Columnist John Moore’s grandchildren like dressing up for Halloween. Photo: Todd Sechser

There’s something about being scared. Some kids claim they don’t like it, but do. While a handful of other kids claim they don’t like it, and really don’t. I was the former. My sister was the latter.

In the small, redbrick house on Beech Street in Ashdown, Arkansas, the two of us knew that Halloween was on its way when three things happened. The decorations went up, our mom took us costume shopping at the Ben Franklin, and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken with Don Knotts and It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown both came on television.

 Folks in the South never decorated for Halloween like we did for Christmas, but you usually found some fall-related decor (pumpkins, leaves that had turned yellow or gold, and the witch on a broom). Combined with the cooler weather, the decorations, costume shopping, and TV offerings created a feeling of fall. A sense of scary. Approaching fun.

Ben Franklin was a chain of some of America’s last, great five and dime stores. You could find pretty much anything at Ben Franklin, but when October approached, the latest costumes would appear on the shelves. When I say latest, I don’t mean the latest political masks or costumes to make you look like a teen idol, I mean latest as in witches, dragons, ghosts, or Cinderella. However, some of the costumes included the earliest superheroes, including Batman, who had made a comeback on a TV show.

My sister went with a costume that wasn’t scary. Always. So, it was usually a princess, Cinderella, or something else along those lines. Me, I wanted Batman. And Batman I got.

The problem with all Halloween costumes in that era was that they were hot. Really hot. Especially the masks. I don’t know what the material was they used to make kids Halloween masks, but it could suck the sweat out of your face, even when it was in the 40s outside. I can remember coming home with a Piggly Wiggly sack full of candy, pulling off my mask and costume, and immediately feeling frozen by being exposed to the cool temps.

Unlike today, where kids eat candy for breakfast, we weren’t allowed to have but two pieces a day until the candy ran out. This meant (as long as our dad didn’t get into our stash) that we had candy well into the New Year. My mom kept it hidden in the pantry (third shelf up, on the right) so that we wouldn’t be able to find it.

Almost everyone at that time had a subscription to TV Guide magazine. We’d ask our dad to look at every issue to see when The Ghost and Mr. Chicken and The Peanuts gang were coming on TV. The year 1966 was a good one for kids’ spooky entertainment. That was the year Don Knotts starred in that movie, and the same year that Charlie Brown, Linus, and Lucy debuted in It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. 

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken is a harmless and fun movie about a nervous newspaper employee (Don Knotts, of course) who spends the night in a haunted house so that he can write a story about the rumors that the ghosts of a murderer and a victim are still walking the halls of a local, abandoned mansion. Don’s character goes from being a typesetter, to a reporter, to a local hero who gets the girl. 

It’s nothing like the scary movies that come out now, including one I heard about that includes a homicidal clown that ruins the day of kids.

As if clowns didn’t already have a bad reputation as scary to some folks.

The other highlight of our Halloween season was Charles Schulz’ It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. The Great Pumpkin rises up from the pumpkin patch, bringing toys for the world’s good girls and boys. This, of course, was what Linus believed, but we all knew that wasn’t true. All of the toys for the good girls and boys came from Ben Franklin. Or from Santa. Who was arriving soon.

And if our dad stayed out of our candy stash, we’d be able to leave out some Halloween candy for the jolly old fat man. Our way of saying thanks for all of the free presents he brings.

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By John Moore | thecountrywriter.com.