1. ‘This Is Halloween’ from Nightmare Before Christmas

2. Overture from Phantom of the Opera

3. “Tubular Bells’ by Mike Oldfield

4. ‘Ghostbusters’ by Ray Parker Jr.

5. ‘X-Files Theme’ by Blue Man Group (from X-Files: I Want to Believe, really the only redeeming thing about the film is this track…)

6. ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson (What kind of Halloween playlist would this be without it?)

7. ‘Walking With A Ghost’ by Tegan and Sara

8. ‘Hell’ by Squirrel Nut Zippers

9. ‘Little Ghost’ by The White Stripes

10. ‘The Devil Went Down To Georgia’ by The Charlie Daniels Band

11. ‘The Ghosts That Haunt Me’ by Crash Test Dummies

12. ‘Full Moon’ by The Black Ghosts (song title and band name relate, for an extra SCORE! Plus, it’s from those vampire teen-angst movies the kids like …)

13. ‘Toccata and Fugue in D Minor’ by Johann Sebastian Bach

14. ‘The Skeleton In The Closet’ by Louis Armstrong

15. ‘Night on Disco Mountain’ from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack (Yes, I went there…)

16. ‘Ghost Riders In The Sky’ by Johnny Cash

17. ‘Werewolves of London’ by Warren Devon

18. The End Titles of Nightmare Before Christmas (just to cap everything off nicely)

So that’s it. I’ve seen a lot of lists with CCR’s ‘Bad Moon Rising’ and Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Voodoo Child’, and I very nearly followed suit, but personally, these songs speak of hot summer nights in a bayou somewhere, which for some fit perfectly with Halloween. For me, these are summer songs. It’s a personal taste thing…

Whaddaya think?

Candy Candy candycandycandy...

Yesterday I blogged about our Halloween preparations. Last night we got to put that to the test. Could Calli walk up to strangers and say ‘Chick or Cheek’? Or would she clam up and clutch her black kitty bucket tightly to her Wonder Woman insignia? We went to Minturn’s Trick or Treat village to find out.

Before I go any further, we failed as proud blogging parents last night and didn’t get pictures. I know, I know. My wife had thrown the camera into some weird setting and the flash wouldn’t go off. I was too busy holding Tristin (who makes a pretty cute tiger if I do say so myself) and keeping him warm to play with the camera. I have since fixed the problem and we will have plenty of pics from today, I promise.

Now that I’ve got that nasty business out of the way…

Minturn was great. A lot of houses and businesses went all out. It’s one of those communities where the businesses and homes are all just kind of jumbled. But it makes for a great trick or treating experience. Hit a few houses, get cold, step in to a business and warm up. (Especially the guys giving away the ‘treats for adults’: peppermint schnapps! Thanks, guys!)

We covered all the basics in this one, albeit short (it was so cold we only lasted half an hour) trick or treat outing:

Calli cried at one kid in some kind of Wolfman costume. We’re talking howling crying here. The skeleton people a few houses down were no problem.

We got enough tootsie rolls to prematurely pull all of her teeth out.

We were followed for a few houses by a drunk guy that told Calli, (best Barney impression from the Simpsons) ‘Heeey, Wonner Woman! Don’t get your lasso out on me! I don’t wanna tella truth!’ *sigh*

Calli did say ‘Chick or Cheek’ at nearly every stop, albeit timidly. But if someone said, ‘Can you say trick or treat?’ … Nothin’.

On the way home, Calli complained that her feet were cold and they hurt because they were so cold.

But at home?

‘Calli, was trick or treating fun?’

‘Yeah, Daddy!’

‘You wanna do it again tomorrow?’

‘Yeah, Daddy! Yeah Daddy! Supergirl! Whoosh!’

‘Ya know, when Mommy and me were kids, we only got one Halloween…’

‘OK, Daddy!’

Right now she’s still asleep and I’m creating a Halloween CD for our trick or treat tour of the valley. We’ll carve a pumpkin and set candy out for any neighborhood trick or treaters, and run around everywhere. I never got a costume. Maybe I can cut some holes in a sheet and carry rocks around in a paper sack…

Or maybe I’ll just laugh with my kids for a while!

Out of the blue, she started running up to us, bag or purse open, saying ‘Chick or Cheek!’ Sometimes we’ll be on the floor playing puzzles or looking at books, and suddenly, she’ll grab one of the purses that she’s amassed into a rather sizable collection and say, ‘I wanna play chick or cheek.’ She’ll then run out of the room and slam the door. Moments later comes a small knock. When I open it,

This post brought to you by Dad-Blogs' FatherHood Friday. Be sure to swing by for all the other great Dads and Moms who love to share their lives online! This week's theme is, of course, Halloween!

there’s a three year old there, all smiles, saying ‘Chick or Cheek!’ At which point I drop whatever small toy was within arm’s reach into the proffered bag/purse. Calli then runs off giggling to show Mommy what she got for chick or cheek.

I’m excited, because we get to start tonight. Every year there’s a lot going on in the valley and we try to hit it all! Tonight we’ll be in Minturn trick or treating, tomorrow we’ll hit towns up and down the valley. I actually get Halloween off work, so we’ll fill the entire day with fun and adventure! If all the candy doesn’t keep her wandering our halls like the undead, I’m betting Calli sleeps well tomorrow night!

So that’s our Halloween, I leave you now with a bit about everyone’s favorite Halloween candy from Lewis Black…