Halloween Trick-or-Treaters, Horror Movies & Anime Ghosts

Recorded after Halloween 2021 and the season’s first Ohio frost, Michelle and Henrique Couto compare trick-or-treat turnout in their neighborhoods. Michelle welcomes younger families and celebrates her mother finally exhausting a huge candy supply after moving to a more walkable area. Henrique also sees more small children than in previous years. Hearing them laugh and play after trick-or-treating convinces him that elaborate decorations are worthwhile and that Halloween, however much adults love it, still belongs to kids.Henrique recounts an all-night local horror event followed by a Halloween spent answering the door in a bloodied hospital-patient costume. Fog, green lighting and his position behind the window made the effect scarier than intended, although one fearless child proudly announced that scary movies could not frighten him. Four rolls of gauze also left Henrique sore and hiding a real forehead cut beneath the fake blood—a discovery he made only after repeatedly trying to scrub the “makeup” away.Technology supplies a second nostalgia thread. A noisy printer revives Michelle’s story about once mistaking printer sounds for an intruder, while a garage hard drive unexpectedly reveals digital photos last saved in 2004. Henrique remembers paying extra for Kodak Picture CDs so he could build websites before scanners and camera phones were commonplace. The hosts also check in on Michelle’s home-inspection plans, including historical coursework in termites and radon, without turning the conversation into professional advice.Michelle’s Halloween viewing includes an unnamed comedy-horror anime about a girl who sees spirits and survives by pretending she cannot. She also finally watches Trick ’r Treat after Henrique sends it to her, prompting memories of a compressed Freddy Krueger marathon during her shoulder recovery. Anime gives way to Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Pluto TV rotation and Jean-Luc Picard’s repeated torture stories. Candy, costumes, aging technology and comfort viewing make this a distinctly post-Halloween catch-up.LinksEmail the hosts: [email protected]