"LITTLE HALLOWEEN" Reminder

[Pumpkin_Man]

Hi Folks:

Happy New Year one and all! I hope 2012 is a great year, and there aren't any polar shifts, earth quakes, 2nd commings or solar flairs on the way to lous things up for us.

Anyway, I just wanted to remind you all, that "Little Halloween" is less then 2 weeks away, on Friday January 13th. That's a week from next Friday, so I hope you all will join me in this nice little tast of Trick or Treat spirit in the dead of Winter.

I, for one, am going to purchase myself a couple of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, put out one of my Plastic Jack o'lanterns, and screen one of my "Dark Shadows" videos, and the original "The Haunting." A "Little Halloween" double feature. I thought I might screen "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown," but I had 2nd thoughts, and decided that would be better for the July "Little Halloween."

Anyway, I just wanted to bring that up, now that's January and the Post Christmas Winter doldrums are now upon us. They certainly are upon me, as tomorrow is my last day of Christmas Vacation before I have to go back to the 'old grind,' and tomorrow is also the day I take Christmas down for the year.

Mike

[Li H'Sen Chang]

Thanks Mike and God bless you for 2012. I just take down my Christmas and need to load up my tree in to deliver to recycle station.

[Pumpkin_Man]

It is't not raining tomorrow, I'm going to burn my tree.

Mike

[Li H'Sen Chang]

You allowed to burn it with fire there where you live?

[johnsoneliza52]

We burn ours also...it just seems fitting!

[Li H'Sen Chang]

I burn mine in 2009 and fire department come because neighbor call the cops!

[ancient whitelighter]

Hiya Mike! Happy New Year to you

Thanks for the reminder - I LOVE it when the 13th falls on a Friday!

You're right, the wintertime doldrums need a little pick-me-up, and that sounds just the "treat".

aw

[Pumpkin_Man]

Chang, I burn my Christmas tree every year, and nobody seems to give a rip.

Ancient whitelighter, I don't know what kind of movies you like to watch on Halloween, but for the January "Little Halloween," I am going to put out one of my plastic jack o'lanterns, and I am going to screen a 'haunted house' double feature. "The Amityville Horrow," and "The Haunting." Afterwords, if there's a good horror movie playing at the Morris Cinema, I am going to treat myself to a movie and then some food afterwords.

I do have to work, but I'll be off at 4:00 that day.

Mike

[Murfreesboro]

I'm already looking forward to Jan. 13. I bought a DVD of The Last Exorcism recently, which I've never seen. I may watch that on that day.

Christmas isn't quite over for me. I stubbornly leave everything up until after the 6th (Epiphany), and I may make a special bread (called Gift of the Magi bread) that day. I still have a container I sent off for years ago that is filled with frankincense and myrrh, and I may burn some of that on "Three Kings' Day."

[Pumpkin56]

Ooo thanks for the heads up. For Christmas, I gave my sister a copy of an awful horror movie called Dark Harvest 3 as a joke. I think she and I may watch it that day and then follow it up with the Colin Farrell Fright Night for dessert

[Pumpkin_Man]

Murf, we did the same thing every year when I was a kid. The Epiphany was also known as "Little Christmas," and commemorated the arival of the 3 Wise Men as you pointed out. That was usualy the day we took Christmas down and burned our trees, but we didn't have any special treats or anything like that. There was still plenty of Christmas candy and cookies left over.

I started taking Christmad down the day before having to go back to work, because I don't like to face that task after a hard day's work. When I was a kid, it also use to depress me to see all the Christmas decorations on that first day of Post Christmas Winter back to school, knowing that it was almost time to take everything down. I still get that way a little, but taking everything down before going back to work does help me, even though it brings the cold hard reality of Post Christmas Winter home to me faster.

As for your movie selection for "Little Halloween," good choice.

Mike

[ancient whitelighter]

Yup, I wait until at least January 6, too, but usually longer to take everything down! It's just so hard to say goodbye for another year to the beautiful thing that a Christmas Tree is. Now that the snow's finally here, it makes you want to keep it going a bit longer!!

MIKE - I like all kinds of horror, sci-fi, & things like The Mothman Prophecies, etc. at Halloween (or anytime really ) I do like "The Haunting" (both versions). It's hard to forget that POUNDING ON THE WALLS in the original, isn't it?!

Hopefully we'll find something good that we've never seen, but if not, an old favorite will do nicely I'll think of you that day, enjoying your movies too

aw

[Murfreesboro]

MIKE - I like all kinds of horror, sci-fi, & things like The Mothman Prophecies, etc. at Halloween (or anytime really ) I do like "The Haunting" (both versions). It's hard to forget that POUNDING ON THE WALLS in the original, isn't it?!



aw

It's hard to forget the pounding on the walls if you've ever read it, either. I swear that book is one of the scariest reads I've ever had.

When I read it, back in the '90s, my husband had taken our kids to the school where he worked, and they were due to arrive home in the dark time of the year, after darkness had fallen (I guess my husband had worked late, but it gets dark here before 4:30 in December). Anyway, I was sitting at the kitchen table, reading The Haunting of Hill House, and everything was quiet. Suddenly, just as I was reading about the pounding on the walls, there is this very loud pounding at the kitchen door! I nearly jumped out of my skin. Of course, it was my own child, pounding hard on the door to be let in, because he thought I might be in another part of the house. But, man! That was a very scary moment for me.

[Pumpkin_Man]

I never read the book, unfortunately, but I did see the movie, and the first time I saw it, it was on one of the "late shows" that use to aire every night on tv. The entire movie creeped me out, but that wall pounding was pretty unnerving. What was really creepy, though, was the scene when Nell (Elanor Lance) was in bed, and you hear this deep male voice talking very mournfully, and you hear a child shreiking, and Nell thinks theo is squeesing her hand. Then she wakes up screaming and Theo is in the other bed.

As for leaving Christmas up until the 6th of Jan, I MAY start doing that again, if and when I retire, because the only reason why take them down on the either New Years Day or the day after New Years, is because for some reason, looking at all those beautiful Christmas decorations on that very first work day of the year depresses me, and since the 6thof Jan usualy falls on a week day, that means that I have to take everything down after a long day at the office. It was a lot worse when I was a kid, but we all liked to milk that last drop when it came to Christmas. We had the tree up until the Epiphany, and we lit it all up every night. Then we would race home from school on the 6th and we would all have our jobs to do taking Christmas down. It was then that the Post Christmas Winter reality really set in. Then we all woulg "griev" for about a day ot 2, and then we would start looking forward to Valentines Day, Spring and Easter.

Mike

[Murfreesboro]

Yep, that's the way it works. Clear Christmas out, and start looking forward to spring.

I first saw The Haunting (original) on TV late at night, too, Mike, during my childhood. And that scene with the hand-holding was very, very scary to me as well. I think the original is far superior to the '90s remake.