Halloween monsters may be the stuff of our nightmares. They may scare us, they may intrigue us- some of us name our pets after them.
But as we say goodnight to our seasonal friends, it may be a good idea to remember humans may not have fangs, or bolts in our necks or claws but we are after all part of the same family- that concept is wonderfully stated by Vincent Price in the movie ” The Monster Club”
So in a way our Halloween Monsters are always with us-even if they are just out of sight and hidden in the shadows.
Hamish was three months old for his first Halloween and at three months he tried to run off with his first pumpkin. It outweighed him by 10 pounds, but that didn’t deter him. By the time I realized what was going on his pumpkin looked like an over used pin cushion and his little puppy teeth were coated with pumpkin skin.
Since then for the last eight years Hamish always gets to his pumpkin and I have become an expert in pumpkin repair and preservation.
This year as per his custom Hamish got a fang into his pumpkin and I patched it and it sat on a shelf for two weeks waiting to be carved.
Yesterday got home from work, I turned the radio on, I got my knives and sharpie pens out, I went and took the pumpkin off the shelf on my porch and I dropped it.
On my first day at work in the Funeral Home I was having trouble with the gurney and the Funeral Director who was training me told me if I let a body hit the floor the head was going to splat- I thought about that when Hamish’s pumpkin hit the deck.
I also toyed with the idea of not carving a pumkin and I thought that if anyone asked- and they would- I could just say Hamish killed it and it was too late to get another one.
But in the end, there was no way I was going to blame Hamish for bashing the back of his pumpkin’s head in. I’ve done some low things in my life but blame my dog for an attempted murder that I committed ? I couldn’t do that to him.
Hamish Macbeth October 31, 2022
So I opened the pumkin up, cleaned it out carved it and reinforced the face with poultry skewers and dental floss.
Then I put it in the freezer over night and took it out before the Trick orTreaters showed up.
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure if the freezer was going to do much but it did firm the mushy parts up. But I only did that out of habit. And in case you’re curious that X on the front of the pumpkin’s face isn’t a nose, I put little pieces of hard plastic in there to hold the front of the fcae in place becauuse the sides weren’t stable.
Halloween has gone by a few different names over the years. Perhaps the most common alternative name is the creepy sounding, All Hallow’s Eve.
Some other October 31st nicknames include: Witches Night, Snap-Apple Night, Samhain, Lamswool and Summer’s End.
The world’s most famous escape artist and magician Harry Houdini met his demise on Halloween night in 1926.
He did not meet his end performing one of his death-defying stunts. Instead, it was a burst appendix. . Most people still to this day think he drowned in a failed escape!
Harry Houdini prepares for a coffin escape stunt in 1926.
In Alabama, it is illegal to dress as a nun or priest on Halloween.
In Dublin, Georgia if you’re over 16 you’re prohibited from wearing a mask. And in Hollywood, California silly string is outlawed for safety reasons.
