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| Photo via Wikimedia/Creative Commons APK |
by Peggy Robin
Maybe real life has become too scary for people to get into the spirit of Halloween, a holiday about fake-scary things, but I’ve noticed that there is far less Halloween dressing-up of houses this year than there has been in the past. Or maybe it’s just me, and the same amount of house-decorating is going on, but I’m seeing less of it because I no longer have children at home within the trick-or-treat age range and am no longer in touch with others who do; these are the people who are most likely to make their homes look appropriately spooky for the expected onslaught of their kids’ friends on their doorstops, costumed and cadging for candy. Nonetheless, as I walk or drive around the neighborhood, I can’t help but feel that the overall level of Boo+Whoo+cobwebbiness of the porches, the bushes, lawns, and front stoops is just not up to the heyday of the ‘00s and the ‘90s. Back in those days, I recall a house on Macomb Street that every year at this time was completely covered in a giant canvas painted in a Halloween theme: a goblin’s face with a wide-open mouth hole for the entrance, for example. Not long after the Harry Potter phenomenon began, the canvas covering turned the entire house into the schoolboy wizard. You just don’t see decoration like that around here anymore.
Despite the decline, I am determined to see some Halloween cheer (or more appropriately, charming gloom), and so I turn --as we all can when reality fails-- to the ever-present internet. Herewith, 5 sites overflowing with Halloween-o-mania, with lots of encouragement to try this at home (if you dare)!
Buzzfeed’s 20 Best Decorated Halloween Houses:
(Note to the squeamish: there are a few in this collection that you may find too realistically gory to be enjoyable; there’s a fine line between Halloween fun and Halloween overkill, but I leave it to you to decide where to draw it.)
Best Halloween House Light Show:
Best Carved Pumpkins:
Best Area Halloween Haunted Houses/Tours/Activities:
Best Tips and Ideas for Home/Garden Decorating:
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Still Life With Robin is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Saturdays.
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