Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I Love About Halloween:

1. Rereading scary books, like The House With the Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs, which terrified me as a kid.

2. Costumes! More excuses to dress up (and not have people look at you funny)!

3. The photography of Simon Marsden.

4. Decorating! Even though I’m not really doing any this year, I had a blast helping Morgana. A corollary to this is shopping for more decorations!

5. My Goth stuff doesn’t look out of place.

6. I’m not a big candy person, but I’m happy it’s an excuse for everyone who is, to pig out. And I have in fact been known to get absolutely bizarre under the influence of candy corn.

7. It’s a time to honor and remember those who have gone on before us. I often think of my grandparents, aunt and uncle, etc., but this is a chance to sit and reflect on what they’ve passed on to me.

8. As much as I get grumpy about the older kids who don’t bother with a real costume and just expect candy, I just adore seeing the little kids all dressed up and nearly speechless with excitement.

9. I get to tell the story of my worst Halloween ever, when my sister dressed me as a dice and I spent the entire night in fear of being dropped on my head. (Apologies to my mother, whom I blamed the costume on for years.)

10. I get to tell the story about how every year, I’d bite the white part off the top of a candy corn, hold it out in my palm, and say “Mom, I broke a tooth!”—and every single year she would believe me.

11. An excuse to watch Practical Magic, one of my favorite movies!

12. Releasing my inner purple:


13. It’s a time for analyzing the past year, looking ahead to the next, and celebrating the Turning of the Wheel. Happy New Year, everyone!