The Thorns Are Lovely This Year

Every year, my friend Melissa and I would start planning our Halloween party. In August. Our favorite part was the haunted house which we set up in her rec room, a converted garage that had a hot tub the shape of Texas. I enjoyed sitting in the panhandle each weekend, pretending I was a spokesmodel for Halloween accessories. Her mother, whom I adored, let us do whatever we wanted, and we dyed the hot tub red and put rubber snakes and spiders in it. "We don't want people to get complacent," Melissa said. "We want them to wonder what's inside."

Oddly, we never thought to ask my mother to aid us in our pursuits. And damned if I realized it, but my house looked like the Addams Family year around with dead flowers (they last longer was my mother's rational -- couldn't argue with that one!), a tombstone (we had a spare for my great grandmother that relatives sent over from the old country -- my mother thought it was too pretty to not use as a decoration for the living room), and loads and loads of living and frozen and clear-casted rattlesnakes and tarantulas. I'm sure Mother would have helped, but man, I couldn't see the graveyard for the tombstones. I didn't know how spooky things were. I bemoaned how fricking normal I felt and how I wanted a cool name like Severin out of Venus In Furs. Little did I know, Wednesday would have been more appropriate.

Michelle's Spell of the Day
"It's as much fun to scare as to be scared." Vincent Price

Cocktail Hour
Has anyone seen Paranormal Activity? Opinions?

Benedictions and Maledictions
Happy Friday!