Former Dorke Horde and League of Extraordinary Blogger Trash Man
sits in for a spell this evening.
sits in for a spell this evening.
Tell the home audience a little about yourself.
Do you have a particularly fond/funny/scary Halloween story?
Probably my favorite Halloween was the last one spent going out "trick-or-treating" with a group of friends. We deemed ourselves too cool and too old to take it all seriously, so threw on whatever we could find and hit the streets. Random hockey-masks, plastic vampire teeth, someone was wearing a black cape, I think. Five kids with shitty mash-up "costumes", still enticed by the idea of free candy, who wanted nothing more than to hang out and have a good time. We stayed out late, walked from one end of town to the other, and just enjoyed being care-free kids on the verge of adolescence.
What was Halloween like in your neighborhood as a kid?
I grew up on the South Shore of Massachusetts, in a suburban town with a population of about 12,000. It really was almost a stereotypical small-town back in the '80s, all tightly-knit neighborhoods and friendly faces. The kind of place you could safely spend all night going from house to house, greeted with smiles and Snickers bars at nearly every door you knocked on. The weather always seemed perfect for the time of year, too. Brisk winds kicking up fallen leaves, cool but not too cold.
Any favorite costumes from past Halloweens?
I have a notorious history full of awful costumes; lots of cheap, store-bought junk that reflected whatever pop-cult icon I was obsessed with at the time. Based entirely on nostalgia, and a love for both G.I.Joe and professional wrestling, let's say it was the Ben Cooper-produced Sgt. Slaughter mask and smock I wore when I was five. (It was.)
How do you do to celebrate Halloween night today?
I try to spend the night with friends, a ton of junk food and a stack of VHS/DVDs. There are years where I roll solo, but guarantee that while I'm waiting for neighborhood kids trick-or-treating to knock on the door, I'm gonna be filling myself with candy and watching Ghoulies II (1988). Or, well, something as equally as trashy.
Do you have any yearly rituals?
The entire month of October is usually spent surrounding myself with anything remotely Halloween-y. If there's orange and black, witches, skeletons, wolfmen or pumpkins involved, well, I'm a total sucker. From watching horror flicks, eating bowls of Count Chocula, or haunting my local thrift shops in search of ghoulish goods, I love it all.
Any specifc movies in the holiday rotation?
I try to keep things fresh, watching a variety of movies [though all appropriately horrific] that I may have missed out on over the years or that I am just now discovering. My one "must-watch" program is the annual airing of It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on our local ABC affiliate. I'm pretty sure my entire holiday would be ruined without it.
What do you think it is about Halloween that keeps it in our hearts as we get older?
More than any other holiday, Halloween feels totally geared towards kids. It's a day to celebrate the macabre, everything spooky-scary, but in a light-hearted fashion. And no wonder it appeals to those of us who still like to act childish; affording us the opportunity to set aside responsibilities and troubles for a day, morph back into those simpler times filled with candy and costumes and scary movies.
Inside the Spooksters' Studio
The worst thing to get while trick or treating was Sun-Maid Raisins.
My favorite thing to get was Fun-Sized Baby Ruths and Butterfingers.
Thanks for partying with us and the awesome retro photos!
Where can people find you online?
Where can people find you online?
Before you head off to your next house, swing by Halloween Mixes.
They're posting a themed mix album every day of the month!
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