The Fantasmical Rhode Montijo Blog: 2017

Howdy pardners! My book, THE HALLOWEEN KID, was created around the time after 9/11, when there was a lot of fear in the air. In my home town, students could no longer dress in their costumes at schools on Halloween, kids were encourage to go trick-or-treating in the daytime and in malls. The school's scarecrow parade was cancelled and not many folks participated in handing out candies and turned off their porch lights.

I felt that the Halloween that I grew up with and loved was disappearing and wished someone could come and save it, so I created THE HALLOWEEN KID- a masked protector of Halloween who flies around on a hobby horse and wrangles up those who try to ruin Halloween! After the book was published, the idea of THE HALLOWEEN KID started to leak beyond the book. Around this time there were only a few homes in my neighborhood that were decorating their front yards with Halloween decorations, which differed so much from the level that it used to be when I was growing up. I thought that these people who decorated their homes for Halloween should be commended for keeping the Halloween spirit alive! For encouragement, I created a door note that stated that the decorated home was "HALLOWEEN KID APPROVED!" I would go to ANY house in my neighborhood that made an effort of decorating and posted a note of encouragement on their door. This was done with the hopes of thanking them for making the effort and also to hopefully to encourage them continuing to decorate the following year(s). Whenever I would get invited into a different town to read my book at schools or libraries, I would bring these door notes and post them around town on the homes decorated for Halloween.

Close up of the door note

Circled in red: Door note placement in Stockton, California (the first year of placing notes)

Circled in red: Door note placement in Petaluma, California (the first year of placing notes)

Fast forward to today: I could use your help partners! Starting this year, YOU could help spread encouragement by posting your own "HALLOWEEN KID APPROVED" door signs. All you need to do is print this image below on orange colored card stock paper, cut it in half, and then cut the circle where the knob or handle will fit.

Do you enjoy seeing homes in your neighborhood decorate for the most wonderful time of the year? Now YOU can encourage and thank your neighbors for their efforts! Like the HALLOWEEN KID, you too can be a defender of Halloween! Have fun pardners! ~Rhode Montijo

DOWNLOAD AND PRINT YOUR OWN DOOR NOTE OF ENCOURAGEMENT! (below)

Place door notes at your own risk. Please be careful when placing on doors, daytime placement would be safer. Please do not trespass through gates or walls of homes.

A hashtag has been created: #halloweenkidapproved if you'd like to share photos of your HALLOWEEN KID APPROVED door notes!

This is what the door sign says in cowboy lingo: "You done did a good job of keeping the Halloween spirit alive by decorating' your house. Nice job partner!"