“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who dream only at night.” ~Edgar Allan Poe
I watched Sleepy Hollow and remembered how my mother used to read us the Washington Irving story. Ah, fond childhood memories of getting the bejesus scared out of me. I love Halloween time.
I’m a little sad for the kids whose parents buy them Tim Burton’s movie instead of reading the original. Sure, it’s still a great story the way Tim tells it. But Johnny Depp is no Icabod Crane. Behold Washington Irving’s description:
He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together. His head was small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose, so that it looked like a weather-cock, perched upon his spindle neck, to tell which way the wind blew. To see him striding along the profile of a hill on a windy day, with his clothes bagging and fluttering about him one might have mistaken him for the genius of famine descending upon the earth, or some scarecrow eloped from a cornfield.
The story talks a lot about the woman he loved and his rival for her attention, Brom Bones:
He was foremost at all races and cock-fights; and, with the ascendency which bodily strength acquires in rustic life, was the umpire in all disputes, setting his hat on one side, and giving his decisions with an air and tone admitting of no gainsay or appeal. He was always ready for either a fight or a frolic; but had more mischief than ill-will in his composition; and, with all his overbearing roughness, there was a strong dash of waggish good humor at bottom.
Oh, Icabod, you never had a chance. The story leaves the cause of death ambiguous. Was it the headless horseman? Was it Brom Bones? Don’t ask Tim Burton. He’ll tell you a witch did it. Psh. Misogynist. (No, really, I like Tim Burton. Watch the YouTube. It’s good, and it’s got Vincent Price.)
MamaPeg is Watching You said,
October 15, 2007 at 11:01 am
Yes, but Johnny Depp is cute!
I love Halloween too. I didn’t decorate this year, but I think I might have to go home and dig out the ceramics and the gravestones.
julieluongo said,
October 15, 2007 at 12:57 pm
Maybe Adrian Brody would make a good Icabod. He might not be tall enough. David Schwimmer? He doesn’t have the nose for it. And he’s not skinny. I know, DJ Qualls. He’s perfect.
Jenn said,
October 15, 2007 at 1:17 pm
I love Johnny Depp, but hate scary movies, so I’ve never seen that one. Also, Halloween is my least favorite holiday. It didn’t used to be but I started hating it when kids started coming to the door demanding candy and not doing anything for it. When I was younger, we spent the month before Halloween learning songs in music class so we could sing for people when we went trick or treating. You either sang a song or told a joke or did something to earn your candy.
Today, kids think candy should be a reward for NOT egging your house or your car. And if you ask them what they’re going to do, they look at you like you’re insane. “Lady, I didn’t egg your property or TP your yard. Hand over the goods.” Yeah, no thanks. We leave the lights off and go out to dinner that night.
True story – friends of our were married in Sleepy Hollow on Halloween night a few years ago. It was a gorgeous wedding and the ceremony took place in an old, gothic looking stone church illuminated by candlelight. Really cool.
julieluongo said,
October 15, 2007 at 1:27 pm
It’s not trick FOR treat, it’s trick OR treat. That’s why they’re dressed in scary costumes. They’re threatening you.
Gary said,
October 15, 2007 at 2:34 pm
“Today, kids think candy should be a reward for NOT egging your house or your car. And if you ask them what they’re going to do, they look at you like you’re insane.”
Today? I’m 39 and that’s what it was like for me as a kid. We didn’t do tricks unless some weirdo made us do them for candy, so then we’d jump around like nuts until we got something. But this was extremely rare. Only very odd people would make us do tricks in order to get something. Usually the type that would give you pennies for Unicef.
julieluongo said,
October 15, 2007 at 2:45 pm
Yeah, those people were creepy. So were the old neighbors who smelled like booze. And the people who gave out popcorn balls.
In my neighborhood, there were lots of big, old houses and the one guy used to dress up as a butler. He’d open the door and escort us down the hall to a table where there were candy bars on a silver platter. He’d pick up the platter and offer it to us. That was one of my favorite places.
lyd said,
October 15, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Vincent Price IS Halloween (that’s a great youtube jule!)
julieluongo said,
October 15, 2007 at 2:58 pm
I know! Didn’t you just love him? He did the voice over for Vincent in 1982, which had to be at the beginning of Burton’s career. So, it was pretty cool of Vincent to do a short film with a new director.
Jenn said,
October 15, 2007 at 3:41 pm
So am I the only one that remembers learning all these little Halloween songs that people thought were cute? Jesus, where did I grow up – the Stepford village?
Jenn said,
October 15, 2007 at 3:54 pm
I do have one Halloween story that puts a little joy into my cold, cold heart. The house across the street from my parents used to belong to a very nice old couple. After they died, their grandaughter, her boyfriend (husband? I was never sure if they were actually married) and their two small girls moved in. Nicki and Alex. Nicki I’m guessing was about 3, Alex a little older. All day, every day, all you would hear coming from that house was “Nicki, stop that. Alex, behave yourself. Stop it, Alex. Put that down, Nicki. Nicki. Nicki. Alex, Nicki, Nicki, Alex, Alex, Alex, Alex, Nicki….” You get the point. Alex was a total brat – mouthy, hyperactive and rude, everything that I hate about children. Nicki was well on her way to being her clone. I used to love when it got too cold to leave windows and screendoors open just to have a little peace and quiet.
So it rolls up on Halloween one year. My brother loves Halloween. LOVES IT. He goes all out decorating and has even built a full size replica of a coffin. He does all kinds of spiderwebs and creepy lighting on the front porch, and even has a soundtrack of spooky music playing. Nicki and Alex have been out trick or treating in their princess get ups, and these kids are loaded with sugar. Their mother is on her litany of Nicki and Alex stop that, stop acting up, behave, etc. Alex comes tearing up the lawn, but stops short of the two steps up to the front porch, not sure what to make of all the decorating. I’m in the living room, just inside the front door. The lights are off and I can see outside. She stands for a second and her mother prompts – “Go up and ring the bell.” She comes stomping up the steps and just as she hits the porch, my brother pops out of the coffin, dressed in full on Crypt Keeper costume and yells RAAAAAAAAWWWWEEEEEERRRRRRR!!! Really loud.
The kid makes this god awful high pitched scream, turns around, bolts down the stairs, across the lawn and halfway up the street before her mother can catch her. She brings her back down the street crying and whining and drags her into the house. For the rest of the time the kid lived there, she wouldn’t even look across the street, let alone cross it.
Yes, I think it’s funny to scare small bratty children.
julieluongo said,
October 15, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Scarred for life by Jason. She probably hates those Halloween movies.
And you might not have been in Stepford Village, but you did grow up in a coal town of cookie-baking, god-fearing people with traditional values.
Gary said,
October 15, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Halloween songs? You’re kidding.
Jenn said,
October 16, 2007 at 12:01 am
Yeah, that I did.
Gary, we not only had songs, we had jokes too.
Black cat, black cat
Looking for a witch.
All around the
Night is dark as pitch.
You can see because
Your eyes are greee.
Black cat, Black cat
This is Hallowe’en!
Five little pumpkins
Sitting on a gate.
The first one said,
“Oh, my it’s getting late!”
The second one said,
“There are witches in the air!”
The third one said,
“Well, I don’t care!”
The fourth one said,
“Let’s run and run and run!”
The fifth one said,
“I’m ready for some fun!”
Ooooo went the wind
And out went the lights
And the five little pumpkins
Rolled out of sight.
Why was the skeleton afraid to cross the road?
It had no guts.
Why do witches use brooms to fly on?
Because vacuum cleaners are too heavy
What is a vampire’s favorite holiday?
Fangsgiving
What does the papa ghost say to his family when driving?
Fasten your sheet belts
What do zombies like to eat at a cook out?
Halloweenies
julieluongo said,
October 16, 2007 at 2:22 am
I know a Halloween song.
“Halloween, Halloween
oh, what funny things are seen
Witches hats
coal black cats
broom stick riders
mice and rats”
I know another. But that one is a performance only piece.
Nice jokes, Jenn. I’ll tell them to the kids I know. I’m going to be the coolest!
Jenn said,
October 16, 2007 at 8:31 am
I know that song too.
The kids will love the jokes. And few things are funnier than a little kid telling a really dumb joke, especially when they start cracking themselves up
Gary said,
October 16, 2007 at 8:49 am
I asked my wife and we both agreed that the only halloween song is “trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!.” Other than that, we don’t know.
capricorn1966 said,
October 16, 2007 at 1:33 pm
I have a song
A witch a riding on a broom
Ghosts and goblins, too
spooky noises all around
BOO-BOO-BOO
When I was little there was a house that left a bowl of candy on the front step. We were good, honest little kids and only took one piece….yeah right. we emptied the bowl of course.
And one other house sticks in my mind. Instead of candy he had a jar filled with change, you stuck your hand in the jar and got to keep what ever you could get.
oh yeah and then there was a house that had big hershey bars with money under them. that was fun.
By the way I hate Halloween.
capricorn1966 said,
October 16, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Tune is to I’m a little teapot
‘m a little pumpkin orange and round
here is my stem, there is the ground
when I get all carved up don’t you pout
just open me up and scoop me out
That’s enough songs for me, Gary you’re on your own now.
julieluongo said,
October 16, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Cappy, you hate Halloween? Well, I understand. I mean, I love Halloween, but Xmas (eXcess and MASs commercialism) aggrieves me. I try not to feel utterly depressed by it. I used to have a great Christmas party every year and that made it worth it. But I’ve been transient recently, so the party has fallen away. Turns out, it was the one Xmas thing I truly looked forward to. I’m going to have to come up with something this year.
Sarah said,
October 16, 2007 at 3:57 pm
I really like coal region Halloween. They do it up right!!! Yes, they do sometimes request entertainment from the urchins, but they give THE BEST CANDY! They deserve to get some show. Generally, the people have no money, but decorate to the hilt, and they give out BAGS o’ candy, not just a little dum-dum lollipop be-on-your-way-kid. It is super scary, my kids practically freak, but they decided this year that they’ll suffer through the horror to get the goods. Smart choice.
michael said,
October 16, 2007 at 8:17 pm
That YouTube video is actually an extra on Nightmare Before Christmas DVD, I think. Cool stuff.
And I just have to say, and I’m not pointing any fingers here, but anybody that hates, dislikes, or denigrates Halloween in any serious way is TOTALLY DEAD INSIDE!!! Hating Halloween is so… Christian and Republican. Yecchh.
Gary said,
October 16, 2007 at 10:24 pm
I like Halloween, but I don’t enjoy wearing a costume. I’ve been dead inside for years.
spanky said,
October 17, 2007 at 11:06 am
awwwwwwwwwwww ITS A BOT INVACION….WANTING ME TO ODER ADDERALLL….step away from the bot people…step away…
spanky said,
October 17, 2007 at 11:08 am
incase there was some confusion INVACION is what comes out when you are hysterical and trying to type the word invasion. sorry.
michael said,
October 17, 2007 at 11:31 am
I thought it was your inner Spaniard coming alive. Invacíon, señorita.
michael said,
October 17, 2007 at 11:32 am
And oder? That’s German for “or”. You’re multilingual, Spank!
Jim said,
October 17, 2007 at 2:50 pm
I got my finger caught in a door when I was Seven… On Halloween… While trick or treating…
I nearly bled to death looking for help.
julieluongo said,
October 17, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Someone at a house where you were trick-or-treating closed a door on your finger? You weren’t with anyone? At seven years old? Jim, that’s bleak.
When I was little we were chased at gun point while trick-or-treating. It was a thrill.
black_mamba said,
October 17, 2007 at 6:21 pm
Is this gonna Kill You? No i Dont Think so !
capricorn1966 said,
October 17, 2007 at 6:44 pm
1. I’m not a Christian, well I am, but I don’t practice.
2. I’m not a Republican
3. And I’m far from being dead inside.
4. I love the craft of Halloween, I even have a spell book, and some incense.
I hate the whole kid, getting ready and trying to pick out a costume thing. If Halloween was just for adults then I wouldn’t have a problem. I had a kick ass Halloween party five years ago. One that could never be repeated. And a few martinis on a warm night with a friend makes a nice Halloween. So I’m not totally out of the loop. Oh yeah, I also love candy.
Sissy said,
October 17, 2007 at 11:08 pm
I worship the dead on Halloween. And most other days, too. It’s just that on Halloween, I get away with it. What would the neighbors say if I left those tombstones and dead pirates with the grim reaper hovering over them in my front yard all year ’round? This year my kids bitched up my mojo with these happy-go-lucky scarecrows they found in the basement. Said the yard needed a little color. They make my eyes bleed.
MamaPeg is Watching You said,
October 18, 2007 at 6:04 am
Stirring and stirring and stirring my brew. Wooooo Wooooo
Stirring and stirring and stirring my brew. Wooooo Wooooo
Tiproe, tiptoe, tiptoe, BOO!
How about that song by the Who… “Boo are you!”
michael said,
October 18, 2007 at 11:44 am
“4. I love the craft of Halloween, I even have a spell book, and some incense.”
“I had a kick ass Halloween party five years ago. One that could never be repeated. And a few martinis on a warm night with a friend makes a nice Halloween.”
“By the way I hate Halloween.”
I don’t know, Cappy. You’re sending out some awfully conflicting messages. That is soooo Republican. :0
Gary said,
October 18, 2007 at 1:12 pm
“He called her a pig, a slut, and a whore. A bitch, and a republican, and she slammed the door. In a petulant frenzy! This is a petulant frenzy! I’m petulant and I’m having a frenzy!”
sorry… Michael accusing everyone of being a republican made me think of that. It’s not really relevant I know…
Dayv said,
October 18, 2007 at 1:35 pm
We learned Halloween songs in school when I was a kid, but not for the purpose of performing them for our neighbors in hopes of being rewarded in candy. There was one I remember:
I’m a strange, black witch, just looking for my cat
She jumped from my broom on the way to the moon.
If you hear a ‘meow, meow’ just wave to me
and I’ll fly on down and pick him up ’cause it’s
Haaaaal
lohhhhh
weeeeeeeeen
The rhyming scheme left much to be desired, and rhythmically it seemed to me to have a rather unnatural flow, but I’m sure we sang it every year from 1st through 4th grades.
My mom wasn’t one of those “Hey, let’s make friends with the neighbors” types, so we knew no one in our neighborhood. There were a couple of kids in the neighborhood I knew because we went to school together, and we’d play in the empty field that was across the street from my house, but other than that, we didn’t have much contact with the families around us. We went all-out decorating for Halloween, complete with martians that were made from mannequins with martian masks and rubber hands and christmas lights for eyes. There was a set of larger (like adult human-sized) martians that played instruments, but these, strangely, had nothing to do with the holiday. Only the smaller (made from child mannequins) were used for decoration. We did the eerie lighting, and spooky sounds, and even used CO2 fire extinguishers for fog. But on Halloween night, the house was dark and it was time for trick-or-treating which I hated.
For me, it meant putting on a costume I had little or no hand in picking out, getting in the car, and going on a 2 hour road trip while my mom drove me out of the neighborhood and off to the homes of various great-great-aunts and uncles (yes, we’re talking my GRANDFATHER’S aunts and uncles). We did this so they could see whatever cute costume my grandmother had made for me (or in the later years when arthritis made it difficult to sew, whatever she’d picked up for me at Jamesway). Plus, since we didn’t know any of our neighbors, they were obviously all mass murderers that would put razor blades and poison in all of the candy.
capricorn1966 said,
October 18, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Sorry Michael, for the conflicting messages, I’ll try to be more Democratic with my comments in the future. But I did say this.
“I hate the whole kid, getting ready and trying to pick out a costume thing. If Halloween was just for adults then I wouldn’t have a problem.”
My point was, most of the time I hate Halloween but there are some things that I do like. I just don’t get into it like most people do. If the opportunity rises I’m there costume and all. So in other words if the mood strikes….
julieluongo said,
October 18, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Jamesway. I forgot about that place. So Dayv, what were the large, instrument-playing Martians for?
julieluongo said,
October 18, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Oh, and Peg, that was my other Halloween song! I’m so glad someone else knows it.
julieluongo said,
October 18, 2007 at 2:31 pm
And Cappy, pay no mind to Michael. I suspect his Republican comment was just a bit of good natured ribbing for Jenn who is both a Republican and a Cowboys fan (and yet is still my friend despite my liberal leanings and distaste for football).
michael said,
October 18, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Julie, you’re very diplomatic. But of course it’s all good natured. I mean come on, who the hell am I? I’m a freakin’ War Profiteer. Which makes me a big fat hypocrite. People should remember that when I get snarky.
julieluongo said,
October 18, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Oh, Michael, you’re so much more than a war profiteer. You’re a steadfast supporter of the arts, defender of agnostics everywhere, and storyteller extraordinaire.
capricorn1966 said,
October 18, 2007 at 7:51 pm
No offense taken. I enjoy a little snarkism….
julieluongo said,
October 18, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Oh, well, stick around then.
Dayv said,
October 19, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Lol… Michael said “snarky”…
I love that word.
And Julie,
The instrument playing martians were part of my mothers 2nd ex-husband’s act (though at the time it was just 2nd husband… not “ex”). He was a drummer, nay… a percussionist.. He played in bands, but was most proud of his solo act where he drummed to all sorts of music, and banged his drumsticks on everything from picnic tables to the stage to the shoes of audience members. The same fire extinguishers that provided fog for Halloween, also made clouds for the angelic choir at Chirstmas, and also were part of the special effects for the martian rocket ships that were part of his act. On each side of his massive drum kit (with more cymbals than most people could shake a [drum]stick at) stood 2 “Martian Robots” forming the Martian Robot Band. The 2 closest to him each played timpani (I’m getting Peggi to assist me with some of this musical spelling… I’m useless without spell-check) and one of the two outer ones played a cowbell, the other a tambourine (spelled that one on my own). All four were controlled by foot pedals behind the drums…1 each for cowbell and tambo., 2 each timpani, plus 2 bass drums = a whole lotta freakin pedals to keep track of…
MamaPeg is Watching You said,
October 19, 2007 at 3:29 pm
Did anyone yell “MORE COWBELL!!”?
Sissy said,
October 19, 2007 at 11:17 pm
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, “Oh my, it’s getting late.”
The second one said, “There are witches in the air.”
The third one said, “Oh, we don’t care!”
The fourth one said, “Let’s run and run and run!”
The fifth one said, “Isn’t Halloween fun?”
“Oooooooooooooooooo,” went the wind and OUT went the lights!
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!
julieluongo said,
October 20, 2007 at 12:42 am
Dayv, WOW.
Oprah Boy said,
November 2, 2007 at 12:20 pm
this is for Jenn:
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/66782/
damn liberals!