Archive for October, 2011
5 items.
Since I’ve been a little kid I’ve always loved Halloween. Some of that is due to Halloween being my mom’s favorite holiday. She was one of those moms who went over the top with decorations every Halloween. Our living room looked like a mini-Haunted House attraction every year for a healthy chunk of my childhood. I still feel nostalgic for home whenever I see those blinking skeleton string lights in the store or that fake spider web that takes forever to get down the first day of November.
My personal favorite part was not so much the candy, although I enjoyed that a lot. I remember my love affair with Dots (you know those lovely rainbow hued gumdrops from the Tootsie Roll company) beginning because of those little boxes of them I invariably got every Halloween. I was an adult before I realized you could buy of box of Dots. No, my favorite thing about Halloween was costumes. I started in September each year right after school started planning who I was going to be. While that’s not a very long time now, when I was a child a single month felt like forever.
The first Halloween I remember dressing up was when I was three or four. My friend Jenny and I went as Raggedy Ann and Andy. Our moms conspired to make our costumes (yes, they made them) and it was all very ridiculously cute. I still look at that picture today and smile. And, yes that picture is floating around on the internet.
We came from the 70's!
Ah, there it is!
I remember being Chewbacca, Gene Simmons of KISS (I wore that to the Kindergarten Halloween party in full make-up, Mom made that costume too), He-Man, Jason Voorhees, an Ewok, and the Purple Pieman (of Strawberry Shortcake). I remember having a Darth Vader costume (one of those awesome Ruby’s costumes), but don’t ever remember actually wearing it for Halloween. I might have, and just not remember that. It’s been a very long time after all. I do remember being very peeved as a child that I never got to be Princess Leia for Halloween. As an adult I finally made that come true. And yes, there are pictures of that, but no, those are not going up on the internet. I have some dignity. Somewhere.
As I got older and my desire to dress in costume decreased (you know how teenagers are), my love of scary movies was born and Halloween became even more of a holiday favorite because all of the local UHF channels (ah, the days before cable) would show all sorts of great horror movies. I first watched such slasher classics such “Terror Train” and “New Year’s Evil” (well, classic to me anyway) on TV channels with numbers like 21 and 29, often through snowy screens, running out to adjust the aerial antenna during commercial breaks–knowing that often after ten p.m. if the sky was clear I would get a better signal if I turned the antenna just the right direction. When we finally got cable, I remember USA Up-All-Nite showing awful but fun horror movies year round and feeling like life couldn’t get much better. And to make it more awesome, USA only edited out the language and the nudity, they still showed the gore. The often overlooked and deeply flawed slasher classic “Girl’s Nite Out” was my favorite Up-All-Nite discovery.
You betta be careful trick or treating!
That love of horror movies (I still have it to this day) is obviously a pretty big inspiration on Mr. Clown. He’s right out of a horror movie. One of the very first Mr. Clown comics I drew was “Be Careful Trick-Or-Treating.” That image of kids in costumes with Mr. Clown answering the door was very vivid early one. It’s how most Mr. Clown comics are born, I get an image of Mr. Clown lurking under a bed, or a kid opening the door to the basement and Mr. Clown hiding in the darkness below. Some people have mentioned that Stephen King’s It seems like it was a big inspiration, but it really was not as much as you would think. For me it was always the awful images of a clown doing something awful. The first Mr. Clown had Mr. Clown holding a dead puppy, standing beside an oblivious Mom telling her kid, “It’s all right little girl! Mr. Clown just wants to play! And cut off your head!” When I find that in the pile of sketches and drawings (which I’m going through to scan and file as an ongoing de-cluttering project) I will scan it and share it. Early Mr. Clown drawings show the old boy looked a little different in the beginning. Giant grin and pointy hat, anyone?
That bad bad Babysitter Killer strikes every Halloween!
So, hopefully everyone has a Happy Halloween and eats lots of candy and for the adults: have lots of adult beverages, and gets to be whoever they want to be.
peace and love and empathy,
p.
Comment
It’s The Great Pumpkin Mr. Clown!
Every year in Green River, several local children forgo Halloween parties and over-night slumber parties filled with candy and treats to await the arrival of the Great Pumpkin!. The Great Pumpkin is supposed to bring toys and treats to good little boys and girls who believe in him. The children have to show their belief by spending the night in the local pumpkin patch. So for the past sixty years, children have camped out in Farmer Bob’s pumpkin patch. For those sixty years, the Great Pumpkin has been a no-show. He has never left a single toy or piece of candy. Mr. Clown doesn’t think that’s very sporting. In fact, Mr. Clown thinks this is incredibly rude. Children have believed in the Great Pumpkin for years, and he has never once thought to repay that belief in the promised way. Therefore this year Mr. Clown has sent the little children home from their camp-out in the pumpkin patch. He has waited all night for the Great Pumpkin to arrive because has a plan to show that old fuddy the Great Pumpkin the error of his rude thoughtless ways. And, Mr. Clown also has a great recipe for pumpkin pie.
Mr. Clown: It’s the Great Pumpkin Mr. Clown! © 2011 City of Troy Productions
Don’t Kill Babysitters
Every year at Halloween, the peaceful town of Green River is terrorized by a serial killer! One who did not get his degree at Serial Killer Lesson Clown College! This killer blows into town in a cheap dime-store Halloween mask and his orange prison jumpsuit and kills babysitters! Now, while this so-called Babysitter Murderer only kills babysitters who have misbehaved. Most often they have misbehaved with their boyfriends or by drinking alcohol or smoking marijuana. But, he often kills them while these babysitters are in charge of the little children! Mr. Clown heartily agrees that bad children (even those who are teenagers) should be taught lessons—no matter how severe. Yet Mr. Clown does not like that the Babysitter Killer is leaving little children unattended! What if there is a fire? Or some other emergency? Such as if someone has to use the bathroom? How many little children have wet the bed? Which is a crime Mr. Clown would normally punish if they don’t shape up. And it’s all because the Babysitter Killer has murdered those up-to-no-good babysitters. So this Halloween, Mr. Clown has decided that no babysitters are going to get murdered on his watch… at least not before the parents get home. And, to do that he might just have to teach that bad old Babysitter Killer a lesson.
Mr. Clown: Don’t Kill Babysitters © 2011 City of Troy Productions
Mr. Clown: Let Me AXE You… Do You Like Clowns? © 2011 City of Troy Productions
Mr. Clown: Don’t Take Candy From Strangers
Every year in the United States, about 800,000 children are reported missing. Many are taken by family members or someone known by them and their family. Some run away. However many of these children are snatched by strangers. “Stranger Danger” represents a real threat to children all over the world. Often strangers entice children with candy. By offering sweet sugary treats they trick children into coming close enough to kidnap them! Tyrone Sanders’s mother has warned him many times that he should never take candy from strangers just for these reasons! Wanting to enjoy a sunny Fall day, Tyrone has gone hiking in the woods surrounding the town of Green River. And that is where the trouble begins. Deciding he wants to see the river the town of Green River is named for, Tyrone makes his way to the old highway at the edge of the wood. That’s where a lady in a car with out of state license plates stops him! She says that her name is Miss Vera and that she just needs directions back to the interstate. She says that she got lost while exiting the interstate to refuel. After Tyrone politely gives her directions back to the interstate, Miss Vera offers him a candy bar for his troubles! While Miss Vera seems nice, she is still a stranger. And, to get the candy Tyrone has to come ever so close to her car. Those few inches closer could be just enough for Miss Vera to snatch Tyrone—stealing him away and doing something awful and horrible to him! What will Tyrone do? Will he take the candy? Ignoring the dangers that a stranger can present? Is Tyrone going to forget everything his mother has ever told him about taking candy from strangers? Mr. Clown has been watching everything transpire very closely. And, if Tyrone does take the candy, Mr. Clown has decided that he will teach Tyrone a very painful lesson—one more painful than anything a stranger might inflict on him. Hopefully that candy is worth it Tyrone!
Mr. Clown: Don’t Take Candy From Strangers © 2011 City of Troy Productions
