Halloween Haunts I Have Known & Thrown

Halloween is a big time party time for my friends and family. I personally never had to host a party because everyone else did.

My friend, Barbe, and I threw the mother of all parties for our theatre company one year and more than outdid ourselves on several levels. We staged her entire house, garage, backyard, pool and hot tub for about 75 of our closest friends and relatives. Nothing was too over the top. We made it potluck so we didn’t have to worry about food. Her husband was out of town during the week leading up to the party and we worked everyday and every night to get everything up and out and plan the evening from start to finish.

Mid-week we rescued a rather large dog in the neighborhood and we got her used to family and everyone (She went into shock when all the folks and decorations went away – just a normal family living in a normal house – who da’ thunk it!). The front yard was done the day of the party. Barbe went to pick up her husband half way through the day of the party. This poor guy came home to a larger family of animals, a huge To Do List, the culture shock of the US of A after a week spent surfing in Tahiti, oh, and by the way, everyone was coming to this party – no one said no.

There was a pumpkin decorating contest. There was a costume contest. There were games and apple bobbing in the hot tub. There was more food than we could have imagined. We didn’t really concentrate on our costumes because we were too busy with the fog machine, the freshly carved tombstones, the lighting effects, the mobile rats, and the movable tree that enveloped guests as they came up the steps. There were special sound effects intermingled with Halloween party songs so speakers had to be hooked up in every room (not an easy task). We attached a life sized skeleton to the chimney with chains – great visual just not easy. There was a witches’ pot with lighting effects and steam – right out of the opening of that Shakespere play that we don’t mention (starts with an “M” and I’ll explain it in another post at another time). A party for the decade – everyone came and everyone had a good time. I don’t think the 31st was for another couple of days after the party and, no, we did not re-stage the whole party for the trick-or-treaters. They got the abbreviated version and were just as happy.

We did our best and it showed and we were happy.

Party on, you little ghosts and goblins, party on!