Costume Mishaps - Parenting Plights & Delights

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is a big favorite for kids. They get all hyper and drive their parents bananas. All the excitement of finding a costume and gathering a stash of free candy - woo hoo! 

I guess I never outgrew the crazy get-ups. 

Sometimes it's not all it's cracked up to be, like when something goes wrong with a costume. 

I have bad memories of Halloween when I was in kindergarten and dressed up as a witch. I wore one of those cheap masks with an elastic string to hold it on. Our class paraded single file down the school corridors and through other classrooms. Johnny, the kid behind me, kept pulling and twanging that elastic string so it hit the back of my head. Nonstop.

I cried and cried, but he wouldn't let up. If only I'd had a broom stick...

One Halloween when my son was seven or eight, he wore a California Raisin costume. They were a hit back in 1986 or '87. Here's a video of a big kid wearing one:

The costumes were popular because of this funny commercial: 

My son thought he had the best costume in the neighborhood, until he walked into a tree and was knocked flat on his back. It was hard to see out of those little eye holes, especially at night. 

A few years later the school banned masks for Halloween parties and parades because masks make it hard for kids to see where they're going!

I think my favorite costume mishap story is from my writer friend, Hobo Annie. She left this comment on my post on October 10th:

"Once a friend and I had to be witches in a play, so we put green food coloring in base makeup. Worked great for the show...but we had to go to school with green-stained faces for a week!"

This is Annie Howland nowadays.
 The green food coloring incident
happened back in high school.

Psst: Just in time for Halloween, she released a new Kindle book, 

Stirring Up Spiders,

a collection of dark tales for grown ups. 

You can find it here.   

Jerry Seinfeld reminisces about one of his childhood costumes: "Then, finally, the third year, begging the parents, I got the Superman Halloween costume... Remember the rubber band on the back of that mask? That was a quality item there, wasn't it? That was good for about 10 seconds before it snapped out of that cheap little staple they put it in there with."

Hmm, I wonder why that stupid rubber band on my witch mask held up so well. Figures. 

Do you have any costume-gone-wrong stories? Bad memories or disappointments from trick-or-treating, like poor Charlie Brown who always got a rock tossed into his bag instead of candy?

Do you have a parenting or grandparenting memory

or another story you'd like to share? 

If you're not a parent, memories from your own childhood count, too. 

Warning: I might feature your story in a future post. 

(Names can be changed to protect the guilty!)

I'd like to thank all those who have shared their stories. 

These posts wouldn't be the same without your input.

If you don't want to leave a comment but would rather contact me by email, 

you can reach me at: lynkelwoohoo at yahoo dot com.

Monster Jokes For Kids

I admit I deserve a time out in a creaky, rickety time out chair. I apologize for not commenting back to my followers. Just haven't been up to par this week, dealing with allergies and fatigue. And a toddler who runs faster than his Grammy's old bones can bend.  

Please know you're important to me, and I will be paying each of you a visit ASAP. 

Funny Bones is a bit rattled.

Bad Blogger's Time Out Chair? 

No, please! Not the dark and dreary, dreadful Time Out Chair! 

I ain't got the guts for that!

Please give me just one more chance to make it up to you.

It's your call, friends. I'll leave the punishment up to you.

Moving on, last Friday I promised you some monster laughs, so here you go.  Be sure to share some of these with your favorite trick-or-treaters.

Are you good at telling jokes, or are you like me and can't remember the punch lines anymore? 

"Cyclops Clyde" Told By Ma Cob

Ma Cob 

Halloween is creeping and crawling up on us. It's that time of year for fun, spooky stories. Back by popular demand, please welcome Ma Cob, who's here to tell the tale of Cyclops Clyde.

Do you remember him from last year? He's the creepster, freakster, cranky monster who haunts computers. Anyone's, anywhere, at any time. 

Break out the candy corn, turn off the lights, and sit a spell.

Cyclops Clyde

Cyclops Clyde is the first story in my eBook, Trio of Haunting Tales - Spooky Short Stories, for kids ages 8 and up. Details can be found in the right margin and on the Publication page of this blog. 

Night of the Howling Werewolf 

and 

Ghost Warrior 

are the other short stories in

Trio of Haunting Tales

Has your computer ever acted weird?

Do you think a monster like Cyclops Clyde haunted it?

Spooky Story Time - Parenting Plights & Delights

I'm a big scaredy cat when it comes to horror stories, but I can appreciate a good, mildly spooky story that gets my heart racing. 

When I was a kid, we'd invite friends over for snacks and a spooky tale, the story of "Joshua Brown," who one Halloween night disappeared from town. 

Don't forget the sweet treats!

Dad was a great storyteller, so we'd sit in a circle outside in the dark and listen to the tale of Joshua Brown. It was the same tale every year, but we never got tired of it. 

Unfortunately, we lost the story years ago. I looked for it online and found a similar story called "Poor Joe." The words are totally different, but the concept is the same. "Poor Joe" isn't as scary as my childhood 'Joshua Brown,' so this milder version might be better for some folks. 

Both 'Joshua Brown' and 'Poor Joe' use peeled grapes for the eyes, which are passed from one person to the next. Squishy, slimy, and shaped like eyeballs. Great effect! 

For the hand of 'Joshua Brown,' a latex glove filled with flour was used. The above 'Poor Joe' site states they used a glove filled with jigglers jello.

Boo! Don't forget to serve cookies! 

 A bowl of cooked, slightly wet spaghetti pasta was used for veins in both 'Joshua Brown' and 'Poor Joe.' A piece of liver served as the tongue for both stories. 

We used a peeled potato cut in the shape of a big toe for 'Joshua Brown.'

The 'Poor Joe' site used ten pieces of carrots for toes, a wig for hair, and a dried apricot for an ear. 

It sounds disgusting, doesn't it? We knew it wasn't real, and we thought it was great fun. 

If you want to do this type of story with friends and family this Halloween, go to the 'Poor Joe' site and use that version. It will make for a spooktacular party.

Don't forget the booberry punch...

and spider (black olives) deviled eggs!

Oh, how about making it a costume party, too? I love costumes. They're great ice breakers. 

What's the best Halloween costume you've ever worn? Have you ever had a wardrobe malfunction? Do you like spooky stories? 

More Ghostly Jokes

Hello trick or treaters! 

Today Funny Bones is the ghostest with the mostest. 

Get your giggle on with a little spooktacular fun.

That wasn't scary, was it? 

Tune in next Friday for monster laughs with Funny Bones. 

Psst! It's not too late to enter the giveaway, 

random drawing for a copy of my newly released children's book, 

Curse of the Double Digits. 

For ages 7 to 10

The giveaway runs through October 30th. 

If you missed the launch party, go here to enter 

by leaving a comment. 

10 copies will be given away, 

5 signed paperbacks and 5 eBooks.

Be sure to say whether you prefer a paperback or eBook.

Do you think ghosts are real or just silly nonsense?

Did I Notice Your Book - Blogfest

I noticed Time's Enemy by Jennette Marie Powell!

What a great idea for a blogfest, the brainchild of Ciara Knight, 
co-sponsored by Ninja Captain Alex Cavanaugh. 

Here's the deal:

You can choose a book that you’ve read, something you saw on a blog or social media site, Goodreads, or a sales website. Anything that caught your eye because of a great cover, blurb or reviews, but DON’T tell the author that their book has been noticed. Instead, shout out on social media sites, and encourage others to do the same, until the author finds his/her book. 

Here's my pick:

I'm excited to tell everyone about this awesome Saturn Society time travel series by Jennette Marie Powell. I'm a sucker for time travel stories in the first place, but these books are so well written and it's clear the author spent a lot of time (no pun intended!) researching the historical settings the main characters travel to. 

These novels are jam packed with tension, suspense, intriguing plots and subplots, and some steamy romance scenes, too! Great page turners. 

After I finished book one, Time's Enemy, I was super happy to discover the second book in the series had just been released, so I was able to continue following Tony and Vi's journey. I'm anxiously awaiting the next Saturn series novel because I miss these characters.

Here's a description of the first book from the author's website: 

Time-travel Romance - contemporary and early 20th century America

One man against a secret society of time travelers – and the woman he loves.

One unwanted gift. One great wrong. One chance to make things right…

Tony Solomon never wanted to be a time traveler. But when a freak accident gifts him with the ability to travel in time, he becomes an unwilling initiate in a secret society of time travelers. Determined to prevent his daughter’s murder, he violates the Society’s highest law and becomes a fugitive. When the Society refuses to tell Tony how to time-travel within his own life, he seeks help from Charlotte, the woman whose life he saved during a prior trip to the past.

When Tony arrives in 1933 looking for answers, Charlotte is both thrilled and terrified to see her childhood hero. Loyal to the Society, she is honor-bound to bring to justice those who manipulate time for their own gain. In giving him sanctuary, she faces a terrible choice-condemn the man she loves and to whom she owes her life, or deny her deepest convictions by helping him escape and risk sharing his sentence.

Buy Time’s Enemy at Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Smashwords and many other online retailers. Print edition available at Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, or by request at your favorite bookseller.

And here's the second book, another superb read:

Here's the description from the author's website:

A past shrouded in mystery

Violet Sinclair remembers nothing of her life before the day she awoke several years earlier, drenched in blood that wasn’t hers. But since she met Tony Solomon, she’s been certain of one thing – sometime in her hidden past, she knew him… loved him… and did something terrible to him.

A present fraught with danger

Time-traveler Tony Solomon is sure he never met Violet before they were coworkers, yet she bears an uncanny resemblance to the woman he loved and lost decades before he was born. After an impulse encounter leaves Violet pregnant with his child, she becomes the target of killers from the future.

A future feared in jeopardy

Framed for murder, Tony will do anything to protect Violet and their child, even if their only escape is to jump into the past, something he swore he’d never do again. But when they jump back much further than planned, they find their troubles are only beginning—and secrets can get them killed.

Buy Time’s Fugitive at Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Smashwords  Print edition available at Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, or by request at your favorite bookseller.

These are two of my favorite books. What's yours? Do you like time travel tales or romance novels? 

If you'd like to check out the other bloggers' picks,  here's a list of the blogfest participants and their links:

1. Author Ciara Knight	2. Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh
3. Aloha! Mark Koopmans says hi from HI	4. Brinda Berry Blogs
5. The Blutonian Death Egg	6. Been There, done that
7. The Character Depot	8. Marta Szemik
9. Hilary of Positive Letters	10. Kathy- Imagine Today
11. Writers Alley	12. Tasha Seegmiller
13. Hildie McQueens Author Site	14. Jay Noel
15. Confessions of a Watery Tart	16. tara tyler
17. Catch the Rush	18. However Improbable
19. Katie OSullivan	20. Tyreans Writing Spot
21. Writers Do Laundry Too	22. Nancy S. Thompson
23. Michael Pierce	24. Tina @ Life is Good
25. Write Here, Write Now	26. Writing on the Wall
27. Rachel Firasek	28. Louann Carroll
29. I am HR Sinclair	30. Amy Jarecki Writes
31. Avery Olives Blog	32. Stories to Share
33. Amber Kallyn	34. The Write Game
35. Jennifer Lane Books	36. Jami Grays Blog
37. Krista Ames	38. Lynn Kelley Random Acts of Weirdness
39. Christine Rains	40. Laura Eno
41. Carrie Butler @ SYAW	42. Scribbles From Jenn
43. Mary Pax	44. Leave it to Livia
45. Cally Jackson Writes	46. The Eagles Aerial Perspective
47. Cathy Keaton Writes, or Tries To	48. Heather M. Gardner
49. Defending the Pen	50. WRITING IN THE CROSSHAIRS
51. Susan Says	52. Libby Heily
53. Ink in the Book	54. Medeia Sharif
55. Sydney Aaliyah	56. Use Your Words. . .
57. Pensuasion	58. Joylene Nowell Butler, author
59. jennas journal	60. quirky contemporary tales
61. Patti Roberts Book Blog	62. Patricia Stoltey
63. Spunky L. Diane Wolfe	64. Isis Rushdan
65. Wicked. . . with a Side of Saucy	66. My First Book
67. C. M. Brown	68. Trisha @ WORD+STUFF
69. Lindis Writing Journey	70. Sia McKye Over Coffee
71. Charitys writing journey	72. The Submission Process
73. Carrie-Annes Magick Theatre	74. Maryann Millers Its Not All gravy
75. Embrace Adventure	76. PK HREZO
77. when it rains it hales	78. Mama Diaries
79. The Open Vein - E. J. Wesley	80. MsMariahs Space Blogyssey
81. Edge of Your Seat Romance	82. Hold on to Your Bloomers
83. One Magic Bean Buyer	84. Madeleine
85. Susan Roebuck	86. Queendsheena
87. Laura Josephsen	88. Susan Oloier
89. Jennee Thompson	90. Did I Notice Your Book
91. Steven Symes, Writer	92. Jeffrey Beeslers World of the Scribe

93. Michelle @ Writer~In~Transit	94. Michael Offutt
95. Stephen Tremps Breakthrough Blogs