Tricks and Treats
Great... More freeloading roommates that don't pay rent. Jack and Dave don't have a lot of stuff. Their social life is pretty dead so it's not like they're throwing wild parties every night. They aren't the most considerate roomies after the sun goes down, though. It's all rattling chains and moaning, all night long. I tried to tell them, what they do together in their own time is their business, but some people gotta sleep. They just looked at me with those dead eye sockets like I was the one being insensitive. Typical.
This may come as some surprise to my readers (he said sarcastically), but Halloween is probably one of my favorite holidays of the year. You've got the spooky decorations, you've got the fun costumes, you've got the autumn backdrop, you've got the parties, you've got the sugar-loaded trick-or-treaters, and it's the one time of the year where you can fly your freak flag and everybody just chalks it up as normal for the holiday. You can be anybody or anything you want to be, and if anybody gives you guff, you just tell them it's your costume. (Disclaimer: Don't hurt people; that's not a normal or good thing to do any time of the year!) There's also a ton of interesting history behind some of our current traditions that helps to make it about more than cheaply made costumes and consuming more treats and candy than is considered reasonable at any other time of the year. (Did you know Jack-O-Lanterns were originally TURNIPS?!? Have you ever tried to carve a face in a hollowed-out turnip?! Have you even seen an actual turnip? I haven't!)
Halloween is a time for creativity and imagination. While I, of course, include costume building, holiday decorating, and all of those Pinterest-fueled culinary abominations... uh, I mean creations, I also mean people's psyches as well. People are more open to the "strange and unusual" around this time of year (Stranger Things, anybody?). Even the most staunchly grounded person approaches this holiday with a slightly less cynical view. Could there be ghosts? What about aliens or inter-dimensional beings? Do spirits roam the earth? Do scarier things than that roam the earth? (*Rethinks not wearing a costume, just in case*) What monsters lurk in the hearts of men/women/all of the above? Or are there actually monsters out there that we just don't know about? Didn't that news report say something about the murder victim being stabbed in the neck with a barbecue fork? (<--- Hell yes that was a Buffy reference.)
"But C. Robert, I don't HAVE an imagination. That's why I rely on you and authors like you!"
Tell yourself that again the next time you turn your lights out and wonder what that noise was or whether or not you actually are alone in the dark. Most people have pretty good imaginations when it comes to such things, whether they want to or not. We tell ourselves stories about what might be there in the dark of night. We toss and turn thinking about the horror/supernatural thriller movies we watched (that we claim to only watch around Halloween). We close our eyes and drift to sleep hoping that our dreams aren't plagued by the monsters and angry spirits we saw on the screen. We do the same thing to ourselves now that storytellers have convinced us to do for centuries. Why else would we have started wearing masks and putting candles in carved vegetables?
Halloween is a powerful time to evaluate the things that scare you. Are you afraid of death? Are you afraid of the unknown? Are you afraid of the dark? Maybe your fears are more common and insidious. Are you afraid of rejection? Are you afraid of failure? (Or the obnoxious flipside, fear of success.) Are you afraid of getting hurt (emotionally and/or physically)? What have you been held back in accomplishing because of fear? What adventures have you not started because you were afraid to try?
Halloween is powerful because it gives our fears something tangible to focus on. Zombies, skeletons, zombies, vampires, werewolves, slasher-movie villains and monsters, zombies, ghosts, zombies... Wait. Where the hell are all these zombies coming from? Lynn and Susanne, you've got some explaining to do!
Tangible fears are things that can be faced. They may be horrible and disturbing, but they can be dealt with. It may be a matter of moving out of that horribly haunted house, sharpening some stakes, eating way too much garlic, and loading the zombie-blasting shotguns with silver buckshot, but they can be dealt with. It's a comparable relief versus facing the fears we are hit with on the daily that we can't do anything about or have to go through a painful and exhausting process to face. The bad things are so much easier to handle when you can just punch them in the face Buffy style and move on with your life. Halloween and its symbolism gives us that opportunity, if only for a few days out of the year.
So throw on your costumes, howl at the moon, rewatch your favorite scary movie or TV show, and enjoy the tricks and treats of the holiday season! Party like a Mon-star! It's Halloween, witches!
Reminder: NEXT WEEKEND!!! Saturday, November 4, 2017, LADIES NIGHT OUT AND DUELING PIANOS. I'll be returning to Cornerstone Coffee Haus in Seneca, KS from 4 pm to 6 pm! I'll be selling books, signing books, and if the mood strikes me, I might even read from the book! Even better, you don't even have to be a Lady to come and see me! Aaron and Amy are leaving the Coffee Haus open to the public during the event, so get on out here to join in the fun! (If you want to check out the Dueling Piano bit, it's $25 for tickets, available at the door or ahead of time through the Seneca Chamber of Commerce. It looks like a lot of fun, so be sure to check it out)
EXTRA (Updated!): In the spirit of Halloween, I decided to give back to one of my local Ash to Ashes fans. I went out "trick-or-treating" to her house this evening and made a special delivery wearing my Captain Antoine mask. Jean has been awesome about sharing her excitement for the book and recommending it to her friends and coworkers. This was an awesome surprise to pull off, and she was super excited to get her very own promo t-shirt! Thanks so much, Jean! Happy Halloween!
