Thursday, October 09, 2008

10 Things to Do to Prepare for Halloween

1) Watch Thriller Video

Is anything more Halloween-o-rific than the full video for Thriller? It's scary, campy, has a werewolf movie within the movie, has dancing and singing and a horde of zombies. Really, if you're going to be attacked by zombies, I hope its of the dancing variety.

Here's the full version.

I can't embed the full version of the video, so here's a version from India:



By the way, Austin is participating in some worldwide, synchronized Thriller dance on October 25th. They're going to shut down 6th street to make way for the dancers. From what I saw on News 8, Austin Mayor Will Wynn is participating.

Somehow, I regret not getting me, Steven and Mangum involved in this...

2) Caramel Apples

This year, I want to skip the wax sheet, pre-cut caramel and do the full, heated dipped caramel apples.

Dizzam. I love a good caramel apple. Especially tart green apples.

3) Watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"

I hate to think how much this cartoon affected me as a kid, but I think the mix of hilarity and disappointment that marks "Great Pumpkin" is something every kid can sort of relate to.

I got a rock, indeed.



4) Do the Time Warp



Ah, Columbia.

They're looking to remake The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I cannot imagine this movie without the original cast, but if they DO choose to do it, hopefully they can get Tim Curry to play The Criminologist.

5) Get Super-suit squared away.

Yup, I'll be the Man of Steel again this year. That costume wasn't cheap last year, and I'm not ready to go back to being Green Lantern again for Halloween.

6) Hang up decorations

Due to our displacement, we haven't managed to get the decorations out yet for Halloween. Maybe on Sunday.

7) Watch a full-length scary movie or ten

We watched Ghost Hunters last night to get in the spirit, but we haven't gotten around to a scary movie yet...



8) Decide on Halloween candy for the kiddies

This is always a much bigger deal than it sounds. We have to figure out how much we want to pay for, and this year, I'm assuming we'll have a ton of kids with Halloween landing on a Friday. We'll probably do a mix of chocolate and sugary-type stuff, and be more sparing in how much we give out.

9) Consider hitting 6th Street Halloween



If you haven't been... it's usually 80,000 people who mill about, with a sort of informal constant circling of a blocked off portion of the street. It's a lot of people watching.

You see all manner of costumes, from the incredibly elaborate to the frat boys who get drunk and show up wearing saran-wrap diapers (that was Halloween 1996, if memory serves). My favorite is still the guy who came as the Grim Reaper, stood about nine feet tall, and would just point at random people as he passed by. Truly creepy.

It's been probably 10 years since I've been down there on Halloween. I miss it, but I also don't know if I want to go downtown in a Supersuit.

10) Invite Apartment-Dwelling pals down to hand out candy

If anyone wants to help us hand out candy this year, we'd love to have you. Maybe we can have an impromptu Halloween party of sorts?

Just wear a costume and come hang out. It'll be fun.

8 comments:

JAL said...

Target has fog machines for $17... $17 for a fog machine. What red-blooded American boy can say "no" to that? Not this one. These appear to be the same $30 fog machines one can buy at Party City, just reboxed.

I think a continually low-lying fog would give you a very Fortress of Solitude sort of vibe throughout the house. Just something to consider.

It will also give Mel and Lucy a much deserved sense of drama as they walk around.

The League said...

See, you and I can see the magic of a $17 fog machine, but, sadly, Jamie often lacks the vision for such opportunities.

Meredith said...

Now that fog machine is a good idea....with three boys under the age of 6 I have a feeling it would definitely be a hit at our pad. Thanks for the heads up. Wait, though, didn't you do a post boycotting Target not too long ago? Just wondering. Not that I'd DARE return a fog machine if purchased there...just saying.

And if we were in town, we'd bring our goblins by to trick or treat, but alas, we'll send pics to you of our Justice League in the making. If you had worn a life sized Supersuit, they would have passed out cold on your doorstep. No lie.

Michael Corley said...

I too feel very strongly that Halloween is a month long holiday, one to squirm into with bags of guts in hand.

This year we're going to the Disney World celebration. Then I'm going to tell scary stories to children and give them nightmares. Fun!

The League said...

I was only boycotting Target for purchase of DVD's and media. Everything else is fair game (I did buy Halloween flask there marked "poison"). If you can find one of those fog machines, the boys will go nuts!

I wasn't too surprised that most kids didn't know who Superman was last year. I'm hoping Superman Returns on DVD will help some this year. The dads were the ones who liked the suit the most.

I was at Disneyland before Halloween a few years ago and they had turned the Haunted Mansion into a "Nightmare Before Christmas" themed ride. Huge fun.

And, Michael, I still recall how you terrified the employee's kids at the Jester Halloween candy give-away. Be nice.

Laetitia said...

Halloween is my FAVORITE American celebration. I love it!!! Glad to see you guys like it too!

The League said...

Please feel free to partake in the kiddie side of Halloween by coming to our place to pass out treats and watch an Evil Dead movie or something.

But you and JG will have to wear costumes.

J.S. said...

Man, we really need to try to go see Rocky Horror very soon at the Alamo.