Halloween "Would You Rather?"

Do you guys remember playing "Would You Rather?" when you were kids? It was a fun game that made you think and have to justify your weird decisions. I ran into a Halloween version of the old game on Tumblr and it brought back the memories. I thought it would be fun to answer these questions and explain my answers. I'd like to hear your answers to some or all of these!

I know the type is a little small, so I'll write out each question.

Would you rather walk through a graveyard at midnight or spend the night in a spooky, abandoned house?

Graveyard! I got near to doing that once anyway. It wasn't on purpose, though. I'd been out with some friends (for Halloween bar hopping no less!) and we had to walk directly alongside a graveyard at midnight to get back to a friend's house. Graveyards don't scare me anyway. Staying in abandoned houses is another thing. I've watched enough ghost hunting shows by now to not want to do that! Besides, there's no light/electricity, rotten old floors, and who knows what animals running around. Even with no ghosts, that's icky.

Would you rather dunk for apples or carve a jack-o-lantern?

Jack-o-lantern. I love carving pumpkins. I've never dunked for apples, so to be fair, I might love that too. Dunking for apples is one of those things that fits with my image of Halloween parties 100 years ago. It's a quaint image, but I'm not sure how much I'd like it.

Would you rather be allowed to eat as much Halloween candy as you want for a week, but then have what is left taken away or be allowed to eat only one piece a day and never have it taken away?

Umm... After about a week, I've eaten through all the good stuff (chocolate) anyway! So option #1.

Would you rather meet a vampire or a werewolf?

It's hard to answer this one. It's like asking how you'd like to be attacked. I guess if we're talking the modern movie vampires and werewolves, like in Twilight, I wouldn't have to worry so much about that. Hmm... As traditional movie monsters go, a vampire. As Twilight goes, a werewolf.

Would you rather read a spooky story or watch a spooky movie?

I guess I can't answer "both" but I enjoy doing both! I guess it depends on my mood.

Would you rather have a costume that is really amazing but also very uncomfortable or have a costume that is not anything all that special, but is comfortable to wear?

How uncomfortable are we talking here? Yeah, I'd go through being a little cold or wearing high heels to have a really amazing costume. Anything beyond that level of discomfort, no.

Would you rather have a homemade costume or a store-bought costume?

Homemade all the way! I think homemade costumes are the most creative. Not that I don't buy some parts for my costumes, but I like putting together what I have around. I appreciate seeing the kids come trick-or-treating who are wearing homemade costumes. There aren't many. Sometimes I don't know what the heck they are supposed to be, and they don't know either! Seriously, I asked some kids what they were last year and they didn't know. Still, they were creatively dressed! Maybe it would be good if their parents' explained to them what they were supposed to be.

A witch and two dog ghosts?

Would you rather get 20 of your favorite treats on Halloween or get 50 treats that are not your favorites on Halloween? 

The 20 favorites! This is pretty black and white for me. I can have 20 of something I really like or a whole lot more of something I don't like all that much? Huh?

Go trick-or-treating with a group of friends or get paid $20 to take a little kid trick-or-treating?

There's something sad about this question. You get the guilt trip for wanting to hang out with friends instead of babysitting, or there's the guilt trip of accepting $20 to take the kid. That seems like something that should be done for free. Why isn't the child's parent or guardian taking him? Why doesn't he have a friend to go with? This is sad. Maybe I can compromise and take the kid along with me and my friends? Oh, and for free. Seriously, paying someone to take your kid trick-or-treating? Sheesh.

Would you rather go to a really great Halloween party where you didn't know anyone or go to a kind of lame Halloween party where you knew almost everyone there?

I'd go to the really great one and meet some new people! If I know everyone at the other one and it's still lame, that says something...

Would you rather win a contest for having the best costume or win a contest for making the best jack-o-lantern?

Either way, it's flattering. Someone appreciated something creative you did! I won pumpkin carving contest once, and that felt pretty good. I carved a vampire jack-o-lantern with blood (red paint) tipped fangs and won a gift certificate. So maybe I'd like to win the best costume and feel like I accomplished something new. I've been to bars where there are costume contests, but I never enter them. Someone usually wins who is dressed in some giant, extravagant costume, and can barely get through the door. So that seems to take a lot of effort.

Would you rather have to sleep in a coffin or live in a giant pumpkin? 

So we're assuming that to sleep in a coffin I have to be a vampire? Or am I just eccentric? Either way, I'm going with the pumpkin. A pumpkin house would be so cute! I'd have to do a lot of cleaning and refurnishing on the inside, though. I'd have to do some major pumpkin gut scooping!

Would you rather have to eat six fish eyeballs or eat a small frog?

Is the frog so small that it's smaller than a fish eyeball? ;) I'd eat whatever is smaller. Probably the eyeballs, because you could fit them in something else like a sandwich to get through the experience.

Would you rather have to wear your Halloween costume to school every day until Thanksgiving or have to wear a jack-o-lantern over your head for the first three days of November?

This one is random. I'm reminded of that scene on The Office when Dwight wears a jack-o-lantern over his head and it gets stuck!



I'd go with the costume. The costume could look tasteful enough, depending on what you went as.

Would you rather help to design and make a haunted house or go to a haunted house that someone else has created?

I'd rather design and help! I'd love to be involved with a project like that some day.

Would you rather be chased by five zombies or chased by one werewolf?

I see where they're going with this one. Zombies are a lot slower than a werewolf. I guess five zombies = one werewolf. So, my answer is zombies. I can run pretty fast, as can a werewolf from what I've seen in the movies. A zombie, not so much. At least in the olden days.

Would you rather trick-or-treat in a neighborhood or trick-or-treat in a mall?

Neighborhood, if it's a safe one. Is there trick-or-treating in malls now? I know there have been some new options for trick-or-treating because of safety concerns, but I hadn't heard about it happening in malls. I guess that could be cool, if every store gave out candy, but the kids are probably all limited to the food court or something.

Would you rather eat all of your Halloween candy or trade your Halloween candy for $10?

I'm having to imagine that I'm a gradeschooler to answer some of these questions. My gradeschool self probably would have taken the $10. I'd still choose money over junk food any day. Then I could buy something tangible that stays around for more than five minutes.

Would you rather dress up as a devil or dress up as an angel?

I've dressed up as both! I had more fun dressed as a devil, so I think that's the costume I'd choose again. Plus, those wings get a little inconvenient.

I had a pretty good time answering these questions! For the most part, I knew right away how I felt. I'm anxious to hear some of your answers!

It's Fright Night! Gather 'round for some Halloween stories!

Happy Halloween everyone! Are you up for a few ghost stories?

I thought it would be fun to tell you a few spooky stories. I chose stories that either scared or fascinated me when I was a child. Just press play on the video below to travel back down memory lane! Story time lasts about 15 minutes.

You won't see anything in this video, but I posted a virtual campfire you can watch while listening to me tell a few tales:

Did you remember a few of these spooky stories or urban legends? They really stuck with me! Credit goes to Alvin Schwartz, the author of the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series. I chose to read the versions of "The Hook" and "The Golden Hand" that were retold by S. E. Schlosser. There are so many variations on "The Golden Hand", but I preferred the one that's closest to how I heard it when I was young. The man in the story has to be wicked and the ghost has to exact her revenge, otherwise it's just boring!

If you're around my age or older, you'll be familiar with the original illustrations that accompanied some of these stories.  They were drawn by Stephen Gammell. The books have been redone with new less threatening illustrations. I find this strange, because I could handle those drawings as a kid! That one with the zit exploding with spiders traumatized me a bit, but only in the way where you enjoy being creeped out! Here are some of the original illustrations.

"The Hook" illustration with a nice bit of dripping blood, hair, and skin fragments:

"The Red Spot" illustration that really got to me! She's actually pretty icky looking even without stuff hatching out of her face.

Our little Vindow Viper, who is almost too cute for this book:

The Hearse and a bit of the music sheet that goes with "The Hearse Song":

I love all the shadows and drippiness in the artist's work.

Did I read any of your favorite old stories? Maybe you've heard them told differently. It's always interesting to hear the many different spins given to an urban legend or campfire tale. I always like hearing a new urban legend, so if you know any good ones, send them along! 

I hope you all have a scary night in the best of ways!

Midway Memories and Associations

Does anyone else feel like there's a dark underbelly to carnival midways? If I feel that way, I certainly have some good reasons. Actually, three reasons are coming to mind right now! I'll explain what's going through my head when I visit a midway, while showing you some photos I took at The Wisconsin State Fair's midway a few days ago.

This clown was part of a fun house I walked past at the midway. Looking at him, my mind instantly went to something scary from my childhood. That "something scary" was this guy:

As any faithful reader of this blog knows, I loved the show Are You Afraid of the Dark? when I was young. A very memorable episode of the show involved a spooky fun house and the legend of a ghost clown. That episode still spooks me even though I'm now an adult, and I've never had a fear of clowns!

If you're in my relative age group, you probably know about Zeebo the clown. If you aren't familiar with him, here's a trailer for the episode "The Tale of Laughing in the Dark"

When I was in high school, I first read what was to become my favorite book: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. I've never read any other book that painted such clear images in my mind. There's a definite darkness behind the carnival in that story! If you've read that book, you know why I think of it every time I see a carousel. I won't spoil it for you if you haven't read the book, since the carousel is central to the plot.

I also first watched one of my favorite movies as a teenager: The Lost Boys. I'm sure most of you have seen that movie, so I won't be spoiling anything by saying that I also think of it when I see a carousel. When watching kids circle around on bright, colorful horses, my mind is filled with images of young, 80s vampires!

Why are carousels never this cool in real life?

I may not have seen Kiefer Sutherland on the midway, but I did run into a few other interesting characters...

I found Cousin IT airbrushed onto the side of a fun house. Another cool find were the pirates painted on the side of The Ghost Ship ride.

This guy was standing in front of the ride.

I have no idea what this next creature was supposed to be. Maybe he was an evil gargoyle. Whatever he was, I thought he was cool! This creature's eyes shifted back and forth as he made low, grumbling noises. He was sitting outside the midway's haunted house.

Nice hairy belly, hey? Here's a close up of his face:

This hairy gremlin had a little friend who was sitting on top of the haunted house.

Does he remind you of anyone? He reminds me of...



Do any of you have some childhood associations with carnival midways? I mean, are there any movies, books, or TV shows you've come to think of every time you're at a midway? Maybe some of you even have my same associations.

Well, tomorrow I'm going to our local Renaissance Faire. You might remember my Ren Faire blog post from last year. I hope to get many more pictures to share with you this year!

Leap Year Fears From My Childhood

February 29, 2012 is a leap day. Leap years always remind me of a legend I heard in my younger days. OK, it's probably not so much a real legend, as it is a plot made up for a TV show. Still, it's funny how the stories you hear as a child stick with you. Even if they're ridiculous. These stories seem to live on in that special part of your brain, the part where things don't need to be completely logical to make sense.

Like many kids at the time, I was obsessed with the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books. The urban legends in those books really stuck with me! Especially the one about the teenager who thinks she has a some kind of blemish, but instead it's an immense sack of spider eggs. The eggs are shown hatching in one of the more gruesome illustrations I've ever seen. I haven't had one bug bite (even now) that doesn't make me think of that story.

Don't worry, I'm changing the topic back to leap years now...

Aside from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books, one of my obsessions during grade school was a show called Are You Afraid of the Dark? If you are relatively my same age and reading this blog, chances are you were obsessed with the show too.

If you're not familiar with the show, here's a quick summary. Each week, the teenage characters met in the woods at night and told scary stories around a campfire. The TV audience would see the stories re-enacted. One of the stories was about leap day, specifically a full moon on the night of February 29. The story was called "The Tale of the Whispering Walls" and featured this groovy guy:

This character is the story's villain, Master Raymond. The story isn't amazingly scary, but Raymond is creepy acting and I loved his jacket. It sort of looks like a rib cage.

As the story goes, you need to be careful if you're out during a full moon on February 29, because that's when spirits will come back to earth and try to change places with you. The story seems ripped off of old Halloween legends a bit. Anyway, here's the first part of the episode. I'm afraid that you'll have to follow this link to watch the video, because whoever posted the video won't let anyone embed it!

The Tale of the Whispering Walls

I don't expect you to watch the entire thing, because it's not spectacular. I do think the intro is worth watching, since you'll get an explanation of the legend. That and Betty Ann is wearing a cool mask (which looks like it was borrowed from her Day of the Dead stash).

"The spirits who prowl on a full moon leap year are hunting, and it may be for you."

That was pretty scary stuff to me back in the day...

Even those of us with large imaginations have no reason to be afraid this year, because the moon won't be full on leap day. I have to wonder if there has ever been a full moon on February 29.

I had wanted to share more about the full moon on February 29th legend, but there's really not much out there. Well, not aside from all the questions posted online by the other people who clearly watched Are You Afraid of the Dark? back in the day. Evidently, a lot of us are still thinking about the leap day episode 20 years later!

I suppose everyone carries childhood stories and superstitions into their adulthood. Probably each of you can think of a story that still seems scary now because you first heard it as a child.

Before I go, I'd like to mention something you've probably noticed already ~ My blog is wearing a new look! The new layout has two columns instead of three, and only one blog post will be displayed at a time. I hope these changes will cut down on my blog's loading time. I also designed some new icons to direct you to my Twitter, Pinterest, and Halloween Forum profiles. See the magnifying glass? Beneath that is a place for you to search my blog. Say you were interested in any posts I've written about vampires. Just type "vampires" in that search box, and a list of all my vampire posts will pop up. Pretty handy, hey? Please let me know if you have any trouble reading my blog on account of these changes, and Happy Leap Day!