10 Indications of a Halloween Nerd

  in no particular order

1.  You drive four hours to Salt Lake City every October just to visit Gardner Village and their amazing witches.  And yes, you do the "Witch Hunt" with your kids every year to get a 25 cent cookie.

 

 (Gardner Village, SLC, UT)

2.  At any time of the year, when you find a craft blog that looks like it has potential, you go straight to their October archives to see what ideas they have for Halloween decorating (and are very annoyed if they don't have a "Halloween" section in their labels list to make things easier).

3. You have more boxes of Halloween decorations sitting in your crawl space than you do Christmas boxes (and believe me, you have a LOT of Christmas decorations). 

4.  When you and your fellow Halloween nerd neighbor see each other, you automatically start talking about your projects for the upcoming Halloween (even though it is only March).  You draw many weird looks from those around you.

5.  You find yourself doing Halloween crafts at all times of the year.

6.  You go to Disneyland with the intent to get great ideas for Halloween decorating (second only to the intent of having fun, of course).  You take pictures of the Haunted Mansion to hang on your wall (see THIS post).  You take pictures of displays inside the store just outside the Pirates of the Caribbean exit to get ideas for your future Halloween pirate room.  Definitely worth the time (and money) spent scouting for ideas.

(the pirate store)

7.  You have a Halloween playlist on your iPod that you listen to...you guessed it...at all times of the year.

8.  When you go into your favorite home decor store, you head straight to the clearance aisle full of items that are broken or otherwised damaged, but are happily severely discounted.  When the cashier apologizes for the state of the items, and begins to give advice on where to go to properly fix said items, you politely say that there will be no need for fixing because you purposely want them broken...for Halloween decorating of course.  More weird looks.  (you get used to that)

9.  On a similar note to indication #8, you frequently buy random items (lanterns, old books, candlesticks, etc) intended for Halloween off of Craig's list or from yard sales.  When you go to pay for them, the seller often asks (out of curiosity) what plans you have for the items bought.  When you explain that they are for Halloween decorating, you often get the aforementioned weird look.  But sometimes you will get someone who sees your vision and is now a little reluctant to relinquish the item.  You may even have someone cling to the items a little tighter as you try to take it, as you see her hesitate before finally giving it to you (true story).  But you are not ashamed of still buying the items from her.  It's not your fault she didn't think of turning her supposed "junk" into Halloween decor before putting it out for sale.  Besides, you had already given her the money.   ;)

(items the seller was loathed to part with)

10.  You are such a Halloween nerd that your children have already inherited the same disease quality even though they are 6 years old or younger.  They frequently ask to listen to the aforementioned Halloween playlist.  They look forward to the yearly trip to Gardner Village.  They help you do your Halloween crafts amidst Valentine's Day decorations.  In July they are telling cashiers what they are going to be for Halloween (so proud).  All in all they are a lovely support to you and your obsessions.  And what better way to justify your Halloween devotion than to label it as "family time"?

What indications do YOU exhibit?  

 I may or may not have all ten.  You decide.