The Ghost of Halloween Past

This Halloween season has caused me to reflect on Halloweens long ago when my father would turn the Smith residence into a fabulous haunted house. Trick-or-Treaters would wait in line for the privilege of entering. It started small and then grew year by year. I believe the witch vacuum was the first creation, followed by many additions, including the Tesla coil that shoots out purple lightning, Jacob's Ladder, the talking skeleton (who was usually dressed as Norman Bates' mother, but had at least one appearance as a cyclist on the roof with E.T.'s head in the basket), Fred the Head, who's mouth moved in time to a recorded voice, Frankenstein, who would rise up on the chiropractic table, Marie Antoinette and a bloody guillotine, The Phantom of the Opera playing the old organ, a dummy who fell out of the attic, and the list continues. Scary Halloween music would blare through the outdoor speakers to attract visitors. Needless to say, our Halloweens growing up were great fun. Sometimes we were allowed to help and bring friends to help as well. It made Halloween so much more exciting than just going Trick-or-Treating. I'm grateful for my dad's creativity, and we are the only family I know who has LITERAL "skeletons in the closet".

Here are our carving adventures this year:

Yes, for you observant ones, that is a "KISS" inspired jack-o-lantern created right out of Ray's brain, and James' shorts are on backwards.