NOVEMBERNovember 1 marks the beginning of Na-tional Novel Writing Month. If you’ve ever wanted to write a 50,000 word nov-el in 30 days, sign up at nanowrimo.org.

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To do

next month:

99% of the pumpkins sold in the U.S. end up as jack-o-lanterns. You are more likely to get attacked by a cow than by a shark.

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Donate canned food to Interact’s Thanks-giving Food Drive, which runs from No-vember 1-19. Food can be dropped off in

classrooms with food collection bins.

Do you have a sweet tooth? The Haitian-American Club is having a candy sale from

November 8-12.

First quarter report cards will be mailed home and distrib-uted to students in school on

November 19.

Brittani Austin / Staff Writer

The marching band will be performing in Stamford’s annual Thanksgiving Day Pa-rade on November 21. Attend the parade

and support Westhill’s band.

Students get a day to relax and sleep in on November 2, as school will be closed for

Election Day.

“A Lady Gaga costume. She had long blonde hair and mirrors on her costume.” —Francine Baliao, ’13

“I was a Blue Man from the Blue Man Group.”—Austin Wentworth, ’12

“It’s between the Harlem Globe Trotters [basket-ball team] and Oompa Loompas. The Oompa Loompas did a cool dance and the Harlem Globe Trotters played basketball in the hall-ways.”

—Morgan Kurtz, ’13

“It’s between the Naked Cowboy, Oprah Winfrey, or a turtle.”—Ashley Edmonson, ’13

“Jigsaw from Saw, he came in with the bike and everything.”

—Ryan D’Amico, ’13

“[The] Naked Cowboy because it was crazy — he was naked.”

—Valerie Meyers, ’12

“[A group of] clowns be-cause the kids looked cra-zy and they were brave to dress up like that.”

—Kainat Dar, ’13

“In Swine ’09, a bunch of my friends split into two [groups] and some dressed up as doctors and the others as pigs.”

—Jessi Gerowitz, ’12

“Human tetris blocks.”—Hannah Gilpatrick, ’13

“The Transformer car from last year because he made himself into a car, and not many peo-ple do that.”

—Rachel Vatman, ’13

“A laundry basket.” —Stephanie O’Connor, ’14

HEARD IT ON THE HILL:

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What is the most creative Halloween costume you have ever seen?

This month, I learned that the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker was partially

inspired by the story of Elizabeth Bathory, a Hungari-an count-

ess who lived in the late 16th century. What does a bloodsucking vampire who puts Edward Cullen to shame have to do with the noble niece of a Polish king? Why, an unquenchable thirst for blood.

In the days of yore, some 500 years ago, wholesome sources of amusement were sorely lacking for the wealthy members of Hungary’s upper crust. Although Bathory was one of the cen-tury’s most educated women, her true passion was found in a far more woeful pursuit.

With a fairytale-worthy castle full of serving girls and manservants to bend to her every whim, Bathory grew increasingly sinister in her mistreat-ment of those over whom she had pow-er. Elizabeth was said to have found her greatest pleasure in creating inven-tive new ways to torture wrongdoers. Through the root of her mind-boggling sadism remains a mystery, it must be noted that the immediate members of her family were, in turn, accused of killing multiple spouses, committing incest, and blaming their crimes on having been possessed by the devil. It makes sense, then, that the apple never left the tree.

Bathory, a violent young woman absolutely dead set on getting her way, was rather flattered by the compliments she received on her glowing, youthful skin after she smacked a disobedient servant girl so hard that the girl’s blood splattered across her fingers. Like most woman of the modern age, Elizabeth was desperate for anything that might help her look just a bit prettier than the next girl.

Bathory, however, being a psycho-pathic noblewoman of the 16th centu-ry, did not turn to the beauty section of Teen Vogue. Instead, she decided that blood baths were the key to aesthetic perfection. Thus, she began kidnapping young village girls in the middle of the night and draining them of their blood. Bathory’s gooey red spa probably did not do much to eliminate wrinkles, but it did succeed in creating one of man-kind’s most prolific serial killers. With the help of only a few accomplices, Bathory is estimated to have mur-dered more than 650 young girls from surrounding villages. Their names, as legend goes, were recorded neatly in a book kept by Bathory herself. It was not until corpses began piling up beside the Bathorys’ castle walls that local villagers began to notice some-thing amiss about their local countess. Though Bathory was never tried due to her prestigious family background, she did spend her remaining years isolated within the locked walls of her luxuri-ous castle.

Surely this should be a lesson to all those tempted by any dubious paths to beauty; no matter how flawless, perfect skin does little to mask a charred soul.

Stranger Than FictionColumn by Elizabeth Mohen

The homecoming football game against city rival Stamford High is on November 24, and the homecoming dance will take

place on November 26.

Lainey Sidell / Managing Editor Sydney Olshan / Illustrator

National Cake Day is on No-vember 26, so bake a cake with some friends and enjoy your

delicious creation.

36 SCATTERBRAIN October 2010www.theweswordonline.com