The Sinister Truth Behind Halloween
Haunt time is here!
It’s time to pull out whatever stops that haven’t yet been pulled out and to go completely insane trying to get everything done by whatever deadline we each have set ourselves.
All the planning and preparing, the months of hectic activity, will soon reach critical mass. For some, it already has. Their haunt is up and running, drawing a nightly crowd. That haunter has entered into the recursive maintenance phase. Like a dowager tending her meticulous garden, this person is caught in a perpetual loop. Primp and adjust. Primp and adjust. The activity will continue uninterrupted until November 1.
For the rest of us there are still tombstones to set, miles of orange lights yet to unravel, and monsters dripping not saliva, but sealant. Heck, you can’t navigate the shop today without some creature tapping you on the shoulder and asking, “you think you could touch up this seam?”
Excitement is flavored with worry. Or possibly it’s the other way around. When will the rain stop, and is it going to short out my extension cords … again? Why won’t this stupid timer come on when I want it to? Do I have any fishing line to hang the skeleton? How much will the vandals tear up this year? Is this stand going to keep the scarecrow from doing a face-plant in the wind? Will anyone show up for the party?
Anxiety builds up to the point that one may actually hear himself say, “I’m sick of Halloween.”
The sinister truth behind Halloween is that it only exists inside us. Whatever manifests in the real world as a result of the Halloween Spirit is just whipped orange icing on the cupcake. Otherwise, October is just another month.
Halloween is special, magical because that’s how we make it. We put ghosts in the wind. We make dancing witches out of bonfire shadows. We hear skeleton fingers tapping on the window panes. That’s no mere pumpkin on the front porch. It’s an avatar.
We carry Halloween around with us like a candle, and whatever might try to snuff the flame isn’t Halloween’s fault. When it’s not fun anymore, we (I) look for reminders to help chase away the dreads and doubts.
Sometimes it can be as simple as a picture of a Jack-o-lantern and a bear holding a welcome sign. Simple. Sincere. Welcome.
Well said.
Someone is “booing” my neighborhood again. I was on a walk and I noticed a house with an unclaimed “boo bucket”. I ran up, rang the doorbell, hid behind a tree, and watched them. Thank you for conjuring the Halloween Spirit.
Very nice, Spooky. As we continue to “one-up” ourselves from the previous year, it’s extremely easy to overlook the simple things. In fact, for most of us, it was the simple things which lit the Halloween fire inside us to begin with.
Have a fantastic Halloween!
I would also add that Holloween is magical because we get to hide behide the masks. We become the magic! We are the magic, and make it magical for all others we come in contact with.
The person on the other side of the door does not have to know who you REALLY are, if you choose not to reveal yourself. This in itself has always made it a special time for me.
The “Bad Girl” one year, (much to my mothers complaints), a trapeeze artist another, a cheerleader, a fish, a cartoon. Or even the chance to be a ghoul or other sinister evil being! The chance to be someone other than myself for one day always had a great appeal to me. Along with the crafting of the costume. No store boughts in our family.
The fish was used for several years by all our cousins as well, it was constructed of chicken wire, paper mache, and crepe paper for the scales. AWESOME!
Again, thanks for keeping the spirit…….!
Jeanne in NJ
I was sitting surrounded by the mess all the Halloween decorating causes. I was feeling uptight that much of what I wanted this year is still not done. I keep pushing my personal deadline back and kicking myself for thinking there was plenty of time back in August. I was feeling serious holiday burn out today.
Then I read this post. Thanks. You reminded me that at some point I have to say “when” and leave time to just enjoy the season.
I’ve been trying to get something up in my front yard for Halloween. I haven’t done anything for several years. And all I’ve been asking myself is, ” Why am I doing this now – with only a little over a week until Halloween??” Then I read the post today, and I thought “Wow. That’s why.” It’s fun. It gives me that little bit of time to forget about everything else I have to worry about. This is a good worry. I’ll get it done.
Thanks
happy early all saints day!!