Hoppy Halloween

The 31st of October is Halloween.

The day is often associated with orange (my favourite colour) and black and is strongly associated with symbols like the jack o' lantern, which is usually carved out of a massive pumpkin and a candle put inside.  It looks really creepy and its fun to make.

Halloween was one of my favourite holidays, growing up in Scotland.  But unfortunately South Africa is not big on celebrating this holiday. Fucking Killjoys!

Yeah, it's very unfortunate, because I love dressing up. Anything to get behind a mask and costume to play a creepy character.  It's a great excuse to get away with being bit loony and dippy.

As a young girl, my mum always made us wicked home-made costumes and we traipsed around the neighbourhood trick-or-treating singing silly wee songs

Trick or treat,
smell my feet,
give me something 

good to eat! 

At oor wee hoose, mum always hung up triangle-shaped scone covered in treacle, suspended  on a string from our kitchen doorway.

Everyone who came trick-or-treating got a turn to try to take a huge bite out of the treacle-covered scone.  It was always very messy, getting a face full of treacle, but great fun!

After the Treacle Scone, it was then time for apple bobbing.  This involved my mum hauling out her largest plastic basin and filling it with water and soor apples.  We get doon on all fours next to the basin, put our hands behind our backs and stick our faces in the water and bite into an apple.  Score!

I detested this activity (never did like water up my nose) but at least thre was one concilation, it washed the treacle off yer face.  I've never been that fond of granny smith soor apples either. 

Only toffee apples...scrummy...

Our schools used to have cool costume parties and some enjoyed ghost tours, bonfires, visiting haunted attractions, playing scarey pranks on each other, reading scary stories or watching horror films.

You really don't know what you're missing, South Africa.

Dressing up is truck-loads of fun and the best is, you can be someone totally different for a day.

Incognito.

What are your Halloween Traditions? 

Join Jeremy for A Halloween Hop

Happy Halloween, Hookers!

On a strict Halloween Budget this year?

Here's some cheap ideas for Halloween Costumes!




.....and a Haunted Halloween story

A young couple were delighted to purchase the old-fashioned house in the Stuyvesant Square section of Philadelphia. They moved into their dream home in the winter of 1889, bringing their five year old daughter with them.



There was a lot of refurbishing to do, so the little girl tended to go up to the attic to play while her parents were occupied with the house. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, because the previous owners had converted the attic into a playroom. It even had a fireplace at one point, but it was currently boarded up.


After a couple of weeks of hard work, the downstairs rooms were finished. The mother, realising that she had been neglecting their daughter, attempted to try and spend more time with her now, but the little girl seemed distracted. She kept stealing back up to the attic alone to play.


Exasperated, and perhaps a little hurt the the child was not being responsive to her attentions, the mother finally asked, "What's so interesting up there in that stuffy room?"

"It's the little boy with the shiny buttons," the child replied. "He's so much fun to play with!"

"What little boy?" the mother demanded, wondering if a servant child had stowed away in the room. She went to investigate, but found the room empty.


Certain that her daughter was just being contrary, she urged her husband to discipline the child. At her father's stern voice the little girl became hysterical. She kept repeating that there was a little boy and he wore a blue jacket with lots of shiny buttons on it. As her father listened, he became more and more curious. Formerly a s eaman, he realized his daughter was describing a child's sailor suit, complete with the brass buttons.


The girl's father made some inquires about the Jensons, the family that lived in the house before them. He learned that they had come from England, bringing their children with them, two boys and a girl. The youngest child, a boy, was born retarded. The neighbors described the youngest boy as a sweet innocent child, but added that Mr. Jenson was ashamed of him and tried to prevent him from being seen outdoors.


According to the boy's parents, the neighbours continued, the young boy would often sneak out to go down to the river. The story goes on to say that one day he fell in and drowned.  His body was never recovered, but his cap had been found floating in the river.  Shortly after the disappearance, the Jensons put the house up for sale and, leaving Philadelphia, dropped out of sight.


The former seaman's suspicions were now thoroughly aroused. He accompanied his little daughter to the attic and asked her to show him where the little boy came from. She pointed to the boarded up fireplace.  Her father called in workers to open it and then to remove the mortar that cemented up a cavity beside the chimney.


As the mortar was chipped away, the corpse of a small boy was revealed. He was clothed in a little blue sailor jacket with four rows of brass buttons down the front.  Further examination revealed that the back of the child's head had been crushed by a violent blow.

The wee boy had been murdered!




and for the guys....some Halloween Hotties at Heff's.Enjoy!

 

Kaylin with her Halloween Chompers in

Megan adjusting her Halloween Chompers