register |  login
› PARKER
Loading Ad
Visit Other Hubs:
ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Tower
Blog
Blog Entry 39 of 49 Barry Manilow's Wardrobe
Fans of the 1985 masterpiece about teenage angst, "The Breakfast Club", know that John Bender did have one question for Principal Vernon. To those who have never seen the movie, well, I recommend it. If you get past the title, you may find something in this blog that strikes a familiar chord in your life--something for which to cheer. You may find something worthy of a jeer. Either way, a chord has been plucked, and that’s the most I can hope for. If you find neither---or worse, disappointment---I follow the creed of Aspen's own, the late Hunter S. Thompson: Never apologize, never explain.

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~ManilowsWardrobe

Halloween: Of Tricks, Treats, and Crab Cakes

Contributed by: Rob Guthrie   on 10/15/2006

Halloween is almost here. Candied apples, ghouls, goblins, jack-o-lanterns, witches, Michael Myers, costume parties, headless horsemen, and of course, the trick-or-treaters.

The Scottish call them guisers; to us they are (sometimes not so) little hooligans running around in everything from a sheet to an eye patch to an elaborate Skateboarding Teen costume, complete with pillow case for the big take. Trick-or-treaters are part of the Western backbone of a holiday that has morphed and bent but never broken since its Celtic inception over a century and a half ago.

The monikers are a plenty: Hallowe'en, All Hallows' Eve, and All Saint's Eve, just to name a few. The Irish call it Samhain, translated as "End of Summer"; a harvest celebration and a festival to ward off evil spirits. November 1st on the Roman Calendar was considered to be the first day of winter---winter being representative of human death---and Samhain was considered a time when the dead could revisit the mortal world.

Personally, only having known the modern, western cultural version, Halloween has still always been one of my favorite nights. For me it was (and is) simply the coolest, creepiest day of the year. I love the history, the tradition, and the eeriness of the supernatural and occult that surrounds it. I've always loved special effects, great costumes, gory makeup and the like. My favorite literature and movies from my childhood are a ghoulish gaggle:

The Pit and the Pendulum
Frankenstein
The Wolf Man
Dracula
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
House of Wax
The Monkey's Paw
Creature from the Black Lagoon
The Fly
The Premature Burial
Salem's Lot
The Tell Tale Heart
The Howling
The Exorcist
The Shining

Man, if it was creepy or it crawled (or began with "The"), I was all about it. Friday nights there was a program that aired around 10:30 called Creature Feature---each week they would show a different scary movie. Vincent Price flicks were regular fare. Obviously it was my unspoken goal to stay up late enough, permission or no, to watch every one. The snowy black-and-white telecast made it even better.

For me, Vincent Price was the undisputed king of horror films---and if Price was king, he owed his fiefdom to Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and Lon Chaney, Jr., feudal lords of the craft. (I'm telling you, if you've never seen Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) , where you are treated to all three classic horror characters, well then you just ain't lived!)

One of my most memorable Halloweens in adulthood was in Aspen, CO. We were there for Garret's hockey tournament, but there were no games that night, so Amy and I dropped into a local pub to have an early bite to eat (around 5 p.m.). Flash forward 5-6 hours: we are still at the same booth, the empty room has now filled to capacity with costumed revelers of all shapes and sizes, and I---sporting no costume and having at this point had way too much to drink---am having the time of my life chatting it up with the waiter, who is dressed in a prisoner outfit, ball and chain included (I kept calling him Andy, as in Andy Dufresne from The Shawshank Redemption).

Amy, having had crab cakes earlier for dinner, discovered her particular intolerance for the shellfish and alcohol combo platter, visiting the curb more than once on our long, cold walk back to the hotel.

(Hey, I said it was memorable, not glorious.)

These days Halloween is mostly about handing out mini versions of favorite candy bars, hoping we have enough so we don't run out (and that we don't have too many, a precursor to packing on ten more chocolate pounds before Thanksgiving). I always think I might put together a cool setup in the yard, or play some creepy music, but we normally end up busy until the night before, when all we can muster is a trip to the store to stock up on last minute bounty for the kiddies.

This year we will watch my DVD copy of Abbott and Costello's masterpiece. And perhaps The Shining for good measure. Garret's too old to trick-or-treat, and we aren't doing Aspen this go-around, so I suppose there won't be much that's memorable.

So as homage to that inglorious night several years past, and with apologies to the legendary Edgar Allen Poe, I offer this short verse:

Once upon an Aspen dreary, while we pondered, weak and weary,
Over shellfish and a curious glass of fermented store,
While I teetered, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of the waiter gently rapping, rapping his chain upon the floor.
"'Tis Dufresne," I muttered, "of previous Shawshank lore.
Only this, and nothing more."

Ah, distinctly I remember it was near November,
And one pub's erstwhile member wrought her cookies upon the floor.
Eagerly Amy wished the morrow;- vainly I had sought to borrow
From my wits so full of sorrow- sorrow for the lost fermented store-
For the rare and radiant waiter, forced to clean the splattered floor-
Queasy here for evermore.


* * * *
Have a safe and happy Halloween.


SUBMIT COMMENT

Rate the above blog



Current Rating
Based on 8 user ratings.

Talk Back : submit comments to the blog

*Note: you need to log-in to add a comment or rating.

Showing 1-7 of 7 comments
Submitted By: Meagan Savage
posted on 10/20/2006 @ 12:06:18 PM
Rated Blog Entry
Nice Poe-with-a-twist. Halloween rocks. You know what I love about Coloraod Halloweens? Everybody has to plan their costumes around their winter coats.
[Report as objectionable]
Submitted By: Delete Me
posted on 10/16/2006 @ 7:22:49 PM
Rated Blog Entry
I knew a Lenore once. Man was she beautiful. I never met an Edgar, but I would assume if she was named Edgar she would have to be beautiful. There is that singer Poe. She is kind of cute. Although I don't know if any of them would be cute enough to mop up a pub and cookie concoction. Eh, you never know. I have had to do worse things. Good stuff as always chief.
[Report as objectionable]
Submitted By: Brendan Leonard
posted on 10/16/2006 @ 4:40:50 PM
Rated Blog Entry
... and The Cask of Amontillado.
[Report as objectionable]
Submitted By: Tabitha Dial
posted on 10/16/2006 @ 2:03:26 PM
Rated Blog Entry
Another awesome blog. The poem is, of course, my favorite part. Thanks!
[Report as objectionable]
Submitted By: Rob Guthrie
posted on 10/16/2006 @ 10:56:42 AM
(Not Rated)
Karin: That's the sad thing...it's true; these days I'd never make it past 10:30! TBODM: thanks for having us...looking forward to dinner one night. (Amy said she still smells like garlic. I told her she needs to roll around in a stainless steel drum. To tie this back into the blog, I also told her she now need not worry about Nosferatu.)
[Report as objectionable]
Submitted By: Bill Boucher
posted on 10/16/2006 @ 10:06:35 AM
Rated Blog Entry
Very nice. I'm not telling you whast garlic fueled dream I had last night. By the way, tbodm, thanks for coming yesterday. To our house, that is. Say hi to Amy.
[Report as objectionable]
Submitted By: Karin Malchow
posted on 10/16/2006 @ 7:06:03 AM
Rated Blog Entry
I read this blog before going to bed and dreamt of you last night. We and our spouses were sprawled across a bed (fully clothed) watching old horror movies, except you and I kept falling asleep, which our spouses found hilarious. Calling Sigmund Freud.
[Report as objectionable]
Showing 1-7 of 7 comments
CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Rob Guthrie

Parker , CO

Rob Guthrie has posted 49 blog entries and 302 comments since joining on 6/15/2006. Rob Guthrie 's average blog rating is 4.99.
SAVE AND SHARE THIS BLOG ENTRY
BLOG ENTRY RSS FEEDS
BLOG LIST
WANT TO WRITE FOR YOURHUB.COM?
Want to see the stories you write and the photos you shoot featured in the YourHub.com Thursday print section available all over the Front Range and with home subscriptions of the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post? All you have to do is  register,  then post a story or column, start a blog or tell everyonewhat events are happening in town. We will print the best stories, columns, event listings, photos and blog entries in our print sections.

ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Ad

Loading Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Ad

This YourHub.com community is produced by The Denver Newspaper Agency
Web Development and Channel Analytics provided by Indigio

terms of use //  privacy policy
the staff //  advertise //  help & faq
buy photos