plonq | Kandy for Kids

We had a good turnout last night. I didn't count, but I'd guess that we got between 30 and 50 kids (probably closer to the former than the latter). That's about as many as the past two Halloweens combined. Weather definitely played a big part in the turnout; we couldn't have asked for a more pleasant night. It was clear, cool, and still.

I wore the same "mister death" costume again this year, with the pulsing red eyes. The only change was a dagger that I clutched to my chest for most of the night. I couldn't see much through the mask, but it was fun hearing people speculate on whether I was real, or a mannequin. One teen cautiously approached me and poked me a couple of times with his finger before jumping back and saying, "Oh shit, it's real!" There were two or three young 'uns who were too afraid to enter our yard, but for the most part the older kids and adults were more afraid than the young kids were.

One brave young lad of about 4 or 5 came into the yard far enough to chastise me.

"I'm not afraid of you! You don't scare me!" I wriggled my fingers on the dagger, and he suddenly realized that I wasn't a stuffed dummy. "Eek! It moved! You don't scare me! I'm brave! You don't scare me you big meanie!" I leaned forward slightly for a closer look. "Shriek! You big meanie! I'm not scared of you. Come here and I'll fight you. I'll punch you because I'm not scared of you!" I waggled a disapproving finger at him. "Eek! You don't scare me at all! I'm not scared!"

He was so distracted that he never actually made his way up to the nice lady who was giving out candy. I felt bad about that, because I think the spunky little guy deserved a double helping.

Apparently the neighbour's house was even scarier, though. He was decked out as a zombie, and he shambled around handing out candy to the kids. I overheard a few folks comment on how ours was by far the scariest street in the area. w00t. We may have rendered a few kids incontinent, but I don't think we left any permanent psychological scars.