Dead Bodies

 

Ah, Pinterest.  The one website where you can find a recipe for mom's chicken and dumplins right next to a how-to for how to make a realistic-looking dead body.  

 

Step One:  Take some old clothes and stuff them.  I have been saving packing material, old blankets, and other assorted "clean" trash for a month.

 

Step Two:  Add fake blood and wrap in plastic.

 

Step Three:  Secure with duct tape, strategically placing it to look like there's a body in there.

Voila.  One dead body, evidently realistic enough to disgust (and quite possibly frighten) my husband, who told me I was sick in the head and complained that I did all of this in the middle of our kitchen floor.  

 

Side note:  Wrapping up a "dead" body isn't nearly as easy as serial killers in movies make it look.  I was sweating and cursing by the time I got done, and that body only weighed at most 25 pounds.  I'm sure I left behind hair, fingerprints, epithelials, sweat, and plenty of other DNA evidence for the CSI's to find.  However, the process, morbid as it was, gave me some great insight for future mystery novels!

 

Halloween Party

 

We always have a killer (too soon?) Halloween Bash at our house every year.  Normally we have around 100 people, most of them in costume and ready to party.  We have bounce houses for the kids, games, a costume contest, candy, a bonfire, and Halloween treats galore.

 

And, by "Halloween treats galore", I mean "Caroline crosses the line with gory food sculpture".

 

Exhibit A:  Flayed Head Cheeseball

 

Exhibit B:  Zombie/Dismembered Body Cupcakes

Yep, definitely crossed the line there.  And yes, those are cut-up, bloody Barbie dolls poking up out of that delicious icing.

 

And of course, my costume went along with my dessert theme.  The hubs was Beast, because my little princess was Belle.

 

 

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

 

There's nothing quite like an hour bus ride with 50 second-graders.  I went with my daughter's class to Trunnell's Farm Market, and we had a blast.  It was truly one of the best pumpkin farms I've ever been to.  The view is gorgeous.

 

The kids and I got lost in the "easy" corn maze, so we opted not to do the "hard" maze.  We're going back tomorrow for the "Pumpkin Smash", which is how they get rid of their leftover pumpkins.  After that, we'll be hitting the haunted houses, and my big kid is taking his girlfriend with us.  I don't know if this mom is ready for my boy's first "date".

 

 

Haunted Trail

 

Every year, my church puts on a "Haunted Trail" at one of our church family members' homes.  Yeah, we Presbyterians don't mind a little scary fun once in a while.  Anyway, hubby and I were in charge of one of the stations, which we decided would be an Ebola checkpoint.  Remember those dead bodies?  They actually had a purpose besides just being a sick craft project for me:

They were part of Dr. Caroline's triage center.

I would have people lie down on the cot, and then this freak show...

...would reach through a hole in the plastic sheeting and grab them.  I think we actually got one lady to pee her pants a little.

Lovely couple, no?

 

 

Trick-or-Treating

 

Finally, the big day is here!  We'll be going to our town's annual trick-or-treating extravaganza that's done around our quaint town sqare.  (It may or may not bear a striking resemblance to one of the scenes in the upcoming second book in The Lizzie Hart Mysteries series, THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC.)

It's said that 1500-2000 kids attend this event, and let me tell you, the lines for the candy can get a little long.  However, it's totally worth it, just to be able to see all of those kids in costume having fun.  After all, that's what Halloween is all about!