2010: Another Halloween Come and Gone

Sigh. Where did the time go? It seems as if only last week Disneyland, Knotts Scary Farm, and Universal Studios Hollywood were launching their annual Halloween events, as if only yesterday the Queen Mary and Six Flags Magic Mountain were getting in on the act, as if only this morning the amateur yard haunts were powering up (well, that last part is almost true, at least in some cases). Now, it’s past midnight of October 31, 2010; November 1 has arrived, and another Halloween has come and gone.

No more will the night ring with shrieks of delightful fright; no more will monsters haunt not only our dreams but also our waking hours; no more will friends, family, neighbors, and other acquaintances openly share the macabre obsessions – the love for the dark and the mysterious – that drive us year-round, that provide the dark lining to the silver clouds of our lives.

Perhaps we may escape into the occasional movie house to enjoy the communal fear engendered by something like PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2, or visit the occasional horror-themed convention, but for the most part it’s back to the vaults for us fun-loving ghouls and ghosts. We must retreat to our graves and close the tombstones before the sun shines down upon us tomorrow. Into the dark we go, sated and yet sad, having supped deeply of Halloween horrors yet still yearning for the feast to go on. For now we must rest beneath the earth, in our coffins, sustaining ourselves upon the memories of these past weeks. We must sleep the vampire’s sleep.

Until next Halloween…