Let the Halloween Festivities Commence!

This past weekend Halloween officially kicked off for me and my ladies. Halloween is hands down my favorite time of year, and lucky for me my ladies are equally smitten by it. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas with all the glitter and lights and baked goods, but there's always been something about Halloween that makes my heart happy. The carving of pumpkins, the scary movies, the scary attractions, getting wear glittery makeup, and dress like a total whore for a night and it not only be expected, but also encouraged. 


For most people Halloween is just one night. They throw on a sweater with a glittery pumpkin and a cat with an arched back, hang the required spider over their doorway,  and give out candy to kids when they come by. Amateurs. All of them. Halloween lasts the entire month of October, it starts with small things like cupcakes and ends in a huge party. 


So the official start to Halloween began this past Friday, I'm not counting baking as I'm fairly certain I'm the only one that counts that as a festivity. My ladies (Tara, Nassim, and Lay) and I piled up in Lay's car and drove a little over an hour away into Havloc, land of the Marine, to go to the Nightmare Factory. Oh yesss, the Nightmare Factory, 5 different creepy attractions for $25. Sign me up! When we went last year there was a Zombie Overlord hosting a costume contest, dancing in the streets, and wandering through the crowd in a classy suit. There was also Fuck You the clown who was naughty and vulgar and who quickly endeared himself to us all. This year when we went we were saddened to see that the economic recession has even been hitting zombies pretty hard and the Zombie Overlord was this year a hobo. Digging through garbage cans, begging for change, rolling around a shopping card, and even-bless his heart-wearing a mechanics onesie (gone was the classy suit). I think he even tried to kill himself by climbing on top of the information stand and (literally) belly-flopping onto the concrete sidewalk. Even for a zombie, that had to hurt. We were sad to not see Fuck You the clown anywhere roaming around, but then... I saw a guy that looked remarkably like Fuck You but he was speaking in a regular voice and wearing normal street clothes. As I am a pansy, it took Lay going up to him and saying "Hey! Are you Fuck You?" for us to get confirmation. I do believe that he was excited to be recognized, and everyone was curious about how I recognized him after only seeing him once, a year later and out of costume. And to that, all I can say is, if a person makes an impression on me, I'm probably going to remember you- and how can a clown shouting obscenities in your face not make an impression?


That was Friday, Saturday after Nassim and Sp8's celebration dinner, the ladies and I once again piled up in Lay's car (as Tara, Nassim, and I all have VW Bugs, we always use Lay's roomy G6 for trips), and this time drove to Faulkland to the Haunted Hay Ride there, run by Fireman. So the money goes to a good cause. Last year the highlight was a creepy little vampire girl screaming in Tara's face and me watching her hands itch to slap the kid but resisting and this one prisoner guy that kept running all around all the scenes and the tractor and being really spazzy, we dubbed him Steve-O. This year, I'm not sure if they purposely are trying to be campy and fun or if they really think it's scary? But it was a campy good time. Freddy Kruger suggested I change shampoos as his "really sharp" blades got caught in my hair as he was petting me and I found out Beetlejuice has a super boney butt as he kept sitting on my and Tara's lap. It was all in good fun, and we learned next year to go on a Friday night, bring a blanket, ask for a "no rules" trailer, and wear tennis shoes (as my flip-flops got my toes stompt on more than once). 


This Thursday we are going to the Clayton Fear Farm, it was a really good time last year, so we're hoping that this year it is just as good, if not better. That's not the mention the Saturday pig-picking at Sp8's dad's house with pumpkin carving, Ra Ra Riot the following Friday before Halloween, the big party at Tiebreakers on Saturday, and *maybe* a small Halloween dinner at my house the Sunday before Halloween, and then the actual low-key candy give out that is actually taking place on Halloween. 


October- my busiest month of the year. It takes all of November to recover before the December madness begins. 

Group shot!

You can't see him very well, but that's our Zombie Overlord that has fallen on hard times.

Lesley (Lay) with a tall drink of zombie, who she kept telling "You sound like you're from LONDON!"

Nassim swears the zombie lady was gentle with her chains, but she is giving her all, that is for sure.