A memory from Halloween past

Halloween is just around the corner. It reminds my of the time I pulled the ultimate adolescences prank on my sister. Back before there was satellite TV and hundreds of channels to choose from, metro Detroit consisted of channel 2, 4, 7, 20, 50, and good old 56. Channel 20 often showed spooky movies around Halloween. One movie in particular was “Halloween,” with mask wearing Michael Myers – AKA - the Boogieman. My sister was not fond of this movie when we were younger, and she hated John Carpenters eerie piano theme. I always liked to turn up the little black and white TV I had in my bedroom during the movie's opening credits when the camera slowly zooms inside of a glowing Jack-O-lantern. My sister was never amused. I often tried dragging her into my room while the song was playing, and she would fight me the whole time, kicking and trying to pull away. “He’s gonna get you, he’s gonna get you,” I’d taunt, “the boogieman’s gonna get you.” Those were the good old days. One year I got an awfully wonderful idea, and my lips curled like the Grinch as I mapped the plan in my head. It would be the ultimate prank. The gears were certainly turning as I was blessed with this stroke of genius – Use my tape recorder to record the closing credits of the movie, and then hide it in her room so it could go off in the dark when she went to bed. Brilliant!!!!!!

I dug up a blank cassette tape and fast forwarded through a little more than half the tape, which equaled somewhere around 20 minutes of silence. I was nearly a fit of giggles when Dr. Lumis unloads his revolver into Michael Myers at the end of the movie – the last shot sending him over the balcony railing. I hit record just before Laurie asks “Was that the Boogieman?” I don’t know how I kept from laughing as the music began playing and the credits started rolling up the screen. I sat hunched over the TV, holding the microphone right next to the speaker the entire time. While the music played I kept thinking how amazing my idea was. It was the perfect Halloween prank. After the movie finished, I rewound the tape and waited for my sister to go to the bathroom to brush her teeth. When she finally went to bathroom to get ready for bed I tipped toed into her room to put my plan into action. I found a nice place to hide the tape recorder under her bed and an outlet to use. Just before she finished brushing her teeth I pressed play, and rushed back to my room and turned off my lights. The time that followed was one of the longest 20 minutes I’ve ever had to endure. I kept peeking down the hall, waiting to hear my sister scream. I was delighted when I seen she had turned off her lights and had gone to bed. I was practically rubbing my hands together like a sinister greedy villain. Then, it happened. My sister started screaming for our Mom. Success!!!! I was laughing quietly to myself in my room, trying to contain myself from just losing it and shouting out a few “He’s gonna get you, he’s gonna get you,” when my door swung open and my lights flicked on. “What the Hell is wrong with you,” my mother asked, “Do you think that’s funny, huh, do you?” The music had stopped playing and I could hear my sister crying from her room -Instant sobriety. Needless to say I didn’t get my tape recorder back anytime soon. I never taunted my sister with the Halloween theme ever again. I didn’t have to, there was no way I was ever going to top that. Happy Halloween everybody!!!! “He’s gonna get you, he’s gonna get you……..