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Favourite Halloween memory

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 6:11 am
by Boo
There was one October 31st back in 1994 when I was at university in Cambridge (UK). It was one of those cold autumn days with a slightly brooding sky.

I attended lectures in the morning (Cambridge is great for spooky atmosphere, with all those old buildings), and afterwards I stopped into the local supermarket to buy a pumpkin and some bits for the Halloween party the next day. I walked home through one of the parks, enjoying the broody weather and the long lines of fallen leaves.
When I arrived back at my apartment I set to work on carving the pumpkin and put a copy of Bram Stokers Dracula on the video player.

I caught up with some friends to discuss costumes for the student party the following night and then tucked into 'The whisperers in the Darkness' by HP Lovecraft, as I was reading the sun set and there was a perfect Halloween glow to the air.

I lit the lantern, and some candles and sat down to watch the Witches of Eastwick on the TV (taking the phone off the hook...this film is my annual Halloween watch). As the film drew to a close I thought I'd walk out into the garden and get some air. A bonfire was burning two gardens down, creating a wonderful smokey feel, the air was cold and there was a magic feel enhanced by the swift movement of the clouds across a perfect sky (only my imagination I know but I could feel it).
As the Witches of Eastwick music played in the background a number of bats detached themselves from the cherry tree in the garden and fluttered around. I just stood there captivated by a magical ambiance that I've never experienced again but will always remember.


How about you?

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 6:16 am
by LittleDollClaudia
I had tingles in my arms after reading that. Definitely some magic floating around that night. Thank you for that lovely memory.

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 9:09 am
by midnight kitty
great memory

1 of my favorite memories is my 1st halloween w/ the husband
we both worked at a camping resort w/ a big wooded area. for halloween weekend we did a haunted trail for all the guest. we took an old trailor cabin for part of the trail and decorated it white black light paint, fake blood, body parts, pretty much anything you could think of to scare everyone.
then we all dressed up to scare. i put the husband in a michael myers costume (he freaked me out) i did the most awesome freddy krueger make up on my friend. nobody knew she was a girl, and i just did make up the made my face look torn off. it was so cool. we scaree the hell out of a lot of people that weekend.
i wanna do it again now

Thanks!

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 9:56 am
by Sheila
I believe you just put me in the Halloween spirit! Thank you! I posted a messsage on here about how I was having trouble finding it, but your words just took me to a perfect Halloween.

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 1:01 pm
by uncletor
I was eight, maybe nine.
We would get this musty box from the attic down, it had a newpaper with an ad featuring a lion wearing a big ten gallon hat on it..that was where we kept the halloween costumes.
All the farm houses would be decorted with some sort of theme or attraction to them...We;d get home and head across the road to Gramma's for cold cider..the dog would go nuts over the costumes..you have those Halloween kisses, individually wrapped candy that were light brown on the inside, and the black and orange wrapper so cool you would flatten then to see the pictures of the witch and pumpkin on them...and t.v. that night had Val Lewtons' THE BODY SNATCHERS on, with Karloff and Bela..and I was GLUED to the screen when they pull Bela's head out of the water..and totally flipped OUT at the end when Boris' body is jostling the guy driving the buggy, and the rain is teaming down and the lightening keeps flashing and I have never seen a zombie scene done that way before or since. Grabbed me by the throat...and the hero staggers away at the end, for that Production Code enforced happy ending. but that didn't matter..you had seen that dead, naked body wrestling with the guy as he screamed and fell to pieces.

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 1:53 pm
by tomanderson
Well, I have very fond recollections of going trick-or-treating when i was a wee tyke in the 70's, and I think I posted some stories about this in a similar thread. But I remember there was one house in my neighborhood, one house in particular. This is a simple story, it's not a big deal at all, but this house made a real impression on me back then.

Anyway, this house up the street had a--well--a sort of "enclosed" front porch with a kind of wooden lattice structure built above and in front of it. Kind of like a box you could see into, basically. And the wood was painted a dark brown. There was an opening or door, of course, through which you could enter this area.

So, to step up to the front porch of this house you had to go inside this structure, where there was a path with those concrete stepping stone things. Really pretty. But remember this is at night, and these people had turned off any lighting on their porch--except for three or four jack-o-lanterns. So this porch area was DARK, really dark, enclosed as it was. And it made the jack-o-lanterns look much spookier! And the enclosed porch area felt very weird and claustrophobic.

So the door would open and the folks inside the house would lean out and give you some candy. No need to scare you, because the porch area was the scare!

I remember going to this house a couple of years, and it was a special house among houses because of the design of the enclosed porch area. Wooooeeee! It was spooky in there.

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 4:31 pm
by Celtic Ghoul
The Halloween of 2001... it was a cold Halloween with a light rain which was unusual in Texas. My wife and I had gone to a Halloween party and once we got home we had to walk the dog. I wore my custume to walk the dog even though it was almost midnight. As we were walking the clouds broke and even though it was drizzling I saw something I have never seen before... a Moon Halo!

It was incredibly beautiful - a full white moon surrounded by a glowing white halo.

I have never forgotten it and now collect photos of moon halos as screen savers.

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 11:05 am
by spookyboo
I have so many favorite Halloween memories that I would be hard pressed to come up with just one, but I just thought of one memory that makes me smile. several years ago it was right at the beggining of the season...a little early for decorating but then I dont think there is such a thing as early. I was working nights then so during the day I had made a really cool
dummy out of my husbands pants, flannel, some old work boots and then as an after thought used my hubbys Michael Myers mask. It looked great but I was running late so I just left it sitting in the chair watching TV. I thought my Husband would get a kick out of it when he came home from work. Well what I didnt know is that the only light I left on in the house had burnt out so when he came home it pitch dark and he could just barely see the outline of man shaped thing in his chair...lol...sorry had a laughing fit. He thought it was someone who broke into the house and ran out side and got a shovel from the shed and then slowly
came in the back door and snuck up on the thief in his chair. ...hehehe... Well he told my dummy not to move and that he called the police....Thank god he hadnt.....but...and proceeded to ask him who he was and what he wanted of course the dummy said nothing
After a bit he said he poked it with the shovel and it fell over and the head fell off. Needless to say it scared the Hell out of him.......and I was told Never Ever EVer to construct a dummy without telling hiim LOL

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 11:39 pm
by MHooch
Boo, what a lovely story!!! I got tingles reading it, well done.

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 11:49 pm
by tantraman
Mine was when I was in third grade I filled two garbage bags full of candy then went the graveyard.

Favourite Halloween memory

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 10:17 am
by Halloweenboy
Mine was when I was born at 7:09 on Halloween night. My Dad was there and my brother too. My dad took me out and walked around in Augusta to see my first Halloween. I saw all kinds of people dressed up and walking from door to door. I really don't know how I remembered that day Knowing I was just born and don't have a great memory. But I hope I don't forget it either.

Favourite Halloween memory

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 10:21 am
by Halloweenboy
It was 1993 that day too. I'm about to be 13 and I know I have to be 13 to be a user but I'd ratger have an account before Halloween instead of on it.

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 12:59 pm
by Boo
Clearly you were a medical miracle!

Most babies eyes don't open for the first few days, and I've certainly never heard of a baby remembering it's birth. But Halloween is a time for magic so there you go :-)

A Tale Of Two "Dummies"

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 6:36 pm
by thislazylife
All my fondest childhood memories stem from Halloween, so I, too, will have a difficult time deciding on a favorite. But since I'm killing time at work, perhaps I will relay a short one for any curious readers.
It was probably '75 or '76, and I was decked out in my annual Grim Reaper garb. Before going trick-or-treating, we went to an annual afternoon Halloween carnival at a local park which had games, candy, and a Haunted House held in the gymnasium. The sun was starting to set, so we knew it was time to go out and bang on some doors.
While making our way down a main thoroughfare, we spotted what appeared to be a life-sized wax figure sitting behind the wheel of a parked car. It held in its lap a space helmet and was wearing some sort of homemade space suit, complete with flashing LED lights. My friend and I peered at it through the passenger window, commenting on how life-like it looked. It was obviously wax, we thought, because the face had this waxey, glazed look about it; the eyes were open but appeared to not be focusing on anything. We both agreed it was quite creepy looking My friend decided to gently tap on the window, just for the hell of it. As he did, this being we felt certain was fake quickly snapped its head around and stared directly at us, its countenance unchanged. It was straight out of a horror flick! Needless to say, we high-tailed it all the way down the street, screaming.
An hour or so later, in the thick of trick-or-treating, we came to a house with a dimly lit porch. A few Jack O'Lanterns grinned at us menacingly from its front steps. As we made our way up the long walkway that lead to the porch, we noticed a stuffed dummy sitting on a chair next to the front door. Having been once bitten, we were definitely twice shy about taking for granted that this dummy was fake. Getting a closer look, we saw that it had straw poking out from it's neck, legs, and wrists, so we both concluded that this dummy was, indeed, a fake. Still, we cautiously made our way to the front porch, eyeing the dummy suspiciously. My friend rang the bell while I kept an eye on the dummy. A very nice lady answered and tossed a few sweets into our open pillowcases (there were so many houses in the neighborhood in which I grew up, that we needed the strength of a pillow case to haul all our Halloween booty). We heaved a sigh of relief, thanked her and turned to make our way off the porch. Fooled again! The stuffed dummy flew off its chair screaming like a banshee and chased us off the property. I think I mighta peed myself, but THAT memory is comfortably repressed.
Man, I miss Halloween as a kid. I'm glad there's folks like us keeping it alive!

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 11:15 pm
by MHooch
LOL thislazylife!!! Thanks for the chuckle!! :lol: