Elegant yet...

  This time of year, Halloween decorations are plastered everywhere.  While I am all about the season, I am NOT all about some of the grisly items some folks deem as decorations.  I mean, yes!  Go for haunted, creepy, forlorn but you do not have to do gory.  It may be ok if the only ones to see it are adults but little ones do not need to be exposed to gruesome things while they are out trick-or-treating.  At least, cordon off the ugliness and make one section kid friendly.  That said, I am not against having skeletons, ghosts, mummies,  witches, Jack-O-Lanterns, black cats, bats etc...but it goes too far to see bloody body parts, torn out eyeballs and dolls made over to be zombies.  Folks expose their tykes to this mess then wonder why in the world the kiddo is afraid of the dark!  There is enough evil in this old world already.  We do not need to smack our little ones with it on a holiday meant for them.  Leave it be, folks. Leave it be.

  Like I said, I am not against Halloween decorations.  In fact, I decorate...or over decorate.  The difference is, I use a lot of what I call "Implied Creep".  Lighting, a few dusty antiques and..yes...plastic skulls or skeletons. It is just enough to make things creepy yet not gory.  The clue hunts each year allow me to have fun with decorating.  This year's theme is a murder at a masquerade ball.  Elegance is needed...albeit creepy elegance.  That said, the greenhouse is now an aviary/conservatory complete with tons of birds, plants and our resident hostess of the ball, Lady DeadMadam. She is attired in her lovely ball gown as she awaits her invited guests.  In a way, the Lady DeadMadam looks quite demure as she coyly peers from behind her butterfly mask.  I am not sure that anyone could possibly be frightened by our hostess.  Although she has seen better days, she is still rather elegant.

  So, folks, please consider the little kids that come to your door and set up a none gory spot for them.  It can be full of fun decorations but not gory, bloody body parts that will leave a bad lasting impression on their young minds.  Let them be tykes as long as they can.