Back
when I was a kid on Halloween my dad would take the stereo speakers and
hide them outside and we had this record of spooky sounds. I can still
see
the orange album cover with the haunted house and black cat on it. It
had all kinds of ambience sounds with chains clanking and wind moaning
and screams and groans. All the good stuff.
He
would be sitting in his easy chair with his Budweiser in one hand
watching TV when some poor unsuspecting toddler would waddle up to our
door. Once he
heard that tell-tale rap on the door he would spring up and drop the
needle. Today’s kids probably wouldn’t even flinch but in 1978 seeing a
miniature Darth Vader bolting for the sidewalk leaving a little trickle
the force behind his was glorious. Even preteen
to teenage were not immune to the scares and screams my dad would
inflict on them. He would always chuckle and open the door and give
generous handfuls of candy to the survivors left standing.
I
think seeing my dad enjoying himself and getting into the whole thing,
this is probably where my enjoyment of Halloween came from.
