My worst Halloween ever, Charlie Brown

This year marks the 40th anniversary of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, which first aired in 1966, one year after A Charlie Brown Christmas made its debut. To celebrate, United Feature Syndicate, Inc., the company that distributed the Peanuts comic strip, is sponsoring an essay contest where people can write about their worst Halloween experience ever. If, you know, you can think of something worse than spending the night in a pumpkin patch only to be greeted by a beagle dressed as a World War I pilot. The deadline for the essays, which must be more than 500 words and less than 600, is July 21. Winners will be chosen by members of Charles Schulz's family, as well as his partners on the Peanuts animated specials, Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez. Peter Robbins, the first kid to voice Charlie Brown, will also be a judge. Winners will receive lots of Peanuts-related stuff, plus a trip to the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, California. You can learn more about the contest here.