HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I get it now, I do. They invented Halloween
not as an opportunity for kids to dress up, but as an opportunity for adults to
buy candy, all they want, with the built-in excuse that it's "for the
kids"
Halloween is also an excuse
for women of a certain ilk to dress up in skimpy outfits and pretend it's a
costume. One year, one of my pals wore black tights and a black leotard--and
that is all! And then she the swirled herself in pale blue gauze, and called
herself a hurricane. I beg you. In fact, I bet the sales of black tights and
black leotards skyrockets at Halloween. but I digress.
Seriously, Reds, I buy
Twizzlers and Snickers and Almond Joy, my very favorites, and then I hope
nobody comes to the door. :-) Well, no,
that's not true, I love trick or treaters, actually ,and get a huge kick out of
them. But I am also happy to be able to
buy Twizzlers and Snickers.
This year I also bought
pencils. Yes, pencils. They are cool, funny, Halloween pencils, and I wondered
if that was a better (healthier and more useful) treat than candy. I mean--I
LOVE pencils! They are not as sweet and swirly as Twizzlers, but they last
longer and do not melt. And although you can write with a Twizzler, you cannot
read it. And you can never erase Twizzler marks.
But I fear the goblins and
hurricanes will not appreciate pencils.
So two things: Are you
getting candy? What kind?
And: Do you think the kids
will go for pencils? Or any candy alternative?
No, three things. Do you eat
candy corns color by color? Or all at once?
LUCY BURDETTE: Speaking of
costumes, Hank, as you well know, the Crime Bake conference banquet is famous
for costumes. I wanted to go this year with 2 pals as James Bond and two of the
Bond girls. (Speaking of leotards and all...) But whispering now, instead we're
going as Poirot and 2 Miss Marples. Sigh. It turns out that I used to dress as
Miss Marple in my therapy practice days, so the outfit was a snap.
No candy, we don't live in a
neighborhood so no one comes. Pencils for the gluten-free or sugar averse? And
the few candy corns I eat, all at once.
RHYS BOWEN: This is so funny,
Hank, because John and I were in Safeway yesterday and he actually said,
"We need to stock up on Kit Kats for Halloween. Look, two big bags for ten
dollars." And I replied, "We only get about five kids at the
most." And he grinned and said,
"So?" He loves kit kats. I
deplore this devious way of stocking up with Kit Kats. If I do it it will be
with healthy Snickers and Milky Ways!
I've been to a couple of fun
Halloween parties--I once went as a fallen angel when John was the devil. In
those days he had black hair and a little black beard and he stuck on fake
horns and looked very scary. But I fear our dressing up days are over. I'm more concerned about sexually provocative
costumes for little girls!
HALLIE EPHRON: Always candy!
My neighborhood is full of kids. They play out in the street, such a lovely
quaint idea, and Halloween is about the biggest holiday of the year. I mean the
street is seriously lit up, more even than Christmas. I used to buy the candy I
don't like because otherwise it would all be gone by Halloween. Turned out it
was still gone. Now I buy what I like (Hershey's chocolate, Swedish fish) but
not until just before Halloween so it can't get Hoovered if up before the
kiddies arrive.
My granddaughter will visit
us for Halloween and I can't wait to re-experience a 2 1/2-year-old's
Halloween. Remembering when my daughter was that age and helped answer the door
and told us "Man with four faces" had come. Four was her generic
number for anything more than 1. Translation: man wearing a mask.
Pencils? Not so much. But I
haven't got a better idea.
I feel outed on the Candy
corn. I like the brown/orange/white ones and I bite off one color at a time.
HANK: Well, I do, too, of COURSE, because
that’s the only way to eat those things. Yucky as they are...
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Debs,
that makes me think of one of my life lessons: just say no to blue drinks. I
don't know what that blue liquor is, but it's a killer.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: They truck
in trick-or-treaters to a street a few block from us. I'm serious! It's a
madhouse. But we don't get many. If it's nice I'll sit on the front porch for
an hour or so just in case any "littles" come by. (Once we start
getting teenagers in hoodies, that's it.) So of course I have to buy candy!
Mini Hershey's from the supermarket yesterday. Now to keep Rick from eating them
all between now and Halloween, that's the trick. (I might eat a couple, I
admit. I love the crackly ones.)
Hank, good luck with the
pencils... I would like them. As for
candy corn, ugh. Cannot stand. Even when I was a kid. It makes my teeth hurt.
Oh, and actually I think the
hurricane Halloween costume was pretty clever! Did she have a blue drink to
match?
HANK: Yes, fine, it was cute.
Sigh.
We live in the country, and
have hardly any trick-or-treaters, but Ross buys the giant bags of Hersey's
Miniatures just the same. It used to be my job to get the Hallowe'en candy, but
he and the kids complained that I was the only person left alive who still
likes those caramels-wrapped-around-the-white-center candies. Our location was
wonderful for the children when they were little; we could hit every house
within walking range in a half hour and they knew all the grown-ups answering
the doors, so it wasn't scary. When they got older and more, shall we say,
result oriented, we'd drive into Portland and hook up with friends. Half the
fun of taking the kids trick-or-treating is wandering a few steps behind with
another couple moms, drinking Sam Adams Pumpkin Ale and critiquing everyone's
decorations.
Hank, I think your pencils
will go over fine. Every year, Youngest got Hallowe'en pencils, stickers and
plastic tchotkes like spider rings and eyeballs. She loved them. And I eat
candy corn by the colors, of course. Anything faster is just tooooo sweet -
those things are solid corn syrup, right?
So two questions, Reds—what candy
do you get? And is it for the trick or treaters? Or for…you?
And the mystery of the universe:
do the sections of the candy corn taste different?
And HANK ON TOUR news: are
you in Indianapolis (Carmel Clay Library), Madison WI (Mystery to Me Bookstore)
or Oakmont PA (Mystery Lover’s
Bookstore? That’s my Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday schedule—before I come home to
see Susan! Please come visit and talk about WHAT YOU SEE! Click here for the details!
And Susan's MRS. ROOSEVELT'S CONFIDANTE is out tomorrow! YAY!
And Susan's MRS. ROOSEVELT'S CONFIDANTE is out tomorrow! YAY!
