Skip to main content

Ghosts Of Halloween//October 58th, 2021

 Late November reminds us that, no matter how beautiful the fall season is, the truth is, everything around us is dying.

Things look so vibrant and alive in October that it’s easy to forget that fact. The world is alight with the colors of a happy, cozy fire. What could be more celebratory than that?

Late November, though. That is a different type of fall. The once-colorful leaves, ablaze in shades of orange and red and yellow, are now all brown and withered. Most of them have fallen now, but the ones that haven’t are lonely and brittle, clinging to their trees by the thinnest of thread. It paints a desperate picture, watching those last little leaves cling to life. The color has gone out of them and yet they hang on, as if afraid of being forgotten. 

The clock ticks on, from Halloween, to Thanksgiving, and now nearing December. The trees begin to illuminate again, but this time artificially, as the residents of the homes they surround dutifully attach lights to their branches in preparation for the upcoming holiday season. It can be a pretty sight, but so manufactured compared to the fire of natural leaves. It starts to feel like autumn was never here at all, as if it were some beautiful dream, forgotten by most when November arrived, and now abandoned by all after Thanksgiving. 

Do you ever think you’re crazy? Like you’re the only person who remembers the joy of the season gone by, like you’re always actively searching for its ghost?

No sooner do you have that thought, when you see it. An actual ghost of Halloween, floating from the trees in front of an otherwise undecorated house. Clinging to life and longing to be revered, just like the brown leaves that dance around him, sadly and mournfully, when the wind blows.

He faces toward the street, greeting passers-by as if Halloween is still in the very near future. He gives you a brief version of that flutter of excitement you feel when the first neighbor puts up the first decoration of the Halloween season. You wonder if anyone else has noticed him, and you wonder how and why he is still there.

Was he simply forgotten, when the rest of the decorations were taken down? Is there perhaps a child in the house who grew attached to him and requested that he stay up a little bit longer? Or is it possible that the owners of the house are, at least a little, like you? Is it a mere coincidence, or is the ghoul there purposely to try and keep the Halloween flame burning, as the rest of the world moves on like it never happened at all?

Regardless of the circumstances, you are glad that he’s there. Halloween already feels so far away, even though it didn’t happen all that long ago. Sometimes you almost do question if it’s all a dream, but then a sight like this reminds you that it’s all very real, very beautiful, and always on its way back around. 

There are ghosts of Halloween, and they will appear, to those of us that know how to look for them.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

I Saw The Great Pumpkin Out For A Stroll//October 233rd, 2025

  The most amazing thing happened to me, on a Saturday afternoon.  The date was August 30th, just two days before Labor Day; the start of September, and, thankfully, the unofficial (but official, in my book) end of summer.  I wound up at a local toy shop, coming away with some tiny plushies. (Two of them Christmas themed, ironically, as I am working toward finding the magic in all things once more .) As I exited the store, something caught my eye beyond the fence leading to the next residential street.  A very tall pumpkin man seemed to be walking toward a house. My mind snapped back to when I was six years old, the very first time the Great Pumpkin came to visit me. How I'd heard him in the night, a candle rattling around in his head as he did his work, ensuring the happiest of Halloweens for the truest of believers. How special it felt to know I was one of his Chosen.  I'd always hoped to thank him one day. I quietly tiptoed around the fence, out into the narr...

Pumpkin Guts: Devil’s Night//October 277th, 2024

 I was recently given the opportunity to check out a new, independent Halloween short film called Pumpkin Guts: Devil’s Night.  (Picture from IMDb) I first became aware of this film through the  Instagram page , and to say I absolutely knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I’d love it, would be an understatement. I can always tell when a piece of media is truly going to radiate Halloween, in the way that will transport me through whatever month we’re currently in (in this case, probably the most disgusting July on record) and into Halloween night itself. When I was offered early access to this short film, I could not have been more honored. Even though I’ve built up somewhat of a following within the Halloween community, it still amazes me every day that people finally truly see and feel what I’m trying to create; that my love of Halloween finally means something and brings some joy and comfort to others like myself, and that anyone, especially a filmmaker, would trust me ...

My (Brutally?) Honest Thoughts On 'Weapons'//October 312th, 2025

 I recently saw possibly the most hyped up horror of the 2025 season, Weapons.  There have not been many movies I've been excited to see in 2025. The only horror movies I've seen in theaters this year have been Companion, Heart Eyes, and The Monkey. Other than that, nothing has really interested me enough to spend money on seeing it in theaters. (I do need to watch Sinners; scheduling conflicts kept arising when it came to seeing that one on the big screen.) But I absolutely loved the initial marketing for  Weapons, making it look like footage from a real unsolved case, and it   has easily been one of my most anticipated movies of the year. But, sadly, I actually didn't like it.  This is not meant to be a "hot take" post in any way. I'm not here to rain on anyone's parade that did enjoy it, I just have a lot of thoughts about it that I want to unpack for myself, and maybe for anyone else who feels similarly. If you loved the movie, I'm honestly very ha...