Trick-or-Treat day/evening around here happened a few days ago. The kids go out from 4:00 to 7:00, so it's getting dark by the end of it. We had some surprisingly nice weather that day. I believe it got to 57° so with many layers on, I was pretty comfortable sitting out there. I had my portable CD player hidden in that purple pumpkin, so the music was going. And a neighbor was pumping out a serious amount of fog from his fog machine. It seemed like actual smoke in the light, but it was spooky in the dark. So was hearing the voices out of the animatronics he had lining his driveway.
It was surprisingly hard to find a good mix of candy this year, and in an amount that was sure to be enough. All the possible leftovers here were good too. I wanted to share a pic of the candy package, because I thought it was cute.
Isn't there something nostalgic about a close-up pic of some Halloween candy? Mmm...
The rat was back at it again! He gets comments every year, although he seemed more popular this year than ever. Several little girls patted his head, I heard a few "Nice Rat" comments, and one little girl asked where his eyes went. I explained that he's a skeleton rat, so his eyes are gone. My favorite comment on it was from the little boy who said "I like your dog" Haha! This would be a very small dog.
My trusty spider was out again too. I somehow managed not to lean back into him while sitting in the chair this year.
I was happy with how this table decoration turned out. It ended up having sort of an altar vibe. I probably have all those Day of the Dead ofrendas rattling around in my subconscious.
I brought out a lantern to light up the skulls. The lantern is lit with one of those usb rechargeable camp lights. These things give a great amount of light and have a pretty good charge. I just linked to a pic of the exact ones I have, although I think I found them on Temu. I like that I can hang them off various things. I've hung one off a hanger in my closet to get some light in there.
The bubble cauldron! You might not be able to tell here, but it lights up.
I'm using one of those same camp lights in this treat bucket. Doesn't it light this up nicely?
I'd forgotten that the back of this treat bucket had stamped/raised designs. These all showed up well once the light was added.
More nostalgia for me.
As you can see, it was pretty dark by the end of the evening. The kids came by consistently over those three hours. They were all very nice and polite as usual. I saw they had a lot in their treat bags, including the snack size bags of Doritos. I'm guessing the guy who was passing out Slim Jims last year is responsible for that. I have this hunch that he forgets which day this is happening and clears out his pantry.
So some highlights from the day were...
The little girl who was completely covered in her costume and mask, so I couldn't see her face. She came up, and asked "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" I said "Good, of course" and she gave me a thumbs up before walking away.
The very little boy who said "Thank You Wicked Witch" after getting his candy.
The teenage girl who was either super pregnant or had a fake belly on under a very skin tight orange umm... I want to say second skin? There was just a small opening for her face, which she had also painted orange. And she was wearing a massive, furry yellow mustache. I think I stopped breathing for a second before I asked "Lorax?" That turned out to be the right guess, and she seemed happy that I knew. Good thing, or I wouldn't have known where to go with that!
What's funny is that I was at the mall today, and passed the window of that Ragstock used clothing store, and in the window they'd taped some small construction paper Dr. Seuss type trees and a sign that read "I speak for the trees" I thought to myself, "That girl could have used that sign and trees! And also, that store ought to add her costume to their window display"
Maybe you guys can help me with this next trick-or-treat story. A large teenage boy walked up to me and he had a dark bandana completely over his face. He was wearing a hat and I think a leather jacket? He had an axe over his shoulder. Now, does anyone know who he was supposed to be? I didn't, but he looked scary. I said "Ooh scary" and he says "I'll give ya a twitch" and starts twitching his head and neck around. Now, that was creepy and I'm sure a reference to something, but I'm not up on it. So I was like "OK, Happy Halloween" and gave him some candy. And he says "You have a good evening" and went on twitching down the sidewalk. ???
There was a little girl wearing a purple inflatable that was semi-inflated. I asked her what she was and she sort of mumbled something about being an inflatable. Her friend said "You know those things they have outside the carwash?" And I said "Yeah!" and did my impression of one, which I think I give a pretty good impression of. You know, waving my arms around randomly. I noticed their parents laughing from the street at that point...
Other than those standouts, it was mostly cute little kids who gave me compliments on my costume and decorations. One funny thing did happen during the end of the night. There were three teen girls and what looked like one of their younger brothers following behind. So each girl lines up and gives me a compliment "Oooh, I like your rat!" "Oh, I like your costume!" "Your decorations look so cool!" etc. And this boy wanders up like he realizes he needs to say something and is like "Uhhhh... nice hat." That cracked me up for whatever reason. I think out of all the kids who came by, maybe two said "trick or treat" They all said "thank you", though.
Here's a photo to give you an idea of how much candy was left by the end of the night. Judging by how much I started with, I'd say 80-some kids dropped by.
I up-lit the rat with my lantern, so I could even see him by that point. He ended up with a campfire effect.
The rat is actually looking pretty spooky there!
So, it was a fun day/evening. After handing out the treats, I walked around the neighborhood. I wanted to see the last minute decorations people put out for that night and there were some. It was pretty atmospheric because there were a number of bonfire parties going.
It may be surprising, but I just last night watched Halloweentown for the first time! The movie with Debbie Reynolds as the nice, witchy grandmother. I'm finishing Halloweentown II tonight. I'm finding both movies super cute and wholesome. There have been some funny moments too. Looking at the costumes and set decorations has been a blast. I've been enjoying watching some new to me Halloween movies and TV shows this year. I recommend the Spongebob Halloween special. That was hilarious. And the Goosebumps "Attack of the Jack-o-Lanterns" was entertaining too! 🎃
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