This is Halloween

   Wax lips and wax whistles. Walking in the humid Alabama night with a bag full of candy and a scary mask that I sweated in and could barely see out of. Other times there would be a hint of Fall in the air. Getting home and letting the adults check the candy to make sure there were no razor blades or other things we heard some people might put in it to harm kids. 

Going to the drive in and watching the dusk till dawn horror movie festival with parents. I have a life long love of horror and ironically it was my conservative mother who fed that love of the weird since she loved them too. Everything Orange and Black. Which was weird because we were Alabama City kids and Emma Sanson was Purple and Gold and Etowah High was blue and white but it was the hated Gadsden High that wore Orange and Black. Still, Halloween in my Walnut Park neighborhood back in the sixties was a big deal. 

My elementary school had the best Halloween Carnival ever. I can remember peeled grapes in the haunted house. The person would take your hand and tell you that was eyeballs. A coffin and then other gruesome goodies. It was before we knew anything about political correctness and before the Southern Baptist were exploited by the Fallwell types for political gain and had to hate Halloween. Just good innocent scary fun. 

This time of year is always one that brings back childhood to me. As I grew older and things changed I never again had that kind of fun on Halloween. But, the smell of candy and the feel of my Halloween costume as I trudged through the neighborhood. The wax lips and Trick or Treat bags and even the feel of Autumn in the air has never left me. 

This year I'm reading "A Night in the Lonesome October" by Roger Zelazny. It has 31 short chapters. One for each day or night in October. It's an out of print classic but I got a copy reasonably on Amazon. It has Jack the Ripper, Dracula, Sherlock Holmes and other characters and so far so good. 

I always try even as an old guy to do something special on Halloween. One year I re-read Salem's Lot and one year I watched my favorite horror movie "The Haunting" by Shirley Jackson 1963 version not the mediocre remake. this year it's A night in the Lonesome October. 

So, as I search for horror movies and think of a long ago neighborhood and elementary school. Halloween carnivals and all night movie marathons at the neighborhood drive in I hope people can find some magic in the coming year. Lord knows we could all use some

Happy Halloween!