David's Diary: Thursday, October 31, 2002

Halloween

On October, 31 we celebrated Halloween. In Canada and the US, this is a major celebration, especially for young people. Pumpkins are cut out and lit with candles and little goblins and ghosts dress up for the event and go out from house to house collecting candy. We decided that rather than dress the kids we would dress the boat and turn it into a haunted house. Allen had spent the week making spooky decorations after school and they were hung about Dragonsinger. Maggie Watts, our friend on the sailboat Ganymede, invited the children for a special surprise:

A HALLOWEEN DINNER

To start you off: A WITCH'S BREW
Followed by: VAMPIRE BLOOD
The main event: THE HAND OF FRANKENSTEIN
The sweet finale: GHOSTLY ISLANDS

Haunted Boat

Thankfully Maggie is an excellent cook and after the kids had their Halloween feast we brought each of them over to Dragonsinger, one by one. Glowing pumpkins welcomed them as they were blindfolded. Then each child had to walk through slime (gelatine), dead eyeballs (cooked pasta in water), and then take a dip in blood (warm water). We led them downstairs where strobe lights simulated lightening, string made for good spider webs and blind-folded and in the semi-darkness they had to feel their way to the candy. It was an interesting way to celebrate Halloween.