Happy Halloween Everybody!

The big day is here at last, and I’m now ready. The only thing I wasn’t able to figure out was how to make my own fangs, but I guess that’s all right.

Since my friends were all either working or taking their kids around on Halloween this year, I gave up on the notion of having a party. Such affairs don’t seem to work out as well as when we were all in college—now we’re all working and have kids to think of, so things such as parties have to take the back seat. I should say that most of us have kids—Sam and I have a dog, and the only thing with her is that she has to go in the back yard while we’re handing out treats to the little ghosts, goblins, and witches who may show up. She got a cut little bandana from the kennel when we picked her up last week that is covered with pictures of ghosts and pumpkins and says “Boo!”

I’ve got plenty of scary music to play this evening, though I will most likely be watching Rosemary’s Baby or Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein tonight, or it might be Bram Stoker’s Dracula instead. We watched The Ninth Gate last night—a movie production which grows in my estimation each time I watch it. Since Roman Polanski produced and directed both Rosemary’s Baby and The Ninth Gate, I would say he knows what he’s doing.

I hadn’t decided what to do about my costume until just today. I finally settled on being a vampire, since I had the clothes and make-up for it. I didn’t have the hem in my black crushed velvet cloak, but I solved that by pinning it up. I have a long black satin slip that works fine as my vampire shift, plus a silver cord belt, black stiletto heels, and some black crystal earrings. Wearing glasses was not going to work, though, so I put in my contacts. I applied the very palest shade of foundation make-up I owned to my face, purple eye shadow, lots of eyeliner and mascara, bright red lipstick with loads of lip gloss, and dusted a huge amount of rouge on my upper cheekbones. The hair was easy: I just fluffed it up as high and wide as I could with my fingers until it stuck out all around my head. Gee, even without the fangs I look pretty convincing!

Earlier today I carved the jack o’lantern for the front porch. I decided to put some votive candles around out front, too, since it’s been raining today and candelarias were out of the question. I wish I’d gotten some dry ice for fog, but that’s okay—it gives me something to shoot for next year.

I have a bowl full of candy by the front door, ready and waiting, so bring on the kiddies! I’m looking forward to seeing who shows up at my front door!