Greetings, reader — and happy October!

On October 4, Michelle and I are headed to Zanies in Rosemont for a special live recording of Cozy Conversations with The Sister Project. To add to the excitement, our dear friend and longtime Springdale neighbor, NYC-based comedian Bridget McGuire, will open the show. To say that we are excited is an understatement.

Over the summer, we had a creative meeting with Bridget to brainstorm content, and we kept landing on nostalgic memories of our youth.

And now that it’s October, fall and Halloween nostalgia are running rampant through my mind.

Let’s try some on for size.

Bloody Mary, anyone?
Michelle claims she watched a 5th-grade friend get cut up by the apparition in the mirror — my 42-year-old self calls bullshit. But in 1993, little-sister me was terrified and wouldn’t dare be caught in the bathroom with the lights off. No way.

Light as a feather, stiff as a board?
Sure, when nine girls are lifting an 85-pound friend, soaking wet, you basically are light as a feather. But what a thrill it was. Do kids still do this? I hope so.

There were rumors of satanic cults and hauntings at Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery (Cook County). I was too chicken to check it out back then. Am I still? I should find out. Spooky field trip, anyone?

And the infamous Ouija Board.
I’m not sure what was scarier — the board itself or the 1986 horror film Witchboard, starring the one and only Tawny Kitaen. For real, that movie was scary then and still is.

Then the classics: Halloween, Hocus Pocus, Child’s Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street—oh my God, Pet Sematary! They sure don’t make them like they used to.

Late-’80s/early-’90s Halloween lives in my head as do those motion-activated hanging ghosts with that ridiculous sound only a Millennial would remember. Somehow, I miss that sound. I can still hear it.

And the pumpkin garbage bags.
My mom knew how much I loved them. I vividly remember being nine, raking our entire front lawn, certain that if I kept going I’d have the biggest plastic-bag pumpkin on 50th Place. So I raked and I raked and indeed we had the roundest, largest, leaf-filled pumpkin on the block. At least that’s how I remember it.

Let’s take a moment to honor those black-and-orange wrapped taffies. I hated them as a kid, those and Three Musketeers, but I think I’d love one now. Do they still make them? I’m on the hunt.

For TV, Roseanne delivered Halloween like no one else. My little sister and I would stay up late watching on the tiniest television imaginable, buzzing with Midwestern, spooky anticipation. My favorite was Aunt Jackie’s head on a platter. That show brought it.

Ahhh, nostalgia.

I often find myself reminiscing when it comes time to write my Hillgrove article, probably because our Springdale days gave me such wonderful memories. When I think back, I feel warmth…and, surprisingly, tears.

Nostalgia is funny like that, equal parts sweet and sad. Psychologists call it emotional time travel. Maybe that’s why we miss the motion-sensor ghosts and the greasy drugstore face paint: those memories remind us not just of Halloween, but of who we were. For me, it’s some of the coziest feelings I have as an adult.

Getting older is wild, and I’m grateful for the beautiful experiences, community, shenanigans, and friendships the suburbs gave me. Some of my closest friends to this day came from Western Springs.

I loved your emails about summer nostalgia.
If you have a minute, write to me again at lauren@thesisterprojectblog.com with your memories of fall and Halloweens past. I genuinely enjoy them.

Wishing you a wonderful October and a nostalgia-packed Halloween.

Thank you for your readership.
Stay cozy and stay spooky.
— Lauren

This article was originally written for Hillgrove Ave Magazine.

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