Dear Reader:

It’s finally here… we have to wait to the last day of the month to go a little crazy, a little creative and take OFF our everyday masks we present to the public and become a child again! Halloween is one of my favorite childhood memories.

For one magical night I could be somebody besides me… that sense of freedom and total abandonment still resonates in my recollections of the best of childhood wonder.

In past Chapelofhopestories … I have researched the historical roots, customs, cultures, myths, and individual remembrances of this late fall celebration… Halloween. This year I discovered a fun ” historical/ musical fact” … that everyone can recognize!

Now come on… what is a Halloween party without the ” Monster Mash” repeatedly playing? The idea behind the song 🎵 was the culmination of two popular crazes in 1962…. 60 Years Ago!

Chubby Checker was the king of the Twist and subsequently the dance… plus monster movies were the craze at the theater. Bobby Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers combined the two popular movements and Hocus Pocus …the Monster Mash was born. It is still ( after more than a half century) the number 1 Halloween party ” graveyard smash! “( followed closely behind with Jackson’s Thriller.)

So until tomorrow…

Yesterday I stopped by Mandy’s to pick up my new pumpkin and succulent hairdresser that Susan Swicegood makes so creatively and gives away to family! Only time will tell if this Halloween’s will still be around like last year’s…” white ghost” pumpkin!

I also stopped by Tommy and Kaitlyn’s to see my newest grand dog-George-who was still in the festive Halloween mood …left over from Kaitlyn ‘s Hocus Pocus party Saturday night!

… If you like local ghost stories about houses in the area… Mollie found one very close to their home off Clements Ferry. The article was in the Daniel Island News. Point Hope’s Sanders House…. lots of bumps in the night. Sadly soon to be moved and renovated as a realty company’s offices… beautiful old home. You can Google and easily get the whole series of sightings by generational families who once lived there!!!

And my final question to any of you party goers tonight… as you dance the Twist to the ” Monster Mash” is… ” How Low Can You Go?” Happy Halloween!