THE REAL HALLOWEEN
Halloween is a gateway between Summer & Winter - between the world of the living & the land of the dead. As the plants & earth dry out & the wind begins to pick up a chill - Halloween is creeping up on us & we must be ready.
Here's your theme song for this piece - I used to listen to this record every night while I was going to bed. From "Trick or Treat: Hallowe'en Celebrated in Story & Song" by Oscar Brand & his Young Friends. Despite the corny folk song exterior - Oscar Brand's understanding of the true, sinister nature of Halloween cannot be disputed & undoubtedly influenced my own zealotry towards the subject.
Most cultures have holidays & other observances centering around the dead during fall & Halloween is no different - the death of the year requires a holiday & Halloween is ours! On Halloween - ghosts, goblins & ghouls leave their shadow realm & walk the earth - turning everything upside down! Normally left to hiding in the shadows or in their graves, on Halloween - the dark & mischievious things stalk the land & as heads are tails - we send our children out in disguise as those same ghosts, goblins & ghouls to walk among them - to become them - & to demand tribute from the quivering townsfolk in their houses!
If we are stuck in our houses waiting for the ungodly host of trick or treaters - we must also disguise ourselves & our homes in the traditional style of the netherworld. Pumpkins carved as grinning skulls - we call them Jack O' Lanterns - must be placed outside with candles showing the glowing souls inside in order to give deference to the armies of satanic spawn. Shredded shrouds must hang from every surface. Orange & green lights must taint our earthly world with unearthly pallor. The terrifying sounds of the inbetween lands must be heard - the chains we forged in life, the howls of torment, the scratching of fingernails, the creak of doors into the unknown, the cacophony of unknown creatures. Or else! In this time of death - we deserve whatever we get from the teeming hordes of mischief makers & treat takers.
If we join the chittering hordes of death & disorder on the earth made Hellscape of Halloween - we must be as they are - like the undead & the nasty little people. Like the devil & the grim reaper. Halloween is not a night for ordinary dress-up, it is a night to become as the demonic denizens of the dark are & walk among them - demanding treats & threatening tricks. It is deeply disrespectful to the nature of the holiday to dress up like anything other than the servants of evil on Halloween. You must accept this & then we can move on to how to make Halloween the most rewarding holiday!
- Sean Äaberg
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