Friday, November 02, 2007

Halloween

This year, I think we beat our previous record of 10 trick-or-treaters. I think that we gave candy to about 12 or 14 kids. I know, I know... how can we afford all that candy, right?

My wife brought home pumpkins from her office. One of the principals of her firm bought 100 (!?!) pumpkins to decorate their landscape and to host an office pumpkin-carving contest. Unsurprisingly, they had a few left over. So, I carved one about an hour before the kids started dropping by for treats. I found a little artistic inspiration and created "Open Head-Wound Pumpkin."

Open Head-Wound Pumpkin, #1

Open Head-Wound Pumpkin is scarier at night!
Note: Gaping Monster-Mouth Pumpkin at top of stairs.

My Favorite Costume of the Night
My favorite costume of the night was the Human Torch from the Fantastic Four.

When I opened the door, I thought the kid was wearing some tie-dyed jumpsuit. At first, I thought he was a muscular, hippie Elvis. Then, I was able to make out the Fantastic Four logo on the costume's fake muscles. Pretty cool costume, I must admit. Personally, though, I felt the plastic molded wig detracted from it.

"Trick or treat," he says.

"Nice Human Torch costume, my man," I complemented while dumping a huge handful of candy into his bag. "It's pretty cool!"

"This thing is HOT! I am SWEATING in here!" he yelled as he snapped shut his bag and darted down my steps.

"The Human Torch is made of fire, you know, " I muttered to myself.

My Next Favorite Costume: Venom (from Spider-Man 3)
The little kid wearing this one was adorable. He was probably 5 years old, at most.

First off, the costume was way too big for him. He scurried up the driveway and the steps. When he finally made it onto the porch, he gave me a muffled "trick-or-treat." His mask was really twisted on his face which contorted it into some macabre death grin. It was very cute but a little creepy.

I dropped candy in his bag and he split. When he was in the driveway, his dad reminded him to say "thank you. So, I get a barely audible "Thank you" from him as his shuffling toward the next house.

"Why don't you take that mask off, boy? You know you can't see a thing with it on," pleaded the father as the boy passed him.

"You know you have zero chance of that happening tonight, don't you? It's Halloween. That thing stays on, no matter how blind he is," I told the dad.

"You're right on that one. Can't tell them nothing tonight."

And with that, evil Spider-Man and his dad faded into the darkness of the street, moving toward the night's remaining plunder.

Honorable Mention: Hannah Montana
When I opened the door, a cute little girl greeted me with a hearty "Trick or Treat!" She was nicely dressed with a fantastic blonde wig.

"And who are you supposed to be?," I asked.

"Hannah Mon-tannah!," she yelled and opened her bag.

"All right! You going to sing?," I asked her while dumping two pounds of candy into her bag.

She violently shook her head "no" and raced off to another house.

As I closed the door, I thanked God that she didn't tell me she was dressed as Blondie from the Clermont Lounge. I've been in this city a little too long, I guess.

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