Now that Halloween is getting closer,

[wnylib]

Last edited Sat Oct 16, 2021, 05:58 PM - Edit history (2)

I've been thinking about Halloween memories. What was your funniest Halloween experience? What was your scariest one?

My funniest memory:

I grew up with 2 older brothers and a younger sister. The oldest brother was responsible for taking us on our trick or treating rounds. Our religious denomination had no objections to traditional Halloween celebrations, but the pastor of our specific church did. He preached against it in his sermon the Sunday before Halloween when I was around 8 years old.

He lived 5 blocks away from us. So after taking my younger sister home, my brothers said I could go with them for one last stop IF I promised never to talk about it.

We went to the pastor's house and rang the bell. No answer. The drapes were closed and the lights were off but we could hear the TV inside. So my brother mumbled, "OK, you asked for it." He waxed the word "boo" on the porch windows. Meantime, the other brother strung toilet paper on the porch railing, the posts, and the shrubs in front of the house. Then one brother and I hid behind a tree in the park across the street while the other one pushed a thumbtack into the doorbell to make it ring continuously. He ran to join us behind the tree. When the pastor came out to remove the tack, we giggled so much that I was afraid he would hear us.

We kept straight faces the following Sunday in church and no one besides us ever knew.

[MyMission]

1. I'll bite

Ever had cat poop brownies? For Halloween? I work for a 99 year old store, where we sell a wide variety of useful or fun items for locals and visitors, such as t-shirts, hats, socks, jackets, bags, hiking poles, footwear, and bear poop (chocolate covered peanuts) with our name on the bag. So, several years ago these 2 ladies were shopping before Halloween and saw the bear poop and were very excited and bought some. They told me they have a party each year and serve cat poop brownies, and the bear poop would be a nice addition. They explained they got a fresh litter box and scooper, which they keep with their holiday or baking supplies. After experimenting, they recommend using grape nuts cereal as the litter (they might have added something else) and Ghirardelli brownie mix as the cat poop; cutting strips after baking and rolling it when it's still warm so they look like poop and tossing them in the litter box. It sparked such laughter, and conversation about poop and pot brownies and not wanting people to eat cat poop by mistake. They brought me some in a poop bag after Halloween. It was tasty! Some might think it's just gross, and I wouldn't go to the trouble of preparing them, but it is funny. And looks very real.

My scariest was 25 years ago, at the Halloween parade in NYC which I usually attended. 2 friends and I went down a side street to get closer and ended up in a crush of people. Crowds are one thing, but a crush or stampede is totally different. Very scarey. And during Halloween with a bunch of costumed or masked revelers made it scarier. Not sure who got the idea, but my 2 male friends picked me up like a battering ram, one held my legs and the other my upper body and they got us through the crush, my feet first. It's kinda funny in retrospect, but I was scared for my life that Halloween, never felt that way before or since. It didn't make me avoid crowds, but I avoid parades and areas where that could happen again, even before covid. I don't like horror or scarey movies, don't want that in my head.

Another Halloween a boyfriend's 13 year old was late getting back from his trick or treating, and was with another kid whose parents had arrived to pick him up. We were just starting to get scared when they showed up, proud they each had a pillowcase full of candy. We confiscated the candy as punishment for missing curfew and making us worry and embarrassing us with his friends family, and that child was not happy! We returned it after raiding it. Good times!

[wnylib]

2. Cat poop - very creative, but ... gross.

The crowd scene sounds really frightening.

I've actually been more scared (as a child) by Christmas Santa Clauses and birthday party clowns. Can't think of a really scary Halloween since I realized that it was all made up for fun.

I did have one scary Halloween experience as an adult, but didn't know how scary it was until 6 months later, so I don't think that it would count as a Halloween fright.

[catrose]

3. I've heard of using Tootsie Rolls in the "litter box."

[wnylib]

4. Or tootsie rolls wrapped in a cloth "diaper."

[leighbythesea2]

5. Halloween is my FAV-a fun one

For me. Threw a costume party and created a scavenger hunt. At that time i lived in a town on Lake Michigan. The hunt required traversing a lot of town. My party attendees were a fit bunch of people so one group went on rollerblades. One on bikes. I think some tried a car.
So first off, are costumed groups, tearing around town on wheels.
But if you are familiar with Meijer stores in the midwest, they've always been big box, and open 24 hours. Long before that was a thing.
I required a piece of dowel rod, from there. And a live goldfish. Because Meijer was that kind of place. Need dowel rod and a goldfish at 12am?, come on in. It made for some funny stories. One person just grabbed the fish out of the tank himself and put it in a bag of water, instead of waiting for a person to help. (No fish were harmed for this story, but think that one was shoplifted).
Teams were also required to do a shot in a bar nextdoor to the finish line (bar i was waiting in). But i could see them running in, which was entertaining.
Human nature is competitive, even in costumes.
Side note: I work for Meijer HQ now. I love them still.

Other halloween's of note were Key West, when I lived there. I taught costuming at the college, so some great fun, with elaborate "group" costumes.
Little Rock- Won a contest as catwoman (michelle pfeiffer batman version) They let me crack the whip, I had as a prop, for the rest of the night.
LA, we went to Hollywood Forever Cemetery for Day of the Dead. THAT was amazing. Wow.
I always make my costumes & generally start in August.

My daughter was born on Nov 1, so that halloween was kinda crazy.
Halloween is my fav holiday BY far!

[wnylib]

6. Wow. My Halloweens as a child and adult have been

pretty dull by comparison, although I always enjoyed them. Costumes I have worn were not elaborate.

Once, several years ago, I took a part time job as a cashier in a grocery store for some extra cash for Christmas. I was scheduled to work on Halloween and the store had a costume contest for employees.

I wore a long-sleeved, white, ankle length nightgown that was made of a shimmery satin-like material and looked like something from the Victorian era. I put white powder highlighter makeup on my face with streaks of charcoal eyeshadow around my eyes and on my cheeks. Stuck some twigs in my hair. I was a ghost who had risen from the grave.

A woman in the store with her little boy about 4 years old stopped me to ask a question when I was returning from a break. The kid looked up at me and screamed. I tried to calm him but a talking ghost was too much for him so I apologized to the mother and walked away.

Most employees had worn store bought costumes so I got first prize for making up my own.

[leighbythesea2]

7. Lol Poor Kid!

I have yet to try a scary/undead topic for halloween. I always admire it, bc it pretty much requires make-up. Add a little drinking, good times.

Also, meeting people at costume parties is great. Later you see them, have zero idea, and get a new introduction. But they are forever The Riddler in your mind.

It seems adults dressing up has increased over decades..? Just read an article about a twitter thread with non-americans asking about american halloween. Like "do you really decorate your house as much as xmas?" Etc.
We really get into it here, comparatively--which I did not know.

[2naSalit]

8. A strange but cute one...

This was decades ago so I hope nobody can identify me from telling this tale!

Once upon a time I drove a gasoline tanker, truck and trailer, 8600gal./load around southern California. It was one of my fun things to do, dress up for Halloween and drive wherever it was I was going in costume. The tanker outfit had Tee shirt uniforms so I had little flexibility with the costume options aside from safety issues on the job. My hair was super long at the time and I had a couple costume elements at home, found a black doggie nose thing so I decided to put my hair up in ponytails high up on my head, draw whiskers on my cheeks and put the nose on when driving around.

So a woman driving a tanker looking like some hybrid pooch who rides up next to other trucks and looks over, flashes a smile then takes off.

It was a riot, all over LA, all day. I heard all kinds of fun comments from all the drivers from all over the country passing through LA... and here's this woman in a tanker in costume. It was just so absurd.

That was a fun day.

[wnylib]

9. Sounds hilarious - the contrasts

[2naSalit]

10. There was always a double take...

And I laughed a whole bunch that day. It was in my last years of driving so I was ready to go all out on some gags sometimes. Some of the guys would do something like that on other occasions so it wasn't totally unique, novel perhaps, but very entertaining.

[Niagara]

11. My craziest Halloween memory.

Most of the time my grandmother would sew my Halloween costumes for me being she was a seamstress. One year when I was in the 1st grade, I decided on a Ben Cooper style of costume instead of having my grandmother make one for me. I choose the Bugs Bunny one. If no one remembers these costumes, they came in a box with a see through lid so that the mask was viewable, the rest of the costume was a vinyl type of material that one would put over normal clothes.



On Halloween day, I went to school in my normal clothes and took my Halloween costumes with me in the box. I wasn't the only one in my class that has this Ben Cooper style of costume. These were popular costumes at the time. We donned our costumes and did our school costume parade, costume contests and the normal Halloween school fun.



After school, my mother made supper and then it was time for trick-or-treating. I donned my costume once again. I went from house to house while mom followed me in the car while I was working for my Halloween candy loot. I was hot and sweaty from that costume but I didn't care.


We eventually got home and I took off my Bugs Bunny mask. My bewildered mother exclaimed "Oh crap, Niagara!"
I was confused and I didn't know what I did to get that reaction from my mother. She said, "You're covered with chicken pox."
I went to go look in the mirror at my face. Yep, I was covered in them. I must have already been infected with the virus and that hot costume must have made the sores break through the skin sooner. If I had exhibited any symptoms of chicken pox sooner, I would have missed out on all the Halloween events that year. That costume that I wore was thrown away in the trash.


I'm not quite eligible for the shingles vaccination yet, but I'm not skipping out on it when it's time.

[wnylib]

12. Wow. Imagine how many people

you probably infected without knowing it.

Chicken pox was so common before the vaccine that people thought it was "only" an inevitable childhood illness. I had it before I started school.

I probably wore costumes before starting school, but the first one that I remember was in first grade, a store bought Cinderella outfit that looked like Disney's film Cinderella at the ball.

[Niagara]

13. I always wondered where I picked up from and

how many people that I infected with it. Definitely common back then before the vaccine.





The first costume I remember was 1st grade as well. I don't remember what my kindergarten or 2nd grade Halloween costumes were at all. I remember the rest of them.