Let's Do A Halloween Meme!

by Susan McBride 


Yes, I'm behind on my book deadline as so much stuff keeps popping up and stealing time (I know, I know, I need to play ostrich but it's so darned tricky!).  Try as I might, I can't come up with anything to blog about besides "1001 Ways to Procrastinate" or "Things That Distract Me," which both hit way too close to home.  Then I thought, "A-ha! Halloween is in 10 days!  How about I devise a meme that everyone can answer?"  So that's exactly what I did!

I've inserted my answers below, but I'm dying to hear yours!  Please, share, even if you only want to respond to a few.  All rightee, ghouls and goblins, let the games begin!

(1)  What's your favorite Halloween costume ever?

Alice in Wonderland.  Although it wasn't until my writing career that I actually fell down the rabbit hole.

(2)  What's your favorite Halloween candy (or other treat)?

Snickers.  That's all I ever wanted in my bag.

(3)  Name the scariest book you've ever read?

Salem's Lot.  It made me jumpy and afraid to go anywhere alone in the dark for weeks after I finished it.

(4)  Who's the best movie vampire ever:
(a)  Bela Lugosi
(b)  George Hamilton
(c)  Tom Cruise
(d)  Robert Pattinson

Boris Karloff.  I love him.


(5)  Who'd win in a fist fight?  Sookie or Bella?

Bella is a wimp!  It's Sookie all the way, baby!

(6)  Are you superstitious?  How?

Yes.  I knock on wood all the time and have to wear a specific pair of earrings whenever I get on a plane.  I don't avoid cracks but I do hold my breath driving past graveyards (unless they're really long).

(7)  Frankenberry, Count Chocula, or Boo Berry?

Count Chocula.  No contest.

(8)  Will you dress up this year?  If so, as what?

I'm most definitely dressing up in my fleece jammie pants, socks, ratty T-shirt, and bedhead.  Oh, yeah, it's my "writer" costume!


Boo!  Now it's YOUR turn!

Trick or Treat

Chanukah brought presents – eight nights of presents (although I always argued that socks did not a present make). But Halloween brought candy, oodles and oodles of candy. It was the one night of the year that all nutritional discussion was suspended. There was no need to make the inevitable dinner bargain of “eat your vegetables” and you can have dessert (inevitably jello with fruit cocktail). A chocoholic from birth (I literally took my first steps when a cousin offered me some chocolate cake) – Halloween was, without question, my favorite holiday.

When I had my own kids, Halloween meant months-long discussions of costumes. Still wearing bathing suits, my kids always had grand plans for creative get-ups that required the costume department of Paramount Pictures to execute. I remember one year, son number one wanted to be a knight. He had visions of a full-suit of body armor, but settled for being wrapped head-to-toe in aluminum foil. I loved the year when one of the kids decided to be an undercover FBI agent – which meant wearing his father’s trench coat, an old felt fedora, and hand-printing an ID badge that he flashed at the neighbor before announcing “trick or treat.”

I adored it when my kids brought their friends back here for the “sorting the candy” ritual. I hovered at the edges of the great swap meet, happily taking the rejects, occasionally making a plea for an Almond Joy or two.

Now my job is just to hand out candy to the neighborhood kids who visit. Like the postman, neither rain, nor sleet will stay the rounds of children on Halloween. I’m already fretting if I have enough goodies – and pennies for Unicef.

And of course, this Halloween will be extra special with the kickoff of the Stiletto Gang’s First Annual Hallopalooza. The first clue will be found right here, and you'll have a fun trip through a maze of mystery blogs, each one providing a clue to an amazing mini-murder mystery. You’ll have the opportunity to win lots of prizes – so don’t miss Hallopalooza, Friday October 30 through Sunday, November 1.

Boo!

Evelyn David

Murder Takes the Cake by Evelyn David
Murder Off the Books by Evelyn David
http://www.evelyndavid.com

Boo!

Retailers are worried. Me too. Already economists are predicting a coal-in-the-stocking kind of holiday shopping season. There won’t be much Ho, Ho, Ho this Christmas.

We know that the economy is in the tank and that it’s not just Wall Street Fat Cats who are suffering. The only thing grinning this Halloween may be the Jack-o-Lanterns. Our kids may see much lighter trick-or-treat bags. Gone are the days when neighbors distributed full-sized candy bars to the doorbell ringers. Look for mini-candy bars, one to a customer, but please, this is no time for raisin boxes. Chocolate-induced endorphins are definitely in order.

Until this economic downturn, Halloween has been a retailers dream. In 2007, Halloween-related merchandise sales were up 10 percent from the previous year, which had seen a record 22 percent growth from 2005. But now, we’re all tightening our belts and reconsidering our costume options. How about one of the fashion catastrophes from my closet, with a cardboard sign that says "Glamour Don't"? Jackets with shoulders that could have rivaled any professional linebacker – whatever was I thinking?

One retail executive suggested that “consumers who have been anxious and uncertain for the past several months may be looking at Halloween as an opportunity to forget the stresses of daily life and just have a little fun.” I sure hope so, but frankly it sounds like wishful thinking to me.

I’m not suggesting that we dress our kids in costumes of sackcloth and ashes. Surely, we need some fun, especially under current conditions. But this is an opportunity to scale down a holiday that seems to be getting out of control. So let’s focus more on the highjinks, and less on the over-the-top decorations. Let’s encourage our kids imaginations and help them make costumes, instead of buying them.

The economy has played enough tricks on us; but we can put the treat back into October 31.

What are you planning for Halloween -- and what kind of candy do you hand out?

Evelyn David