Skip to content

Cart

Your cart is empty

Article: Family Halloween Traditions

Black Sabbath

Family Halloween Traditions

Growing up in a theater family meant that Halloween was a pretty big deal at my house. I mean it - one year the makeup and wardrobe department of my parents' theater was called in to help with my costume (I was McCavity the Mystery Cat from Cats, and I really wanted the costume to be authentic).  And because of this, it was one of my favorite holidays (although, to be honest, I think I loved every single holiday when I was a kid).

Even when I was a little kid, I liked to be frightened. So during October, my Dad and I would usually watch a few scary movies together and we would turn off all the lights in the house to enhance the eeriness. One movie we all had to watch every year was Halloween is Grinch Night, which was a TV movie starring The Grinch, whom most people know from his Christmas movie only. But this one puts him in a much spookier setting (not too spooky; it is a cartoon after all). The whole thing is on Youtube, if any of you would like to make it one of your family traditions.

A few days before Halloween, we would all go pumpkin shopping at our local pumpkin patch. I would peruse the aisles of orange gourds, searching for the perfect canvas upon which I would carve my masterpiece. Once I found one (it was usually ginormous), my Mom and Dad would pick ones for themselves, and the following night we would carve. I would draw the scariest face possible and then my Dad would help me cut out the pieces. My Mom always roasted the pumpkin seeds after, which is one of my favorite fall snacks. Then we'd set them out on our porch, light ‘em up and bask in the glow of our artwork.

Halloween night started out with my Mom putting on Young Frankenstein, her favorite Halloween movie. All the neighborhood kids would come over to my house, because it was like Halloween Headquarters. My Mom would make a bunch of food and set it out buffet style for the kids and their parents to eat before heading out to Trick or Treat. She would also put out dry ice and play the same "eerie sounds" CD every year (EVERY year. She still has it, actually!) to make our front porch extra scary.

I still love Halloween, and even though I don't go trick or treating anymore, and don't have a porch to put scary pumpkins on, I do get dressed up (and I still watch Halloween is Grinch Night every year!).

Have any little ghosts that need to be quieted? Try these not-so-scary Rockabye Baby releases!

027297969629 027297962521 027297967823

Leave a comment

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

All comments are moderated before being published.

Read more

Arcade Fire

Why Canada Rocks

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! Did I ever mention that I'm a wannabe Canadian? I lived a glorious year and a half in Montreal some years back, traveled to Vancouver for Expo '84, got soaked by the f...

Read more
flea birthday

So You Think You Know Red Hot Chili Peppers – The Flea Edition

Our favorite funk-rock bassist, Flea, of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, turns 51 today! To celebrate, we're looking to gift one Red Hot Chili Peppers fan (specifically, a Flea fan) with a copy of Lull...

Read more