Hangin' On Halloween, Willoughby Style

In past years, Halloween wasn't much of a family event because I would be home by myself handing out candy while Mr. Willoughby took one or both of the kids trick or treating.  Yesterday, though, we were able to spend it together.  Of course, my son hasn't gone trick or treating in years, but this year, my daughter decided she was too old to go, too.  She said she would rather stay home and help hand out the candy.  When we weren't able to change her mind, we made the decision to decorate like crazy so we could all get involved and have fun.  We didn't exactly have a theme, but we knew we wanted to make it a little scary.

Usually, we decorate the front porch and that's where I hand out candy.  This year, we wanted to try something a little different and have the trick or treaters come to the back yard.  We live on a corner and have an arbor with a gate that opens to the sidewalk; the perfect place for handing out candy.  We lit a fire in the fire pit and cranked up some Halloween music, so it was the perfect place to hang out, too.  To keep anyone from coming to the front door, we roped off the entire front yard with "Danger" tape and hung a sign with an arrow that said "Ghosts and Ghouls and Treats Await, Around the Corner at the Haunted Gate".

  We draped the arbor with Halloween lights.

And added a greeting to the gate.

   There were some surprises in the windows that face the sidewalk. 

Ghosts and bats hung from fishing line across the yard.  The wind kept them fluttering all night long.

A strange glowing liquid sat on the patio table.

There were some scary pumpkins leading the way to the Haunted Gate.

 Karen Cooper from Night of the Living Dead.

Frankenstein

 A creepy skull.

 Jack Torrance from The Shining.

Dr. Bernardi from The Twilight Zone.

We also made a stuffed dummy and hung him from the tree next to the arbor.

 He looks pretty real, doesn't he?

We rigged him to dance to music.  See for yourself.

Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to rotate the video!

I'm sure you've guessed that it's not a dummy.  It's my son (with a nylon stocking over his face).

And yes, that's me laughing at the end.

He was hanging from a climbing harness so he was in

no danger of falling and huring himself.

He scared and amused lots of trick or treaters.

You want to know what question he was asked the most?

"How's it hanging?"

I hope you had a great Halloween, too!!



Willoughby