What is your favorite childhood memory of Halloween?

[kalphs]

This week's question is "What is your favorite childhood memory of Halloween?"

[DaffodilDreams]

getting a toothbrush every year from the neighborhood dentist

 

I guess I was an odd child. Rather than being disappointed about one less piece of candy, I thought it was pretty cool to get a new toothbrush and looked forward to his house each year.

[LibraryLover]

How relaxed and fun it was. How it felt exciting to be a little scared, but know it was safe -scared. Caramel. I only ever wanted candy with caramel, and would trade w/my sibs and was grateful they didn't like caramel.

[eternalknot]

favorite childhood memory? I come from a large family, and an even larger extended family. Halloween always involved a massive dinner of cousins and siblings, aunts and uncles, people not technically family but so entrenched with ours that they were honorary family, and grandparents. It was always like 60-70 people filling the house with music, good food, great spirits (both kinds ;)) and fun. Then a handful of adults would take the gaggle of kids through the neighborhood, and we'd come back to split the booty with whomever was still hanging around. This was actually no different than our weekly family meals or any other holiday, but somehow the costumes made it seem more fun than the garden variety get-together! We grew up in an ethnic enclave that was slow to pick up on the whole Halloween thing, but once we got the ball rolling my family (being as large and noisy as we are) our neighborhood came to embrace it.

 

favorite (adult) memory of childhood halloween? I love that our family always handmade costumes, or somehow threw something magical together from what we already owned. We didn't get special, store-bought costumes. We didn't settle on any one costume weeks ahead of time. The week of Halloween we'd go through what we had and figure out a costume. IF we needed an accessory of some kind (one year I needed butterfly wings!), we made it then. We bought nothing. I'm glad for that. I refuse to buy my kids anything for Halloween, too. To me, part of the fun is creating and designing something - not running to Target to buy the same costume every third kid at the door will also be wearing. I'm a bit snotty like that.

[missesd]

This is kinda sad, but at some point in the 80's, there was a HUGE scare about razor blades and stuff being put in candy. I grew up in Vegas. So that year, I didn't get to go TorTing. Instead my grandparents took our custom van to the drive thru. It had a bed in the back and we opened up the back doors, and watched scary movies. Now granted these movies were NOT appropriate for a child, BUT I remember my grandmother buying our own candy, making popcorn balls, having soda. The whole things was just so different then anything we ever did, that I remember it with fondness. So much so I did a search this year for drive thrus in Texas... guess what?? Not a one :(

[AndyJoy]

It seemed like it always rained on Halloween, so I enjoyed getting home:001_smile:. Seriously, though, I enjoy the memory of sitting on the floor with my sister sorting through our candy. My parents didn't make us do this, but we would sort through and trade each other for our favorites and pull out a pile of mom's favorites for her. Then, which ever of us had more candy would give the other the difference so we'd both have the same number. It is a nice memory of getting along with my sister.

[Remudamom]

My mom's birthday is on Halloween so she'd go all out. There would be a big cauldron in the entry hall with dry ice in it, so it would have fog rolling out of it. The punch bowl would be down in there, and she'd serve you from the cauldron. Spooky sounds courtesy of Disney playing all through the house on the intercom system. Mom dressed like a witch and the whole neighborhood and other friends coming and going all evening.

[LibraryLover]

Oh, I just remembered our Girl Scout Halloween parties. Those were incredibly fun!! I have never gotten over the fact my dds never wanted to be girl scouts.

[newbie]

Fillin huge pillowcases three or four times.

[Stacia]

Running around the neighborhood after dark. And all the decorations people would do, including sort-of-scary houses (but not-too-scary-houses), lol.

 

Probably my clearest memory is when I was about 8 or so, my sister (who was about 3 or 4) got terrified just seeing a kid in a lion suit. She threw her pumpkin full of candy into the air & took off running. My mom took off after her, while yelling over her should for me to pick up my sister's pumpkin AND candy. So, I spent awhile crawling around a dark yard trying to find all her candy. :tongue_smilie::lol:

 

At least my sister ate all her candy (usually the same night). I tended to eat very little of it, save/stash most of it, and throw it away later.

[Krista in LA]

My dad was in Jaycees and they always did a haunted house. I remember when I was little, having him carry me through it and the monsters all being nice to me so I wouldn't get too scared. As I got a little older, I would help in the haunted house. It was so much fun. I also remember when we moved to PA, our neighborhood had t or t'ing the night before halloween and the night of - my db and I would go out and get bags full of candy and take note of who gave out the good stuff and go back again the next night. We had so much candy every year that I felt guilty because my mom gave out apples.

[Chris in VA]

seeing my brother dressed up as Cleopatra when he was 9.

[OnTheBrink]

The house I grew up in has a courtyard in the front, with iron gates. My dad would decorate the heck out of that courtyard with black lights, ghouly music, etc. The living room window was a huge picture window that looked out into that courtyard. One Halloween, I was home alone to hand out candy (I was in high school) and I had Night of the Living Dead on tv. I sat down to watch it and got engrossed, then realized that it had been a while since any kids had come to the door. I looked up to find about 5 faces peering into the living room window, watching NofLD with me!

 

Between the scary decorations, music and images on the tv, I think I may have traumatized a few kids! LOL No one's parents came back to complain, though.

[simka2]

In 5th grade my mom threw me and my friends a wonderful Halloween sleepover party!!! She had recruited friends to scare us, by popping up to windows we were standing near...and then disappear. She had the most amazing buffet with things that wiggled and moved!!! Spiders would drop on you, heads would appear on platters and then be replaced with finger sandwiches for the next person in line! (it was one of those covered serving dishes)

 

So much fun!!!!

[eternalknot]

seeing my brother dressed up as Cleopatra when he was 9.

 

Classic!

 

One year my brother lost a bet and had to dress up in our sister's ballerina costume. He was 12, and is still a really good sport about that sort of thing. He had a pink leotard, tutu, and yes - he wore our sister's pink tennies and a hairbow, too.

 

That same year, our younger brother dressed up as Michael Jackson. One of our aunties rolled his hair (basically permed it without setting it) and it was hilarious. We're Asian so our hair is coarse and doesn't really hold a curl; unfortunately for this brother, he has some rogue hair gene because his hair held that curl for days. I was so envious at the time :D

[myfunnybunch]

Getting apples from the neighbors.

 

Making popcorn balls to pass out.

 

We lived in a rural area, so the only trick-or-treaters we got were the kids who lived nearby.

 

The clown costume with the little ball fringe my mom made me when I was...7? 6?

 

And the year our friends rigged up a ghost that howled and it scared my little sister so much that she screamed and ran to the car, and we had to take her home. (Note: I did not enjoy this at the time, mind, but it is a memory we laugh at now, my sister included.)

 

Cat

[Jennifer in MI]

Honestly? Forking a friend's house. Her brother was there and he was a police officer. We hadn't brought enough forks, so we went out and bought more. The second time, her brother came out and handcuffed us! We came back the next day and helped them take the forks out of the lawn. Her mom used the forks for her graduation open house!!!

[H.S. Burrow]

My Casper costume (back when masks were plastic!) and only going to the homes of people we knew (rather than whole neighborhood) because of the razor blades in candy scare.

[Mama Geek]

My df would stuff a shirt and pants with straw to make a scare crow and we used a pumpkin for the head. we would set a scarecrow in a chair by the door and run a speaker to it with a wire into the house for a microphone. We loved making the scarecrow talk and scaring the big kids. We tried not to scare the little kids much.

 

My mom was also one that made our costumes. A lot of times it involved a sewing machine. Man, I wish that talent had been passed onto me.:tongue_smilie:

[mcconnellboys]

When I was a teen, I decided one year to "trick" my uncle and aunt who lived practically next door to us. I wrote up a cryptic poem and attached it to a broom. The jist of it was that I was a witch who would "curse" them in some undefined way if they didn't produce treats for me (I think, LOL; I'm old....)

 

They didn't have children and liked a challenge. They didn't "pay up" right away as I expected. I can't recall exact details, but they wrote back to me with an excuse. So I wrote a further threat (this was all in rhyme). I believe they put out a small bag of garbage first, LOL. At any rate, they finally attached a bag of treats to the broom. BUT they tied a string to it and my uncle tied the other end to his foot so he would feel it from his place in his recliner just inside the door when I tried to take it. I cut the string.....

 

They knew it was me, of course, but I would never admit it. The next year, some friends and I decided to do it again. There was no round and round that year and I thought it was waaaaay too easy. They set out a plate of caramel apples. I was immediately suspicious. I took them home and studied them for a while, then cut into them. They were green tomatoes, LOL..... Everyone at our family store had been in on it and all the employees were waiting the next workday to see if I ate the green tomatoes or not.....

[JFSinIL]

Spreading the loot all across the dining room or coffee table and seeing what all I had gotten. Candy cigarettes! Wax lips! Pixie Stix!! We had fun candy in the '60s!

[kalphs]

Honestly? Forking a friend's house. Her brother was there and he was a police officer. We hadn't brought enough forks, so we went out and bought more. The second time, her brother came out and handcuffed us! We came back the next day and helped them take the forks out of the lawn. Her mom used the forks for her graduation open house!!!

Love it!:D

[kalphs]

Spreading the loot all across the dining room or coffee table and seeing what all I had gotten. Candy cigarettes! Wax lips! Pixie Stix!! We had fun candy in the '60s!

:iagree:

My favorite memory was going trick or treating for the first time.

I dressed up as a witch, like Lucy in "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown."

[lynn]

Crunching leaves, the smells of fall in the air, home made mac and cheese for dinner, loved it....

[Mrs Mungo]

My sisters and I were ToTing and a neighbor jumped out from behind a corner in a mask and startled us. My youngest sister RAN home and locked the rest of us out of the house!

[Kim in Appalachia]

We would trick or treat in the afternoon and then go to my grandparents at night. My grandmother made candy and carmel apples and had little treat bags for all the grandkids. I loved helping with the apples.

 

I also laugh everytime I remember going to one of our neighbors. He was an elderly man who lived alone. He always invited us in and offered my mom brandy. She always had just a little to make him happy. She hates brandy and it was funny to watch her try and drink some.

[LinRTX]

My dad making popcorn balls to give out to everyone. He loved to see the little kids dress up and come to the house for Halloween.

 

I miss my dad. He died less than 2 months ago. This is the first Halloween without him. We went to WalMart just yesterday. My mom said "Your dad would go straight to that candy aisle" when we walked in the door. He loved to buy the Halloween candy.

 

Linda

[lisabelle]

Even though I ended up being sick that year and not able to go out trick-or-treating, my best memory of Halloween is my sister making me a Raggedy Ann costume. I LOVED Raggedy Ann. She sewed a flowered dress and a white apron and *made* a wig out of red yarn. It was the most beautiful and thoughtful thing ever. I wish I still had the costume.

[ScoutTN]

Counting my candy one night after T or T'ing and realizing that I had enough candy to last a whole year!

 

That was a piece of chocolate per day, after I'd eaten all I wanted that night and separated out all the gum and hard candy.