Howl-o-ween Decor 2018

I love Halloween. And for any of you who are wondering about why I celebrate, please read my post Why Halloween?. This year I am especially excited. I always start the year with at least four possibilities of what to "be" for the occasion. But this year it came to me while I was decorating. I already knew I was going to have an electric chair (don't cheat and skim below!) and I usually decorate this side table as a mad scientist's lab. But as I stuck the ghostly reflection of the lady on the mirror and glanced at the electric chair, I gasped. I called moma and told her I had an epiphany! My hubby would be Frankenstein (brought to life by electricity) and I would be Mary Shelley, the woman who wrote him into life!

So my table is still a bit mad scientist. But with more a leaning toward an author who was contemplating the idea of bringing a monster to life. There is my favorite copy of her book, framed anatomy pics from my dearest friend, and drawn by her sweet daughter, Bekah. A heart and brain under glass lend inspiration to  hurried writings by an agate pen...

I found the little black shoes at a flea market for $3, then found out they were half price!

And a very real medical volume that has an entire section on electric shock as used for various medical issues and how they affect the patient. The book says the sensation is felt like a "breeze", but I imagine it was quite shocking (forgive the pun;).

A real life note about Mary Shelley. At 18 years of age, Mary was with her lover, not yet husband, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, in Geneva with a group of friends. It was 1816, and a volcano in Mount Tambora had erupted. It was such a significant blast that it affected weather all over the world. There was snow in New England in July. The temperatures overall dropped around 18 degrees, causing what was called the "year without a summer". Crops failed and famine ensued, and both men and animals died so that "corpses littered the ground." In this atmosphere Mary had a nightmare. Upon hearing the dismal tale, the group of friends decided to all write ghost stories. Mary's tale became the renowned book, Frankenstein.

Mary and Percy were married and had a tempestuous relationship. In 1822, Percy Shelley went out in his boat and into a terrible storm. The boat was lost at sea and when the bodies washed ashore, Percy was only recognizable by his clothing and the book of Keat's poems in his pocket. The government had him buried, but Mary and her friends dug up the body and burned it on a pyre on the beach. Percy's heart refused to burn. A friend fished it from the ashes and gave it to Mary, who wrapped it in silk and kept it in her writing box till the end of her days. I think she would agree that truth is stranger than fiction...

And below is my electric chair, instrument of torture and also the means to breath life into my monster- er, my husband. It is a working vintage hair dryer chair (the pink hood is hidden under foil). I am thinking of having all my guests sit in it to have their pictures taken...

My middle son, Seth, is always giving me good junk- rusty gears and wheels, gauges, and springs. He knows I love them and will find some way to use them. The voltage reader below was a birthday present one year. I have used it in previous years to conduct experiments on my rubber rat, Renoir. This year it is to keep the electricity in my chair to a reasonable, non-hair burning level ;)

He just gave me these about a week ago. He found them when cleaning out the barn and I was giggling manically as soon as I saw them. They are perfect for my chair!

My dining table usually sports an array of decaying foods, along with piles of rats, mice, ants, and cockroaches. But this year I decided on a tableau of "life and death". I already had the cat skeleton and kept it out all the time. (I can blame a lot of things on being a biology teacher.) I saw a great dog skeleton at Wal-mart but it was more then 20 dollars. This dog was $8 at the Dollar General! Usually I limit myself to one new 'ween treat a year. But then the Dollar Tree had rat, bird, and frog skeletons for a dollar!! There was no way I could pass up such treasures. So now I have a little diorama of attacker and prey making its way down my table. The skeleton bat looking on from the light was from my oldest son, Devin, and his wife last year.

Even getting a prize with a poem in it is dangerous this time of year.

I do love me some good spider webs! The apron was a gift from my dear friend, Sherri. It's perfect!

An arachnophobia chair anyone?

Vinny Vulture licks his lips as he gazes at Squeaky the Squirrel. The wine bottle is one my middle son brought home from a restaurant trash. The toad eating a cockroach was this year's birthday present from my daughter-in law, Savannah. Ain't he the cutest? And the glass snake tray was a gift from my youngest, Will. My kids sure do know what their moma likes!

I couldn't resist another picture of the skeletal line-up!

This buffet always shows off my old Halloween collectibles, especially black cats. I had a black cat, Midnight, all my growing up years and so I am very partial to them.

Outside is decorated as well; it wouldn't do for the odd Fedex man, or random visitor to miss out on the season's fun.

And right inside the kitchen door is the skull I found last year that is just so happy looking that he makes me smile. I made the banner for him last year and put it up again, because it's what I would say if you showed up to visit...

For more Halloween see here and here. Come back to see how I set the table, what spooky foods I make, and how everyone is dressed for my Halloween Costume party. It's bound to be spook-tacular!

Food for thought (heh,heh), Dear Reader, what are YOU going to be this year? In a world that likes to tell us who to be, and what to look like, isn't it grand to have at least one day a year where you can decide to be anything or anyone that you can imagine?