Happy Halloween

"She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven't you?"  Norman Bates- Psyco

Halloween the best day of the year has finally come. I want to thank Countdown to Halloween for the chance to be a Cryptkeeper this year. I always love to share my Halloween antics with everybody. If you get a chance go check out the other Cryptkeepers for spooky fun.

This past Saturday I attended the annual Albany Oregon downtown trick-or-treat. To my surprise I spotted two fantastic crochet Halloween costumes. Since I was a kid I have always loved the comic strip Garfield. I've got a thing for fat cats....what can I say? I about died from all the cuteness these costumes have. Tons of work went into these little darlings. The lady has mad crochet skills that's for sure. 

Of course my nephew Journal won the costume contest. He was a "Lich" which according to him is an evil undead sorcerer.

My nephew and son. My son is the weird pumpkin head guy.

This is apparently what Liches do. They eat souls for breakfast and broken hearts for lunch.

That evening my family and I took a tour of Haunted Albany on the Trolley of terror. Great ghost stories were told and spooky fun was had.

Son, sister and daughter.

Melody and Mimi.

There is lots of fun to be had tonight on All Hallows Eve. 

Trick-or-Treat a haunted house

Make friends with the Jack-o-Lanterns.

Dress your pets in funny costumes.

Be safe tonight and to everyone have a Happy Haunted Halloween!!

The Semi-Great Jack-O-Lantern Blaze

Last year I was browsing around the internet and found out about this amazing event in the historic Hudson Valley. At the Van Cortlandt manor estates they hold an annual jack-o-lantern blaze where you can see over 4000 individually hand carved illuminated pumpkins. Absolutely breathtaking! Please visit the Historic Hudson Valley website for more photos and info.

The great jack-o-lantern blaze

Van Cortlandt manor

I just love jack-o-lanterns. The way they look, the smell, and especially the history. For some reason they just make me happy. I even have a grinning jack-o-lantern tattooed on my leg. So since it's such a long drive from Oregon to New York I had my own blaze last year. I invited friends and family over to a pumpkin carving party to help me carve over 80 jack-o-lanterns. We had planned on doing this outside but of course the dreaded Oregon rain decided to show up so we had to move indoors. I had pumpkin guts strewn from one end of my house to the other. But the finished project was so well worth it!

Enjoy these pictures from last years Semi-Great Jack-O-Lantern Blaze and pumpkin carving party. 

Creepy Punch

A shitload of pumpkins

My sis taking out her aggressions

My son and the porch dummy. My sons on the left lol.

Carved pumpkins along the fence

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Downtown Albany Trick -Or-Treat

 For over 30 years the Saturday before Halloween in beautiful historic Downtown Albany Oregon little ghouls and goblins take to the streets to fill their bags with goodies. Every year since my children were able to walk we have made the trek. All the fantastic merchants get into the spirit decorating their shops and dressing up in fun costumes. Plus there is a costume contest for different age groups to the age of 12. Halloween 2010 was the last year my son was able to participate but he had the honor of winning 1st place in his age group 4 years in a row. I'm sure the other kids are glad they don't have him to compete with anymore. This is a fabulous fun event for families and a great place to see some amazing home made costumes (I'm not a fan of store bought costumes.) It's so nice to know that the traditional Halloween spirit is alive and well in small town America.

Here are some photos that I took at last years trick-or-treat. Some are a little fuzzy because I suck at taking pictures but I hope you enjoy them.

My son the zombie! He won 1st place in his age group.

"Sons of Scotland, I am William Wallace."

My nephew the zombie!

My sister the pirate wench!

Who ya gonna call?

My son the zombie.

Hippy.

The walking dead run in my family.

His piano played "Ghostbusters"

My nephew won 1st place in his age group. Here he is demonstration how to walk like a zombie.

One of the fab merchants.

The best Edward Scissor Hands Costume I have ever seen. He made this.

For more information about the Albany historic district please visit the Albany Visitors Association or the Albany Downtown Association.