Halloween 2013

Well, Specters, here we are. Halloween is over. Every year we hotly anticipate its arrival, yet the day itself goes by so quickly. Now it is day two of Día de los Muertos, and Halloween is gone for another year. Yet already, many of us are already planning for next year. I know I am.

My Halloween started out rather simply, enjoying a mug of hot chocolate (I drink it like other people drink coffee) and few pumpkin donuts from the bakery. Since I didn't have a haunt to set up this year, I rested easy during the day, trying to enjoy the day despite the crummy weather. As dark drew closer, I set up a CD player in my apartment window, and put in Midnight Syndicate's Vampyre CD. I had strewn some leaves around outside, and set up a folding chair to hand out candy from. I put together a Grim Reaper costume (thanks to my friend Sharon for providing the Creepy Cloth), and and sat down with a box bursting with candy waiting for the ToTs. And waiting. And waiting.

In the first hour of Trick or Treating, I only got a few people, six at the most, and I was feeling depressed as I sat there in the rainy drizzle. Determined to enjoy Halloween, I went inside, turned off the CD player, and put an unusual plan into action: I was going to reverse the order of things. Hauling my box of candy with me, I began roaming the neighborhood. Any house I saw that was decorated or looking festive, received a special visit from the Reaper: when I rang the doorbell, and someone came to the door with a bowl of candy, before the could say anything, I promptly placed a few handfuls of candy into their bowls. Then I turned smartly on my heel and walked away. If I encountered any groups of ToTs out and about, I was sure to give them some candy too. People some delighted by the whole thing. A mysterious cloaked figure dispensing goodies to passersby seemed appropriately spooky, I guess. The last house I visited had the best decoration in the whole town. Cornstalks, spider webs, witches, ghosts, pumpkins, orange lights, fog, an animatronic pirate skeleton; they had it all. I gave them all the candy I had left. I revisited the house later and got to talking with the owners; really nice people. When I revealed that I was the Reaper who had visited them earlier, the one lady ended up giving me a great big bag of candy. Very generous, and very cool. And at 8:00, as I walked about, there were fireworks. Yes, that's right, fireworks. Lots of them. The night sky was light up with the colors of autumn, and the air was perfumed with the scent of gunpowder. Finally, I went home, and collapsed into an armchair, exhausted (in a good way). Finally, I wound down the evening by watching Trick 'r Treat and munching on microwave kettle corn.

It was a good Halloween.