Having lived in New England, I can't help but love Halloween. After all, with it's Puritan history and Salem witch trials, all those haunted colonial houses and taverns and such, and of course the amazing fall colors to dazzle the eye, the entire region was tailor made for this holiday. There's no pretending needed - Halloween is everywhere you look.

A few months after my husband and I were married, a friend of ours hosted a Halloween party in the house where he lived and worked as an assistant caretaker. It was one of the historical estates around Newport, RI, a grand old Victorian house with wide verandas overlooking sloping lawns and Narragansett Bay. Now, the party was confined to my friend's apartment "below stairs," but (Newport Historical Society, please don't freak out) at the end of the night, in glaring breach of all the rules, he offered to let my husband and me spend the night in the main house. Or rather, he dared us to stay - in the very room where the last of the family, after exactly 100 years of ownership, had died.

Shocking! On any other night we'd have said thanks, but no thanks! But it was Halloween, and we were young and adventurous and, yeah, probably more than slightly tipsy. And since you should never drink and drive, we made our way up the shadowy, creaky old staircase...

The room was as cold as...you guessed it...death.  I think we could see our breath, although it was hard to tell because the electricity to this part of the house had been turned off.  So it was also as dark as...you guessed it...a grave.  

Waving our flashlight around in search of spooks, we laughed at our nervousness.  Did we really dare?  Our trepidation only intensified when we saw we'd be laying our heads on pillowcases monogrammed with the last owner's initials. Talk about audacity! I will mention, for those of you experiencing an ick factor right about now, that the linens were periodically cleaned, and were very likely NOT the ones in use on that unhappy day long ago...

Still. After seriously considering leaving, we steeled ourselves, snuggled under the down comforter, closed our eyes...and didn't open them again until morning. We were too scared too!  Too afraid we'd see the ghost of owner-past hovering at the footboard, one skeletal finger outthrust in accusation: "How daaaaaare youuuuuu???" 

I still wonder that myself! Then again, maybe she'd had a sense of humor, or soft spot for young love. Maybe our tremulous foray into her haunted chamber warmed her ghostly heart. I like to think so.

Do you have a special Halloween memory? Share it here and be entered for my drawing. I'll be picking a new winner on Monday!

Happy Halloween!

My Halloween memories mainly involve trick-or-treating dressed as a gypsy or princess. Basically, my costume just meant I could wear some of my mother's clothes and makeup. Boy, that was fun! :)

I also remember dressing up as a witch for a Haunted House my college sorority put on. Our sorority house is called the Wedding Cake House because it is layered like a cake. We supposedly had our own ghost Suzy, a long ago occupant who hanged herself in the attic.

Speaking of ghosts, when my husband, sons, and I travel, we like to go on ghost tours. They are fun, and you hear so much interesting history. We went on some great tours in Savannah, Charleston, and Salem.

Have a great weekend!

I went to a Halloween party last night which was a benefit for the Leukemia and Lymphona Society. The host for the party went all out decorating the backyard. They even turned the pool water red. My favorite part was the B horror movie they showed all night long on the wall of a 2 story garage. The grossest decorations were the horror kids with their flashing evil eyes.

Cheryl, St. Augustine is also a great place for ghost tours, if you're ever that far south.
Zelda, sounds like a fun night for a great cause.