Thursday, March 14, 2019

Come Inside

As a kid, I hated those rare houses on Halloween night where the homeowner made the kids come into the house for candy. I don't think I dreaded being murdered or poisoned, so it was more about feeling awkward and not wanting to interact with a stranger and answer questions about my costume or whatever they would inevitably ask. Halloween isn't about interpersonal communication. It's about observing and experiencing and being paid a candy tribute for your costume. "Trick or Treat!" is the only requirement on our end.

Anyway, the neighbor across the street from me is one of those "come inside" guys. And he made me re-evaluate my old memories. He loves Halloween. As much as I do. He decorates the long winding walkway to his front door (which goes through thick tall bushes) with lights and ghosts and usually some older stuff I have stuffed in my garage from past displays. But the kids have to go inside. And he's in there with loads of decorations, spooky music and sound effects, and a tableful of candy...tons of great candy (king size bars too).

This skeleton was hanging in there and it was delightfully Old School. And any kid that goes inside is getting a different kind of Halloween. And a very neat memory. And a scary one, as it's dark and shadowy and strange in there. And I get that now.

So here's to my neighbor. One of the Keepers of Halloween Spirit.


Wonderful photo by Theo.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I was always uncomfortable going into peoples houses.
It was the thing to do back in those days.

But HAD to get my candy.........

K.O. said...

Cheers to that guy!! Nobody back in my trick-or-treating days did anything even remotely cool like that. The most "all-out" anyone on my childhood block would go for Halloween was putting a lit jack-o-lantern on their front doorstep.
Nobody ever asked me to go inside except for my parents' friends, and I didn't like it mainly because it burned valuable ToT-ing time. I had candy to collect! But if they'd had a cool walkway and haunted house me to explore, that'd be a different story (and, like you said, a very cool memory).

Sara said...

That neighbor is bad a**.

Ragged Grin said...

There were a couple houses in my neighborhood that asked you in. Even though I knew them it seemed weird.

VenomStorm said...

Yeah, I had the same feelings as a kid. There was always one or two. Some weren’t as bad, they were more like screened porches. The worst were going in the normal part of the house. I agree that it felt like a contract was being broken.

Today with home haunts turning into actual haunted houses, I too would reevaluate. But you have to have an actual internal display. The houses I had to go into in the 90’s weren’t even decorated. That’s what made it weird and broke the magic of the night. I wanted to get back outside where I could feel and see Halloween.