Friday, October 30, 2015

A Living Doll

Thought for the day:  Demons are a ghoul's best friend. 


Halloween time again! You gonna be wearing a costume? That's mine in the pic. That tee shirt has resided in my dresser for almost thirty years, relegated to the darkness until time for its once-a-year appearance. The cool thing about it? It glows in the dark. Verrrrry brightly. Yeah, I know, after all these years, that's a teensy bit scary. Still, it's just the thing to wear while greeting trick-or-treaters.

Did you ever go trick-or-treating as a kid? I went once at the ripe old age of thirteen, the only time my father was working the three-to-eleven shift, and my more lenient mother allowed me to go out for a little while with my friends. Turned out, it wasn't all that fun. I'd made myself a sexy (or as sexy as a thirteen-year old gets) Hawaiian outfit. Decorated bra top, crepe paper hula skirt and lei. Looked great until my mother made me put a long-sleeved sweater under the bra top and a coat over top. Oh, and of course, long corduroy pants. Even so, it was cold and windy. Felt like rain, too. Nonetheless, I was determined to squeeze in as much fun as I could, because I pretty much knew that was gonna be my one and only shot at going from door to door giggling with my girlfriends and flirting with our male classmates, while begging for candy. What could possibly go wrong? Turns out, plenty. See, some of my friends, who were pros at Halloween shenanigans, had brought bars of soap and a dozen raw eggs. For, um, vandalizing car windows. Did I participate? Yeah, I may have made a soap squiggle or two. When I got home, someone had likewise vandalized my mother's car. Was she happy? No. Was there smoke curling out of her ears? A little bit. She asked if I'd done any of that to anyone's car. When I admitted I had, she made me wash her car. In the dark. In the cold and windy, felt-like-raining miserable night. It was a lesson I never forgot.

Okay, I didn't mean to go into all that. I meant to be more lazy efficient, and re-run last year's Halloween post. I liked it so much, I figured I couldn't top it. Besides, I'm feeling particularly lazy efficient. The original post was called... Demons are a Ghoul's Best Friend.

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Thought for the day:  Halloween was confusing. All my life, my parents said, "Never take candy from strangers." And then they dressed me up and said, "Go beg for it." I didn't know what to do! I'd knock on people's doors, and go, "Trick or treat!" "No, thank you."  [Rita Rudner]

[Morguefile]
Halloween gives us a good excuse to be lazy put off some of that pesky housecleaning. After all, dust bunnies and cobwebs help us create the proper atmosphere, dontcha think? The perfect place for the kiddies to play hide and shriek. An eerie kinda place to sit back and sip a nice cold Blood Lite...

Okay, I'll stop. (Sorry. Just kidding!)

Do zombies eat popcorn with their fingers? Nope. They always eat the fingers separately.


[Morguefile]

Okay, I'm not one to lose my head over Halloween decorations, (at least, not any more...) but no bones about it... Happy Halloween, y'all!!!

Didja check the weather forecast and tomorrow's horrorscope to see what kind of evening might be in store for you? Gonna have fettucini a-fraid-o and a nice bottle of boooze for dinner? Or maybe some nice fried poultry-geist?

Okay, I'll stop now. Really.

But in honor of Halloween, we've gotta talk about something scary...

[Morguefile]
It was a dark and dreary night...

except for the moon. There has to be a big full, pizza pie in the sky kinda moon...

maybe coyotes howling...

[Morguefile]







and a bunch of hungry buzzards...

No, wait! Forget the buzzards. At my age, the idea of impatient buzzards hanging around is entirely too scary.

But how about... a doll? A haunted doll?

[wikipedia]


Now, I'm not talking about Chucky, although those movies did scare the bejeezus out of me. Smarticus even claimed I turned into that creepy doll at the stroke of midnight one Valentine's Day, when, in a deep gravelly voice, I oh-so-sweetly suggested...
I WANT CHOCOLATE!!!
But that, of course, was a gross exaggeration. (Hey! I only did it for comic effect. By the way, it worked. I got my chocolate...)

[wikipedia]

Anyhow, the doll I'm talking about is named Robert. Robert the Doll. (Makes sense...)

Claimed by some to be the creepiest toy in America, the doll was given to Robert Eugene Otto, a well-known Key West artist, in 1906, when he was just a young boy. It was a gift from his nanny shortly after she became his ex-nanny. His voodoo-practicing ex-nanny. The doll she made for the little boy bore a striking resemblance to him, and even had human hair stitched onto its head... hair which had come from the boy's head.

Almost from the start, the doll was... different. The boy had conversations with it... two-way conversations. The family heard creepy giggles. Tiny feet scampering in the night. Schoolchildren claimed to see it move from window to window... watching them as they walked past. Things disappeared, got broken, got moved. And always, the boy claimed, Robert did it. .

Even as an adult, Otto kept the doll nearby, and never painted without Robert sitting beside him. After he got married, he built Robert his own special room in the attic. His wife was spooked by the giggles, sounds of scampering feet, eerie events, and other sounds coming from the attic, and after Otto's death, she moved out, and left the doll behind in the attic, where he continued to spook tenants who rented the house.

Now? Robert resides behind glass in the Fort East Martello Museum in Key West, Florida, where he continues to freak people out, who claim the doll changes expressions. A sign hanging beside him instructs people to only take pictures with Robert's permission. He allegedly gives a little nod to signal his approval. Failure to ask could lead to... a voodoo curse of some kind. I kid you not...





As creepy as that doll is, I can think of something even scarier. We still have another year of debates, toxic political mud-slinging ads and robo-calls to put up with before the presidential election.
                      OH, NOOOOOO!!!!!!!
                                                 
                                                          Now THAT'S scary.

Okay, just one more. Know where the goblin threw the football? Over the ghoul line! Y'all have a de-fright-fully boooootiful Halloween.

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Wait! But that's not ALL! Last year, after reading this post, our dapper friend Cro Magnon mentioned another peculiar doll in his comments. A doll named Lord Tod Wadley. So I figured I'd tack on a quick addendum about this British doll.

Joe Carstairs and Wadley [wikipedia]

Born in London to a very wealthy American heiress in 1900, Marion Barbara "Joe" Carstairs was a tomboy as a child, and as an adult, dressed as a man, had tattooed arms, and loved adventures, machines, and speed. By 1934, she was the fastest female speedboat racer in the world, so she didn't just love speed; she majorly kicked butt in speed competitions. Lord Tod Wadley entered her life in 1925 when one of her girl friends gave the foot-tall leather doll to her, and it became her constant companion. Or maybe I should say he, because Jo certainly thought the doll was more than just a doll. He became her constant companion, and her dearest friend. When publicity photos were taken of her, he had to be included. She had a plaque made to put over top of the door to her flat, which contained both her name and the doll's. She lavished him with expensive gifts: things like special-made clothes and shoes, a working wristwatch, and golf clubs. She had dozens of studio photographs made of him, poems written, and sculptures created in his honor. He was her mascot, her fetish, and her alter ego. "We're like one," she said. "He's me and I'm him. It's a marvelous thing. If everyone had a Wadley, there'd be less sadness in the world."  When Joe passed away in 1993, her beloved doll and companion was cremated with her.

Kinda weird, huh? Not exactly scary, but a little bit sad.

Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other. (Don't eat too much chocolate! Pbbbt...what am I saying?  There's no such thing as eating too much chocolate.) Pssst... make sure y'all practice safe hex!

68 comments:

  1. I shall reluctantly dress up tomorrow night to scare the bejeezus out of our local hooligans. I don't enjoy it, but I don't want to be considered a spoilsport.

    Ah, Lord Tod. I was going to mention him before I saw you'd done it for me.

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    1. Now, you've got my imagination fired up, trying to figure out what kinda scary costume you might wear tomorrow. A dapper Beelzebub, perhaps? A crazed politician, maybe? Nah, just a politician would do... that's scary enough.

      Thanks for the tip about Lord Tod last year. Interesting tale.

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  2. Halloween is my ultra-favorite time of year and you've prepared a delicious banquet of horrific delicacies for us to devour. Kall me krazy, but I'm still laughing at the zombie-popcorn-finger joke. Have never heard that one.

    I have heard of Robert the haunted doll and, in fact, have read a lot about him. I love creepy stuff and the tale of Robert scared the stuffing out of me (no pun intended, of course).

    I've never heard of "Joe" Carstairs, but - judging by her photo - she's creepier than any haunted doll.

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    1. I dunno why, but I never figured you for a big Halloween lover. Now, I'm imagining your costumes of choice. Hmmm, a vampire? Gypsy? Sheikh? Gigolo? You could pull any of them off, cowboy. Oh, yeah! I almost forgot the obvious... cowboy. A cowboy poet!

      "Joe" was certainly a woman who lived life on her own terms, which probably wasn't all that easy during those times. Gotta give her props for that.

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  3. Aaaah! Chuckie!
    I'm not easily scared, me and my kids loved horror movies, but Chuckie scared me witless. Couldn't watch that movie and avoided the sequel.
    We don't do Halloween, as you know, which is a good thing, because if I had bowls of lollies and chocolates to hand out, they'd be the good quality stuff I like to eat myself which would break the bank, AND I'd eat it all and have to buy more.

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    1. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who was completely freaked out by that stupid doll Chuckie.

      I know what you mean about the candy. It seems like a logical idea to buy candy we like, just in case there's some left over, but WE sure as heck don't need all of that candy. The number of trick-or-treaters we have from one year to the next fluctuates so much, it's impossible to know how much we'll need on any given year... and I'd rather buy too much than too little. (sigh)

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  4. Like River I am very, very glad we don't do Halloween. For precisely the same reasons.
    Mind you, the stores are trying hard to make us...
    Dolls (and clowns) do give me the grues. Joe Carstairs? Part of me feels sorry for her, but another part says that she lived the life she wanted. Her choice.

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    1. That's kinda how I feel about Joe, too. She lived life on her own terms, which took a lot of courage. Being that different couldn't have been easy in those days.

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  5. Sadly, local kids clatter up the stairs here.Totally clueless about traditions.This year, I'm turning the trick tables...I've got some wasabi peas to pop in with the jelly-jubes.

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    1. HA! I like the way you think. The wasabi peas will go a long way toward warming up the kiddies. :) And hey! Peas are downright healthy!

      Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment. Nice to meet ya.

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  6. It's not really something we do in South Africa, although some people are trying to make it happen. I don't really see it taking off, though. Our traditions are too different.

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    1. Halloween is such an unusual holiday. I can't imagine it being embraced everywhere. But ya never know. Could be considered yet another sign of globalization. :)

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  7. I've always thought there was something freakish about dolls...fake humans in miniature...ick.

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    1. Some dolls are definitely freaky, but I adored the dolls I had as a kid. Lots of hand-me-downs with missing limbs, etc. I ran a "doll hospital." Yeah, I know. Weird kid.

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  8. Think the last time I dressed up was like 14 maybe, if that. Sadly my skeleton is just like the one in the pic too, his head popped off lol

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    1. So your skeleton blew his top, eh? Sounds like a bandanna may be in order. (Or a bunch of duct tape.)

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  9. I'm just hoping there'll be candy left for me to hand out tomorrow. I stocked up early, just to make sure I was prepared, but somehow that hasn't worked out like I planned...

    Re your early-adolescent Halloween hijinks: at least soap washes off relatively easily. Imagine if it had been spray paint.

    Oh, and that doll story ... creepy-sad.

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    1. HA! I just bought our Halloween candy this week, and haven't removed it from the grocery bag yet. Out of sight, out of mind. (Theoretically.) If I dare open any of those bags of candy to "sample" a piece, forget it. Let's just say I don't have much self-control when it comes to sweets.

      I don't think anyone used spray paint on cars, and that soap wasn't all that easy to get off. Not in the cold weather, anyway. Took quite a bit of elbow grease. (Served me right!)

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  10. I've got my Peanuts Halloween t-shirt II got a rock) for today. Sat I have my Wicked t-shirt. I've had front light ghouls decorating our walkway, and inside - sure there are cobwebs in the corners (but wait, that's all year). Anyway - gotta have the spirit. I never did the evil stuff. Have fun, Susan, and a ton of treats for you. (or a glass of wine)

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    1. Well, ghoul friend, I'm glad to hear you've got the holiday spirit. Tons of treats for you, too. I'm thinking about some hot wings after the trick or treating ends. And okay, you talked me into it... a glass of wine, too. Or a nice cold mojito...

      Happy weekend!

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  11. The story about the doll is creepy, but tragic as well. :(

    I adore Halloween, which is handy as it lasts for 31 days here. Halloween has never been about the candy for me, it’s about dressing up and seeing others in costume (particularly the little ones and pets!). Always loved Halloween. When I was too old to trick or treat, I started escorting my nieces and nephews as an excuse to dress up. While my trick or treating days are behind me, I do plan to enjoy tomorrow’s giant party and will be dancing in the streets with the other 100k like-minded Halloween lovers.

    Just an aside, I was in New Mexico and Arizona recently and there were few Halloween decorations. It was all about Día de Muertos. Just when you thought there were no more holidays left to commercialize!

    Happy Halloween!

    VR Barkowski

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    1. You've gotta be living in the number one city in the country for celebrating Halloween. I'm sure you'll have a blast.

      When our kids were little, Smarticus and a friend used to take them trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. Several of our neighbor friends gave the men a treat, too... adult beverages to go. Somehow, I doubt if anyone does that any more...

      Happy Halloween!

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  12. You know I love Halloween, even have a coffin on the front porch. Soon though I'll be the one taking up residence! LOL
    Wonderful creepy stories about dolls though, gosh you can't make this stuff up.Wild!
    Last time I trick or treated as a kid I was 13 too. Our church hosted a Halloween party and we all went trick or treating for UNICEF. It was a blast. I put my clothes on backwards, brushed my hair over my face and put a mask on the back of my head. I'd always been told I was backwards, so I went with it! Ha, ha!

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    1. Oh, aren't you clever? I love the costume you wore when you were thirteen. If you were even half as clumsy as I was, I hope someone was helping you walk while trying to see through a curtain of your own hair. Talk about the ultimate comb-over. :)

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  13. Susan, that voodoo doll was scary... I can't believe he kept in the attic and his wife let him or that she stayed married to him... that is just too creepy to say the least... that is the ick factor for sure... yikes... Happy Halloween...

    Hey, too bad you didn't get to enjoy Halloween more when you were younger... I think it will be lost holiday in the future, less and less people participate... I am glad both my girls got to go treating xox

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    1. Yeah, that doll was beyond creepy. Otto's wife must have really loved him to put up with that doll for so many years.

      Hey, not a biggie. In spite of how I felt about it as a kid, I don't think missing out on Halloween stuff caused me any irreparable harm. What's kinda funny, though, is in their later years, my parents really enjoyed giving out treats to the neighborhood kids. Talk about a turnaround. When I was a kid, they kept the door closed, and the lights off. Kids knew to stay away. (I guess they turned into old people trying to get into Heaven. HA!)

      Have a super weekend.

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    2. Unfortunately the last two Winters, especially last year killed all or any good memories of that time of year... other than I love Christmas and it sure makes me appreciate every other season more (I don't complain about rain or the hear)...

      My Valentina loved Winter? Spent hours outdoors.. had me wake her up for the first snowfall... she now despises it... it was that bad (the worst in my 52 years) ♡ ... hopefully it's better this year xox

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    3. Okay, then I'll have to send lots of extra warm thoughts your way this winter, and you can work on making some more really good memories. Okay? It's gonna be a MILD winter for you this year. (You're due!)

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  14. I remember this post because of that terrifying voodoo doll!! Just looking at the pictures gives me the creeps. I kind of hate dolls anyway and this one takes the cake LOL.

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    1. Well, actually that's about the only good thing you can say about Robert. He DOESN'T take the cake... so we can eat it all. :)

      Talking about creepy, I read your story in that anthology last night about the gal with TB who was buried alive. Man, she sure holds a grudge a long time...

      Happy weekend!

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  15. I really do not like being scared. The creepy dolls, hands filled with knives and blood, creepy spirits crawling on the ceilings.... yuck ! Especially the Japanese movie ones !
    I live out in the country up a hill on a long drive way so no trick or treaters here. I miss the little ones but not the big teens ones !

    Have a terrific Halloween !
    cheers, parsnip

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    1. I'm not a huge fan of being scared, either, but ironically, I've read and loved a lot of Stephen King and Dean Koontz books. Go figure. :)

      You have a wonderful Halloween, too. Cheers!

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  16. There is a chain and lock hanging on our gate which I oil and secure once a year, the afternoon of October 31st. I am the Halloween Grinch. I also park the cars far up the lane from the gate --and cover their rear windows. This area has grown more populous and treacherous since our kids were trick or treating. We'll deliver treats to the grand children, then I plan to stay in and write something. I wish everyone a happy holiday.

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    1. If you're the Halloween Grinch, I'm sure it's because you were driven to it because of the behavior of young people in your area. Such a shame. Our neighborhood has definitely changed over the years, but only in that it's become much more diverse. The kids may not look like the ones who lived here forty years ago, but they're just as giggly and excited. And for the most part, very polite. If that ever changes, I'm sure my attitude about the holiday will change, too.

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  17. I loved Halloween and trick or treating as a kid, getting all that candy. For me, it was less about the costume and all about the candy. It bothers me that it's become more of an adult holiday now than a kid's. That story about Joe was very strange, a good one for Halloween!

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    1. For a couple years, there seemed to be more teenagers trick-or-treating in our neighborhood than there were little kiddies. Nothing like answering the door and having to... look UP... to see the "child's" face. Usually without a costume, too. Just a pillow case to collect the loot. Now the pendulum seems to have has swung again. Last year, we had a lot of adorable little kids with their moms making the rounds. We'll have to see what tonight brings.

      Happy Halloween!

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  18. every year my wife organises a story-telling session for Halloween. They don't have to be necessarily scary but most of our stories are. Our guests have just left. It was great. Lovely post. Thanks.

    Greetings from London.

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    1. A story-telling session? That sounds like a LOT of fun!

      Greetings back atcha.

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  19. My kids always had fun trick-or-treating on Halloween. It's too bad we live so far away from grandchildren now - pictures is all we get.

    Halloween was not a holiday in Germany when I was a kid, but in the last 15 years or so, more and more people have started celebrating it. Globalization... hehe.

    I remember the story of Robert the Doll from last year. Perfect for Halloween!

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    1. I agree with you about living far away from the grandchildren. I'm always grateful to see pictures of them in their costumes, but it'd be nice if we lived close enough to actually be with them on Halloween.

      I'm glad you remembered Robert. (A doll that creepy is kinda hard to forget, isn't he?)

      Happy Halloween!

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  20. First of all, I am in awe that you can still fit into a 30 year old shirt. The only thing from 30 years ago that I can fit into is a ring. However, it has more to do that my my finger grew around the ring and unless the finger is removed, the ring won't come off.

    I loved Halloween as a child, as a mom, and then as a grandmom. My gardens are all decorated with pumpkins and fall plantings, but this year, my heart is not in it, so my lights will go off at 7pm and I will take off for a quieter place.

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    1. HA! Believe me, no need to be in awe. That shirt was very very large on me in the beginning. Not so much the case anymore. :) Ugh, don't talk about rings. The only way my wedding band is gonna come off is if someone cuts it off. Either the ring, or the finger... either way would work.

      I'll be thinking about you in your quieter place tonight. I trust you'll have a nice glass of wine to mark the occasion. Take care.

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  21. I remember so many Halloweens when my brother, sister, and I would come up with what we thought were great costumes only to have to wear our winter coats over top of them. Ha! Good times! Fun post today. Hope you have a happy Halloween. :D

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    1. HA! Yeah, cold weather has a way of messing up those ideas of great costumes.

      And a very Happy Halloween to you, too.

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  22. I wasn't allowed to go trick or treating since my parents were overprotective, so I missed out on that. Now I don't see trick or treaters at all, at least in my area. Children go to public places to do so. Creepy dolls here.

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    1. Except for that one time, I wasn't allowed to go trick-or-treating, either. Seemed sooooo unfair at the time, didn't it? But we survived quite nicely without it. (And NOW, we can eat all the darned candy we want!)

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  23. I remember that story and it's still scary the second time around. *shivers with the heebies as well as the jeebies*

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    1. Somehow, I didn't think you were the kind of gal who got the heebies or the jeebies from a doll. :)

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  24. I love stories about haunted dolls. Just the stories. I don't actually want a haunted, giggling doll that changes expressions in my presence.

    Also, a 30 year old t-shirt? What's your secret? Mine go to rags almost immediately and are lucky to last 2-3 years tops.

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    1. I agree. I like the stories, but don't have any interest in getting too up close and personal with a haunted doll.

      No secret. I only wear that shirt once a year, so it hasn't had much opportunity to get all that worn out.

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  25. So spooky. I have a love/hate relationship with spooky doll stories.

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    1. Hmmm, a love relationship during daylight hours, and a hate relationship on dark moonless nights...? :)

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  26. Oh, Robert is one creepy doll!! I think I've read that story before. *shudder*

    And I totally agree about the creepy phone calls from politicians. Two more days!

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    1. Robert is definitely creepy. (You may have read about him here last year.)

      I am beyond sick of the recorded calls from politicians. Still another year to go for the presidential race. UGH

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  27. I haven't dressed up in years and most people in London think I do just because I'm American. I disappointed a neighbor when I said I wasn't dressing up. Lots of pressure :)

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    1. Now, now. As an American, there are certain expectations you have to meet to uphold the proper stereotypical image. :)

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  28. Loving, loving, loving all of the word play. :) The doll is sad. And no sir, there's no such thing as too much chocolate. ;) Stopping over to send a howdy. :)

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    1. Howdy back atcha. :)

      I'm glad you like the word play. That sort of thing always cracks me up.

      Too much chocolate? I'm testing the boundaries as I type this. :) (Not MY fault we have so many leftover candy...)

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  29. Hope your Halloween was filled with treats :)

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  30. Now that Halloween is over... Trick or Treating was the HIGHLIGHT of my year (as a child sugar addict). You crack me up, Susan.

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    1. Used to be a child sugar addict, but have turned into an adult cheese addict, huh? At least cheese is healthier. What ya really need to find is chocolate-covered cheese...

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  31. Halloween is scary but young do enjoy nowadays Halloween Zombie dance frighteningly fun!!...nerve-racking interesting piece of work!!

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    1. Halloween Zombie dance? It might be fun to dress up like a zombie, and the older I get, the less make-up I'd need... HA!

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