Halloween Re-Cap

I had a great Halloween!

At the local thrift store, Twice As Nice, I stumbled on a spooky, fun and inexpensive find: 69 cent electric eyeballs that fade from red to blue to green to orange and back. Initially I bought 10 for my daughter’s birthday to give away as a party favor, but we forgot to give them out. The day before Halloween, I went back, expecting them to be all sold out but hit the jackpot. Nobody else seems to have discovered just how cool these eyeballs are–so I bought the rest, about 40 in all. I placed them all along the walk and the stairs up to our front door, and then around the corners of our front porch. Here’s a part of the effect:

The rest of the porch is “decked out” with a variety of ghouls, ghosts and skeletons which I have purchased through the years–almost always the day after Halloween at 50% off. The pirate head is sound-activated and drops down on a string then slowly ascends while calling out gruff and nasty warnings: turn back or face your DOO-O-O-O-O-M. etc.  The bat actually flaps its wings and flies around in a circle. And of course there are the obligatory fake spider webs draped all over everything, conveniently sticking to the stucco and hanging potted plants. The more benign decorations are left over from when the kids were younger. It seems their fascination with ugly and dead has only grown through the years.

Just as last year, my kids had great costumes.  This year, Eva was a 1940’s pin-up girl, complete in black and white. Ben was another anime character, this time  Wolfwood from Trigun.

For the past few years, they’ve gone out on their own with friends while Jon and I get to stay at home and hand out candy, checking out all the creative costumes as the kids traipse through our neighborhood. For two hours, the doorbell is constantly ringing, and the street is flowing with trick-or-treaters. We probably had over 100 come to our door. I am always careful to buy lots of candy, saving all the good stuff (Heath bars, Reece’s cups, dark chocolate kisses) for last so if when I over estimate, it’s only another plus!

As a final treat for you readers, I link to an article that looks at Halloween as a lesson in economics: an opportunity to experience the value and benevolence of free trade!
Halloween and its Candy Economy

I know I sure got my share of enjoyment in exchange for the sweets I gave away!!