Okay group, Halloween of 1978 sees the introduction of a homemade costume. My grandmother sewed together the outfit while my parents bought the rest of the amazing ensemble and applied the makeup.
Now 1978 was my first year of school, and as kindergarteners we were allowed to wear our costumes to school on Halloween. As an added bonus, we were taken over to the nursing home that was next door to our school and paraded through the entire building, receiving candy treats from the elderly inhabitants. Now picture in your head a group of elderly people, sitting in their beds, wheelchairs and walkers, excited to see the little children in their Halloween costumes, when around the corner comes this:
Perhaps the most evil looking little clown to ever haunt their dementia-filled minds! I've never been afraid of clowns, but in looking at my face in this photo, I can see how so many people are. It was at this point that the costumes of girly witches and cute pandas were gone forever, to be replaced by evil little clowns, vampires and other evil little creatures. This is the photo that started my fascination with Halloween.
On a different note, I'd like to take a second and thank everyone for visiting the Cemetery. Today we hit the 1,000 page views milestone. And while I know some sites get that many hits in a day, it's nice to see our Halloween-filled little slice of the interwebs picking up interest.
And finally, for anyone who didn't get to the Akron Public Library for the creature double feature last night, and there are many of you, as there were only about 30 people total, you missed an interesting night. Not so much for the movies themselves mind you, but for the odd array of characters that found their way into the auditorium. Crying/talking babies, kids running back and forth, everyone that was coughing, and especially the lone cuckoo bird who sat in the row behind us. He came in and sat on the end of the aisle. Then, he moved directly behind us (we were in the center of the row), then, he moved four seats over. And all the while talking to himself and making comments and laughing throughout the movies. At one point he even "shushed" the crying baby in the upper section. Awesome. And to add to the wonder of the entire evening, Son of Dracula cut out half way through the movie. It took 10 minutes of sitting in the dark and watching people leave, but they got it going again and finished the movie to a crowd of about 10. All in all, it was a perfect night. I can't wait to go back next week for the Horrible Horror Double Feature!! Hope to see you there!
