happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, all! My mom is taking this week off, so I am filling in for her. In honor of the holiday, I will be relating a Halloween story.


In the seventh grade, my mother helped throw a murder mystery sleepover for Halloween. In true Perri form, the evening was authentic down to the minutest detail. We sent out invitations to each of my friends, planned out a sensational menu, and assembled an excellent supply of spooky decor (but not too scary, of course). My mother has several great Halloween party tricks (and treats of course!) that we utilized for this particular occasion. As we were a rambunctious group, we prepared accordingly by covering the light suede couches with white sheets. It was thematic, but also perfectly practical.


Another classic Halloween trick involves the senses: blindfold your friend and stick their hands in "brains" and "eyes," better known as cold spaghetti and grapes. My mother took it a step further by involving sight. Placing olives in hollowed out martini onions, my mother creates ghoulish "eyes" you could also eat.


While the above are functional and funny suggestions, some tips are purely aesthetic, but also essential. With the purchase of a fog machine and cobwebs, our entry was transformed into a creepy portal into All Hallow's Eve. The table was covered with a Halloween table cloth and adorned with food and festive pumpkins. While large pumpkins have novelty value, small pumpkins, the size of your palm, can be surprising and heartwarming touches of the holiday when set in unexpected places.


Now all of these details may leave you wanting more. Isn't Halloween about being scared out of your mind and passing out after eating too much candy? Well, I will have you know we were picking candy out of the carpet for days. And when it came to being ridiculously scared (and scarred), that is where my father came in. As we slumbered, my father drove an electric toy rat into our bedroom. They could hear the screaming down the street.