Who's already excited for next year?
ME i am alreay thinking of what i will do next year to improve my yard haunt and to bring some more kids to realize how much fun Halloween is
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Boo
- Master Reaper
- Posts: 130
- Joined: Thu Oct 05, 2006 5:53 am
- What is the highest number?: 9
- Location: Wimbledon. UK
Overall my Halloween this year was ok but certainly not one of the most memorable.
Usually I'm ready and raring to go as soon as October comes around, but this year I snapped into Halloween gear with less than a week before the big day.
I like to wade through some of my favourite films and short stories each year before the end of October, but I just managed to sneak in a quick read of Ray Bradbury's wonderfully bizarre 'Halloween Tree' and a viewing of the Witches of Eastwick.
The highlight was definitely last Saturday. for the past few years I've put on a small event for my sister's kids, a couple of years ago we were hunting the ghost of the notorious highwayman John Tibbet, in the local woods. this year we were back, in search of his buried treasure. An hour before it got dark we ventured forth armed to the teeth with some plastic swords, magic dust, crucifixes, torches and an especially enthusiastic bearded collie. Swinging past the old Victorian graveyard we followed the trail on the map I'd knocked up the week before, deeper into the woods we went and the sun began to set, bats flittered around the trees and an owl hooted in somewhere close by, we were in zone.
We were a little shy of the X on the map when my eldest nephew started to get the jitters, he was convinced that we were being followed by the ghost, and when he pointed to what looked like a shadowy figure in the near distance I could see why (it was a bush, but sufficiently convincing).
My nephew was struggling to maintain a brave face so I decided we'd have a vote on whether to push on or run for home. The eldest wanted to go, the youngest -amazingly- was determined to keep going and the bearded collie decided not to offer a preference.
Against the protests of the youngest I decided to head for home (still 20 mins away through the spooky woods), and we set off back the way we'd come.
As we neared the edge of the woods we came again to the path where we had tracked down the ghost of John Tibbet two years previously. The path is spooky even on sunny days, it suppresses sound and is completely overhung by branches making it more like a tunnel than a pathway; it's also banana shaped, so when you're in the middle you can't see an obvious exit. With the sun just about gone it was especially spooky, but I'd planned for the path as the grande finale of the walk so I wanted to give it a go. We made it about halfway along the 1/2 mile walk when I distinctly heard the sound of a horse somewhere behind us. I've lived in this area for 8 years and walked this path a hundred times, but I've never seen a horse on it. We all stopped and turned to face and as we did so the shadowy silhouette of a caped rider and very large horse rounded the slight bend. The kids shrieked and lurched towards me, my heart missed a beat and even Monty the bearded collie seemed to cower.
'You alright'? Said the ranger.
'Yeah thanks' I mutter,' we're just out looking for ghosts and you gave us a bit of a fright'.
' Nice' says the ranger 'I haven't seen any, but it's best not to hang around in the dark'
Agreeing wholeheartedly we moved off and headed back for some pumpkin carving, cake eating and a game of 'Atmosphere'
Halloween itself was a lot less dramatic. I took the afternoon off of work, went home and cooked a pumpkin pie and then played a game on my PC while I waited for the wife to arrive home with the Witches of Eastwick playing in the background (wasted opportunity to stoke the mood) . As soon as my wife arrived back we went for a walk around the block taking in the atmosphere. There were a few trick or treaters out and the night was sufficiently cold and smoky to be atmospheric. But for some reason I constantly felt in a rush, everything was moving along too quickly and I needed to feel more intensity but couldn't quite find it. Watched the film 'Halloween' later that night, the first time I've seen it - I was surprised by how mild it is -, and then it was time for bed.
So that was it, over for another year, but this time it felt more final. Just after Christmas I'm moving out to Japan and it may well be a permanent move. This was probably my last Halloween in old blighty, and Japanese horror has never really done it for me.
Gah, this went on far longer than intended, sorry to bore.
Boo
Usually I'm ready and raring to go as soon as October comes around, but this year I snapped into Halloween gear with less than a week before the big day.
I like to wade through some of my favourite films and short stories each year before the end of October, but I just managed to sneak in a quick read of Ray Bradbury's wonderfully bizarre 'Halloween Tree' and a viewing of the Witches of Eastwick.
The highlight was definitely last Saturday. for the past few years I've put on a small event for my sister's kids, a couple of years ago we were hunting the ghost of the notorious highwayman John Tibbet, in the local woods. this year we were back, in search of his buried treasure. An hour before it got dark we ventured forth armed to the teeth with some plastic swords, magic dust, crucifixes, torches and an especially enthusiastic bearded collie. Swinging past the old Victorian graveyard we followed the trail on the map I'd knocked up the week before, deeper into the woods we went and the sun began to set, bats flittered around the trees and an owl hooted in somewhere close by, we were in zone.
We were a little shy of the X on the map when my eldest nephew started to get the jitters, he was convinced that we were being followed by the ghost, and when he pointed to what looked like a shadowy figure in the near distance I could see why (it was a bush, but sufficiently convincing).
My nephew was struggling to maintain a brave face so I decided we'd have a vote on whether to push on or run for home. The eldest wanted to go, the youngest -amazingly- was determined to keep going and the bearded collie decided not to offer a preference.
Against the protests of the youngest I decided to head for home (still 20 mins away through the spooky woods), and we set off back the way we'd come.
As we neared the edge of the woods we came again to the path where we had tracked down the ghost of John Tibbet two years previously. The path is spooky even on sunny days, it suppresses sound and is completely overhung by branches making it more like a tunnel than a pathway; it's also banana shaped, so when you're in the middle you can't see an obvious exit. With the sun just about gone it was especially spooky, but I'd planned for the path as the grande finale of the walk so I wanted to give it a go. We made it about halfway along the 1/2 mile walk when I distinctly heard the sound of a horse somewhere behind us. I've lived in this area for 8 years and walked this path a hundred times, but I've never seen a horse on it. We all stopped and turned to face and as we did so the shadowy silhouette of a caped rider and very large horse rounded the slight bend. The kids shrieked and lurched towards me, my heart missed a beat and even Monty the bearded collie seemed to cower.
'You alright'? Said the ranger.
'Yeah thanks' I mutter,' we're just out looking for ghosts and you gave us a bit of a fright'.
' Nice' says the ranger 'I haven't seen any, but it's best not to hang around in the dark'
Agreeing wholeheartedly we moved off and headed back for some pumpkin carving, cake eating and a game of 'Atmosphere'
Halloween itself was a lot less dramatic. I took the afternoon off of work, went home and cooked a pumpkin pie and then played a game on my PC while I waited for the wife to arrive home with the Witches of Eastwick playing in the background (wasted opportunity to stoke the mood) . As soon as my wife arrived back we went for a walk around the block taking in the atmosphere. There were a few trick or treaters out and the night was sufficiently cold and smoky to be atmospheric. But for some reason I constantly felt in a rush, everything was moving along too quickly and I needed to feel more intensity but couldn't quite find it. Watched the film 'Halloween' later that night, the first time I've seen it - I was surprised by how mild it is -, and then it was time for bed.
So that was it, over for another year, but this time it felt more final. Just after Christmas I'm moving out to Japan and it may well be a permanent move. This was probably my last Halloween in old blighty, and Japanese horror has never really done it for me.
Gah, this went on far longer than intended, sorry to bore.
Boo
The steeples are white in the wild moonlight,
And the trees have a silver glare;
Past the chimneys high see the vampires fly,
And the harpies of upper air,
That flutter and laugh and stare.
And the trees have a silver glare;
Past the chimneys high see the vampires fly,
And the harpies of upper air,
That flutter and laugh and stare.
