Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Cole, when it comes to calico cats, restraint is overrated.

No Justins, No Peace

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Motown is Joe-Town!

A consequence of cucumbers

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Found liable for massive fraud, is required to post a massive bond, gets a break, then files a *fraudulent* bond!

Not all heroes wear capes.

Democrats have delivered the Square Deal, the New Deal, the Fair Deal, and now… the Big Joe Biden Deal.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Pelosi: “He either is stupid, or he thinks the rest of us are.” Why not both?

Republicans would impeach Biden if he bit into a whole Kit Kat rather than breaking the sections apart.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

Everybody saw this coming.

“They not like us!” (that’s for sure!)

Can we lighten up on the doomsday scenarios?

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Halloween Night Scares

Open Thread: Halloween Night Scares

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  2. 2.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Reposted from downstairs. This is a better thread.

    As for trick-or-treat, the first Hallowe’en I was in my current apartment, about 11 years ago, I didn’t know what to expect so I stocked up on individually-wrapped candy — about half of it peanut butter stuff, which I will never eat, and the other half stuff that would last me through the winter if it didn’t get handed out.

    I ended up with NO little kids in costume, which I would have found enchanting. I did get probably 20-25 teenagers over the course of the evening, 2 or 3 at a time, with no costumes, no makeup, no nothing except a bag and an expectation that they were entitled to free candy.

    Well, fuck that. I have contrived to make every Hallowe’en since then (or designated T&T night) a night when I’m simply not home. Right now I’m in a sports bar drinking red wine and waiting for the start of Game 4 of the World Series.

  3. 3.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    I seriously doubt we’re going to get any trick or treaters since we didn’t get any last year and the person who used to organize it seems to have moved. We have a bowl full of candy anyway.

  6. 6.

    Emma

    We always buy candy but alternate between feast and famine. It’s a famine year; not a single kid so far.

  7. 7.

    Suzanne

    Our neighborhood gets shitloads of trick-or-treaters. One year, we bought four bags of candy and we were still cleaned out within an hour and a half.

    In 2012, one of our neighbors has two bowls of candy. One had full-size candy bars, and one had the tiny Tootsie rolls. They asked each kid if they were a Democrat or a Republican, and depending on the answer, offered one bowl or the other.

    Guess which bowl they offered if the kids said they were Democrats.

  10. 10.

    gogol's wife

    We had three visitations. Pack of cute kids with indistinguishable costumes; adorable little Maleficent; and a couple of Frozen types. It was fun. Better than last year (0).

    ETA: My husband knows no current popular culture so has no idea what I’m talking about when I murmur Maleficent and Frozen.

  13. 13.

    dmsilev

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): I’m not expecting much of anything either. This is why I bought candy that I like to eat, and I’ll bring the leftovers into work to toss into the common candy pool.

  14. 14.

    Elizabelle

    @Suzanne: At least it was not pre-chewed gum. Although they may not have thought of that yet.

    Noticed a boatload of kids across the street, trick or treating, wondered: why aren’t they over here?

    Um, cuz I had the house Halloween dark, with candles, but didn’t look like anyone was home when you stood out in front. Live and learn.

    Lights on enough for the kids to read while T&Ting and they’re at the door again. Got to unload the kid candies. Have held some Reese’s cups and Almond Joys back for adults.

  15. 15.

    JCJ

    A fair number of trick-or-treaters so far. Probably around 40. By this time it is mostly high school kids.

  16. 16.

    Elizabelle

    Lot of homemade costumes this year. I like that. The Disney princess stuff looks good too. My little neighbor was Pokemon.

    One child had really good blood splatter on her neck and throat. Complimented her. It was CSI worthy.

  18. 18.

    Mike in NC

    We’ve never gotten into adult Halloween parties, but if forced to go to one this year I’d go as Trump.

  19. 19.

    Schlemazel

    We never have a lot of kids and the road construction has dwindled ‘few’ to two. I gave them both a huge hand full & wish I had given them more – I love the look on their faces when they expect one tiny piece but I give them a bunch.

  21. 21.

    Suzanne

    Spawn the Elder is at a Halloween party with friends. She went as Louise from Bob’s Burgers. Spawn the Younger is in the shower getting ready for trick-or-treating. She will be dressing as Izzy (with Scully) from Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

    Mom will be going as Sick Lady.

  22. 22.

    Schlemazel

    My best Halloween as an adult was when we moved into a new neighborhood, our oldest was 10-11 at the time. He went with a friend of his. Friends dad & I tagged along, he knew all the neighbors so he introduced us as we went door to door. At least half the houses insisted we have a drink as our growed up treat, I was very sloshed by the end of the evening.

  23. 23.

    Elizabelle

    @Suzanne: Front light was on, and my door was open — have a glass door. But, with only candlelight, you couldn’t see door was open. So kids were walking right by.

    I think most kids are gone by now. Alas, still have some candy left.

    Lovely weather in NoVa. A little brisk, but no need for coats and sweaters, if you walk rapidly. Clear night. It’s been a beautiful fall.

    And now we get to turn the clocks back. Heavenly.

  24. 24.

    cmorenc

    Explain to me how your tax plan would actually work”

    …Lo, though I shall walk through the valley of tax cuts
    I shall fear no deficits
    for thy rod of budget cuts and staff of entitlement reforms comfort me
    and increased prosperity shall follow with ample increased revenue the rest of our days.

    If you were a liberty-loving Christian “maker” instead of “taker” you’d understand that. And you might even have a car elevator if you are virtuous and hard-working enough.

  25. 25.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @efgoldman: We had a couple of small waves of quite polite kiddos, with a general supervisor for each. No standoffs this year, though I’ll note that I’m entirely too badass unarmed to need a shotgun. And I was the recipient of the c-bomb delivered by Petite Footwear.

  28. 28.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    Dirk is out of surgery and awake. Barring any setbacks, notably with his ability to urinate, I’ll bring him home tomorrow morning. Than I promptly leave the house for 18 hours, because I’m working a double shift, but the vet said that shouldn’t be much of a problem if things lok good.

  29. 29.

    22over7

    Only one group here so far, but it’s early still. They better show up. There’s a bucket of candy that needs to be gone.

  30. 30.

    FlyingToaster

    We had a grand total of 16, which is our record. Last year was 11. The littlest kids — or their parents — didn’t want to climb the many, many stairs.

    The last 3 complimented our skeletons. We have a lot of old (like 13-year old) skeletons and skeleton light strings, a (lit) skeleton climbing out of the ground and a (unlit) skeleton flamingo. The inflated Hello Kitty seems to have convinced kids that we’re not scary, despite the skeletons. I didn’t put out the tinsel spiders this year (hurt my foot, didn’t want to spend a lot of time on the ladder).

    Tomorrow is a birthday party, so Clara Oswin Oswald still has to get up and get going.

  31. 31.

    Gimlet

    I stopped at Baud’s house with the kids.

    the streets are full of children celebrating WITCHCRAFT and demanding candy WELFARE. And they don’t just ask; they threaten blue-collar Joes with “tricks” unless they are “treated”.

    Well the only trick being perpetrated is by Nancy Pelosi and her secret cabal of conspirators at the Mars Candy Company. But I won’t live this way anymore. I’m taking this country back, one tear-streaked Frankenstein at a time.

    You know what goodies I drop in trick or treaters’ bags? Life lessons. Sure it may not satisfy that sweet tooth like Good N Plenty, but what’s sweeter than a life dedicated to hard work and self-reliance? You may think you want candy corn, Sally, but what you really want is freedom—freedom from a socialist holiday that teaches you to be dependent on candy-earners.

    “But Halloween is fun,” you say. “Maybe we can give away something patriotic to the young folks.” I too thought Halloween could be salvaged, but Satanism and laziness go to its core. Sarah and I considered giving out copies of “Atlas Shrugged,” but what kind of lesson would that be? Children need to pay for their Rand so they don’t become parasites suckling at the teet of the tax-payer. I’d be enabling the expectation that good things in life just get handed to you. Well, they don’t. Sorry to break it to you, kid, but life is hard. You can’t just put on a mask and expect Mallomars to fall into your lap (or pillowcase, as it were). If you ask me, Halloween is nothing short of a slippery slope to armed robbery.

  33. 33.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Gimlet:

    If you ask me, Halloween is nothing short of a slippery slope to armed robbery.

    Oh, you mean televangelism?

  36. 36.

    NotMax

    Used to give out comic books rather than candy, but haven’t seen any trick or treaters anywhere in the neighborhood for several years now so no longer bother laying in a stock of anything.

    However, 50% off at the stores on Halloween leftovers begins tomorrow!

  37. 37.

    Schlemazel

    The other side of the street is more put together than ours, I noticed some kids across the street but not coming over to our side. I gave up & started chasing kids down and forcing them to take candy – nothing creepy about that!

  39. 39.

    PurpleGirl

    Reposting from below:

    I spent an hour and a half in the building lobby this afternoon, in Yarn Monster. The only adult handing out candy that was dressed up. There was a discussion among a couple of adults if we still give candy to non-resident kids. We had so much candy that I wouldn’t think it would matter. Besides if we didn’t have the lobby party, the kids would try to find a way to get into the building anyway. Word is that other buildings in the complex didn’t have many people volunteering to hand our candy; Building 4 (my building) was one maybe the busiest one. I enjoy doing the candy gig. And there is a sign you can hang on your door that you gave to the lobby party and tells kids not to ring your bell. (It works.)

  41. 41.

    sacrablue

    It is still 82 degrees here. Doesn’t feel like Trick or Treat weather. Still ten minutes until official start time. I don’t know if we will top the 74 kids we had last year.

  43. 43.

    ThresherK

    First year at the new place, and there are no kids here. More to the point given the demographics of our new neighborhood, no grandkids here.

  44. 44.

    Jeffro

    @NotMax: Comic books: been doing the same thing for years now, it’s very well received in the neighborhood (although we usually give each kid a piece of candy too).

  45. 45.

    Jeffro

    Btw here’s a scare for the adults:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/seeking-americas-lost-greatness-and-finding-trump-most-appealing/2015/10/31/2435e06e-7c12-11e5-b575-d8dcfedb4ea1_story.html

    McCoy recognizes that his sense of lost greatness is probably different from that of others who are drawn to Trump, but he says that’s all right. When Trump talks about losing the country, “it’s about whatever you want it to be,” McCoy said. “He lets you fill in the blanks.”

    That free-floating sense of decline expresses itself in many different ways among Trump supporters. Some speak of a fading sense of mobility, a loss of the expectation that each generation will surpass its parents’ standard of living. Others focus on the loss of blue-collar jobs and a sense that only those with computer backgrounds can take advantage of the new digital economy.

    Wowzers. You can bring your anger here (to Trump’s campaign) and let ‘er rip because…it’s about whatever you want it to be. He lets you fill in the blanks.

  46. 46.

    PurpleGirl

    @efgoldman:

    No-one figured out she was a bitch on wheels.

    The year Rajat (one of the IBMers in the Peekskill mob) became an American citizen he rented a full a buck-skin outfit and feather bonnet. He came as an American Indian.

    Then there was the year I sewed a small fin to the back of a black business suit. I was the shark’s cousin (a lawyer). (That was the year I spent most the weekends leading up to Hollowee helping my friend Nick make a shark suit for himself.)

  47. 47.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    The thing to do in our building seems to be to set candy outside the door so that’s what we did. Since we’re relatively new in the building, next year we may be able to have kids come to the door now that we’ve shown we have candy and are willing to distribute it.

    I got this costume at a discount and wore it ito run errands. Please, like any of you are surprised. I got one compliment from a teenage girl and the teenage boys working the checkstand seemed to like it, probably because it’s a little too small and I’m a 36D.
    ;-)

  48. 48.

    Schlemazel

    @Jeffro:
    I can tell you that exact derailed train of thought is what elected Jesse the Boobie Venture here in Minnesota. I’d talk to his supporters before the election and it was a giant Rorschach test. People would look at that greasy blob & see whatever their tiny hearts desired. It was the most depressed I have was since ’68 and that bastard Nixon winning.

  49. 49.

    Nate Dawg

    My 3-month old nephew was dressed as Toad from Mario Kart with his stroller completely covered and turned into a little Go-Kart.

    It may be the best costume I’ve seen since Ruth Baby Ginsburg.

  50. 50.

    J R in WV

    @Schlemazel:

    Nixon was bad, but W Bush’s reelection in 2004 was the worst for me. My Dad died that election day around 1 pm. It was a good thing, Hospice care, they were amazing wonderful. He had leukemia and the chemo wore him out after a few years.

  51. 51.

    cckids

    @lamh36: I love that. When my niece was 3 or so, she was trick-or-treating with us & a neighbor (kind of an ass) had a remote-controlled, hairy spider he was using to scare the little ones. Made more than one cry.

    He sent it scurrying at Allison, she took one look & STOMPED it. Crunch! Says “That’s what Mommy does to spiders!” I was in tears, I was laughing so hard.

  52. 52.

    Kay

    From a funny person on Twitter:

    Full-sized candy bars at the house with a @BernieSanders sign. Step up your game, @HillaryClinton.

    We had exactly nine pieces of Halloween candy left at 8, which is when we shut ‘er down in this town so I think I planned that perfectly :)

  54. 54.

    Bobby Thomson

    @Suzanne:

    I thought the front light was the universal signal.

    You would think so, but my daughter rang at a lot of porch-light-on houses that didn’t answer. One we could even see the neighbors in the kitchen wearing costumes and working at the sink.

  56. 56.

    satby

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym: Happy to hear that good news for Dirk! He’ll probably sleep all day anyway.

    It rained the whole day here… I don’t get trick or treaters out here anyway, but the extrovert exchange daughter went with a friend in the town and the quieter one bailed on treating and came with me to grocery shop. They really are a yin/yang pair, but they’re having a ball laughing about something right now upstairs. The dogs are all snoring and life is good.

    And did I mention how much I luv you guys?

  58. 58.

    chopper

    took the kids trick or treating in a nice neighborhood a few over. I always thought full size candy bars were a bit of an urban legend but some old dude was handing out king size ones. hot breaded jesus in a chicken basket my kids got a huge haul.

  59. 59.

    Jeffro

    @redshirt: New comics seem to be running $4/each (and up) at comic shops these days, but what I do is try to pick up larger amounts of the older stuff at used bookstores (McKay Used Books in Manassas, VA; 2nd & Charles; and so on) or at garage sales for $.50/each or less. My kids read them once and then they go into the Halloween/waiting room distribution pile.

    *older stuff = 80s/90s superhero comics that most kids would recognize like Spider-Man, Batman, Wolverine, Superman, X-Men, Justice League, and so on.

  63. 63.

    Steeplejack

    @redshirt:

    Nothing he picks up at a used bookstore or a garage sale is going to be even close to mint condition.

    * Getting a bit weepy because my mom unilaterally disposed of my entire collection of ’60s Marvel comics sometime after I went away to college in 1969.

  64. 64.

    redshirt

    @Steeplejack: You never know. Every once in a while you hear about some crazy art turning up at a yardsale for 50 cents. Dazzler #1 in the original foil because it was “a girl’s comic” would be worth like 23$ or so.

    Our family cat pissed on mine. Ruined everything. Thankfully, this was after I got ripped off by the flea market comic book man, who took my best books for safe keeping.

  65. 65.

    Jeffro

    @redshirt: Yeah, there’s definitely a vetting process there…but it works out okay. The kiddos love it and who knows, maybe they actually read a few words, get interested (“wait…there were Guardians of the Galaxy BEFORE the movie came out?”) and all that.

    @Steeplejack: that is definitely a tragedy…if you want to pick up some reprints for nostalgia purposes, there’s never been a better time. Marvel has collected, one way or another, just about everything they’ve ever published. And really, if you’re willing to buy lower-grade copies, eBay and some patience will do you wonders.

    It’s quite shocking how the bottom has continued to drop out of the back issue market for all the but rarest high-grade issues and occasional hot current issue. I never got into that (collecting/speculating) but still. I guess it makes sense, though: there are no more rare issues, since the shrinking demand coupled with the internet (not just eBay) availability mean that most everyone still collecting comics already has what they want.

  66. 66.

    Steeplejack

    @Jeffro:

    I have thought about investigating the reprint compilations. I’m not really interested in “collecting” individual issues. I was just an avid, obsessive reader and would love to be able to go through, say, all of The Amazing Spider-Man or The X-Men from start to—well, not “finish,” but some reasonable end point. And there were some great secondary comics: Dr. Strange and Jim Steranko’s Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD were two of my favorites. The latter was visually stunning.

    Same for some of the comics from the Sunday funnies. I loved Prince Valiant—the artwork was incredibly detailed—but the story advanced at a snail’s pace, if the snail was in a wheelchair and was afflicted with narcolepsy. Would love to blow through a year or two of that at a sitting.

  69. 69.

    NotMax

    Can highly recommend the volumes of Li’l Abner from the same source. Less expensive, IIRC, because they are primarily in B&W.

  70. 70.

    Steeplejack

    @NotMax:

    Been thinking that Pogo might be a good one too. Dick Tracy is on the bubble. Even as a kid I remember there was a lot of weirdness just under the surface. (And not always “under.”) Hmm, Steve Canyon, Terry and the Pirates . . .

  71. 71.

    redshirt

    The Dark Phoenix saga of the 80’s is my jam.

    So epic. And I remember learning so many words as I kept a dictionary on hand to look them up as they appeared in the word bubbles**

    *or footnotes, see Thor 149
    ** comics in general, from like age 5 on.

  72. 72.

    Nancy

    @Gimlet:
    Just woke up, reading the cute costumes thread. Thinking I’d put something about the lovely little guy who tried to trade his piece of candy for one of mine. Parents set him straight that he didn’t have to trade this time. I gave him two pieces and gave him some to give mom and dad. Adorable…BUT now I see the light or darkness as the case may be. You have raised my awareness.
    With my new enlightenment, I freely and happily choose to help cute toddlers slide down that slippery slope. Teenagers with no costumes will get a snarky comment as I pay them off with less popular candy.
    I’m a true american, I guess.

  74. 74.

    mclaren

    @Jeffro:

    McCoy recognizes that his sense of lost greatness is probably different from that of others who are drawn to Trump, but he says that’s all right. When Trump talks about losing the country, “it’s about whatever you want it to be,” McCoy said. “He lets you fill in the blanks.”

    Exactly the same as Obama’s election campaign in 2008. Lots of vague promises of “hope” and “change,” not a lot of specifics. Those details Obama ran on, he immediately reversed as soon as he got elected: single-payer national health care (he ridiculed Hillary’s mandate proposal, then immediately embraced it upon election), closing Gitmo (he savaged Bush for keeping Guantanamo Bay open, then kept it open himeslf), warrantless wiretapping (he criticized Bush for it, then even did an about-face and embraced it while running for election), and so on.

    This is why so many of us expect Hillary to propose more tax cuts for billionaires, as soon as she’s elected, more illegal panopticon surveillance and undeclared martial law, and more endless unwinnable foreign wars — plus cuts to disability, social security and medicare in order to ramp up funding for useless weapons that don’t work (like the F35).

  75. 75.

    mclaren

    @Jeffro:

    It’s quite shocking how the bottom has continued to drop out of the back issue market for all the but rarest high-grade issues and occasional hot current issue.

    Not really. All the reprint compilations are out on DVD. The scans are taken from the original artwork and look so much better than even the most mint quality print comic that there’s no comparison.

  76. 76.

    Gvg

    Ok, it’s November 1st Sunday night and this site for me seems to have reverted to last night. This post is top of the page and other posts I saw this morning are gone. Contact link goes to something very odd that looks like underlying code so I can’t figure out a better way to tell anyone. Oh well, I will check later.

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