Halloween has always been a special time in Al’s family. They all love to dress up and fall in with things.  All Al’s friends were fun types, wannabe actors at heart and all they needed was some mild encouragement and any excuse for a party, but Halloween just had to be the best of the best times on their calendar.

Al worked away in the shed while his Mother did the dishes and watched out the kitchen window wondering what he was up to.  She heard the sawing, hammering and banging but ha no idea what he was making.  He came in and out to the fridge while she was baking the Halloween cookies and apple pies, fetching himself a few cans of Budweiser.  She did ask him what he was doing but he just nodded his head tipping his nose and grinning, giving nothing away. Al’s mate Johnny was even kept in the dark as he was told to sit on the garden seat while all of this was going on.

As the evening grew darker, she found out what all the banging was about.  He and Johnny finally emerged from the back garden carrying a coffin complete with brass handles.  Al had done a great job on it.  Although the wood was laminate it did look like a real coffin.  They set it in the middle of the living room, moving the coffee table out into the cloakroom before bringing a few more chairs into the room for the guests. 

Giggling, the lads went upstairs to get into costume. 

Al’s Mother decided to look, see if he had lined the coffin.  He had indeed.  He had used some wadding and white cotton to pad the inside slightly. 

Guests started arriving, and I must say, there were some impressive costumes.  Johnny, armed with a camera, started taking photos of them all while Al’s Mum made sure they all had something to drink. 

Tanya was always awesome as she was into amateur dramatics and one of the Cranforth Arts Committee.  She and some of her friends made Halloween into a fine art, being very inventive and sparing no expense.