What began as a trilogy has morphed into a full-fledged franchise of epic proportions. Yesterday, Paul dropped the latest Captain’s Quiz, challenging his fellow bloggers to participate in a friendly competition that will see enemies become friends and friends become enemies. Shots have been fired. If you would like to take this version of The Captain’s Quiz, head over to Paul’s blog at The Captain’s Speech and play along!

The 10 Questions

1. Rank your top five favourite Halloween candy and explain your choices.
   – This may cause me to lose points, but I really don’t like chocolate. And if I am docked points for that reason, so be it. I must be true to who I am. Having a strong dislike of chocolate and an absolute hatred of peanut butter severely limits the kinds of candy that I am willing to eat. So coming up with five may be difficult, but let’s give it the old college try…
   – Skittles; Starburst (preferably the pink strawberry flavor); SweeTarts; Spree; and if I’m gonna cave and eat anything involving chocolate, it’ll be a caramel Twix.
2. In horror films, the victim normally runs upstairs while the killer is chasing them around the house. If you were to write a “what not to do” handbook for future characters in horror films, what would your chapter titles be?
   – It’s funny that you ask this question because I actually took the time a couple years ago to write a blog post addressing this very subject titled 13 Lessons Learned from Horror Movies. Feel free to check it out. Based on that, the chapters of my book would be as follows…
   – Never Trust a Doll
   – Don’t Explore That House
   – Always Stick Together
   – That’s Not Your Reflection
   – He’s Right Behind You!
   – Electricity Exists for a Reason
   – Only Go Upstairs if You’re Already in the Basement
   – Why Blocking a Door with Your Body Is a Bad Idea
   – Why Checking the Back Seat of the Car Is a Good Idea
   – Avoiding Cabins and Forests
   – Silent Reading
   – How to Destroy an Ouija Board
   – If Looks Could Kill
3. If there was a monster under your bed, what would it look like?
   – I imagine it would resemble a pile of clothes and or discarded shoes so as to lull me into a false sense of security.
4. I Know What You Did Last Summer follows a group of friends who are trying to keep the details of last summer under wraps, while being stalked by a killer with a hook. What is something you did this past summer that you did not share on social media?
   – I certainly didn’t run into a creepy fisherman with my car going around a blind curve if that’s what you’re implying… There’s a lot I don’t share to social media. How about this… I watched too many YouTube videos and didn’t read enough books. Even though I’ve already met my annual goal on Goodreads.
5. If you were to provide a trick instead of a treat, what would your trick be?
   – I’m always a fan of finding a quarter behind someone’s ear. You also can’t go wrong with a decent card trick.
6. How long can you wear a Halloween costume before wanting to change into something else? Please provide a specific amount of time.
   – I find this question would depend on the costume. If the costume is made up of fairly typical clothing items, I would say I’d be comfortable wearing the costume for 6.5 hours before wanting to change into something more comfortable at home. If it’s one of those stupid plastic costumes like they had when I was a kid… 3 minutes, 27 seconds… after that I will be a walking puddle of sweat.
7. What Halloween decoration could we, as a society, do without?
   – The fake arm and/or leg hanging out of someone’s trunk. I’ve seen too many true crime documentaries for that to be a cute joke anymore.
8. The songs, “Thriller” and “Monster Mash” have really cornered the market on “background-song-for-a-slideshow-of-student’s-Halloween-costumes”. What song was at the top of the Billboard Top 100 list the year you started high school? (You can find this on Google). Did you like the song?
   – “The Sign” by Ace of Base was the number one song of 1994, the year I began high school. I’m not a huge fan of “The Sign,” but I don’t think of it as a bad song, either. Though, I just assume every song by Ace of Base is “The Sign.”
9. What is your favourite Halloween-themed movie?
   – Halloween (1978)
10. Bobbing for apples is a cliché party game that poses multiple health risks. If you threw a Halloween party, what activities would you provide?
    – A murder mystery would make for a fun Halloween party. Not a real murder… one of those role-playing things that are all the rage these days.

Bonus Questions

1. Tell me a scary story.
   – 12-year-old Paul arrived home from school and shouted hello to his mother as he walked through the door. From the house’s upper level, he heard his mother’s voice telling him to come upstairs so she could show him something. Just as he began to mount the staircase, he felt an unexpected hand grasping his shoulder. In a panic, he turned to see his mother. “Don’t go up there… I heard it, too.”
2. Put two minutes on the clock. Type as much as you can about anything pumpkin related, before time expires.
   – Pumpkins come in a variety of colors. Most common is the orange variety. They can be hollowed out and carved into the classic Jack-o-Lantern with faces showing any kind of emotion. Or they can be carved into genuine works of art. The insides can be processed and sweetened and turned into pie or pastries or some kind of coffee flavoring that’s apparently popular. The seeds can also be roasted and eaten, though I’ve never been a fan. Pumpkin pie, however, is pretty good with a big dollop of whipped cream on top. In fact, I probably eat more pu
3. List all the costumes you’ve ever worn for Halloween.
   – ALL the costumes I’ve worn? You know I’m 41, right? There’s gonna be a lot… and probably a few I can’t remember. But here goes… Superman (1st costume and did that one several times over the years); Cowboy; Spider-Man; Frankenstein’s Monster; Scarecrow (Wizard of Oz); Mummy; Indiana Jones; California Raisin; Batman; Dracula; the 11th Doctor (Doctor Who); Clark Kent (also several times… at least six times over the years)…
4. Are you a scarecrow or a jack-o’-lantern?
   – Scarecrow… because what would I do with a brain if I had one?

Okay… those are my answers to The Captain’s Quiz 4: Under the Bed. I may have overthought some of those answers. Though, being a scarecrow in that final bonus question, I may have underthought a few of them, too. Good luck to all other participants.