First of all, thanks to Cynthia for having me today. I’m still half-asleep, but the coffee is hot and slowly doing its job. There will be more though, I’m afraid. It’s a multiple coffee day. But, that isn’t my little blog topic today (however, on days like this when I don’t get the coffee soon enough, I make the Exorcist look like a fun little flick).

So…

When I was a kid, of course I went trick or treating. I dressed up, but it wasn’t in the costumes you could buy at the time. I look at costumes now and they’re upwards of $75+ for kids. For cheap materials that are ill-fitting and less creative than we think.

My mom was an excellent seamstress as was my grandmother. I had awesome costumes. There are three I remember vividly and I must say, I know there are pictures somewhere, but not in my possession. Thank. God. (Yes. Even as a kid I was camera shy and hated having my picture taken.)

One year in elementary school, I was a witch. All black. Floor length dress. Pointy hat. Very basic.

A few years later, I was Wonder Woman. This was the costume to beat all costumes. Red and blue satin. I mean the whole damn thing from top to…bottom looked exactly like Linda Carter’s outfit in the television show. I had boots and I even had a cape with two big W’s on the back. My mom spent hours and days and weeks making that for me.

I remember we had Fall Festival at school going on and it was back when you could still wear your costumes to school for one day. There were ooh’s and ahh’s and compliments and ‘wow, I wish my mom had made mine’ comments. I was on top of the world. Loved that outfit. I think I still have it too, packed away in a box somewhere. It was special.

Not long after that, my sister came along and for her second or third Halloween, we were clowns. Again, my mom made the costumes. Mine was light purple baggy clown pants with the ruffle at the bottom and a dark purple big shirt with white pom-poms down the front. My sister’s was in orange and yellow. We both had hats that matched and I did our face make-up.

I was around 10-11 years old during that Halloween and it’s the last one I remember where my mom made my costume. She still made my sister’s costumes for a while, but I can still see my sister as a toddler in that little clown outfit with her face all painted.

We didn’t trick or treat as teenagers. We were ‘too old’ and I was fine with that.

I have two kids now and they don’t put thought into costumes. Not like we did. Of course, I don’t sew like my mom, but I am crafty so… My daughter hasn’t ever been big on Halloween. She has preferred to stay in, watch Ghosthunters, decorate her face in black eyeliner and be done with it. My son waits until the last minute. And I mean, LAST MINUTE. He has no idea and he’s not into a lot of things boys his age are… he doesn’t dress up as Iron Man or characters from Star Wars or any of the characters on the Nickelodeon shows he watches. But, since he waits until usually the afternoon of, and just a few hours before trick or treating, we’ve had to come up with things spur of the moment. He’s been a baseball player, a football player, a miniature Jimmie Johnson, an all-around sports fan, and… one year, he went as himself (I think that was the year he came back with a truck-load of candy).

Halloween isn’t very big in our house. DH doesn’t care for anything to do with the holiday. My kids and I do little things, but I admit, I’m a scrooge too.

We’ve made our own bags to gather candy and one year we made T-shirts to match. We got fabric paints and large Halloween rubber stamps, plain T-shirts and plain tote bags, turned on Harry Potter, and spent the afternoon decorating the shirts and bags. That was the last Halloween we spent in Florida and had gone to Sea World for trick or treating. That was amazing fun.

This year, my son still has not told me what he wants to be. I’ve asked. I’ve tossed out suggestions, and all he says is ‘I’m still thinking about it.’ My 16 year old daughter is dressing up as Prancing Cera. (If you haven’t seen the pictures of actor Michael Cera in a red beanie cap, carrying a book, and prancing all over the Internet, well count yourself lucky. There was even a Prancing Cera twitter account at one point, might still be…) She was going to go trick or treating, but has decided instead to go to a concert with friends. But, they will all be in costume.

And what is it with teenagers trick or treating? I’m talking 16, 17, even 18 year olds. I’m sorry, I’m not giving you candy if you’re that age. I might not even be opening the door for you.

What is your favorite costume memory from childhood? Do you still dress up now? What are you going to be for Halloween this year? Me, well, maybe I’ll be crazy writer lady… wacked out hair with a pencil lost in the midst, in pajamas and slippers, carrying a coffee mug. Oh right, that wouldn’t be too far from the truth of who I am… Scary.

Thanks again to Cynthia for having me. Have a Happy and Safe Halloween, y’all.

~lissa

Where you can find me:

lissamatthews.com
twitter.com/lissamatthews
facebook.com/authorlissamatthews

I absolutely love Halloween. Probably not as much as the fabulous Cynthia Eden who is awesome for letting me hang out at her blog today. Thanks Cynthia! When I was a kid my parents were really weird about letting us trick or treat. Or rather not letting us partake in those particular festivities. Instead we usually went to one of the local churches and got candy, cupcakes, etc. and played games at the yearly Fall Festival. Or we had a friend who owned a ranch and they set up hayrides, horse rides, and we all got to take turns at beating on a piñata filled with candy. I was never a fan of the piñata game because I’m apparently not brutal enough to elbow and knee other kids to get my sugar and chocolate fix. I might throw some elbows nowadays for some really good chocolate but that’s another story.

Okay, back to this awesome holiday. While I love Halloween for a multitude of reasons—candy included—I really like dressing up. There’s something so fun about pretending to be something or someone else. I’ve been a lot of things over the years but my earliest Halloween memory is dressing up like a crayon. My sister and I were giant red and green crayons (don’t know what’s up with the Christmas colors) and even though I can’t find a picture, we were very cute!

Now that I’m older my costumes aren’t as hard to make (I’m not as creative with a sewing machine as my mom was) but they’re still fun. Over the past few years I’ve been a bachelorette (like from the show…I basically wore a sash and carried a rose around), a beer wench, a pirate, a bloody bridesmaid, a tiger, an angel, and a ladybug. After all these years the crayon is probably still my favorite even though it was almost impossible to walk around in that thing. This year I’m likely going to recycle an old costume and be a beer wench again because come on, having the perfect excuse to walk around with a giant beer stein is awesome.

What’s your favorite Halloween costume or Halloween memory? Or why do you like this holiday so much? Leave a comment and be entered to win a copy of anything from my backlist.

Katie Reus (also writing as Savannah Stuart) writes romantic suspense, paranormal romance, and erotic romance. Her latest book will be coming out from Carina Press in February 2011. More information on her is available at both her websites: www.katiereus.com and www.savannahstuartauthor.com

One of the things I love to do during October is watch a good (or bad, I’m really not too picky!) scary movie.  Of course, the Halloween movies are classics for me, but I like to try new flicks, too. I thought I’d share some movie trailers with you today, to get you in that Halloween movie mood!

First up–Cursed. One of my favorite werewolf flicks:

Next…a new flick (one I’m hoping to see very soon)–My Soul To Take:

My last pick of the day? Drag Me To Hell. Slick, scary, fun.

Now what flicks do you want to recommend to me?

Update: Jillian’s winner is…Cories! Congrats, Cories! And Jillian, thank you for blogging with me!

Jillian and her favorite potions master

Thanks for inviting me to drop by, Cynthia. I’ve been following along since October 1st and this has been a wicked cool month so far on your blog. Such Fun!

When Cynthia asked me to guest blog today, I initially thought I’d tell some story about my ghost experiences and I may still do so at the end of this post. As I thought about what to say, I decided that since Cynthia writes Paranormal Romances and Romantic Suspense and I write what I like to call Romantic Adventures, I’d tell a little about old Halloween romantic customs. Ones that help determine your true love. These customs date back hundreds of years. I’m a Halloween Hound just like Cynthia and I love the lore as well as the lure of the holiday.

Customs:

1. Girls would put hazel nuts across the front of the fireplace. The girl would spread out a few on the grate, each one symbolizing a certain beau. She would then chant “If you love me, pop and fly; if you don’t burn and die.”

2. Cut an apple down the center to expose the five sided star, eat it by candlelight in front of a mirror and your future spouse will appear in the mirror.

3. Peel an apple in one long strand and toss the peel over your shoulder. The shape it lands in will be the initial of your true love.

4. Place an apple under your pillow and you’ll dream of your true love.

5. Comb your hair in front of a mirror by candlelight and the reflection of your future husband will appear behind you.

Seems like a lot of apple traditions. Wonder if the apple growers gathered together back in those days to start the world’s first advertising program? Sounds like the women would have flocked to the apple market for a chance to find their own true love. Wouldn’t you? And confess, if you’re single, you’ve stopped reading this post and are headed to the farmer’s market right now. You know you are.

As to my own ghost experiences, I have several to choose from but I’ll tell a little about the one where Cynthia and I went to the Pensacola Lighthouse. It was a hot night in July. Very hot. No breeze at all, really. We went down into the basement and I began to get nauseated. I thought it was the heat but I’d been there before on a cold October day and had the same sensation so I wasn’t sure. But then I smelled cigar smoke and knew it was all related to the lighthouse keeper that is rumored to still hang about the place. Cynthia smelled it, too and she actually felt some cold spots (wish I could have found some spook to cool me off- it was dreadfully hot). The people running the hunt had EMF meters that measure electromagnetic fields and it was very active that night. The meter is supposed to spike when there are spirits about. It did. A lot.

I enjoy going to haunted sites and checking them out. It’s a family tradition to do ghost walks in cities we visit. Check one out on your next vacation. It’s tons of fun. Who knows, you could have your own eerie experience.

On another note, my first book is coming out from Siren-Book Strand in January 2011. It’s called Solo Honeymoon. The story is based in London, Italy and New York City and the hero is a shoe designer from Milan (who also happens to be a Count). In celebration of this upcoming release, I’m giving away a shoe charm to one of Cynthia’s commentators here. Leave me a comment about your true love or a ghost encounter you’ve had and we’ll have Cynthia’s own personal goblin (her son) draw a name from the comments.

Visit me at http://jillianchantal.wordpress.com/ or on Saturdays on my group blog, the Southern Sizzlers http://southernsizzleromance.wordpress.com/
email: JillianChantal@gmail.com

I always face a dilemma at this time of the year…What costume should I wear? And do I really just have to pick one costume? (My son currently has 3 and we still have several weeks before Halloween arrives–I’m so jealous.)

So for today’s Halloween party time, I thought I’d share some of my costume ideass with you–and hopefully, you’ll share some of your faves with me.  These are all super easy, and pretty much require minimal effort.

10. Black Cat. Come on–it’s easy and sexy. Basic black, baby. There is no going wrong with this one.

9. Witch. Have broom, will fly. You can do a sexy witch, you can do a scary witch, you can do a good witch. I constantly have a supply of witch hats at my house, so this is always my go-to outfit.

8. Vampire. Drink! Drink up! The cool thing about this is that thanks to shows like True Blood (so addicted), you can just wear any clothes you want. The days of having to dress up in Dracula’s cloak are gone. Just wear your normal clothes and flash some fang when the mood suits you.  Adding a little fake blood to your chin would be a good touch.

7. Sookie.  Yes, we’re talking True Blood, so let me just throw this one out there. Put your hair in a ponytail, put on a white t-shirt and a pair of black shorts. Bam–you’re Sookie.   Some of us have a natural southern accent (ahem) so that part is easy to cover. For others–just fake it! (Update: For a more authentic Sookie-look, don’t forget the blond hair!)

6. Medusa. What? Were you expecting this one?  You can be a hip, cool Medusa. Again, just wear your street clothes.  Medusa can semi-adapt to modern times.  Normal clothes, but snakey hair.  Go to your local Walmart (or any store that sells toys) and buy some cheap, plastic snakes.  Braid them into your hair–and you’re Medusa.

5. Zombie.  Everyone loves a good zombie, right? Cut up the bottom of some old pants, dirty up your shirt, and put lots of white makeup on your face (and black makeup around your eyes). Start grunting and groaning as you walk after folks…it’s zombie time.

4. Jason from–yeah, all those Friday the 13th movies that I love. Put on a big, old coat, grab some work boots, and don’t forget to snag your favorite hockey mask. Then prepare to terrorize every kid who comes to your door.  Oh, fun.

3. Cousin It. I am such a fan of the Adam’s Family. Grab a hat. Attach as much yarn to it as you can–now, you’re Cousin It.  You’re creepy and you’re kooky.

2. Greek goddess. Sheet, baby–sheet.  Toga yourself and hold your head up like a queen, or, um, goddess.

1. Werewolf. Normal clothes work fine…as long as the full moon isn’t out. If it is, slice up the sleeves of your shirt and buy some of the furry wolf gloves you can get at your friendly costume shop.  The gloves can put you in semi-wolf shift. Then, howl occasionally for fun.

Your turn–share!