Least Fun Halloween Memory

[Snoopy/Red Baron]

I love hearing everyone's most fun Halloween memory but that got me curious as to people's least fun Halloween memory. Mine was probably in college when exams and school work scheduling didn't allow me to do anything on Halloween night but study. But remembering that makes me appreciate these Halloweens more now that school is a thing of the past. What's your least fun Halloween memory?

[Murfreesboro]

I don't think I have a least fun memory, although I definitely started enjoying Halloween more after I had kids. It gave me license to start celebrating again in a major way. Now that my kids are so much older, I don't think I'll ever go back to doing as little as I did when I was first grown. At this point, I'm not that far removed from my second childhood, anyway. At least, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

[NeverMore]

Seems like lately I'm too busy to really enjoy the season. Even now I'm working on a series of projects that are not Halloween related and time is running out. A couple years ago I got stuck carving all the pumpkins for the party by myself. Long story. Worked straight through the night and as a result was too tired to enjoy myself at the party. Probably why I don't enjoy the parties so much anymore, more work than fun.

[witchy]

When I was 9 was was sick as a dog, I had to sit by the window and watch all the trick or treater. I was running a 105 temp and went to the hospital the next day, my parents wanted me to go on Halloween but I refused, crazy kid, I know!!
Every time I watch the Halloween tree, it kinda reminds me of me, I love that movie by the way!!!!

[Pumpkin_Man]

I have so many fond memories of Halloweens past, that the one worst Halloween of my life sticks out like a soar thumb. I remember it so vividly because it was our first Halloween we lived in arm pit New Lenox. The Halloween of 1977. School started in late August of that year, but I was still permitted to stay in the new house during the week, and in the old house on weekends, provided that I would haul a car load of things to the new place come Sunday evening, which is what I did. Anyway, The weekend before Halloween was my very last weekend as a citizen of the great city of Chicago, and thus began my 9 year sentence in the boredom capital of the world, New Lenox. Halloween was on a Monday that y ear, so it was a pukey school day in addition to being the first Halloween in a house that did not lend itself to the day, in even the reomtest way. To boot, we were in the middle of unpacking, so the entire weekend we had to open boxes, move things around and organize our rooms. The weather was sloppy and chilly, and I had a rotten head cold. On Sunday there was an "Adams Family" halloween special, but the good tv wa still burried under all kinds f boxes, so we got to watch it on a 12 inch black & white tv. My mom did put out a basket full of Tootsie Pops for the ToTers, and we answered the door to them inbetween emptying boxes and putting things away, but the whole day was a total bust. There was no party, no horror movies, we couldn't even afford to carve a jack o'lantern that year, because all of our money went into that rotten move. I was so tired, that I actualy was in bed by 9:30 that Halloween. I'm usualy up until after midnight, but that year, I just didn't want to face the rest of the day. I went to a Catholic high school, as I did a Catholic Grammer school, so I was off on All Saints Day, but it was just another day of hauling empty boxes out to the street, as we were not allowed to burn them, and unpacking and organizing.

Mike

[Nostalgiascape]

One year as a child my two sisters and I were told to remain in the car as mom made a quick stop in to talk with our grandmother before trick or treating. We did and one of Grandmas neighbors punk teens started popping up in front of the car windows like Jason, disapearing and reapearing and so we got out of the car and all the three ran inside the house all trying to yell out at once what was happening. We got in trouble for it and trick or treating was canceled. In hind sight I imagine Mom was dealing with troubles and was stressed. As an adult it becomes easy to understand that which you could not as a child.

Another year as children there was actually an escaped convict guilty of murder and child molestation reported around the area we lived in and all the parents were informed about it by law enforcement. My mother would not let us out trick or treating except that she did drive us to our land lords home to trick or treat. But then again, I don't blame her.

Other than that there were plenty of fun Halloweens that were had. When you become an adult there is an expectation that Halloween isn't a good enough reason to have a night off, so naturally I have worked many Halloweens and had to forgo handing candy out or going to Halloween parties, or even just enjoying tv specials and horror marathons while munching on Caramellos and Rollos and drinking Dr Pepper.. Except my last employer. He did actually allow me to have Halloween off two years in a row.

[Pumpkin_Man]

Nastalgiscape, that is a very good point. Parents are very often put in a position that they have to make a decision based on what's actualy in the best interest of the child, which is very often NOT what the child wants to hear. My parents made many such decisions, and looking at it as a 52 year old adult instead of as a child or teenager, I know that they were right. The only thing my parents did that I am in total disagreement with, however, was that rediculous move to New Lenox in 1977. It had disasterous consequences for us financialy, life in that sub devision was boring at best, and often down right depressing, and it was the catylist for in numerable unwanted changes to all of our holiday traditions and various other ways of life. Because of the money situation and because of the type of house it was, we had to make unwanted changes to the way we celebrated Halloween, Thankgiving and Christmas. Additionaly, all of my older siblings, and even my younger sister had their photos in a cap and gown, taken in front of the "Graduation Bush," as was our tradition. My younger sister graduated from 8th grade in June of 1977. For 8th grade I was "home" schooled as that was the year my father retired and we traveled around the country in a Winnegago for a year. My photo was taken in front of the "Graduation Bush," but I didn't have a cap & Gown. When I graduated from high school, it was the first grad in the New Lenox house, and like everything else, it was completely changed, all the old Graduation Traditions that I so looked forward to were changed over in faver of a bunch of new-fangled ones which I hated, and the whole thing was a total disappointing bust. I even got BORED that day. I tried to put a good face on it because I didn't want to hurt my parents feelings, but I just don't have one decent memory of life in that New Lenox boredom box. It turned Halloween into BORING, it turned Thanksgiving into BORING, it turned Christmas into BORING, and it turned all of my Birthdays into BORING.

Like I said, that is the only "raw deal" I got from my parents, so all in all, I have to consider myself pretty lucky, as they were great parents in many ways. New Lenox was their mistake. It was not something that they deliberately planned to do to me, as they thought the old neighborhood was going on the "slide," and we would be safer in New Lenox.

Mike

[ScarecrowJack]

Mostly when I was a teen-ager in the 80's. Once you were too old to trick or treat, there wasn't a lot to do. I really wanted to do something, but I didn't like Haunted Houses and my mom would never have let me throw a party, and we didn't decorate for Halloween, so I just sat around and watched whatever tv specials I could catch. Once I became an adult and moved out on my own I did Halloween full bore.

[VanHelsingStandIn]

Went to a halloween party in college and just knew I was going to get Liz Pasha to come home with me. I was so certain I had paid my roommate $40.00 to crash somewhere else.

Yep. You guessed it. I went back to my dorm alone. If that wasn't bad enough, she went home with this geeky tennis player. I was on the football team too!

How in Gods name can a girl take a geeky tennis player over a suave, macho, sexy, manly, cool and above all modest, football player?

That halloween was my worst ever!!!

[NeverMore]

How in Gods name can a girl take a geeky tennis player over a suave, macho, sexy, manly, cool and above all modest, football player?

She didn't want to go home with him either?!?

[Pumpkin_Man]

ScareCrowJack, my parents were a lot more restrictive about parties and the like when we moved to that New Lenox arm pit, and while we were allowed to have an 'end of the school year' party, we were not allowed to have Halloween parties, nor were we allowed to put up any decorations that hat to be scotch taped to the walls. We were allowed to put them up in the basement, but it just wan't the same. My mom becam 'little Miss House Perfect" when we moved to that glorified cracker box, so there were a lot of rules, all though again, my parents were wonderful loving and decent parents. Like any other human beings, hoever, they made their share of mistakes. We did still get to screen my dad's 16mm motion picture version of "Nosferatu," and we gave out ToT candy. Additionaly one of the few good things New Lenox did was have a Halloween parade, which was usualy the last Saturday before the 'big day' itself, but let's face it. There's NO WAY you can make a one story ranch style surbanite house with an attached garage look "creepy" for halloween. It also was not really possible to make it look "tradional" for Thanksgiving or "Youletide" for Christmas, either. In fact, shortly after moving in, we started putting up an artificual tree instead of getting a real one. It just killed a lot of traditons. I must confess that even as a teenager, I was a bit of a 'stick in the mud' who loved tradition. Go figure.

Mike

[jadewik]

I don't remember how old I was, but one of my least favourite Halloweens was when I was a little kid and I caught a bad cold and couldn't go out ToTing or to any parties. I got no candy and my brother wouldn't share his candy... 'till my 'rents made him share... but then he gave me all the ucky candy he didn't want. LOL.

Another memorable Halloween was the time in college I had Pneumonia and I was working that night. I made the most of it, though-- The first Pirates of the Caribbean film came out and I made pirate name-tags for my co-workers (with clever piratey nicknames) and gave 'em all eye-patches... and then we played wet floor sign/rolling chair bowling in one of the aisles... so despite feeling ucky and having to work that night, we made the most of it and it actually turned out pretty well. I sure did need lots of sleep, though... =)

[VanHelsingStandIn]

How in Gods name can a girl take a geeky tennis player over a suave, macho, sexy, manly, cool and above all modest, football player?

She didn't want to go home with him either?!?

HEY! HEY! HEY!

Don't make me come up there!! I've got pepper spray and a taser!!!

[Andybev01]

I hit my full height of six feet in 7th grade and people thought I was a high school kid and some gave me grief when I went tot-ing.

I thought that Halloween was over for me forever, and it took years for me to find the magic again

[Pumpkin_Man]

I was in 6th grade, and about 12 years old the last Halloween I went ToT ing. When I got to 7th grade and was 13 y ears old, I felt too self concience about ToTing, and that I was too old, so that year I handed out the candy, and went to the Mt. Greenwood Park party instead. Actualy I went to that party every year, but after 7th grade, I never ToT ed or put on a costume ever again. Too bad, too, because just about everyone I know ToT ed all the way through high school. In fact, we had people as old as 18 and 19 come to our door on costumes. I could probably have had a few more years of lots of Halloween loot. I still went to that neighbors houre for a pop corn ball, though, and every year she would give me one, right up to the time we moved to New Lenox. She passed away about a year after we moved. It's funny how so many things went wrong after that move.

Mike