Weekly Blog October 29th, 2017: Halloween

Hello Internet!

Did I scare you? Well don’t’ worry because that will be my only poor attempt at a jump scare in this Weekly Blog…or will it? [Insert Spooky Laughter here]. First of all I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend before Halloween. I know that there are tons of places holding their annual Trick-or-Treating today, so make sure you have candy unless you want eggs thrown at your house. Also I don’t want to pass judgement on anyone, but if you are handing out healthy treats like apples or oranges or worse…dental floss and toothbrushes…you’re practically asking to get some eggs thrown at your front door or your trees covered in toilet paper. Just go out and buy some candy like a normal person, and please not that old people candy. You know what I’m talking about. Just don’t do it. If you want to be the favorite house in town, go out and buy some full-sized candy bars. Children will love you! You can thank me later. Or just a like and comment down below thanking me for my wise advice. That will be thanks enough!

Speaking of thanks, I want to thank everyone who is reading this Weekly Blog right now. Thank you! I want to welcome back any longtime readers of my stuff and welcome any newcomers who might have stumbled upon this Blog because you searched “Halloween” on WordPress. I really appreciate all the support through your views, likes, comments, and shares. I’d also recommend checking out the Website and spending a little time on there checking out the other stuff I’ve written. This week has been full of spooky stories, so maybe those will interest you. The usual schedule is Weekly Blogs on Sundays, New chapters of Pokemon Fanfiction on Wednesdays, and Writing Prompt inspired pieces on Fridays with a poetry and other pieces scattered in between. Yesterday I published part 1 of a short story I’ve written about Zombies which can be found here, so if that’s your kind of thing, give it a shot. I’m sure you’ll like it. Part 2 will be coming out tomorrow so keep an eye out for that!

As you can tell from the Header Photo, Blog Title, and my long intro, this week’s topic is all about Halloween or All Hallow’s Eve as some people might say when they are trying to be pretentious at a Halloween Party dressed as a character from Rick and Morty. (Yeah we get it, you’re Pickle Rick…hilarious). I am a big fan of Halloween, but not compared to some people. Some people live for Halloween. It’s like as soon as a single leaf falls off a tree, it’s Halloween. October is Halloween month just like December is Christmas month. People go crazy for Halloween. This is not me hating on it either. I love how passionate people get with their costumes. Between this and things like Comic-Con, I think some people probably spend the entire year and all their money making awesome costumes or buying stuff. Also people’s make up skills and sewing skills blow me away. Then there’s couple costumes, group costumes, and costumes for babies! All of it makes me so happy.

I on the other hand only have two costumes which I use for Halloween (and Cons). I have an Ash Ketchum costume which is partly made and partly bought. I bought two dress shirts: one a long-sleeved blue shirt and the other a short-sleeved white shirt. Then I had my Grandma (shout out to my Grandma!) switch the sleeves so I had a blue shirt with short, white sleeves. Then I bought the hat and gloves off of Etsy. Match that with blue jeans, a black t-shirt, gym shoes, and stuffed Pikachu and you have Ash Ketchum from the popular Television series Pokemon (Specifically the outfit he wears at the beginning of the show). My other costume I have is a Captain America costume that I kind of threw together. I have a t-shirt that makes me look like I have abs (similar to this shirt), a long-sleeved blue sweatshirt, Boy Scout Pants, Hiking Boots, WWII-style Brown Leather Jacket (which belonged to my Great Grandfather who actually fought in World War II), and finally a Captain America Shield I bought from a Halloween Store. That’s right. This isn’t some tiny shield that I bought from Walmart. This is a large Halloween Store shield made from a hard plastic. Basically it’s a WWII-era Captain America without the fancy helmet. So yeah that’s my two options. Ash Ketchum or Captain America. Now this year I was going to go as Ash Ketchum for Halloween since I was Captain America last year, but it’s cold and a short-sleeved, lightweight shirt does not do well in cold. Like seriously, I’m pretty sure the only reason Ash didn’t freeze to death was because he had Charmander following him around. So since it’s supposed to be cold, I’m going to go with Captain America and the comfy layers it provides.

I’m excited to fully immerse myself in the Halloween festivities including dressing up in my costume and eating Halloween Candy. I’m a little old to Trick-or-Treat, but I’m the perfect age to buy my own candy from a store. It’s super convenient. Plus I’ll be hanging out with friends and family and of course, they’ll have candy. There will be so much candy and I love it! Now I know that another Halloween tradition is watching scary movies. I for one do not take part in those traditions. I hate scary movies. Honestly, I could do a whole Weekly Blog post about Horror Movies and my dislike for them, but I’ll just summarize that I don’t like them. The whole adrenaline rush thing that people get from Horror Movies is not the same for me. It’s not like roller coasters. I understand the thrill of roller coasters and I even like thrill rides. Horror Movies only cause terror and I’m not a fan.

Another tradition which is popular around Halloween is Haunted Houses/Farms/Caves/Bogs/Forests/Dessert/Iceberg/Sewer/Field of Flowers. Ok that was a little hyperbolic, but you get the point. People like going to Haunted places for scares and anxiety. Again this is something that I’m not a huge fan of. That being said, I do have some great memories of me and my friends going to a Haunted Cave together and singing Lady Gaga in line before we entered the cave. It’s a mixed bag, really. The Haunted House areas for me are kind of scary and kind of lame. I mean when you really think about it, it’s just people dressed up in masks and make up and probably getting paid in pizza and “experience.” It’s all fake. Yeah Horror Movies are fake too, but through the magic of cinema, it seems so real. The jump scares and the scary music in the background. So scary. Haunted Houses don’t really have that. They try to recreate the cinematic magic, but ultimately it falls flat. That being said, I recently heard of Blackout Haunted Houses (website found here) which apparently cranks the Horror up to 11 and there’s nudity and you have to sign a waiver before you participate. They literally give you a safe word to shout just in case things get too scary or two intense. Nope. Nope. Nope nope nope. No thank you! I’m staying away from that. But if that’s your type of thing, check it out and then write a Blog Post about it so I can read about the experience and confirm all the fears I already have.

So there’s all of that. I think I covered all the spooky and scary things I love and hate about Halloween. Hopefully you enjoyed that Weekly Blog all about the spookiest night of the year. If you did like it, feel free to give it a like or leave a comment down below. Maybe you can tell me what you are dressing up as this year for Halloween, you’re favorite Halloween candy, or your experience with Haunted Houses or Horror Movies. I’d love to read all of it. Also if you liked this Weekly Blog, feel free to spend some time on the website checking out other Blogs. If Blogs aren’t your thing, there are plenty of other pieces on the website. I’ve been writing spooky stuff all week so maybe that will peak your interest.

Thank you for going on that spooky journey with me and I hope you have a Happy Halloween!

-Allen_The_Writer

Header Photo Credit to University Place
https://www.universityplaceorem.com/events/howling-halloween/

Adorable Ghost comes from Clip Art Library
http://clipart-library.com/clipart/1725412.htm