Frightful Friday Five...

[magnetic_pole]

1. With Halloween coming this next week, do you have any seasonal activities you're planning on doing for the holiday? The better half and I had a Halloween happy hour last night, costumes encouraged. Fun, fun, fun, plus lots of food and pumpkin bread, which is my absolute favorite. (Hm. I should pass on the recipe, it's that good. Will come back to this.) Due to school, I'm unfortunately missing out on Friend A's invitation to hand out candy on Wednesday (she has an actual house with a door, where we live in an apartment). ETA: I'll also be reading hp_halloween ficlets! How could I forget those bite-size treats?

2. What is your favorite Halloween or dress up party costume you've had? R adores Halloween, so we do something every year. Last year we were Amazon Prime--R in an Amazon warrior costume with headband and sword, and me in all black with prime numbers all over. Apart from the inadvertent advertising for a corporation that does not deserve it, it was fun to watch people guess. The best costume yesterday involved a sateen sash and a loaf of bread (breadwinner--clever, clever).

3. Which do you like better, apple cider or pumpkin spice flavoring? Pumpkin spice! Although having had unpasteurized cider in northern New England, I can understand why people like apple cider so much. It's so subtle and delicious it makes the supermarket stuff taste like apple juice.

4. What is your favorite scary movie and why? *sheepish* I can't watch any scary movies. They're all bad to me. The last one I watched was Poltergeist in, oh, 1982. I couldn't sleep for months.

5. What traditionally "scary" monster or fear do you think is the most overrated and why? Again, they're all scary! (I have a low tolerance for scary things.) Although I do have to say I love cemeteries. There's something lovely about seeing so many individual lives honored in one place. They've never struck me as scary. ETA: Plus I love black cats. Surely they've never brought anyone bad luck?

As always, I'd love to see you complete thefridayfive yourself (and thanks to the good folks over there for keep us chatting). But if you're only up for chatting in comments and not a full post, tell me: what's the best Halloween costume that you've created or that you've seen?

Comments

[lash_larue]

I saw "Play Misty for Me" back when it came out. At a late showing. Got home around midnight and sat in the car for about 15 minutes working up the nerve to walk to the door.

To this day, I react violently to a woman holding a knife above shoulder level.

L

[magnetic_pole]

Yikes! I had to look that one up, and even the summary gave me chills.

Ah, obsessive fans. We're all the brink of homicide, of course. Crazy women. :) M.

made it here from the comm

[onlysmallwings]

I also love cemeteries! Possibly because there was a cemetery in front of the neighborhood I grew up in and it was just normalized. Also some of the markers were kind of old. It was a chill place to hang out and read on nice days, too.

Re: made it here from the comm

[magnetic_pole]

Ah! You know, part of the reason I'm attracted to them is that I *didn't* see a cemetery until I was an adult--they were tucked away in suburban LA where I grew up, and parents tended not to bring their kids. (White parents, that is; I know other folks for whom it was a family outing.)

Was your cemetery one of the park-like ones? M.

Re: made it here from the comm

[onlysmallwings]

Kind of? We weren't really 'welcomed' to hang out, but because we weren't Teens we didn't get run off if we wanted to sit on a bench with a book or lay in the grass for a while.

And as for family cemeteries, visitation of those was normalized as part of visiting family. They weren't scary for me, they were a place to remember our honored dead. And then we'd be allowed to run around with cousins. :)

Re: made it here from the comm

[magnetic_pole]

Running around with the cousins is always a good thing. :) M.

Re: made it here from the comm

[jesse_the_k]

Another cemetery fan here.

We visit them wherever we go. It's fun to compare the different styles of markers and sentiments thereupon. I'm no expert, but I can tell the basic styles of 17th - 21st century headstones.

My parents are buried in Mount Auburn, which was one of the first garden cemeteries. (Riverside, in Rochester NY, is even more beautiful. Rochester is worth a visit just to admire the 19th century robber barons' architecture.)

Re: made it here from the comm

[onlysmallwings]

Yeah, nothing like an expert either, I just think they're cool. I like the variation in markers and sentiments as well.

Cemeteries are just peaceful, restful. And also an insight into how people before us memorialized their dead.

Re: made it here from the comm

[magnetic_pole]

Mount Auburn is one of the park-like cemeteries I was thinking of--I remember visiting many years ago and realizing how very different it was from the modern cemeteries in CA and the church yards I'd seen in movies.

I will remember that if I ever make it to Rochester! M.

[kelly_chambliss]

So looking forward to HP Halloween! It's become my cherished tradition now, after nine years of participation -- come home, close the curtains, find something fun to drink, and sit down for a night of drabble fun.

I'm not much for scary movies, either. I've seen many over the years and can even appreciate many as fine examples of film art. But now I pass on them. The real world provides all the terror I need these days.

[magnetic_pole]

I'm excited about HP Halloween, too. I love the 200-word format. I always see calls on Tumblr for epic-length, multi-chapter stories, and all I can think is, give me a ficlet any day. I love the precision. We all have different tastes, I suppose.

It's also lovely to read a number of characters and pairings I don't usually read.

Thank you, HPH mods, if you're reading this!

News from Brazil is scary enough I just closed the news site until the morning. I'm going to indulge in some escapism before bed and tackle the real world in the morning. M.

[therealsnape]

I had your recipe once, you've posted it on LJ long, long ago. But I've lost it and it was so very good! So please, please, repost. I'll never be able to find that post again. But I dreamt of it this autumn.

It's such fun to read everyone's take, because you all actually do have answers to the questions. Mine would be 1)nope 2)never had one 3)we don't have a pumpkin spice drink. I think I might like it. Plus I'm like you where scary movies are concerned.

Still, your plea to keep chatting fired me up and I finally did the Roman picspam.

The Halloween Happy Hour sounds fantastic!

[magnetic_pole]

The happy hour was lovely, and I have to remember to let R throw parties occasionally because they're never as bad as I think they're be, and often I actually have fun.

Aha! I am excited for your photos of Rome. Virtual travel via flist is the best.

I wouldn't be surprised if you got pumpkin spice in your part of the world sometime soon. *she says darkly* It's insidious--not a bad combination of flavors at all, but do you really want it in your cereal?

Hee! Americans are terrible about their cultural imperialism. Sorry! But it's interesting to hear you have so few Halloween connections. I suppose there's only so much energy to be invested in holidays, and you have your hands full commemorating the Siege. :)

I will repost the pumpkin bread recipe! M.

[secretsolitaire]

I love pumpkin bread and would definitely be up for trying a new recipe!

I can't watch any scary movies. They're all bad to me.

SAME. I don't understand the desire to be frightened by movies, haha.

[magnetic_pole]

. I don't understand the desire to be frightened by movies, haha.

I know! I have terrifying dreams most nights, and I wake up grateful that I my day is always calmer and more comforting. Why subject yourself to more fear? :(

I will post the pumpkin bread soon! Tomorrow? It's really lovely. (I can brag about it because it's not really a family recipe and I'm never the one who makes it, so it's only nominally mine. It's more like one I consume joyfully on a yearly basis.)

Are you getting all this rain we're getting? So soggy out there! M.

[secretsolitaire]

Are you getting all this rain we're getting? So soggy out there!

Yep, looks pretty gray out. I was hoping to walk to my polling place this morning, but we'll see.

SO and I just got back from Japan, where we had 2+ weeks of nearly perfect weather -- barely a drop of rain the whole time, and just a couple of gray days. I've never had a non-desert vacation with such good weather! But once back home, back to the endless rain...

[magnetic_pole]

I'd forgotten about your Japan trip! I'd love to hear more about that. It's on my long-term short list--I definitely want to go but when we have more money. Taking note of your perfect weather in late October!

Ugh, rain. Hope it dried out for you today! M.

[secretsolitaire]

I have been meaning for weeks (months? /o\) to make a post about a bunch of trips I've taken over the past year. Someday. Japan was a really interesting mix of high-tech efficiency (heated toilets everywhere! ♥) and overwhelming consumerism (vending machines everywhere!) and carefully maintained traditions (temples and shrines and gardens everywhere!). We paid a lot for hotels and airfare and rail passes, but one surprisingly cheap aspect of the trip was the food. Most nights we had dinner for two for less than $35. (We ate a lot of ramen. *g*)