I'm Missing a Gene...

...in fact, more than one, but the one I'm thinking of tonight is the "Love Of Halloween" Gene. All others in my tribe have it, but I do not.

Halloween was never one of my favorite holidays, though I enjoyed it well enough as a kid. I grabbed this still photo from an old home movie from those medieval times, depicting one of the several Halloweens in which I went begging for candy as a clown.

That outfit was hand-sewn by my glorious Grandmother, and was so well-made that it was handed down for many many Octobers. I believe both my sisters in turn wore the thing, though I imagine I carried it off best. Orange always was my color.










By the time I hit my teens, Halloween was just an excuse for a party. I've uncovered a few snaps from those years, all of which reflect a grumpy attitude from yours truly. This must have been a costume for a party in college, and what a bad mood this particular Saint Peter was in that night. Perhaps it was the unusually cool weather in Heaven: note the pink turtleneck. (That's another gene I do not have that others in my tribe do: a fashion sense).






Here's a snap from around the same period, dressed as some sort of Roman Something, busy on the phone at the Sears Complaint Department, where I worked through college and beyond (no wonder I was grumpy). Note the recurrence of the turtleneck.




It seems to have taken orders from a boss to get me into any kind of costume during those years. Here's a half-hearted effort to be a hillbilly at my first waiter job (note the guest check in the left hand, and, once again, the grumpy attitude).

(this must have been during my Tommy Tune period...)

In this last photo, I have clearly given up on any kind of creativity regarding the holiday. Rip a hole in a sheet, slap on a mask, and be done with it all. (I have fond feelings toward this pic, however, as it was the last one I can find with my mother...I do have THAT gene).











I recall only one fun Halloween once I became an adult. A creative friend threw a party in which everyone was to come as their favorite villain or murderer. I came up with the perfect costume (wish I had a pic). I attended the party as Alex from "A Clockwork Orange." The outfit required only one eye made up with false eyelash and mascara, a bowler hat, a cane, and white shirt and slacks. I was a hit at the party and at the bar afterward...





I'm certain I have not dressed up for Halloween in over 20 years, and I'm sure I know why. I spend so much of my life dressing up in silly clothes, pretending to be somebody else, that I am just not in the mood to do it for fun.















Is there such a thing as a Halloween Grinch? That would be me.