North Highlanders aren’t afraid to get a little spooky for Halloween. We gathered colleagues from coast to coast – and across the pond – to discuss their favorite holiday traditions, movies and (of course) candy! Participants included:
Sam Nadolski, Digital Marketing Specialist – Atlanta
Paul Falor, CIO & VP of Strategic Alliances – Atlanta
Lou Collins, Manager – Atlanta
Malcolm Beaton, Master Practitioner – London
Elizebeth Webb, Administrative Assistant – Los Angeles
Do you have any plans for Halloween this year?
Sam: The weekend before Halloween, I went to Serenbe Farms [outside of Atlanta] to see their rendition of Sleepy Hollow, which is one of my favorite scary movies of all time! Other than that, for trick or treating, we always set up a party on our street where we have a bonfire, snacks and drinks for the adults and all types candy for the kids!
Paul: With 3 young kids (ages 9, 6 and 4), they make the plans for me! My goal is to figure out the exact candy cutoff before they get sick.
Lou: My 3-year-old son Luke and I are going trick or treating as Kylo Ren and Rey from Star Wars. This will be his first year – I’m curious to see how it goes and if he gets any sleep that night.
Malcom: I’ll be going to a Halloween party and trick or treating my street with 30 children all in a large group.
Elizebeth: It’s a school night so we will eat take out for dinner, walk around trick or treating and then maybe watch a scary movie.
What’s your favorite Halloween candy? Least favorite?
Sam: I’m a huge fan of Reese’s. Especially when they are in the pumpkin shaped – it’s delicious and themed! Least favorite would have to be Snickers.
Paul: Favorite is hands down nerds, although it does make me feel a little bit cannibalistic. Least favorite is Laffy Taffy.
Lou: The best Halloween candy are Kit Kat bars because you can break them up into individual bars, then separate the layers! Anything non-chocolate would go straight into my trades pile.
Malcolm: My favorite is mulled wine. Least favorite is anything containing candy.
Elizebeth: I’m not a huge fan of chocolate, I only like dark chocolate on occasion. But I like Peppermint Patties, as well as Almond Joy or black licorice.
What was the first scary movie you remember seeing? Do you have a favorite scary movie?
Sam: The first scary movie I saw was The Sixth Sense, which used to be my favorite movie for years. However, when the Johnny Depp version of Sleepy Hollow came out, it quickly became one of my favorites.
Paul: My first scary movie was a classic, The Shining. My favorite is Poultrygeist, Night of the Chicken Dead.
Lou: I’m not much for scary movies - I can hardly watch even the trailers in the theatre without being haunted. However, my friend, director John McPhail, has a zombie movie coming out this holiday season called Anna and the Apocalypse, which I hope to see.
Malcolm: The first was Time Bandits, featuring the ultimate evil in the microwave. I didn’t think it was scary at all though was when I was little. As for my favourite, I don’t really like scary movies. Maybe Akira?
Elizebeth: My first scary movie was The Exorcist. I cannot and will not watch that movie at night – I won’t even watch it if it’s cloudy outside! But I love any of the Stephen King books that were made into movies. I love to read scary books and his are mind bending. My most recent favorite is IT.
Do you have any Halloween traditions?
Sam: Every year my dad, my boyfriend and I go to Burt’s Pumpkin Patch to get pumpkins to carve and to place on our porch. It’s a great excuse to get out of the city and you can’t beat the massive pumpkins that they have there!
Paul: Every Halloween we make a big bowl of chili and light a bonfire for our family and friends before we venture out trick or treating.
Lou: I grew up trick or treating with my brother in Alaska so warm costumes were recommended – like a lion or cat. Our mom would drive us around because the houses were so far apart. There was a cabin far and out the way that had full size candy bars – a reward for any kids willing to venture out that far. It was my favorite house for trick or treating.
Malcolm: Every Halloween, we host a huge party at our house complete with a barbeque and fireworks.
Elizebeth: We always carve pumpkins on Oct. 27 and go trick or treating on Oct. 31. We also celebrate “Dia de Muertos,” or “Day of the Dead,” from Oct. 31 through Nov. 2, where we celebrate our ancestors by setting an extra place at the table for them and display pictures, sweet breads, water, candles and flowers. I hope my children will carry on this tradition.
What’s been your best Halloween costume to date?
Sam: I love playing on puns, so one year I was blackmail and I wore all black with a big black envelope addressed to myself.
Paul: I had a full body dog costume that kept me warm and got a lot of attention.
Lou: My favorite is any costume with a colorful wig, and a few years ago I dressed up as Lumpy Space Princess.
Malcolm: One year I was Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Elizebeth: I am a huge Foo Fighters fan, so I dressed up as Dave Grohl for a Halloween party a few years ago. My costume was complete with a goatee and a guitar – I ended up winning second place in the costume contest.