When I was little, Halloween was my holiday. I have always been a fan of scary movies, from Freddy Krueger in Nightmare on Elm Street, to Poltergeist, to Stephen King’s anything, I was a scary movie marathon fanatic. Popcorn, taffy apples, gummy worms were the accompaniment. My mom would decorate the house so perfectly creepy and before we ventured out to collect our own tricks and treats, we’d hand out candy to our friends from the neighborhood.
As I got into my teenage years, we took the level of scary up a couple notches. I’ll never forget going to an abandoned house on Halloween with a friend and an Ouija board trying to conjure up some spirits. I promise you the board’s needle moved – pinky swear! Then it became the trick or treating (or toilet-papering) houses in my neighborhood. The Charlie Brown Great Pumpkin special on television was also an ultimate favorite. I remember Halloween days of the past being cold, rainy, gloomy and totally the perfect amount of spooky. And then there was Michael Jackson’s Thriller that was the soundtrack to my early All Hallows’ Eves.
Halloween is still dear to me to this day. I was really trying to figure out why do I like this particular day so much. I think it is also a result of knowing how blessed I am. My little sister and friends could trick or treat on our blocks in the suburbs without feeling real fear of harm. It was a safe fright because once we collected our candy or watched our scary movie or went through a haunted house, we knew we would be warm and safe in our beds. Kissed and cared for by our parents and our extended family. And we would live to see another fun Halloween where we got to be another version of ourselves for one day. Over the years, I’ve been Rainbow Brite, a space traveler, the other half of hip-hop duo Salt and Peppa, a flapper, a horse jockey, and my most recent costume, the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. Sometimes we want to dwell in a space that’s good, familiar and endearing. For me, Halloween will always be that space. Boo!
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