Halloween: Cute and Scary

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Halloween cute scary Providence Moms BlogEvery year as Halloween approaches, I can barely contain myself. Forget Thanksgiving, THIS is where the holiday season begins.

For as long as I can remember I have always had a fascination with the spooky and the gory, the things that go bump in the night. From the first time I was introduced to A Nightmare on Elm Street, which was probably much earlier than it should’ve been, I was hooked. I was also afraid to get in the bath tub and started exclusively taking showers, but that’s another story. Quite simply put, I like to be scared.

When they were babies I dressed our girls up as pumpkins, fairies, and cowgirls. One year there was even a tutu wearing monkey. Of course they were adorable costumes and all of that was fun, but nothing can compare to the year my 4-year-old looked at me and asked, “Mom, can I be a zombie for Halloween?” And since I am always telling my kids they can be anything, my natural response was, “Yes, my darling! YES, YOU CAN!”

Now, I am not crazy. I don’t show my kids the Walking Dead. (I don’t even watch it. Gasp! I am more of a True Blood, American Horror Story kind of girl.) So I haven’t the slightest clue where this idea came from. Maybe there is a spooky gene? Is horror hereditary? If it is, they got it from me, because my husband is not a horror buff.  And since most people say they look like him, I’ll take what I can get! 

All I knew in that moment was that I was running with it. I checked out Pinterest and searched for “kid zombie make-up,” which was both helpful and disturbing. I enlisted my brother (a Walking Dead fanatic) to help me  rip, tear, and burn a princess dress in all the right places. The result was, in my opinion, nothing short of amazing. Our younger daughter, only two at the time, was easily coaxed into being Cinderella, and from there, the Zombie and the Princess were born. 

That Halloween, as countless Elsas and Annas passed by us in the neighborhood, my little creepy zombie held her sister’s hand and happily went door to door. She occasionally hissed as to really play up the creepy vibe and people loved it. I was beaming with pride. It was AWESOME. Since then, we’ve had a skeleton and a super scary spider. The spider probably goes down as the hardest costume to make thus far. Eight attached legs and hat with dozens of eyes didn’t come without a lot hours spent with my glue gun and a few curse words. But the Zombie and the Princess still go down as my favorite costumes to date. halloween cute scary Providence Moms Blog

It was after this that Halloween in our house went from cute to a bit more scary. And we’ve started some new family traditions to get into the spirit!

Every year we expand on the front yard decor by adding something new. Another grim reaper here or a giant light up spider web over there. Whatever it is, its entirely up to the girls. We make a special shopping trip just for this purpose. We love searching the Halloween aisle at Target and they beg me to visit Spirit Halloween. They understand it’s all fake and meant to be fun. They love it!

We have a list of Halloween movies we watch every October, starting with Curious George’s Boofest. This movie is always first as it kicks off the season of “booing.”  Some others we love include Hotel Transylvania 1 and 2, Room on the Broom, Frankenweenie and this year, I think we’re going to check out Coraline.  Also, if you are child of the 80’s, you might remember The Worst Witch.  Netflix has remade it into a series and its fabulous. I highly recommend it. 

And what is “the season of booing” you ask? It’s when we hide behind doors or the couch or any other inconspicuous place and jump out, screaming “BOO!” in an attempt to scare the living the daylights out of someone. It starts October 1st and runs through Halloween night. Any friend or family who comes over in that time frame could be subject to a good “booing.” So if you plan on paying us a visit, BEWARE.

Happy Halloween!