corn…with Allhollow Steve of Halloween Addict who keeps his October Dreams in mind all through the year…

 

Why is Halloween important to you?

I think it’s one of the few holidays that is really about fun. It hasn’t been clouded by set-in-stone tradition, family politics, overcrowded holiday travel, gift buying stress, etc.  It’s about the thrill of being out at night, getting free candy and treasures, dressing up in costumes, watching scary movies.

You can celebrate Halloween however you want: with loved ones indoors, traipsing through a corn maze at night, by the warm glowing warming glow of a television horror marathon, handing candy out to kids and families at your door, building a yard display for the community to walk by and see.  So many different things, and it’s all about fun.

Describe your ideal Halloween.

My ideal Halloween would be waking up with a balanced Halloween breakfast of pumpkin pancakes and a bowl of a General Mills Monster Cereal. Then I’d be out the door embracing the crisp Fall day and off to the local pumpkin patch for pumpkin scrutinizing and picking. From there I’d head back home to read a little from my favorite Halloween tome “October Dreams” while sipping a pumpkin spice latte. With AMC’s FearFest on, I’d spruce up my house with any last minute decorations and carve my jack o’ lantern before the trick or treaters start showing up (I’ll be the cool house giving out mini Jones Halloween sodas and full sized candy).  When the doorbell stops ringing I’ll switch over to my annual tradition of watching Trick ‘r Treat with the lights off. I’d close the evening with John Carpenter’s Halloween.  Once the clock ‘ticks to 12:01am on November 1st the magic of the night dissipates…

What Halloween collectibles do you cherish, or hate, or both?

As a kid, I had a 55″ classic Beistle jointed green-tinged skeleton that hung on my bedroom door every October.  I loved that thing.  When the skeleton got hung up I knew that candy wasn’t far behind. As for collectibles/decorations I don’t like, I’m not a huge fan of vintage Halloween collectibles. I think it comes down to the fact that I don’t like googly-eyed jack o’ lanterns. I like a traditional jack o’ lantern with empty triangle eyes. There’s something both friendly and sinister about that traditional look.

Cropped - Collegeville_Tiger_19734 When was your very first Halloween, the one where you really knew it was Halloween, and how was it?

I can’t quite remember my very first.  I know that one of my very first costumes was a Collegeville “Tiger” but the one I really look fondly on was when I was in Elementary School and asked for and received a Ben Cooper “Darth Vader” costume.  My mom had this black velvet cape from a Halloween party she and my dad had gone to a few years before and I swapped the crappy, short vinyl cape that came with the boxed costume with the huge, black velvet one.

I wore it to school for the October “costume day” (when the teachers parade the classes around to each other’s classrooms). In my mind I WAS Darth Vader. There was no more authentic looking Vader in that parade.  Didn’t matter that I was still wearing the bright yellow vinyl suit part that said “DARTH VADER” across the chest, or that the cape was red on the inside (clearly more Dracula than Vader), OR that I was only 3 1/2 feet tall and not a 6′ 5″ David Prowse, OR that the mask had a rubber band holding it to my head.  Didn’t matter.  I was rockin’ that Vader costume.  Even had the “Imperial March” tune stuck in my head as I tromped around.  I couldn’t have been happier.

What’s the one Halloween question you want to be asked and what’s your answer?

Clever answer:

Question: Do you want to see something really scary?

Answer:  [attacking] Raawwwwwwwwr!

Straight answer:

Question: Would you like to make enough money doing HalloweenAddict.com to quit your day job and live comfortably?

Answer: Yes. Yes I would.