While Halloween, for me, is about the more typical things like jack-o-lanterns, costumes, decorations, etc., it’s also about more obscure, seemingly unrelated/non-Halloween items, too. Over the years, I’ve developed very strong contextual Halloween connections to certain objects or experiences. These same objects, when viewed by someone else, would probably be seen as completely outside the context of Halloween.
In other words, if I told someone that teddy bears reminded me of October 31st (they don’t by the way, it’s just an example), I’d get the “he’s a weirdo look” pretty quickly if I didn’t do some additional explaining or provide a personal anecdote.
Below, you’ll find a list of ten things responsible for giving me that good Halloweenie feeling year round; despite the items’ purpose having absolutely nothing to do with Halloween.
1.) Duct Tape: It doesn’t matter if it’s October or May, duct tape will always feel like Halloween to me. Holding it in my hands and tearing off a strip sends the chill of a brisk fall day down my spine. This little miracle has been part of my Halloween prep for one purpose or another, during every yard haunt I’ve built over the last sixteen years. Nowadays, it’s used in copious amounts as a main ingredient for building my groundbreaker corpses.
2.) Roasting Chile: Living in the “Land of Enchantment,” you always know fall is arriving and harvest is upon us by the smell of chile roasting over an open flame. Practically everywhere you travel in New Mexico, during late August and September, the amazing scent of cooked pods hits your nostrils like an old friend paying a return visit. Many people also freeze roasted chile and cook with it throughout the year, so it’s pretty easy to relive fall even in the middle of winter. Ahh [inhaling], Halloween is near!
3.) Balloons in Flight: Similar to number two, this is a New Mexico “thang.” October always brings the International Balloon Fiesta to the state. Due to the time of year it’s celebrated, the sight of hot air balloons over Albuquerque has the means for getting my Halloween juices flowing. In fact, I saw three floating around yesterday morning on my way to town; suddenly, I was ready to start picking out my pumpkins.
4.) Predator: Okay, this one’s probably going to sound stranger than anything else on my list. Watching the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, “Predator” has become a Halloween tradition for me ever since 1995. In fact, it feels more like a Halloween film than the Michael Myers movies. Back in October of ’95, I visited the Spirit Halloween Store for the very first time; I remember it like it was yesterday.
During that trip, I picked up a “blucky” (plastic blow mold) skeleton. After leaving the Spirit store, I stopped off at the mall, where I purchased a VHS copy of Predator. I’ve been watching it (or trying to watch it) every October since. Whenever I find the movie on television, it reminds me of my first trip to Spirit Halloween.
5.) Black Trash Bags: Every time I use a black trash bag, it places me smack in the middle of Halloween ’95,’96 and ’97 again. Hours upon hours were spent cutting, crumpling and hot gluing those bags to the walls and ceilings of our haunted hallways of yore. I still have the hot glue scars on my hands and arms to prove it.
6.) Extension Cords: Whenever I’m using an extension cord, not a moment goes by when I don’t flashback to Halloween past. The official “extension cord box” sits in the garage, where it holds at least thirty-five various styles of cords and surge protectors, all measuring 25ft or longer. On Halloween night, cords are crisscrossed from one end of the yard to the other (and then buried in leaves) to power flood lights, foggers, stereo equipment and various other gizmos for haunting.
To crank up the porch’s creep factor, several cords are strung together and launched over the top of the roof, where they’re plugged into an outlet in the backyard, all for the purpose of running black lights and flaming cauldrons. Halloween creates quite a challenging menagerie of cord usage and requirements. So if you want to avoid hearing me sing Danny Elfman’s “This is Halloween,” you’d better keep me out of Home Depot’s extension cord section.
7.) Elmer’s Glue: This one goes hand-in-hand with duct tape. Ever since building my first paper mache groundbreakers in September and October of 2006, Elmer’s glue has become the scent of Samhain. Mind you, I don’t sit around sniffing it, not that it would get me high anyway since the main ingredient is water, but it sometimes can’t be helped when mixing up mache. I’d better stay away from building model airplanes then, huh? 
8.) Spencer’s Gifts: I purchased my first fog machine at Spencer’s during October 1996. To date, that fogger has been one of the best I’ve ever used. It actually did stop working after Halloween 2008, but it lasted longer and was built sturdier than any other fog machine I’ve owned. Because of that, I can never walk by or go inside Spencer’s Gifts without remembering all the cool Halloween stuff I bought there during the mid ‘90s.
9.) Sugary Breakfast Cereal: Anytime I eat super-sweet, sugary breakfast cereals (which isn’t very often), they remind me of The Monster Trio i.e., Count Chocula, Boo Berry and Frankenberry. Without a doubt, my largest intake of sugar comes during October of every year in the form of monster cereals and Halloween Egg Nog. During the remaining months, my diet stays extremely clean, save for the occasional splurge.
When I choose to snack, it’s usually a sugar fix in the form of Golden Grahams or some other sweet breakfast item. Considering the monster cereals are only available during Halloween (and the fact my diet is usually pretty strict), when I do indulge outside of October, my taste buds are immediately reminded of knocking back a bowl of Boo Berry flavored 2% milk.
10.) Johnny Hollow: If you remember my post pertaining to the game, “A Murder of Scarecrows,” then you’ll know where I’m going with number ten. A Murder of Scarecrows has become one of my favorite online games to play because of its scarecrow theme. In between working on the cornstalk portion of my haunt in ’08, I became a regular at trying to save the lives of my ‘crows. During game play, you’re serenaded by the somewhat dark and sullen, steampunk tones of Johnny Hollow. Ever since the 2008 haunt prep, I’ve used their music from time to time as a backdrop for my prop building.
And there you have it, ten of my non-Halloween themed, Halloween items and experiences. If you have anything you’d like to add to this list regarding your own items or experiences that aren’t associated with October 31st, yet they remind you of Halloween anyway, I’d love to hear about them.
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