OctoberFEST

Me at Oktoberfest a few weeks ago

I love October! It's one of my favorite months for the following reasons:

* Oktoberfest at Snowbird - Brats, polka, cinnamon-almonds, and crisp mountain air.
* Harvest- I love all the fruit and vegetables this time of year.
* Halloween! Pretty much my favorite holiday. I plan my costume around July. I'm that lame.
* Decorations - The one time of year you can get away with completely tacky, gothic decorations.
* Weather - Most people would violently disagree, but I love crispy/rainy/cold autumn air.
* Candy - I love the crappy Halloween candy - even Neccos! (p.s. it should be against the law to give out Smarties as Halloween candy).
* Activities - Parties, haunted houses, corn mazes, farmers markets, pumpkin patches, pumpkin carving.

One of my favorite stories is The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. I just read it the other day and once again, it reminded me of everything I love about fall and Halloween. The language is a bit much, I'll admit I keep a dictionary close when I read it, but the descriptive language is just beautiful:

"Certain it is, the place still continues under the sway of some witching power, that holds a spell over the minds of the good people, causing them to walk in a continual reverie. . . It is remarkable that the visionary propensity I have mentioned is not confined to the native inhabitants of the valley, but is unconsciously imbibed by every one who resides there for a time. However wide awake they may have been before they entered that sleepy region, they are sure, in a little time, to inhale the witching influence of the air, and begin to grow imaginative - to dream dreams, and see apparitions."

After I read the story, I had to watch the movie. It's by far one of the best gothic/horror movies of all time. I don't enjoy any scary movie in general, but Sleepy Hollow is one of my exceptions. Johnny Depp is great in it, and Christopher Walken is even more creepy than usual. It's rated R for good reason - there are a lot of flying heads - but man it's good, gothic, Halloween fun!

I also ended up renting the Disney version of Ichabod Crane/Sleepy Hollow. This was one of my favorite cartoons as a kid. It's brilliant - and Bing Crosby narrates. I tried to find it on Amazon to buy, but it must be out of print becuase the only copies available are $75 - $110. I'll stick to blockbuster.com.

Have any good Halloween traditions, party/costume ideas, recipes or movies to share? Leave a comment!