The Final Days on the John; closing down the Leuschner family home: Day 36: Halloween on John Street

My parents never decorated the house for Halloween apart from my mother carving the odd pumpkin, which would usually be smashed during the night. (I never understood that, nor, especially, TPing someone's house - what a waste!) But in recent years, the Halloween displays of other people in this neighborhood have become extreme - way bypassing the now tasteful and subdued Christmas displays. There are sound and light shows at timed intervals, whole front yards turned into graveyards (one had a tombstone with Sid Vicious displaying the incorrect year), a veritable miniature Knott's Scary Farm.

Well, for the first time in decades I was going to be home on Halloween, here in the family house. I went to the 99 Cent store for something else, something which they no longer carried, as about eight aisles were given over to Halloween stuff. There was even a sale on, so the 99 cent stuff was actually 49 and 79 cents, so I loaded up my basket. And this was the result.

The front door has not always been painted white, but I believe that the bead curtain was in place when we moved in in 1972. Those 1970s earth tones are the right shade for autumn and Halloween.

Purple seems to be the new Halloween color, along with orange and black. This purple glitter pumpkin sits happily atop the rusty oil drum, formerly filled with moths.

Tarantulas don't spin webs, but then again they also don't have green rhinestones on their legs.

This one has managed to attract a moth, even without a web!

A real spider incorporates the glitter skull trim into its web, and enjoys the juices of a moth.

The porch light has always been a haven for spiders. My father would leave them the specimens he did not want.

These mini pumpkins were on sale at Trader Joe's. A couple of them are still turning to mulch outside in a planter. I think one was eaten by a raccoon.