Oh, I remember when Halloween came around, what fun having some school friends around to my house; whoop whoop, mostly on a school night too 😊
We would prepare the day before with a homemade costume of old trousers ripped and covered in chalk, an old school shirt ripped and splattered in fake blood with biro drawn stitches. Mum would make a lantern to put in the window to show we were part of the Halloween fun.
On returning from school that day we would plaster white paint on our face, make black eyes with eye shadow, and a little fake blood from our lips, we would enthusiastically dive into our costume and light the lantern!
Mum would be busy making mud and worm sandwiches, (marmite with jelly worms) fingernail fairy cakes, (white choc chips) fingers on sticks, (chopped up saveloy dipped in ketchup) flaky scab cakes (cornflake cakes dyed red) all such fun.
All pets were locked away with a neighbour and we would go out knocking on doors, not saying much, and expecting a few sweets in return for oohs and ahhs from the neighbours. Once back at home we’d have the apple bobbing competition, hide and seek and musical statues all until the sugar rush wore off. I remember it well it would seem… but what about today?!
Today, at least a month before Halloween I am bombarded by goulish sweets, creepy gimmicks, home decorations of giant spiders or ghosts, electric statues at HOW MUCH all making me feel very inferior that I am not ensuring a lavishly decorated home to host the monster of all parties; boom boom.
Don’t get me on the Pumpkins, gone are the days of a couple of triangle eyes and a toothy grin, now you have to be an expert carver for your lantern and the competition is stiff! Gone are the days of the homemade outfit, we now have every supermarket offering all sized cheap costumes, without legislation for fire retardant materials; and let’s face it at the time when candles are everywhere!!
Sexy costumes for adults are acceptable and the norm, in fact any costume is acceptable it would seem. Most masks are for American films; Scream or Nightmare on Elm Street are favourites and trick or treat is a night out full of expectations for large bags of chocolate or pound shop mix bags… one or two sweets – you are not getting away with that anymore!
And as for our poor pets, they are in on the act too. Dog costumes, cat costumes… poor little mites. What will you be doing on the 31st this year? Me, going large, having a party… oh I will be pretending I’m out and closing all the curtains… ha-ha. I will be plotted on the sofa with a glass of vampire blood (red wine to you) and curried animal! Enjoy whatever you are doing… 😊
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