In the spirit of the season, I recently introduced my daughter to the Harry Potter Trivia game my dad got me for Christmas many moons ago. We recently watched the first Harry Potter movie, and even though we had to skip over some parts as they were a little much for my kiddo, she enjoyed it just the same. This weekend, we pulled out the trivia game to see what we all remembered from one of our favorite movies.

As it turns out, I didn’t remember as much as I thought I did; my husband remembered a fair amount but my kiddo ended up winning the game. (She might have had a bit of help from her father.)

Harry Potter just sort of falls in line with the Halloween season for me as I dressed up as a Harry Potter character very often in my childhood and adolescence for the holiday. I guess I just couldn’t see leaving it out of the fray.

As fall comes upon us and Halloween nears, I enjoy watching the harvest-themed shows or “spooky” programs and movies of my youth. Harry Potter is a favorite any time of the year, but also serves its purpose during this season. Classics that we pull out each year include Garfield’s Halloween special (I don’t really know if it has a title), “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” and the more recently added “Curious George: A Halloween Boo Fest.”

The films we enjoy center around a little family friendly “spookiness,” a lot of fun and nothing gory or too scary. We enjoy the fun of the holiday, but we don’t embrace what can be a horror-filled event.

Although, this year, it was imperative that we purchase some of those fake spiderwebs and spiders for the house – the little one said it was a must. My kiddo’s trying to get me to buy some skeleton decorations to put up, but I put my foot down. We don’t need a bunch of cardboard bones hanging around the house.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a Halloween party or carving pumpkins, but I draw the line when it comes to something terrifying. I’m not a huge fan of horror films or scary movies as it is, but sometimes I feel like Halloween has lost it’s whimsy and has gained a strange and twisted set of traditions over the years. I’ve seen several posts on Facebook of decorations that look so scary and realistic it makes you wonder if they are just decorations or if they could be something more. I know there are houses of horror and things like that the some people really enjoy going to, but you won’t catch me in them.

I guess I’ve always been a bit of what’s known as a scaredy cat. I never liked haunted houses or watching scary movies with my friends. I never wanted to see those slasher films, and I’m afraid I still don’t.

To me, there’s enough blood and guts and gore when you turn on the television or watch the latest breaking news online. I don’t need Hollywood to spend millions of dollars in an attempt to keep me up all night worrying. I already do.

Instead of the horror fest, my family will probably have some Halloween candy, let the kiddo get dressed up and see what kind of good-natured mischief we can get into.

We don’t have any real tricks up our sleeves this year – we’re just looking for treats.