“Well, I ain’t evil, I’m just good looking.” Feed my Frankenstein by Alice Cooper, 1991
The time is near for Halloween. You wouldn’t think so, as it was 93 degrees this past Friday at my daughter’s Trunk or Treat event held at her school. But, that’s living in the South for you.
It was the first time I had participated in a Trunk or Treat from the trunk decorator’s side. We did a “Wicked” theme, which my daughter loves, and it turned out well. She got to be Glinda and I was a witch. Ironically, my witch costume has been my go-to through the years. Easy to do, and better yet, I can have a lot of fun with it.
When I was little, we lived WAY out in the country. It was not a walk from house to house situation. This was before Trunk or Treats were even a glimmer in Pinterest’s eye. I remember my mom driving me to a couple of our country neighbors’ houses. One elderly lady always made the little ghost suckers decorated with kleenex, yarn, and a Sharpie. Another always had a few coins to toss into my bucket. Finally, we would head by my grandparents’ house, who were only a minute down the road from us. My grandma always had a ziploc bag full of candy for me. She got me the kind I liked….and who wouldn’t love a custom-made bag of their favorite candy?
We did not do a lot at school for Halloween. We sang some classics in music class (Spooky Scary Skeletons and It’s Halloween) and had a small party with orange frosted cupcakes and pretzels. I can remember wearing a fun costume; I was Alice from Alice in Wonderland. The plastic mask had a cutout for my mouth, two holes for my nostrils, and two round circles for my eyes. I remember sticking my tongue through the opening of the mouth about a thousand times! That was such a fun costume.
I remember going to one particular house on Main Street in Newberry that was a Haunted House. The gentleman who owned it went all-out. He had a room with a mad scientist performing an operation (complete with authentic pig guts,) and other crazy situations going on in every room. Many people ran out of the house, they were so scared. The biggest impression it made on me was that this guy must really, really love Halloween.
As I got older, my friends and I would venture to Haunted Houses or Haunted Trails, like the one in Lynches’ Woods. Typical teenage stuff. Later, I would help my mom and dad run the Go Fishing booth at the Newberry Hospital’s Walking Track Safe Kids Halloween event. It was so much fun to see all of the kids in their costumes!
As stranger danger has become more pronounced over the years, many people have gone to exclusively attending Trunk or Treat events. I have taken my own daughter to these and we have had fun seeing all of the creative themes people come up with. It has changed how many people go trick or treating; but one thing remains the same at the end of the day….a full bag of candy equals one happy kid!
Happy Halloween, ya’ll!
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