I believe it started in my early teen years one October. I was looking through the garage and found a very old prosthetic leg that somehow ended up in storage. I proudly planted that leg upside down in the garden in front of our house. Then I nailed two pieces of wood together, wrote "Danger - Quicksand" on my new sign and placed it near the leg. With that, my Halloween decoration obsession was born.
A 13-year-old's attempt at outdoor decorating can be pretty feeble. And although all my decorations have been very low-budget, my displays got more impressive over the years.
I did all kinds of things for my craft. I stole cornstalks from nearby farms. I made headstones out of huge pieces of styrofoam. I saved stacks and stacks of newspapers to crumple up, stuff inside some clothes, and bring dummies to life. Here's an old picture of my nieces and nephews surrounding one dummy.
And over the years, my displays became more elaborate. The neighbors loved it all. Even when it got a little grotesque. (I'm sure a few people were put off by the dummy impaled on a 25 foot pole in the front yard.)
But, like many childhood obsessions, my Halloween fixation has faded. I don't really care anymore. Perhaps I'll get back into one day if and when I have kids. I don't know. For now I can only muster up the energy to hang a skull from my rear-view mirror. It's a sad reminder of what I would have done years ago.
2 comments:
are you talking about that freaky skull with the long black hair that falls out? cuz that thing creeps me out.
i love halloween. not the decorating part as much as the getting dressed up part and eating a big bowl of candy.
mmm... good times
man. bummer.
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