Halloween Antics
I have a tradition of doing something weird at my house every year for the kids. Some of you might recall last year's post on what I did at my house for halloween.
This year I had planned something pretty elaborate but that fell through at the last minute. Instead I resorted to cheap low-tech yet highly effective fun. I used my wife's portable PA system that she uses for meetings (she is president of her quilt guild this year). It's a small 1'x8"x4 box with an antennae and a wireless headset mic. I have a small alcove of trees and bushes on the east side of my front lawn. I hid the speaker under some leaves behind a tree, and strung a long dark green extention cord along the side of the house to the back door, and plugged it in just inside the door in the kitchen. We have a large window with vertical blinds and a couch in front of it looking at the front yard, so I opened the window a crack, pulled the blinds so I could see just enough out of them, turned off the lights in the house, put a jack-o-lantern next to the tree (with the speaker in back of it) and a bowl of candy in front of the jack-o-lantern. I also replaced the porch light with a 40 watt bulb. Just enough to let the kids know we were home.
So, when the doorbell rings (and of course, I can hear them) I say into the mic: "Who is it?" in a rough low gravely voice that sounds like a cross between Harvey Feinstein and Robert DeNiro. We chat for a few minutes. I ask their names, etc. Hilarity ensues, and finally I say "The candy's over here" and they turn and come over to the voice. Once they were by the candy I could see them, so I commented about their costumes, etc. Most of them thought it was pretty freaky, but two teenage girls wouldn't stop looking for me and pestering me to show myself. They came back three or four times. Finally Gretchen and I came out of the house, said hello, and they finally went away. I really freaked out a few kids though. After the things I'd done in the past you never know what to expect.
Next year is going to be awesome. I'm going to start saving now for the effects. :-)