Let’s have some fun today. Obviously you don’t start a Halloween site unless you really, really love it. And I do. About this time last summer, I decided it was finally time to go all-in and start a Halloween site where I could share my love of October 31st with everyone.

But sometimes I feel like a fraud.

I’m not your normal Halloween lover. There’s a lot of things everyone else gets super excited about (and rightfully so!) that just don’t quite do it for me. And that’s not a bad thing or meant as an insult if you love something I don’t. I’m not saying you’re a weirdo if you disagree with all the things on my list below – I’m definitely the weirdo here, mister.

But today, just for fun, I thought I’d share a few things with you guys that make me feel like I’m actually the worst Halloween fan ever. I hope you’ll get a laugh out of them and share one of yours!

I hate pumpkin spice anything

Candles, body wash, lotion, snacks, cookies, coffee – you name it, I dislike it. Which is crazy because I love pumpkin itself. I live for my mom’s pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies and pumpkin bread every fall. But there’s just something ridiculously fake about pumpkin spice anything to me that I don’t enjoy. It really bums me out.

Actually, I think my brother got the pumpkin spice gene. That kid loves him a pumpkin spice latte like they’re going out of style.

Or maybe I just haven’t found the right pumpkin spice goodie yet! I will say, I was adventurous at the grocery store this week and instead of buying my standard hazelnut coffee creamer, I bought a pumpkin spice one. I haven’t opened it yet, so we’ll see how it goes.

 

Haunted houses terrify me

I was in fourth grade, I think, when our family went to the Harris County Fair. There was a haunted house and being the amateur Halloween lover I was, I decided I wanted to go in it. I’d never been in a haunted house before, and it seemed like a grand adventure.

It was a mistake.

My brother (who is three years younger) was sent along with me, and we got exactly five steps inside before we both broke down in tears. I remember standing at a little barred window at the front of the house, trying to get our parent’s attention to no avail so we could get out. The staff member who was manning the door told us the only way out was to go through, and some kind soul walked us through the entire haunted house, shooing off anyone who tried to scare us.

I guess it all felt a little too real once we were inside.

Over a decade later I discovered I still didn’t enjoy them when I worked on an entertainment TV show in Tulsa, OK, and we spent ALL October going to every single haunted house in northeastern Oklahoma to film. I was forced to walk through every single one, and I hated it.

(And it’s documented on YouTube for your viewing pleasure – check the 2:28 mark for a familiar blurry face. And funnily enough, this was my favorite one we visited because it was SO much more than just a haunted house!)

The one hosted by a church was hands down the worst – being terrorized by school shootings and abortions and car crashes was way, WAY too much for me. Especially since I knew what I was going to be asked the second we walked out the doors at the end…

We even got a private tour of a haunted house while it was under construction one evening, and the owner walked us through the whole place, pointing out every spot for actors and scare opportunities. That almost made walking through the finished product worse because I knew where the scares were going to be…and I still RAN like a little girl from the guy with a chainsaw at age 24. Haha…

We’ll blame my writer’s brain – I’m just too good at playing pretend.

 

I’m not a horror movie buff

This one goes hand in hand with haunted houses – I’m too good at believing the story. The details of super gruesome horror movies worm their way into my head and give me nightmares. I just can’t do them. I had to give up on season two of “American Horror Story” when I thought Bloody Face was in my apartment waiting to get me. Then I started dreaming he made me kill someone and the whole thing ended in very graphic details. ICK.

But horror movies full of suspense or crazy plot twists that keep me guessing? Love them. “The Woman in Black” with Daniel Radcliffe is a semi-recent favorite. I also don’t mind a lot of 70s horror movies that just seem cheesy now – “The Amityville Horror” might be one of my favorites under that umbrella.

I’m also not a movie buff in general. I am forever having to admit there’s a lot of classics I haven’t seen. *shrug* I grew up reading books, and that’s how I’d rather immerse myself in a story so it lasts longer.

That said…I’d love to hear your horror movie recommendations. I’m not opposed to them, and I’ve been watching more on Netflix this summer. Share your pick in the comments or Tweet me.

 

Blood and guts make me seriously queasy

Like, Imma-bout-to-be-sick kind of queasy. The Saw movies are 100% out for me. I also don’t watch a ton of medical shows for the same reason. Any hint of blood on TV or in a movie, and I am diving for a pillow to cover my face. I don’t know what made me this way, but here we are.

The crazy part? Early on in my journalism career, I covered a local hospital. They held a press event one afternoon to demo stainless steel clamps a local doctor had developed to use on patients whose sternum had to be sliced in half for heart surgery. The clamps locked in a unique way that pulled the patient’s chest back together instead of a doctor having to wire their chest shut. It was pretty cool!

And the whole set up was demoed on two human torso cadavers. No arms, legs or heads. Just the torso cut wide open so you could see how the clamps worked. I walked into the room knowing they were real human torsos. I snapped pictures like crazy for my assignment. Being in the room with two actual dead bodies didn’t even phase me.

I’m such a weirdo sometimes I don’t even understand myself…

 

What I love about Halloween

Okay, enough of the downer stuff. (Though I hope one or two of those made you laugh.)

So what do I love about Halloween?

• I love watching classic Halloween movies like “Hocus Pocus” or “Rocky Horror Picture Show”.
• I love watching all the ghost hunting specials on cable every October.
• I love making homemade costumes.
• I love bringing home too many pumpkins.
• I love carving jack-o-lanterns.
• I love squishing pumpkin guts in my hands. (That might be THE best part of Halloween for me.)
• I love the chill in the evening air of October.
• I love decorating my apartment into a spooky little lair.
• I love bats and rats. (Sorry, Mom…)
• I love making pumpkin treats.
• I love testing new cocktail recipes for my witches brew.
• I love planning my Halloween party, Halloweenie Roast.
• I love making my own Halloween decorations.
• I love going to stores and getting excited over their Halloween collections.
• I love listening to Halloween music.
• I love making theme Halloween playlists, like all witch songs or my favorite 60s songs.
• I love sending my favorite people Halloween cards.

The list goes on and on and on…

 

What makes you the worst Halloween fan?

We all have that one thing everyone else loves that we don’t. What’s yours?

Your favorite “worst” Halloween fan,