November 4, 2009 - 10:17 a.m. EST

It was a last-minute thing, and Margaret and I were among the fortunate benefactors.

Our next door neighbors had a pair of Halloween dinner parties on Friday and Saturday - seven guests at Friday’s and five on Saturday.

Viola had thoughtfully posted the menus on the serving buffet.

It was at that point that we were tested. Did we have strong stomachs? Could we set aside mental images long enough to enjoy the dinner?

The answer to the first question was "Yes"; the second one took a little thought.

The Saturday night menu included such features as a snake appetizer (long crescent rolls wrapped around a meat filling); raw vegetables with slime sauce (in reality, a tangy dill dip); Munster in the Garden of Eden salad (an apple salad that included munster cheese); Jack-O-Lantern Black Bean Pie; Transylvanian Peasant Chicken; Cat Litter Casserole; Garlic Veg Melange to ward off hovering vampires; Fried Frog Heads with capers; and a pumpkin roll for dessert.

The Friday night menu was similar, except Maggots and Three Cheeses (macaroni and cheese) was offered for a vegetarian in the group. And, instead of the pumpkin roll, there was autumn cheesecake.

It wasn’t a costume event, though a witch hat or two were in evidence.

The guests were greeted by a whistling bat swinging off the entry hallway chandelier. A stack of skulls masquerading as a table lamp glared sadly at the influx of strange and weird humans into their bailiwick; a tiny skeleton hung from the dining room lamp, and a big fluffy, friendly black cat prowled back and forth checking everyone out.

Viola did all this in addition to her fulltime career as a schoolteacher.

The Halloween dinner inspiration struck last Wednesday. She cooked up two menus, made the invitation calls.

"I like Halloween," she said, "and I like to cook."

Ready-made items? Hardly ever. "I make everything from scratch," she said.

The Switliks, Viola and her husband Matt, who retired from the Monroe County Historical Museum, are known around our area for their dinner parties.

In addition to Halloween ("we’re already planning next year’s"), they often host another memorable one for the neighborhood on New Year’s Eve. The evening is traditionally capped with the firing of the antique cannon in their backyard.

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Today’s trivia: From a commercial standpoint, Halloween ranks second only to Christmas with annual sales running around $6 billion. In party popularity it comes in third. Topping the list is New Year’s. What’s No. 2? E-mail me your guess at hbp35@sbcglobal.net.

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Quips ‘n’ Quotes: Comedian Rodney Dangerfield said, "On Halloween, the parents sent their kids out looking like me."

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Henry Passenger’s column appears each Wednesday in the Tuscola County Advertiser. He can be reached at hbp35@sbcglobal.net