“Where there is no imagination there is no horror.”
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Pumpkin carving is a time-honored Halloween tradition. Over the years the pumpkins carved by millions of people have transformed from simple jack o’lanterns into beautiful works of art.
Here are just a few that I found on-line that I believe are absolutely amazing.
Hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween.
Shine On
“If ever there was a holiday that deserves
to be commercialized, it’s Halloween.
We haven’t taken it away from kids.
We’ve just expanded it so that
the kid in adults can enjoy it, too.
Cassandra Peterson
I’ve always enjoyed Halloween. I think that it’s one holiday where young and old can enjoy dressing up in their favorite fantasy outfit and not be ridiculed. What day of the year allows you to do that?
One year in particular I remember when I was in the eighth grade. It was the year my brother was shot while on tour in Vietnam. He was shot in the upper thigh and thankfully he returned home and was living with us while he recuperated. Because he was in a cast up to his waist, he volunteered to stay at the house and give out candy. So, all of us left the house just before dark with our friends to trick or treat in the neighborhood.
A few hours later we decided we had enough candy and headed for home. As we came up the street to our house, there was a line of kids to our front door. We walked past the kids to our front door to see what all the commotion was. To our surprise, my brother had dressed up as a very scary mummy, and was scaring all the little kids in the neighborhood.
There were so many trick or treaters that year, my mom had to run out twice to get more candy. We became the talk of the neighborhood that year. Even at school the next day, I remember kids I didn’t know talk about the scary mummy guy they saw the night they were trick or treating.
Shine On
“Due to my strong personal convictions,
I wish to stress that this film in no way
endorses a belief in the occult.”
Michael Jackson
There are about a dozen top Halloween songs that have been hits in the last five decades. One has stayed at number one since its release back in 1982.
That would be Michael Jackson’s Thriller album and song which is still the number one selling album in history, as well as the most-downloaded Halloween-themed hit of all-time, with digital sales to-date of $3.4 million, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
A great Halloween party just wouldn’t be complete without the song Thriller.
Shine On
“When I hear Monster Mash on the radio,
I hear a cash register ringing.”
Bobby Pickett
Halloween wouldn’t be Halloween without music. One of my favorites is Bobby Pickett’s Monster Mash which he co-wrote and performed first in 1962.
Robert George Pickett was an American singer who found fame under the name Bobby “Boris” Pickett. He was born in Somerville, Massachusetts on February 11, 1938. His father was a theater manager, and as a nine-year-old Bobby enjoyed watching horror films. He would later incorporate impressions of them in his Hollywood nightclub act in 1959.
Monster Mash was a spoof on the dance crazes popular at the time, including the Twist and the Mashed Potato, which inspired the title. The song featured Pickett’s impersonations of veteran horror stars Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi (the latter with the line “Whatever happened to my Transylvania Twist?”).
Most of us are familiar with the song, Monster Mash but most aren’t familiar with the song writer, Bobby Pickett.
Shine On
“And the seasons, they go round and round,
And the painted ponies go up and down.
We’re captive on the carousel of time.”
Joni Mitchell
Life is like a carousel
That spins within our life
And we are only passengers
Riding along up and down
While the world spins slowly around
Life is such a carousel
Brilliant colors, shiny objects
For all to see and touch
Music from every style and range
For all to hear and love
Life was once a carousel
For all the young and old
No worries or cares
Just simple joys
Love once made our world go around
Life is just a carousel
With all it’s ups and downs
You must hold on
Until the ride is over
And then you must step down
By: J R
Shine On
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