Have yourself a scary little Halloween

Maybe it's just ME, but this drives me nuts--instead of decorating with a pleasing fall or harvest theme, the local shopping center in the town I live in thinks THIS is a great display for the season. For a few weeks we've had this HUGE, gory exhibition at one of the main intersections in town--visible from both sides in case you miss one. Lovely, huh?

Yep, those are fake bloody legs coming out of a grave. I'm all for "Fright Fest" and haunted houses if that's your thing but what if I personally don't want to look at it every day, several times a day, while I'm driving past? Actually, I try to avoid this popular intersection because it grosses me out so much. But I stopped and took pictures just for you. If you come to visit, be sure to bring the little ones, they're sure to love it. The local preschool my daughter went to is just a 1/2 block away.

When she was 5 or 6, we took her and a friend trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. It got a little dark and they ran ahead a few houses. When they got to this house below, they had no idea that the bodies in the coffins were really teenagers that lived there, dressed up as vampires and mummies, lying very still. When the girls got close, they "came alive" and actually chased them down the block, screaming. I was LIVID! I should have complained to the parents, but I let it go--my daughter didn't want everyone to think she was a "baby." Everyone else apparently thought it was funny and a great joke, but my husband and I were the ones who sat up with her every night after that because she was afraid to fall asleep. Oh, they're probably still doing it, but we avoided that block the next year, and they recently won a prize in the community for best "Creepy" house.

My own taste in Halloween decorations is pretty tame, no bloody body parts, and usually runs closer to this:

My kids just roll their eyes. "Mom, CASPER??" My reply: "Isn't there WAY too much gore and violence in real life already? Do we really need to scare little kids when they come to the door expecting candy?" I just don't get it. Maybe it's because I'm so OLD. When I was a kid, Halloween was FUN. You dressed up like a princess or a pirate and didn't scare each other to death.

I asked my husband if he thought I was being an old fuddy duddy stick-in-the-mud. "A bit," he said. Oh well, I just needed to vent. I think I'll go watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown all alone and eat some mini-Snickers now.

                               HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Trick or Treat!