smacky and bucky

Halloween was uneventful. It didn't look like we'd get many trick-or-treaters, when none had arrived by 7. But a car pulled up in front of our house and about 15 kids in costume climbed out of the back seat. It looked like a clown car in the circus. I think parents brought them to the suburbs from an apartment complex. I ended up giving out all of the candy by the end of the evening, and ten Star Wars Pez dispensers.

Costumes ranged from Pirate (quite a few of them) to Power Ranger. Cutest costume award is a tie between the little boy in a full Spider-Man costume that said "Happy birthday, Spider-Man!" when I opened the door, and the three-year-old girl in the witch costume that silently held out her bag (which was snapped shut). I opened it for her and poured a lot of candy in, then picked up her little pointed hat and put it back on her head. Cutie!

The award for most awkward moment goes to the two girls who came to the door together, somewhere between age 13 and 16 (tough to tell with the heavy make-up). One was dressed like a cop, and the other was dressed like a firefighter, except for the tiny skirts, halter tops, and three-inch heels. Yeah, they were dressed in stripper costumes.

Maddie poked her head around the door and peeked out, and the "cop" stripper said, "I see you have a Halloween cat." (Who talks like that?) It made the scene even more awkward. I just said, "Yeah," and gave them candy, shutting the door quickly so no one would think I was staring at them as they walked away. Sheesh.

At 8, as planned, I was out of candy, so I turned off all the lights and turned on Texas Chainsaw Massacre on cable. I had never seen the entire movie, and it deserves its reputation as a very scary movie. It's hardly gory at all, but it's damn creepy. Every scene is uncomfortable. Even before anything bad happens, there's a feeling of impending doom. It could have something to do with the fact that the title of the movie contains the words chainsaw and massacre, but it also has to do with the camera shots. The camera just lingers on everything. No quick MTV-style jump cuts to create false terror.

By the way, the award for most persistent child goes to the one that knocked on my door repeatedly at 8:30, even though all the lights were out. He may also get the award for dimmest kid. I think the first rule of trick-or-treating is only go to houses with the front light on. The second rule being don't eat homemade food, even if you know the person giving them out. The nice old lady may have taken the opportunity to poison the children with her popcorm balls. Ew. The third rule this year seemed to be: You're not too old to trick-or-treat until YOU feel too old to trick-or-treat. But I have the uncomfortable feeling that those two stripper girls were just stockpiling candy for later, when they return from the bachelor party they had been booked for.