“If you look into a mirror and say ‘Pumpkin Spice Lattes’ three times, a girl in yoga pants will appear and tell you all of the things she loves about fall.”
The Pumpkin Spiced Latte has never been my cup of tea (AHEM…cup of COFFEE?) I’m of the belief that less is more when it comes to the pumpkin flavored items that come crawling out this time of year. A single piece of pumpkin pie or a light pastry, some gently toasted seeds and maybe a single scented candle for the bathroom, and I’m pretty set on the pumpkin. Pumpkin pop tarts, beers, marshmallows and Pringles are a little too ridiculous for my taste. In my humble opinion, the pumpkin flavored everything trend has jumped the shark.
Pumpkin has just become one of those things that people associate with fall–and that’s never been my way of celebrating this time of year.
When it comes to the other aspects that help to define October, though, I can’t get enough. Falling leaves, cider and donuts, wearing scarves, sweaters and boots, chilly air—all things that you pretty much have to get along without when you live in Los Angeles.I’ve always loved the fall, but it wasn’t until I moved to Southern California, that I feel I kind of changed the way I celebrate. In the last few years I’ve noticed that my Halloween season starts earlier and with greater intensity.
To kick October off right, my friend Chris Pudlo and I went to South Pasadena this past Saturday to check out some of the film locations from John Carpenter’s 1978 horror masterpiece “Halloween”—my favorite scary movie.
The first place we visited was the Michael Myers house, which, strangely enough, is now located in the center of town. Known to locals as “The Century House”- and the place horror fans will recognize as the childhood home of one of America’s favorite fictional masked psychopaths- is one of the oldest homes in the area and has since been preserved as a local historical landmark.
The house was actually picked up from the foundation and moved from its original residential location to the corner of Meridian Avenue and Mission Street, right beside some train tracks. It’s now located almost directly across the street from Nichol’s Hardware Store, where Laurie and Annie hid their pot from Annie’s dad and where Michael Myers stole his creepy mask and pointy murder weapons.
It took a second for me to realize that I was, in fact, looking at the real Myer’s house, as it has been fully renovated and cleaned up. It’s now light blue, with red trim and brick pavers. It’s now a place of business–the home to some accounting offices.
There was a small posting on the door that I noticed when we walked up. I couldn’t read what it said, so I walked up the porch steps to get a closer look. Ironically, the sign said something like “Movie fans, it’s OK to take photos, but please stay off the porch.” How about using something a little bigger than Arial 16 next time then, huh? Sheesh.
Nothing would have scared me more than if I looked at these photos again and saw Michael Myers looking out at me from the upstairs window.
A few blocks over, at Oxley Street and Fairview Avenue we found Laurie Strode’s house.
Then
Modern Day
We found the location where Michael Myers hides in the bushes to stalk Laurie and Annie. The shrubs are trimmed down a bit, but they’re still there! (Montrose Avenue, North of Oxley Street.)
Michael Myers
Chris
We also went to the spot where, while walking home from school, Annie yells after the stolen station wagon that Myers is driving “Hey, jerk! Speed kills!” That’s when the car screeches to a halt and the girls stand frozen in fear. That’s at Highland Street between Meridian and Fairview Avenues.
It’s actually really funny that South Pasadena was meant to be the Midwest: the fictional Midwest town of Haddonfield, Illinois. I had heard that the movie was shot in the springtime, that they used lots of fake dead leaves and did their best to keep palm trees out of the shots, to make the setting look accurate. Being there this weekend, though, it’s hard to imagine the amount of movie magic it took to make that work. In actual October, it was at least 100 degrees. We had to take a break from walking around and have some sorbet in the A/C. South Pasadena is definitely located in Southern California.
Sunday I went to go see “Annabelle,” a film spin-off of last year’s “The Conjuring.” Where “Annabelle” could have been very silly and campy (think the “Chucky” movies) I thought the movie was very scary and fun. I’ve been reading some lousy reviews since I saw it, but I still insist that it’s one of the best demonology horror movies I’ve ever seen. It also had some references to the Manson Murders, which you KNOW I was into. I actually told Phil I’d love to go see it again with him, since he loves scary movies, too, and he didn’t come along on this screening.
Money was kind of tight, so we hung close to home throughout the weekend and watched some Halloween-appropriate movies”
-Carpenter’s 1978 “Halloween” was a must, “Halloween: A Cut Above The Rest” (documentary), “The Craft”, “The Conjuring” and “What Lies Beneath.” Phil watched “Aliens” at some point, but honestly, when ISN’T my husband watching an “Alien” movie?
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