Boo

I've never been one for Halloween. Sure, I like the individually-wrapped Reese's, but orange and black have never been my colors, and I have never been really into dressing up.

Halloween: A brief history

Age 4: Boogeymonster, which from the picture, somehow required a headdress that you had to blow up.

Age 6: Pumpkin. Gorgeous handmade costume made by my grandma. Some classmate wore it the next year when he showed up to school with no costume and my mom, helpful room mother that she was, pulled it out of her things and loaned it to him for the day.

Age 9: Not really sure... it just involved a lot of that greasepaint makeup that you could buy in those little crayons. Maybe "punk rocker."

Age 11: This is where Halloween really falls apart for me. I wanted to go trick-or-treating with my friend Sheila from the east side of town, and my parents wouldn't let me because her neighborhood wasn't that great (looking back, they were right). Defeated, I went alone (well, my dad tagged along and walked on the street) wearing a pumpkin T-shirt and my favorite black Guess? jeans. I got a lot of candy that year.

Age 15: Impromptu trick-or-treating with my friend Vanessa. As I had just come from my shift as a candy-striper... I went as a candy-striper. It was sort of sad to see the gentle reproving looks from people.

Now that I'm older, Halloween's a bit more appealing. Pumpkin-flavored things are yummy. Scary movies are fun. And candy always sweetens the deal.