MetaPumpkins October 31, 2019 12:00 PM Subscribe
Fizz suggests: let's have a thread where we can share our Halloween pumpkin carving photos!
And I'll add: ...or other Halloweeny decorations, costume pics, dressed-up dogs and babies, you know. The works.
And I'll add: ...or other Halloweeny decorations, costume pics, dressed-up dogs and babies, you know. The works.
(And of course, not just Halloween -- many Mefites will have other holiday observances happening around this time, so if anyone wants to share anything of theirs, that's most welcome too.)
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 12:31 PM on October 31, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 12:31 PM on October 31, 2019 [2 favorites]
As an aside, I'll be watching The Halloween Tree tonight, an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's novel. It's delightful and available to view here on Daily Motion for anyone interested. [Part 1][Part 2] It's one of my Halloween viewing traditions, it always makes me smile.
posted by Fizz at 1:27 PM on October 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Fizz at 1:27 PM on October 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
I didn't do one this year but here are some from Halloweens past.
posted by bondcliff at 1:45 PM on October 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by bondcliff at 1:45 PM on October 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
No pumpkins, but I finally remembered to bring my head raven, here gracing my lamp to work to wear at our annual October 31 chili luncheon.
posted by telophase at 2:42 PM on October 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by telophase at 2:42 PM on October 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
We just had our first sad 17 yr old in a hoodie holding out a pillow case who wasn't even trying. I almost said something snarky but realized it would be a bit too “Get off my lawn.”, so I just took some pity on the teen and threw him a piece of candy.
posted by Fizz at 2:42 PM on October 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Fizz at 2:42 PM on October 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
Said head raven will also be worn while giving out candy to hundreds of costumed extortionists this evening.
posted by telophase at 2:42 PM on October 31, 2019
posted by telophase at 2:42 PM on October 31, 2019
Here’s my little patio, with Ikea lanterns, my pumpkin, and my skeleton!
posted by firei at 2:52 PM on October 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by firei at 2:52 PM on October 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
We recently moved to a suburban neighbourhood and had no idea what to expect (especially given the heavy rain) but have had precisely one kid so far. Not looking good for us and our 125 mini packets of candy.
posted by valleys at 3:53 PM on October 31, 2019
posted by valleys at 3:53 PM on October 31, 2019
Last year I had over 900 trick-or-treaters, it was 70' F and cloudy... This year, it's in the low 30s and we got 5" of snow today. I'm at 50-something now, with about an hour left of official time.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 4:09 PM on October 31, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Sparky Buttons at 4:09 PM on October 31, 2019 [2 favorites]
900!!!! How do you keep up with the candy supply?
posted by moonmilk at 4:48 PM on October 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by moonmilk at 4:48 PM on October 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
It's bonkers -- I barely had time to refill the bowl without kids waiting on me. Grand total this year was 167, plus any stragglers that come within the next 5-10 min.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 5:06 PM on October 31, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Sparky Buttons at 5:06 PM on October 31, 2019 [2 favorites]
We probably had around 200+ show up at our door. We went through 3 boxes and then decided to turn out the lights. It's been raining all night and we were a bit tired of all the cold coming through the door. It was a ton of fun though and all the kids were cute.
Shoutouts to the home-made costumes these two kids had: Pac-Man (brother), Ghost (sister). It was super cute. We were a bit puzzled at all the "prisoner" costumes we saw tonight, at least three of them. Not sure I'm cool with "dressing up like a prisoner" just feels wrong knowing what we know about the penal system and how it incarcerates brown and black men. Also, dressing up as Michael Jackson is still a thing, that also made us go "huh". Different strokes, different folks I guess.
Overall we had a great time at the door and I love how excited the kids are. There was this guy in a golf-cart with a loud-speaker playing "Monster Mash" and a bunch of decorations. He was just driving up and down the street having a good time dressed up in a costume. It was cool to see that kind of positive energy.
Happy Halloween.
posted by Fizz at 5:17 PM on October 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
Shoutouts to the home-made costumes these two kids had: Pac-Man (brother), Ghost (sister). It was super cute. We were a bit puzzled at all the "prisoner" costumes we saw tonight, at least three of them. Not sure I'm cool with "dressing up like a prisoner" just feels wrong knowing what we know about the penal system and how it incarcerates brown and black men. Also, dressing up as Michael Jackson is still a thing, that also made us go "huh". Different strokes, different folks I guess.
Overall we had a great time at the door and I love how excited the kids are. There was this guy in a golf-cart with a loud-speaker playing "Monster Mash" and a bunch of decorations. He was just driving up and down the street having a good time dressed up in a costume. It was cool to see that kind of positive energy.
Happy Halloween.
posted by Fizz at 5:17 PM on October 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
My poor pumpkin is outside now (in the snow!).
posted by marimeko at 5:36 PM on October 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by marimeko at 5:36 PM on October 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
This is one I did in 2012, I think. Damn thing rotted within a day or two, the bottom part went all liquid-y and nearly ruined my dining room table! Kinda put me off pumpkins after that, so next year I drew one instead (with additional cauldron-boiled souls by my housemate).
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:04 PM on October 31, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:04 PM on October 31, 2019 [3 favorites]
Here's my Ghastly. (And last year's Gengar).
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:41 PM on October 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:41 PM on October 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
I got candy for the students who work in my lab but have otherwise not decorated or dressed up. Tonight I'm doing work and watching Nightmare Before Christmas.
posted by ChuraChura at 6:49 PM on October 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by ChuraChura at 6:49 PM on October 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
I was working and hadn't put any forethought into Halloween per se, so I last-minute fished out an Iron Maiden t-shirt older than half my customers and just ran with that. Sorry no actual pic, didn't know to take one earlier. The real thing is a lot less anti-aliased, more posterised and all the better for it. Plus as the years go on I resemble less Denim Dude and more Eddie Eviscerator, there's probably an X-Files/Twilight Zone/Tales Of The Unexpected/Dorian Gray somewhere in that.
Happy Hooks In Y'all!
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 9:46 PM on October 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
Happy Hooks In Y'all!
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 9:46 PM on October 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
Halloween report here was good! Good turnout despite bad weather. We had some excellent kids doing kid things, and kids who remembered our place from previous years which is always cool. A Baby Shark toddler who was just Done and lay down to sleep on our front porch bench.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 10:28 PM on October 31, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 10:28 PM on October 31, 2019 [6 favorites]
Everyone's pumpkins look so nice! I'm in a trick-or-treat less neighborhood (most families seem to head downtown to hit up the businesses) so I appreciate the stories of cutie pies especially. I'm also going to take this opportunity to note that MeFi was popping yesterday for Halloween. Thanks weirdos for all the wonderfully weird posts!
posted by youarenothere at 5:04 AM on November 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by youarenothere at 5:04 AM on November 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
I made one of those beholder pumpkins. The targeted creature must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute!
posted by exogenous at 5:41 AM on November 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by exogenous at 5:41 AM on November 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 7:24 AM on November 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
Our Halloween count was 200+--we had 96 bottles of mini bubbles plus 3 bags of 90-count candy, all of which were depleted within 2 hours. We're also one block from an elementary school, are the only neighborhood with sidewalks in the area, and several apartment complexes nearby, so we tend to get a lot. We are not the neighborhood in town that goes over the top with holiday decorations. I expect that neighborhood would be a 900+ neighborhood.
We had mostly superheroes, including Captains America, Black Panthers, one Shuri, a few Captains Marvel, a few Wonder Women, and one Supergirl. There was a tiny adorable yellow shark, one parent/child duo of banana/chimp, two sparkly unicorns, several princesses, and a fleet of superheroes and video game characters from comics and games we're not familiar with. It was unusually cold for our area, so I couldn't tell what many costumes were as the kids were bundled up, but I applaud one princess who put her sparkly pink dress on over her parka.
posted by telophase at 9:01 AM on November 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
We had mostly superheroes, including Captains America, Black Panthers, one Shuri, a few Captains Marvel, a few Wonder Women, and one Supergirl. There was a tiny adorable yellow shark, one parent/child duo of banana/chimp, two sparkly unicorns, several princesses, and a fleet of superheroes and video game characters from comics and games we're not familiar with. It was unusually cold for our area, so I couldn't tell what many costumes were as the kids were bundled up, but I applaud one princess who put her sparkly pink dress on over her parka.
posted by telophase at 9:01 AM on November 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
My official Halloween pumpkin (admittedly, a pumpkin-carving kit stencil, but I usually do some kind of cat-related pumpkin and this one was cute and reminded me of our cat).
My "Halloween and Election Day are near each other" pumpkins. (My spouse is running for Board of Education so I'm advertising a little.)
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:58 AM on November 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
My "Halloween and Election Day are near each other" pumpkins. (My spouse is running for Board of Education so I'm advertising a little.)
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:58 AM on November 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
telophase: No pumpkins, but I finally remembered to bring my head raven, here gracing my lamp to work to wear at our annual October 31 chili luncheon.
Nice raven!
I have an office raven, and an office flamingo, who hang out together. The raven is shy, the flamingo is nosy (er, beaky?).
Last year, we painted our pumpkins, because that let our boys go crazy with paints, instead of trying to manage them as they used dull pumpkin carving knives. This year, the older boy carved his first pumpkin, at a friend's house, and he got to see how a carved pumpkin collapses pretty quickly. We had our usual assortment of skeletons and spiders (and webs, natch) outside the house, plus more spiders and skulls inside. My co-workers went all-out with spider webs from the dollar store a few weeks back, when I was out, so I was surprised to find everything covered in spider webs when I came back. And yesterday we had a frito pie (Wikipedia) potluck, with some holiday sweets, and a good time was had by all.
As I was uploading the picture of my birds, I saw this synchronized projector display, which is fun, but part of me misses ridiculous houses covered in Halloween things, even though I realize it's probably way more environmentally friendly.
Our neighborhood was down-right quiet. I'd say 30-50% fewer houses had decorations up this year than last, and there were fewer kids out. I went out with our boys, and we hit maybe 20 houses, and at that point, they were content with their candy haul. It was a short night, but that meant we could go all to bed earlier.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:39 AM on November 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
Nice raven!
I have an office raven, and an office flamingo, who hang out together. The raven is shy, the flamingo is nosy (er, beaky?).
Last year, we painted our pumpkins, because that let our boys go crazy with paints, instead of trying to manage them as they used dull pumpkin carving knives. This year, the older boy carved his first pumpkin, at a friend's house, and he got to see how a carved pumpkin collapses pretty quickly. We had our usual assortment of skeletons and spiders (and webs, natch) outside the house, plus more spiders and skulls inside. My co-workers went all-out with spider webs from the dollar store a few weeks back, when I was out, so I was surprised to find everything covered in spider webs when I came back. And yesterday we had a frito pie (Wikipedia) potluck, with some holiday sweets, and a good time was had by all.
As I was uploading the picture of my birds, I saw this synchronized projector display, which is fun, but part of me misses ridiculous houses covered in Halloween things, even though I realize it's probably way more environmentally friendly.
Our neighborhood was down-right quiet. I'd say 30-50% fewer houses had decorations up this year than last, and there were fewer kids out. I went out with our boys, and we hit maybe 20 houses, and at that point, they were content with their candy haul. It was a short night, but that meant we could go all to bed earlier.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:39 AM on November 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
Here are various gourds, you can navigate to previous/next pics to seem them lit up at night and my front window decorations (which I laser-cut for the first time this year!)
The rain held off so we had our usual delightful deluge of trick-or-treaters.
posted by mikepop at 12:49 PM on November 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
The rain held off so we had our usual delightful deluge of trick-or-treaters.
posted by mikepop at 12:49 PM on November 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
this year.
last year (1, 2)
bonus: "unremarkable, how was yours?"
posted by 20 year lurk at 2:23 PM on November 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
last year (1, 2)
bonus: "unremarkable, how was yours?"
posted by 20 year lurk at 2:23 PM on November 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
I had 108 full sized candy bars (well, 106 after I got hungry waiting for trick or treaters...). I got 10 kids. So now I'm just gonna carry a couple of candy bars in my purse at all times and whenever I come across someone who looks like they're having a bad day, I can give them a candy bar! Candy makes everything better, right?
posted by Weeping_angel at 6:09 PM on November 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Weeping_angel at 6:09 PM on November 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by Fizz at 12:10 PM on October 31, 2019 [7 favorites]