 | 2 Nov 09 |
There’s candy all over my house. In bowls and bags, in the fridge and freezer, upstairs and downstairs. My kids carried their separate candy stashes around with them all day on Sunday, from room to room, inside and outside. I’m not sure why they do that. They really don’t eat the candy all day. Their Halloween stockpile takes weeks to get eaten and they often throw a lot of it out after a while because they get sick of it.
I suspect it’s a way to hang on to the excitement of the night. The fun for them is in the actual trick or treating, more so than the sugar high. Some neighborhoods go all out for the holidays, with neighbors competing against each other to see who can put up the most lights and decorations. In our neighborhood, Halloween is the big event of the year. The preparations begin weeks in advance. Giant spiders menace rooftops. Dead bodies hang from street lights. Graveyards take over manicured lawns.
There are fog machines, creepy movie music blaring from sound systems, and animatronic creatures. People pop out of full-sized caskets and copious amounts of candy is given out. One set of neighbors combine their two lawns to create an impressive “haunted house” featuring multiple rooms of horror, chainsaw-wielding maniacs, and other terrifying surprises. People drive over from all around the city to enjoy the thrill. There’s always a long line and plenty of screams.
Now, I’m a big scaredy cat. I never go inside the haunted house, despite the flow of people exiting with broad smiles and exclamations of “That was awesome!” But every year, I admire the dedication the families put into planning their attraction. It’s a labor of love, something they offer for free to anyone who wants to enjoy the show. Every year it gets bigger and more elaborate and most likely more expensive for them. It’s the heart behind the endeavor that I think is awesome. The celebrating of a personal joy and the gift that it is to the neighborhood and city.
I remind my kids of that every Halloween. That they should always nurture their inner child and give themselves license to indulge the odd whims that bring them happiness. Why not? You’re never too old to be a kid at heart.
I hope your Halloween was a great one and that you remembered to set your clocks back an hour. What will you do with the hour you gained? 
© 2009 Sylvia Day. All rights reserved.
Sylvia Day is the national bestselling, award-winning author of seventeen novels. A wife and mother of two, she is a former Russian linguist for the U.S. Army Military Intelligence. In addition to her novels, she’s written numerous novellas and short stories for both print and electronic-original release. Sylvia’s work has been called “wonderful and passionate” by WNBC.com and “wickedly entertaining” by Booklist. Her stories have been translated into Russian, Japanese, Portuguese, German, Czech, and Thai. She’s been honored with the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award, the EPPIE award, the National Readers' Choice Award, and multiple finalist nominations for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA® Award of Excellence.
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One daughter does the big Halloween thing. They have a party every year. Son loves dressing up in costume. I’m sure he had more fun taking his almost-two-year-old trick or treating than the kid did. Other daughter is a master pumpkin carver. (you can see it here)
We don’t do much anymore now that we’re empty nesters. Gave out candy. Hubby did a speed record-breaking carving job on the pumpkin he bought last week so we had that token.
All our decoration type stuff is packed away — we actually were naive enough to think we’d have moved already.
As for my extra hour? I read. But before that, I figured out a major turning point in my WIP, one that had been driving me nuts. I’ve had this hidden book as a major plot point and it took me 300 pages to find it. But now that I know where it is, I hope to plow through to ‘the end’ this week.
by Terry Odell November 2nd, 2009 at 4:59 amThose pumpkins are awesome! Congrats on figuring out the turning point and nearing the end. It’s one of the best feelings in the world, I think.
by S. J. Day November 2nd, 2009 at 9:26 pmOh, I’m so jealous that your neighborhood embraces Halloween! We went crazy this year, even turned our garage into a haunted house. Sooo much fun hearing the kids screaming and laughing! YOu’re right, it is a labor of love. No one else really decorated though, but hopefully the spirit is contagious.
by Shannon Esposito November 2nd, 2009 at 7:29 amI think it’s awesome that you did a haunted house. I’d love to hear if your enthusiasm spread next year!
by S. J. Day November 2nd, 2009 at 9:27 pmI will write with my extra hour, of course. I hope.
My favorite part of Halloween is seeing the little ones all dressed up and so excited. But, I can not stand the big kids who don’t even bother to dress up then show up at your door and demand candy.
by Jill James November 2nd, 2009 at 10:51 amWe usually get a big influx of teenagers about two hours after the little ones come by. This year, though, there weren’t many. Not sure why…
by S. J. Day November 2nd, 2009 at 9:29 pmI was so confused by the time change… I honestly didn’t realize it was going to happen this past weekend. Well, with my migraine, my phone was telling me one time, my car another, and I just wanted to cry, lol. I ended up using that hour to sleep
It’s funny that you mention being a scaredy cat… I’m scared of haunted houses, but for some odd reason, I love going to at least one a year. You know what’s even crazier? I have my eyes shut, and I’m hanging on to the person in front of me with my head down, lol. I know it’s a waste of my money, and no matter how much I tell myself it’s not real, it still gets my heart pumping and my blood racing, lol
by Ali November 2nd, 2009 at 11:21 amMy husband won’t sit next to me when we’re watching scary movies. I end up beating him up. I bury my face in his biceps and dig my fingers in. Then I tell him to narrate what’s happening on the screen. *g*
I do love Knott’s Berry Farm’s Halloween Haunt, though. That’s a lot of fun.
by S. J. Day November 2nd, 2009 at 9:31 pmSounds like you had fun, Syl! We did, too. We live in one of those “trick or treat destination” developments because it’s secure and huge and everybody sets up candy stations (and, uh, bars) in their driveways so it’s just a big street party. I think the almost-full moon and Saturday night really intensified the atmosphere this year. We went through 700+ pieces of candy!
And can I just say how much I love this time change? I love to get up to daylight – hooray! xo
by Roxanne St. Claire November 2nd, 2009 at 12:04 pmYour neighborhood sounds awesome!!
by S. J. Day November 2nd, 2009 at 9:31 pmHey S.J.! We had a great Halloween too! Thankfully this year our old house didn’t look like the village haunted house! I love the time change! With my extra hour I sat on my porch and admired all the wonderful work my awesome husband has done on our old fixer-upper.
by Debra webb November 2nd, 2009 at 3:35 pmFor some crazy reason, my body alarm clock had me up at 6:30 AM instead of my normal 7:30. Made me so mad! I wanted to sleep that extra hour.
by S. J. Day November 2nd, 2009 at 9:32 pmWow, now that sounds like a funm neighborhood. I took my grandson out and I’d say one out of every five houses in our neighborhood participated. Sad.
Sleep. Sleep, and did I mention sleep.
by Cele November 2nd, 2009 at 6:44 pm