After asking my math teacher what date I should put at the top of my test today, I realized, “It’s going to be Hallowe’en in a few days.” I’m a little on the bah-humbugey side of the holidays this year. I was hoping to have my own home by this time, but the slackers at the VA have put that on hold. Well, not having much time to house-hunt has kind of put the search on hold, too. I’d even be happy to rent, but land-lords have little interest in renting to people with any pets, let alone a whole passel of critters.

It’s not that I mind missing out on the Hallowe’en festivities much. Most of the moochers don’t even bother to dress up or even say, “Trick-or-Treat,” anymore. They just knock on the door and blink. Don’t I know that I’m just supposed to give them candy? So, there will be no decorating, no passing out of the candies, no dressing up. Maybe a few late-night, horror movies. Maybe some games. Maybe I’ll just do my homework.

Speaking of movies and games, the M&Ms 50 Dark Movies, Hidden in a Painting game is back again this year. After the game loads, you can navigate around the ‘painting’ with your mouse cursor. You can click on certain images and type in the name of the corresponding movie. Remember, there are 50 images that match a movie title. If you click the image below, I’ve given you the answer to one, can you name the other 49?

Just a few cheesy quizzes to get myself into the Halloween spirit…

Your Vampire Name Is…

Antionette of the Far North

What’s Your Vampire Name?

What Your Halloween Habits Say About You

You’re a friendly person, but not the life of the party. You like making someone else’s day - and you’ll dress up if you think of a really fun costume. You definitely think of yourself as someone who has a dark side. And part of having that dark side means not showing it. Your inner child is open minded, playful, and adventurous. You truly fear the dark side of humanity. You are a true misanthrope. You’re logical, rational, and not easily effected. Not a lot scares you… especially when it comes to the paranormal. You are a total overachiever and workaholic. You’re the type of person who plans their elaborate Halloween costume weeks in advance.

What’s Your Halloween Personality?

You Are a Werewolf

You’re unpredictable, moody, and downright freaky. You seem sweet and harmless, until you snap. Then you’re a total monster. Very few people can predict if you’re going to be Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde. But for you, all your transformations seem perfectly natural. Your greatest power: Your ability to tap into nature Your greatest weakness: Lack of self control You play well with: Vampires

What Kind of Monster Are You?

This was shamelessly stolen from The History Channel. I’ll get creative and write my own next year.

Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).

The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of “bobbing” for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints’ Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints’ Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints’, All Saints’, and All Souls’, were called Hallowmas.

Since purchasing a new PC game, Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and not being able to install it, I’ve searched online for a few cool mystery games.

One, or three rather, that I’ve had a little fun with is Mystery! Games. Yeah, they’re a little cheese ball, and kind of silly, but entertaining nonetheless. And yes, the Mystery! here refers to the PBS series. I grew up with that familiar Edward Gorey opening, and although I hated Mystery! as a child, I now love it. And I have a particular liking for Gorey, in general as an artist. The games are simple, a flash animation fair-play minute mystery, and you get to be the Chief Inspector.

Another one I’ve enjoyed is the M&M’s Fifty Dark Movies, hidden in a Painting. I found this on Leesa’s site, and had way too much fun. Between Dan and I, we got all 50 films. With Halloween coming up, this was a much needed refresh-my-Halloween-spirit game. This, too, is simple. There is one image, the painting, and within it are visual references to movies. You can move around the painting, zoom in and out, and when you think you know what one of the clues is, you click on the clue and type the movie title. They’re not necessarily horror movies being referenced, but they are ‘dark.’

The downside to these games is that once you’ve completed them, there’s no need to return for a more detailed attempt at a higher score. I tend to find this notion applicable to mystery books in general. I love to reread a great book, but when it comes to a mystery, even if it’s the most well-written, enjoyable read, there’s just not much point in rereading it. However, I suppose, if one gets to the end of a fair-play mystery and did not figure out whodunit, they may want to reread the book to look for the clues that should have given it away. Sort of an, “oh, that’s why ________ happened/was placed there/did this. I should have caught that!”

By the way, for those not familiar with Edward Gorey, check out Edward Gorey House dot org. Also, I tried all of the troubleshooting steps on Adventure Games, and the !$#@%$ game still ‘hangs’ when it gets to a certain point in installation, before I email the company — any tips or ideas?
I don’t know if the error message can be read in this shot…