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When I was a kid, my family did a little special something for the trick or treating festivities that went on in our neighborhood. I remember the first year they did it, because even though I knew all about it, it scared the hell out of me, and added to the mix of my love of horror...and of Halloween. My Uncle is an artist, and he made this beautiful, incredibly horrifying devil's head mask out of papermache. It was about two feet in height, and wide enough so that when worn, it sat on the shoulders of a grown man. He had wired it with red light, with a cord that ran down to the hand with a switch at the end, so that the wearer could secretly operate the lights. My uncle, my dad, and a couple of other men from our neighborhood would take turns wearing the head, being "The Devil".
When trick or treaters rang our bell, they would be escorted into our house, with records (I'm dating myself: it was the 70's!) in the background playing monstrous music of chains dragging, screams, growls, etc, all the way downstairs to our darkened basement - to meet The Devil! You'd get down there, and it would be pitch black, and you were told to just wait, silently. All you could hear was the music, and then suddenly, slowly out of the blackness, The Devil would appear. I don't know how they did it but they amplified the voice, and the devil would talk to you and come toward you. We'd all stand there until we could take no more, and just run, screaming with terror up the stairs. That first year, I was so hysterical that, running up my own basement stairs (I mean I'm the kid who's house this is happening in, and I'm frantic!), I fell, and slipped through the stairs, cutting myself and once again back in the Devil's lair. My mother ran to help me up, and I was just scrambling, not caring about the cuts or the blood,o r anything else other than getting the hell out of that basement!! It is such a cool memory -But really, when you think of it, inviting children into the house to meet the Prince of Darkness?? Wonder how that would go over today.... those 70's were pretty innocent..!
I love Halloween. I actually live in a town where they love Halloween so much that the mainstreet is shut down for a big bash that people come from all over the world to attend. I will stop by of course, but have other plans as well. One thing I will be doing is going to a friend's house, where every year they add to, and set up their yard like a graveyard for trick and treats. They even have a real coffin, with someone dressed like a corpse laying in it.
I don't remeber which thread, but someone wrote about Gearge Romero's house this year in Pittsburg, and that sounds amazing!
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