Halloween was my brother's time to shine. We always got along. He was always exceedingly creative with technical things, and I always "played" along with him. He made the fun in the holiday for me. If it was left up to any other family member, our house would be drab, so we let him do his thing, and he knew how to do it at low cost--something we all had to learn something about at a young age. My brother was particularly gifted in using lights and sound. He had a collection of lights and speakers he'd purchased as cheap sales at the store or purchased as second-hand at a thrift store. A light, easy to set up and take down frame was set up at the front door with white sheets draped over it, and within that little temporary room, lights and effects galore! I seem to remember one year someone getting into the spirit by attaching a plastic spider at the end of a fishing rod to dip down in front of the trick-or-treaters while they were collecting their candy.
As for the sound, my brother had a few speakers set up out of sight, or outside the window, playing Halloween-ish music. A few times he set up a microphone so that people behind the scenes could speak creepy things into it to spook the kids. Talking about this brings back a memory of one Halloween when my grandparents came to visit for the evening, not feeling energetic enough to entertain the children in their neighborhood. My grandpa was amused by the microphone. He often used it to spook the neighborhood kids when they came to the door. I think he had more fun with that than anyone else did.
Kudos for my brother for keeping the holiday interesting to us.
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| My brother's face is cut off, but this is only a simple example of a set. The pumpkins have lights in them that were synchronized with the music. |
