Halloween at Grandma’s ’09
October 15th, 2009 by John Wolfe
My grandparents are awesome for a lot of reasons, but the one specific characteristic that ties in with SOS is their love of decorating for Halloween. Ever since I was very young, my grandma has gone the extra mile to make Halloween and Christmas special at their home. As a kid, I can still remember those paper skeletons, vampires, and Frankenstein monsters (with the “pose-able” arms and legs) taped on every wall throughout the dining room and kitchen!
Honestly, it’s my grandmother’s love for all holidays that inspires her to decorate the interior. My grandfather, on the other hand, could care less about decking out the inside but he has always been extremely helpful when it comes to contributing both his time and supplies to my yard haunt. Speaking of which, there’s a few construction type things we’ll be working on in the coming days. I’m hoping to have my current groundbreaker finished by the 25th. The 26th and 27th will be an all-out marathon for painting both new props.
After that, it’s on to prepping the yard (e.g., testing lights, testing the webcam, preparing fog machines, gathering bags of leaves, etc.) getting out decorations, and carving jack-o-lanterns right up until Halloween night. So, I may miss several days blogging during Halloween week and into the first few days of November due to cleanup. On another note, I’m happy to announce the winners of the Darklore Manor CD contest:
Congratulations to Autumnforest of Phoenix, Arizona, David Hurst of Georgia and Ethan Black of Tennessee! And thanks to everyone else who participated. There’s still plenty of time to enter the current SkulBone Pumpkin Glow t-shirt contest. It closes on December 10th.
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October 15th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
I wish so much my grandparents had been around when I was growing up. My parents had me late in life and their parents had them late in life. Another reason not to have kids in your 40s! I imagine my grandparents from Norway and Sweden wouldn’t decorate and my Scottish grandparents were too frugal and lived up in the mountains, so they probably wouldn’t have either. I was lucky enough, however, to grow up in a haunted house–so every day was Halloween. You’re a very lucky person to have such an influence. People don’t realize how the little things they do can change the course of someone’s life by influencing them. Oh, and good luck with all the upcoming chores. Sounds really exhausting. I can relate.
October 15th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
John;
I just got the CD! Thanks soooo much! I’m writing the series of short horror stories for the rest of the month and having that playing in the background is just perfect. Hope all is going well with your Halloween props. I’m sure it’s going to be incredible.
October 16th, 2009 at 1:55 am
My grandparents were never involved in Halloween, but my parents are very helpful at times.
October 16th, 2009 at 11:49 am
Grandma Wolfe would LOVE my place!! Our taste in Halloween decor are very much alike
Oh, I happen to have a very happy baby on my lap who’s eyes are open wide watching you on your webcam right now. I’ve never seen him this calm and content staring hard at the laptop. You had the same effect on the girls too and that was pre-webcam
Look forward to seeing you this afternoon on webcam and I hope your able to get some good rest as Halloween approaches.
October 17th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
autumnforest,
I’ve definitely come to realize how lucky I am to have my grandparents in my life and I’m so thankful for it. I know many people were never fortunate enough to get to know their grandparents.
Speaking of the experiences during your youth — one of these days, I would love to hear more about the house you grew up in. Thanks for the well wishes. I know I’ll be running on almost no sleep again by the 30th and 31st. It’s cool, though; those two days (though hectic) are so much fun!
Glad to hear you got the CD. Hope it stimulates some really creepy writing.
Ethan,
That’s really good! As home haunters, it’s so nice when even one relative lends a hand. I would never get everything finished if it wasn’t for my family taking on a lot of the decorating during Halloween day.
Goldie,
Who would’ve thought the act of building corpses was soothing to babies and toddlers? LOL! Who needs bunnies, monkeys and dinosaurs in kids’ stories… just throw a corpse building video on the screen and the kids are good to go.
October 19th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Awwww… you made me miss my Grandparents so much with this post!!! I am so glad that you appreciate them as much as you do – it warms my heart, and makes me adore you all the more!!!
October 20th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Dixie,
Thank you. They’ve both been there for me through so much and I love ‘em like crazy. I hope you and your family have a spectacular Halloween! Are you gonna wear the Pumpkin Glow shirt?