Those who complain about Halloween decorations in the stores by mid August would complain about too much hot fudge sauce on their sundae or too many zombies in their graveyard. Strolling into Walgreens on August 17 and unexpectedly spying a row of giant plastic jack-o-lanterns on the top shelf of the candy aisle is the equivalent of waking up at 4:00 AM on your birthday.

You call your brother and crow, “Walgreens has their Halloween stuff out.” But then he lets the air out of your sails when he nonchalantly replies, “yeah, I was there last week. Bought a plastic chalice shaped like a skeleton hand. And a rubber bat. You know, to hang on the end of the string for the light over my workbench in the garage?”

Why it should matter who gets to call first sighting will remain lost to me. Nevertheless, it matters. Like seeing an accident on the news that happened on your street and then stepping out the front door to join with your neighbors on front porches and chat about who just bought a Flintstones Push Pop from that very same truck not five minutes before it plunged over the cliff.

In a few more weeks the big box stores will have their Halloween displays up on the shelves and the season will be officially under way. But we, the early risers, the Flintstones Push Pop eaters, have been out and about for weeks. Scouting. Waiting for ranks of blow-mold skeletons to appear at Big Lots, the first wave of migrating foam skulls to begin nesting at Target. We’ve been waiting, watching. Haunting, if you will.

Pass the hot fudge, sauce, please.

Category: Halloween