Spaghetti-O's For Dinner And Other Scary Halloween Stories

As I mentioned in a recent post, I was a bit "follically challenged" as a baby and toddler. My older sisters took my very pale, very bald head as inspiration for my first Halloween costume. I was Casper the Friendly Ghost for Halloween when I was two and three years old. Oh sure, it was cute, appropriate to the holiday and I was too young to comprehend the underlying element of mockery.

My favorite preparation for the holiday was filling up the goodie bags when Mom would bring home the Halloween candy from the store. We were very generous treaters...I would pack the festively decorated paper sacks with six or seven tasty selections, and staple the bags closed so no treats would escape. I only stapled my finger once - a big "yea" for my amazing small motor skills! By the time I was six years old this task was exclusively mine and, as with all activities entrusted to me at that age, I took the responsibility very seriously!

Next came the Cinderella years. I must have gotten a couple years - at least - out of that costume! On that one especially I remember the way the molded plastic mask would stick in my mouth, and cut into the sides of my tongue when the temptation to stick my tongue through the slot inevitably became too strong to resist.

Last week I heard Rachael Ray say on 30 Minute Meals, one of her Food Network Shows, that her mother cooked a special meal for the family on Halloween. It was a very different situation at my house... Halloween was one of the very few nights that I didn't have a home-cooked meal. Halloween was Spaghetti-O's Night for this little Trick-or-Treater. If I may interject a personal query, "Whose disgusting idea was it to add those nasty "hot dog" slices to Spaghetti-O's?" Just the memory of those detestable discs floating around in my O's even now causes me to shudder more deeply than any horror movie I've ever seen! I remember very few other times that I ever ate a dinner that came in a can. I think the rationale was that if I waited to have dinner with the rest of the family, it would be too late to go out Trick-or Treating. So I was fed early and efficiently before donning my costume.

My mom sewed my next memorable costume. Mom was Matron of Honor at her sister's wedding when I was nine. There was gold satin fabric left over after Mom made her dress. She asked me if I would like to be a "Chinese Girl" for Halloween. She proceeded to sew me a fine little suit with a mandarin collar tunic and pull-on pants. She even added authenticity with black "frog" fasteners down the front. I was so excited to wear this elegant costume, but when I tried it on the night before Halloween, there was one dramatic inconsistency...my brownish blonde hair! Since it was already the night before Halloween, Mom would not have time to buy me a black wig. The errand was delegated to Dad who happened to be working the late shift the next day and would have time in the morning to run to the "Five and Ten" on Main street and find me a black wig. When I returned from school, Dad had left the bag on my bed. I opened it to find a black wig alright...a short, curly black wig! Desperate to look more "authentic" I put on the wig. I actually looked more like Jane Wyatt, who played the mother on Father Knows Best, than anyone native to the Continent of Asia, but what could I do? God bless Dad for trying, though...Halloween costumes were never his forte - that's ok, he was a man of many other talents!

One Halloween evening around this time Mom and Dad were at my sister Judy's apartment, so it was up to Grandma Bessie and I to pass out the candy. We attended to our doorbell duty faithfully until around 10 P.M. Grandma decided that it was time to turn off the front light and lock the door. Just then, the bell rang again. I reached the door first and there was a solitary figure standing there. He(?) was much taller than all the previous Trick-or-Treaters. I remember him(?) being abnormally tall. He(?) was dressed in very dark clothes - military-green khaki - is the color I recall. The hood of his(?) jacket was pulled over his head covering his(?) face to the point all that all I could see was a dark hole about three inches in diameter where I should have seen a face. He(?) didn't speak a word for what felt like minutes...he(?) just stood there, breathing heavily. Finally, he(?) held out his(?) bag. I think Grandma had just arrived as I was putting the candy in his(?) bag. She asked who it was, as we knew most of the local youngsters..."I don't know," I stammered. Then he(?) was gone. I never did discover the identity of the phantom Trick-or-Treater, and I've never forgotten the unsettling incident.

The next year I wore a really lame and odd costume. Someone with whom my mom worked told her he had a costume for me. It was a playing card...the Ace of Spades, which was worn like a sandwich board. Since I didn't have a better idea, I acquiesced. I have no other explanation... This was also the first year that my friend Elaine had her apres Trick-or-Treat soiree. By the end of the evening I hated my costume even more because of how unwieldy it was when I needed to use the bathroom!

My last year of Trick-or-Treating, when I was twelve, I went as "Bonnie" and my best friend Elaine went as "Clyde." This was by far my most creative costume, and the one in which I was most involved in putting together. I remember the beret I scrounged from the "broom closet" where all the family hats, gloves and scarves were stored. It was my first opportunity to wear glamorous makeup, too, which made it all the more exciting! We had recently seen the movie, Bonnie and Clyde, and I think we were both taken with the allure of them. One of Hollywood's most successful glamorizations of absolute, stone-cold brutality...Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty certainly made strong impressions on us. Faye continues to be one of my role models for graceful maturing.

The prize for most surreal Halloween goes to the one I spent in the rural community of Burlington, Colorado. I was invited to ride along with a Deputy Sheriff as he cruised around the county roads looking for mischief makers. It seems it was a popular Halloween prank to set bales of hay on fire in the middle of these back roads. We did happen on and extinguish a couple that night. It wasn't my idea of the perfect Halloween, but it sure beat staying home answering the door for the Trick-or-Treaters!

I cherish the memories I have of my Halloweens Past. They provide the mental ingredients to recapture some lovely childhood times, and bring old friends back into our hearts. Halloween, like all holidays, changes in experience and in meaning as we mature. Now, rather than becoming wrapped up in all the wonder and pretend, I pass out candy and wonder who all these children are at our door!