Halloween Special

Trick or Treat?  Scorpio, ruled by Pluto (the planet of death and riches), is the sign that contains one of my favorite holidays, Halloween.  Not only is the death part fitting, but also the declaration of "trick or treat".  If a Scorpio went knocking on Halloween and the homeowner chose "trick", you can be sure that Scorpio will find a way to trick them for their audacity at not delivering a treat.

Without doing research, I've gathered that Halloween is a spin-off of The Day of the Dead and All Hallows Eve, which fall around this time (October 31st).  At least in America, it is a day for children to get dressed up in a costume and go door-to-door declaring "trick or treat?" and expecting to get treated.  It also may be known as "Mischief Night", as a day to toilet-paper, egg, and graffiti private and public property.  For college students, and who am I kidding...high school students, it's a time to dress slutty (for guys and girls) and party.  If it weren't for the Frankenstorm, you'd be sure to see tons of students dressed is slutty costumes today.  Because of the Frankenstorm, people like me settled on something warm and orange.

My celebrations for Halloween included going to see a scary movie, "The Cabin in the Woods", on Saturday evening, then going to two Halloween parties on campus, dressed as Minnie Mouse - I have a flapper costume, but chose not to wear it for convenience  I would have worn it today had it not been for the Frankenstorm.  Also, most nights since I've been back at college from Fall Break, I've watched a Halloween-themed movie, like "Coraline" last night.  We were supposed to have had a Trick-or-Treating in the dorms for professor's children last night, but the Frankenstorm prevented this.  Tonight I'm going to a reading of scary Classics stories in the Great Hall from 11:30pm to midnight.

Not only is Halloween surrounded by these celebrations, it is also a time to decorate.  I love decorating....  This year, I have three mini pumpkins around my hearth and desk, Halloween-themed movie posters I cut out of the New York Times hanging on my walls, some Fall themed decorative items I got from Michaels, a "boo" pillow, and a "boo" blanket - or so I call them.  The pillow and blanket are fleece with adorable white ghosts on them!  They are so soft and I love them!

Halloween is also a time for companies to make money.  Obviously this is a peak season for the candy companies.  It is also a good time for decoration and craft stores.  And, lots of TV channels can make special programming just for Halloween.  ABC Family did a 13 Nights of Halloween, Disney Channel does a theme for Halloween each year in the month of October, etc.  It also allows for TV show specials, like this week of "Once Upon A Time" featured Victor Frankenstein, which was pretty obvious from the time he said to Regina "I prefer Doctor" (not necessarily a direct quote, he said something along those lines).

My suggestions for enjoying Halloween are:  watch a scary movie (or at least "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" - which I'm so sad to be missing), carve a pumpkin (or at least paint a pumpkin), wear a costume (even if it's something stupid like a name card saying "Hi, my name is Mitt Romney"), and make traditions (I always watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and "Hocus Pocus").

Movie Suggestions:
- It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
- Hocus Pocus
- Scream (any of the four)
- Coraline
- The Haunting Hour:  Don't Think About It
- any scary or supernatural-themed movie goes
- any cutesy movie, like Charlie Brown, goes

Music Suggestions:
- Thriller
- Harry Potter's Double Trouble
- The Monster Mash

If you're throwing a party, spend the extra money on Halloween-themed cups, plates, napkins, etc.  It really livens up the party, even if it's just a Horror Movie party.

Just have fun and be safe!  Happy Halloween!