Whoooooooo!! It's HALLOWE'EN tonight, and happy memories spring to mind of when I was still young enough to go out 'on the scrounge' every October 31st. As well as the usual assortment of apples, monkey nuts, oranges and stuff to look forward to, there was also a tidy pile of cash to be reaped from grown-ups who couldn't be bothered to get fruit in for the 'guisers' who came to their door. We'd give them a verse or a song, and a shilling (or two) would be quickly pressed into our grasping little hands before the door was hastily shut so they could get back to watching CORONATION STREET on the telly.
We Brits were far more innocent in our approach to All Hallows' Eve than our Stateside counterparts. Essentially, we were begging - but at least we also offered a few moments of entertainment in return for the treats and cash pressed upon us. In America, it was nothing less than extortion, pure and simple. "Trick or treat!", these masked, tiny-terrorists would proclaim, threatening to inflict some form of mischievous retribution upon any poor householders who didn't meet their demands. Well, I don't know about you, but I know which version of the age-old tradition I prefer.
I couldn't quite think of a suitable picture to accompany this post, so in the end I decided to feature film-fandom's favourite frightmeister, BORIS KARLOFF! However, just to be different, here he is not as the Monster or the Mummy, but as simply - himself.
Happy Hallowe'en!
