Munger Porch Halloween
Halloween is a billion dollar industry. Nowhere is this more apparent than in East Dallas. Kids swarm to Swiss Avenue in droves, spilling over into Munger Place and Junius Heights. I can’t vouch for other Dallas neighborhoods as we are always trapped at home for hours on Halloween night, our car blocked in the drive by the spirited street festival.
The origin of Halloween dates to pre-Christian times when the Celtics celebrated New Year’s Day on November 1 (All Saint’s Day). The day before, All Hallows’ Eve, the doors opened between the world of the dead and the world of the living, allowing the spirits of those who had died during the year to travel to their final resting place.
All Hallows’ Eve is one of the best nights in Munger Place.
Front yards become cemeteries, porches are haunted, witches fly through canopied live oaks on invisible wires. Fog drifts above the streets while Tubular Bells plays in the distance. I’ve seen grown men run down the sidewalk screaming…
One hundred year old houses with old porches and towering trees make for a perfect Halloween neighborhood, but we don’t stop on the outside. Inside we channel The Addams Family. East Dallas should seriously consider a Haunted Halloween Home Tour…
Things around the house, already used, tarnished, rusty, and broken, appear realistically eerie in dim lighting. I stop polishing silver after Easter, which gives platters and pitchers the perfect patina for Halloween. Throw in some dead flowers, fried from the long hot summer, add a few gnarly sticks, and you have a haunting arrangement for the dining room table. (Ok full disclosure…. I only polish silver at Easter and Christmas.)
Mismatched, unused or oddly colored candlesticks, spray painted flat black, make Pottery Barn-like decorations. An old doll head is bizarre in the china hutch. A haphazardly arranged stack of mystery and sic-fi books on the mantle sets the tone. Curiosities in Lakewood is a treasure trove of oddities – my place for halloween inspiration!
In the fall as I walk the dogs, I begin dumpster diving, dragging home things for Halloween. Last year I found a mannequin on the side of the street. I carried her home, gave her a coat of paint, and she became an instant hit. The Schnauzers barked at her until November.
Dumpster treasure!
