For better or for worse, Halloween has been my favorite holiday for several decades.
Now, Christmas is a close second place – dare I say it, 1.5th place!
But, it still lacks the overall eerie sugar-fueled magic I’ve come to expect with Halloween.
And that emotion seems to go hand-in-hand with everything from music to movies and TV shows.
Even now while I pen this column for our readers, I’m listening to Halloween party playlists on Spotify and easily recalling which movie or show the song may be featured in or part of the overall soundtrack.
I’m not even going to go into detail about my favorite Halloween flicks, but the annual “Treehouse of Horror” episodes from “The Simpsons” TV series remain my ultimate show to watch.
I just wish I could get only those Halloween-ish episodes in one DVD or a set of DVDs because I’ve come to enjoy the injection of pop culture humor more as I’ve gotten older than just the slapstick dark comedy of my youth.
Not to mention, my nostalgia kicks in to remind me of the assortment of candy that I miss sinking my teeth into with feral abandon and squirreled away when I was a young adult.
Oh, I paid my candy tax to my parents up until I was the one delegated to taking my younger siblings around the neighborhood – then we pooled our candy and shared it accordingly.
We always shared the same distaste for some candy brands or types, so those were sometimes recycled for other kids visiting the house before we shut down for the night.
Or, in the case of open and sometimes broken candies – we just threw them away.
Honestly, it’s hard to remember which candy each parent favored, but I’m pretty sure it was Almond Joys, Mounds, and M&M’s for mom and Butterfingers, Snickers, and 3 Musketeers for our biological father.
As for Mike, I just know he’ll eat anything chocolate so there’s no specific favorite candies he’ll go after – unless by some miracle we get our hands on a Millionaire or chocolate turtle somewhere.
My favorites varied depending on the candy haul of the night, but I wasn’t much of a fan of Tootsie Rolls or sour candies – those were reserved for my brother and sister!
In fact, the candy situation is pretty much the same now with us all in our 30s.
To be completely honest, I only stopped Trick-of-Treating after moving back home from San Angelo about a decade ago.
I have always loved dressing up in costumes and hanging out with my friends in several venues that ranged from kid-friendly to bars.
I mean, over the years the costumes have degraded from Disney cuteness to scarily accurate zombie, but they’re fun regardless.
I even won a costume contest with my zombie outfit a few years ago!
Plus, I grew up making a lot of homemade costumes from childhood onward – even now I’ve got plans to repurpose some wardrobe items and accessorize appropriately for this Thursday’s “Trick or Treat Around the Square” downtown.
Maybe you’ll see me there, and if you do, don’t be afraid to say hello.
I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween experience despite the forecasted rain this week.
