During our last update I mentioned how September went out with
something of a whimper with one side-effect being the big mood table
that simply wasn’t up to snuff. The smaller one in my room was a
cake walk providing instant therapy whenever I plug it in. The big
one though, that took work. The original concept was to place my
favorite old spooky board game, Ghosts dead center and work
out from there. Something wasn’t right however so I shifted towards
basing the entire table after seasonal gaming, that didn’t work
either. So much did my obsession grow that I tore off everything, put
on a different table cloth and decorations only to take that down and
start again when at last the answer presented itself. As if by some
divine force all of this coincided with the gradual climb in quality
throughout this first week of October. The first few days still had
some lingering crap from the past month such as a health scare for an
in-law. Then things started to realign with decorations getting
repaired, the weather improving, and some plans in place that might
get yours truly back into his bachelor’s degree courses. Using that
momentum I turned to creating a mood table that is downright
charming. Let’s check it out.
The core item that
changed the whole focus of this table is a large stuffed animal who
my sister has dubbed Clancy Brown Bear. Since he sits out and takes
up a bunch of space anyway I thought it a good idea to give him a
mask which is when an idea took me. Here’s the story pitch; It’s
Halloween night proper but a bit later, say 11 or so, and all the
main events have come and gone. Clancy isn’t home, he’s staying
with either a family friend or cool aunt, take your pick. After a
long night of trick or treating, playing with his friends, and
watching a couple spooky things he’s passed out with his too small
hockey mask draped over his face. In his slumber slumber he clings to
his favorite items of the season. One is his McDonald's candy pail
filled with all the core candies inside. The other is his new
favorite decoration in the form of a light-up Mummy head. He
developed a fascination for Mummies after watching the much-mocked
Tom Cruise movie. Sure the adults may hate it but Clancy watched the
thing seven times this month. Tonight he has a new viewing obsession
as his caretaker, lacking age appropriate viewing, sat him down with
the complete dvd set of Friday the 13th
The Series. Having been lucky enough to turn on the disc with the
scarecrow episode Clancy already has his costume planned for next
year. It’s that sort of weird film and television that stick with a
person years after the case. For instance I couldn’t tell you all
the movies I watched on Halloween night 2017 but I can remember the
time I saw Shattered Scream (AKA
When Michael Calls)
over twenty years ago.
Another item left
our for the bear and his friends to use was a classic Ouija board.
Clancy himself was too cowardly to use the thing, opting instead to
place the planchet over the letter K and periodically check to see
whether some spirit had moved it since. I was so happy to find this
board fit both the theme of the table and allowed me to keep the
original interactive concept. Nearby we have a large owl to serve as
the familiar for the large Beistle witch who oversees this cornucopia
of fun.
The left side of
the table is where we find the toys Clancy was willing to play with.
In the light of a plastic pumpkin he waged pretend kaiju battles
between Godzilla, Cerberus, and a large rat decoration we will
henceforth refer to as Ratra. Scattered among the toys are horror
themed Top Trumps cards. Clancy and his friends didn’t enjoy
playing the game itself but shuffling through the deck in search of
the best monsters made for a good way to come down off their massive
sugar-highs. To anyone who recognizes that exact Cerberus toy, yes I
managed to wedge my Final Fantasy fandom
into Halloween.
And so Clancy rests
under the glow of green/purple candy-corn lights with another year of
Halloween memories under his belt. It feels totally counterproductive
to have done so much work for a relatively simple scene but that’s
always been my modus operandi for the holidays. The set-up is
stressful and serious so that the rest of the holiday can be pure
comfort. Clancy represents pretty much the perfect end to any
Halloween, bloated on candy and passed out among his favorite things.
In all honesty the table is only mostly complete as there is one more
item I’d like to include though I’ve yet to buy one just yet.
That’s all for
this quick post. Gonna have a few more of these small offerings to
keep up the pace during the rest of the month, and likely into the
following holidays. Next time I might be teaching you how to make
some big decorations for the front porch, or maybe finally dip into
my packages of Zombie Skittles. Guess we’ll find out when
it’s time. In the meantime I’d love to see some mood tables from
you all out there.
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