Friday, October 26, 2012

The Crossroads Tour: Carrie Harris & Ty Drago



1. What is your favorite Halloween tradition?

I love it when people decorate their houses. Right now, my kids are still pretty young, and they love the idea of Halloween but get scared walking down the aisle with all the plastic skeletons at Target. So I have to go pretty campy for the moment, but I look forward to the day when I can finally dress up some fake zombies in football and cheerleader uniforms and have them climb out of my lawn. I just love that it’s the kind of day that makes people step out of their comfort zones and go a little nuts. Maybe because I’m already a little nuts to begin with!


2. Would you share an embarrassing or funny Trick-or-Treat moment with us?

Last year, I gave an entire bowl of candy to three teenage boys who were dressed up like a box of mutant dinosaurs. I always buy a little extra so that when someone really creatively whack-a-ding-hoy comes along, I can dump the whole thing in appreciation. Because that’s the kind of thing that makes Halloween AWESOME.

And just in case you’re wondering, a box-of-mutant-dinosaur costume is a REALLY big box with three sets of leg holes cut in it and three teenagers in regular clothes with dinosaur heads and hands and the words “A BOX OF MUTANT DINOSAURS” written on the side.


3. What is your favorite Halloween candy?

YES. I will take them all except for the black licorice ones and the jelly beans that taste like vomit. But if I have to pick only one thing, I pick Reese’s. Nothing goes better together than chocolate and peanut butter. Maybe chicken and telephones, but that’s it.

That chicken and telephone thing was a quote. Do you recognize it, or do you think I’m nutsier than you did before? And yes, I just made up that word. NUTSIER.


4. Would you rather be a monster or an alien?

Dude, YES. I’ll take either. But if I can only have one, I think I’ll go for monster. Given a choice between being dissected by scientists in Area 51 or being hunted down by angry villagers with torches and pitchforks, I think I’ll take the villagers. Maybe I can charm them with my monsterific wit and convince them to do the Thriller dance instead of lynching me. It’s worth a try, right?


Click image for review




1. What is your favorite Halloween tradition?

For years, when my kids were young, I used to dress up as a zombie on Halloween – all in black, with black gloves and black shoes, and this whole head mask that hid everything, including my eyes. Then, armed with a plastic knife, I would stand outside our front door. Perfectly still.

When kids would come by, I’d size them up. The little ones, say 10-year-old and younger, I’d let pass. I wouldn’t move and I wouldn’t speak. If they started to cry I’d show them my face and smile and wish them a Happy Halloween.

But the older ones. Well, that was a different story.

I’m six-and-a-half feet tall and a weigh about an eighth of a ton. And when the older kids appeared, ready to Trick or Treat, they would see me. They would stare at me. They would wonder if I was real or just some scarecrow or statue someone had put up. I’m really good at standing perfectly still.

The boys might touch me. I wouldn’t move. They might mock me a little. I wouldn’t reply. Finally, unnerved but refusing to show it, they would step past me to knock on the front door. As they did, I would step out into the pathway, blocking it from behind, and raising my plastic knife.

My wife would give them candy, rolling her eyes I imagine. Then the kids would turn around to leave – and jump right out of their skins! Sometimes they’d actually scream before darting around me and taking off down the block. The girls were even better. No one loves to be scared on Halloween like a middle grade girl!

And you know what? They would usually be back within half-an-hour, dragging some friends.

It was a great tradition that I kept up for a long time. But, finally, as my kids grew up and left Halloween behind, I had to let it go. There’s a fine line between a neighborhood father having fun on Halloween, and the “creepy old guy who likes to scare kids”. I figured I’d call it quits while I was still on the right side of that line.

Great memories, tho.


2. Would you share an embarrassing or funny Trick-or-Treat moment with us?

One group of teenage girls came by one Halloween and apparently mistook me for a teenage boy under my zombie mask. They started trying to flirt with me. It was very funny. As usual, I stood perfectly still and said nothing, figuring they’d get bored and move on. But they didn’t. They hung around, asking me questions: where I went to school; did I play football.

Finally, I’d had all that I could stand. I could have pulled off my mask and grossed them all out with the old guy underneath. But instead, I slowly raised my plastic knife and pointed it at the worst of the flirters. She stared at it for a long second before her nerve failed. Then she yelped and giggled and then all left.

Frankly, I hope the girl never runs into a real horror monster. She’d probably ask it to the prom.


3. What is your favorite Halloween candy?

Tootsie-Rolls. God help me, I love Tootsie-Rolls!


4. Would you rather be a monster or an alien?

Tough one. For Halloween, it’s monsters – hands down. They’re just more fun! Aliens have their place, of course. But once an alien turns scary, in my mind, they cease to be “aliens” and become “monsters”.

So, if someone gave me the choice – especially on Halloween: monster is it!






How The Tour Works:

Each day of The Crossroads Blog Tour, a new research question will be revealed on The Crossroad Blog Tour main page: HERE.
And each day the answer to that question will be found within one of the different blog posts by Crossroads Tour authors. Your job is to get the question, read the blog posts, and collect all answers by the end of the tour.  
At the end of the tour all of your answers are to be emailed to Judith at: judithgraves@ymail.com by midnight on October 29, 2012.

The Grand Prize:

A KINDLE, preloaded with an ebook from each of the Crossroads authors. That’s right folks, a free KINDLE and 13 free EBOOKS! 

The Other Bloggers:

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