The Halloween Flame Is Still Burning: 2022 Edition//October 46th, 2022

 If you’ve followed me on social media long enough, you’ll probably recall me mentioning a song I made up as a child, titled “The Halloween Flame Is Still Burning.” This post is probably where I’ve talked about in the most detail. 

I was around eight or nine years old, thinking about Halloween as usual, even though it was spring time, and of course, what is the thought of Halloween for someone like me, without the accompanying thought of post-Halloween depression? 

“The Halloween Flame Is Still Burning” was about the combination of sadness that Halloween was over, at least to those around me, but also the burst of hope and intrigue that came from seeing Halloween decorations still out in the wild, even after the day itself had passed. Sadly, I don’t think I ever actually wrote the song down. I’ve spent probably sad amounts of time trying to remember it, usually during the month of November, but only a few lines have ever found their way back to me. The song was performed once for a cat named Cleo, who belonged to a neighbor back then, and then sung solely in my head a few times before I probably tried to suppress the thought of November first entirely, as Halloween got closer. I’ve always been angry at myself for not keeping better track of my childhood creative endeavors. (It’s worth noting that I had a story saved on the family computer for the longest time that contained the line, “Don’t bump your head into a pole, the right place to pee is a toilet bowl.” These were the types of things that got saved, oddly enough.)

However, after mentioning the song on Instagram again yesterday, it was suggested to me to try and recreate it. I initially thought that maybe I’d start by trying to portray that feeling in a form of prose (Which I will still most likely do at some point…the feeling of seeing Halloween still out there after the fact is very poetic to me.) but surprisingly, once I sat down and contemplated the first line of the song, which is one of the few pieces I actually remembered, the rest just poured out.

No, I didn’t suddenly remember the song as I initially sang it. This is a new interpretation of it, but based heavily on how I would have perceived and written things at the age I was when I initially came up with it. If it sounds a little silly, it’s because I really was trying to write it as an eight-or-nine-year-old child who was just starting to contemplate these types of feelings would. I feel like this embodies my child self, as well as my feelings now. 

The only original lines of the song I remember are:

November 1st, and the day’s gone by.

From inside the window of the car I am yearning; the Halloween flame on the candle’s still burning!

And of course, the big finale of

…and it burns BRIGHT!!!

And they’ve all been included in this reboot.

Without further ado, I give you, now in poem form as I don’t think anyone wants to hear me actually sing this, the 2022 version of the fabled The Halloween Flame Is Still Burning.

November 1st, and the day's gone by.

November 1st, and I wonder why

The sky's turned so gray and the leaves are so brown

And the neighbors just took all their decorations down.

Do they even remember what yesterday brought?

It was just Halloween, but they must've forgot.

I do well in school, but what I wish I was learning

Is just how to keep the flame of Halloween burning...

November 1st, and I go outside.

November 1st, let's go for a ride.

I mourn for the magic as we drive through the town.

And it turns out not all the decorations are down! 

There's a pumpkin on that porch, and a ghost in that tree

And I feel like they waited there, just to see me.

From inside the window of the car I am yearning

The Halloween flame of the candle's still burning!

November 1st, still not the best day.

November 1st, but it hasn't all gone away!

The magic's still here, you just have to look.

A calendar page is all that this morning took.

There are pumpkins still smiling in the crisp autumn air.

Maybe it could be Halloween every day, if we dare!

I'm still sad it's over, but I think I am learning

All the ways that the Halloween flame can keep burning...

...And it burns BRIGHT!!!!

I hope this makes some spooky people who are still trying to keep that Halloween flame burning smile today, and I hope my younger self would be happy to see this done. And a huge thanks to the_autumn_gloaming on Instagram for inspiring this! I don’t know why it never occurred to me to do this before, but that’s what the Halloween community, and spooky friends, are for! Inspiration and encouragement, no matter what the calendar says.

Stay spooky, my friends. And keep those Halloween flames burning, for all of us who may need the warmth!