Halloween decorating still on the to-do list
Robin Jordan
I’m ashamed to say that while my neighbors’ yards are full of jack o’ lanterns, colorful lights, and skeletons, I still haven’t gotten my few Halloween decorations up.
It’s not that decorating for Halloween is such a formidable task. I’ve just been so busy raking and sweeping up leaves that I haven’t gotten around to going down the basement to get them and put them up.
I guess I could have gotten the decorating done in the evening hours last week, but I had meetings to attend. Well, that was only a couple of evenings.
The truth is, this is the time of year all sorts of scary Halloween movies are shown on the various TV channels, and I’m a sucker for scary movies.
Of course, I’ve had to rewatch all sorts of old favorites, from the original Frankenstein and Dracula movies to those in the Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween franchises. And I’ve even found quite a few good new scary movies while browsing around.
While a lot of the newer Halloween-themed movies tend to focus on blood and gore, the ones I prefer are the well-plotted, suspenseful ones. I like movies with surprise twists that make you jump out of your seat and spill your popcorn.
Humor has its place in these movies, too, from the slapstick antics of Abbott and Costello in their horror send-ups to the Final Destination series, where the Rube-Goldberg series of events that lead to the gory killings of characters provide as many laughs as screams. And what’s not to love about the snarky parodies of the horror genre in the Scream series?
Meanwhile, I continue to battle the falling leaves like a hapless victim in the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes battled huge fruit. Every time I fill another bag, a windstorm comes along to blow more leaves onto the lawn and sidewalks.
At least it’s good exercise and leaf raking gives me a good excuse to get out and enjoy our beautiful fall weather. I just hope I’m finished by the time the snow starts falling.
I vow, though, that before the little ghosts and goblins make their rounds on Oct. 31, I will pull out my Halloween decorations and get ready for Trick-or-Treat time. At least I have already purchased plenty of Halloween candy, so I’m ready in that respect.
Now, if I can just keep my hands off the Halloween candy while I’m watching all those scary movies!