🎃 HALLOWEEN 2022

A Story by dw817

"Be silent in that solitude, Which is not loneliness - for then The spirits of the dead, who stood In life before thee, are again In death around thee, and their will Shall overshadow thee; be still."

HALLOWEEN 2021

"Be silent in that solitude,
Which is not loneliness - for then
The spirits of the dead, who stood
In life before thee, are again
In death around thee, and their will
Shall overshadow thee; be still."
-- Edgar Allan Poe --

Thought I would give this a bump as it's Halloween again ! (10-31-21)

Well folks, it's that time of year again. What time is that ? Dentist's Holiday !

No, that's not a good name for it. Let's just call it HALLOWEEN. And what is the definition of Halloween ? It must have roots, and yes it does, dark and deep.

The word Halloween or Hallowe'en dates to about 1745 and is of Christian origin.

The word "Hallowe'en" means "hallowed evening" or "holy evening". It comes from a Scottish term for All Hallows' Eve (the evening before All Hallows' Day).

In Scots, the word "eve" is even, and this is contracted to e'en or een. Over time, (All) Hallow(s) E(v)en evolved into Hallowe'en. Although the phrase "All Hallows'" is found in Old English, all saints mass-day), "All Hallows' Eve" is itself not seen until 1556.

But perhaps no more a grim exposition of the word could be described by Cochran in one of my all-time favorite scary movies, "Halloween 3" (Jason not included).

Halloween 3 movie is a marvel and edge-of-the-seat frightening that for once removes the scene of Jason and instead gives a unique and original chilling story.

Picture if you will, a somber figure in heavy black gloves can be seen walking down the hallway of a hospital. He stops at one door and enters.

Inside is a frail shriveled up old man, and despite it being nighttime, he is wide awake with fright. And with good reason. The dark figure approaches him and does the unspeakable.

He plunges two of his muscular fingers straight through the old man's eyes, and then does the impossible. With inhuman strength he pulls the skull clean off the vertebrae. He wipes his black gloves clean of brain matter from a nearby curtain. Leaves the room, and walks away as if nothing had happened.

A nurse walks in afterwards and screams at the ghastly sight of what lays left of the man in the bed. Daniel, an investigator, hears this and sees the murderer walking slowly away a full league down the hallway.

"Stop !" he yells, and starts to run after him. But he is too far away. The black-gloved figure is already by the exit. He leaves the building, goes into a nearby car, very calmly douses himself with gasoline, then without a second thought, lights it.

He lies there motionless and silent as a full blaze collects around him. A moment later the vehicle blows up, along with any trace of him. And so the story begins ...

But what I wanted to focus on is what Cochrane, the mastermind behind these murders said. He has tied up Daniel to a chair when he was caught snooping around his factory.

You don't really know much about Halloween.

You thought no further than the strange custom of having your children wear masks and go out begging for candy.

It was the start of the year in our old Celtic lands and we'd be waiting ...
in our houses of wattles and clay.

The barriers would be down, you see. Between the real and the unreal.

And the dead might be looking in ... to sit by our fires of turf.

"Halloween." The festival of Samhain.

The last great one took place 3,000 years ago and the hills - ran - red ... with the blood of animals and children.

It was a part of our world ... our craft. To us, it was a way of controlling our environment. It's not so different now.

It's time again.

Find the opening title HERE.

Brrr !!

However, I think all of us have had our fill of scary dreams. Me ? Absolutely.

If you are logged in and of the age 18 or older, you can read the strange few mature (Rated R) dreams I've had HERE:

A HALLOWEEN TO REMEMBER

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/dw817/1887690/

SHE COMES IN THE NIGHT

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/dw817/1333966/

You can find the select version of most scary stories I've ever written from the worst nightmares I ever had - right HERE:

CAMPFIRE TALES

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/dw817/1246975/

Some strange dreams HERE:

DOUBLE TIME

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/dw817/1495213/

PAIN THERAPY

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/dw817/1712905/

THE CURSE OF MADNESS

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/dw817/1723442/

On the lighter side, you can find lovely, cute, and sweet, Halloween decorations I put together specifically for you to use in your Writer's Cafe posts and profiles HERE:

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/dw817/1254199/

For those needing a stronger rouse, you may find your poison of choice HERE:

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/dw817/1247341/

. . .

That's all from here ! I'm taking the month off from writing any new chapters so you can catch up on my Halloween Campfire Tales ... I will see you then !