| As anyone who has heard me rant about the evils of Christmas knows too well, my very favourite holiday is Hallowe'en. Each year I anticipate its arrival with maddening impatience and manic glee. I get blisteringly angry when I hear about organizations opposed to the observance of Hallowe'en, and every year I dress up and wander around downtown to impart as much of the Hallowe'en spirit upon my fellow creatures as is humanly possible. This year I stayed home from all the delightful shenanigans so that I could hand out candy to my friendly neighbourhood urchins. This is the first year we've had urchins, so it was important to make them feel welcome. I loved the costumes -- a lot of them were original and handmade -- and I loved seeing the toddlers who were out Trick or Treating for the very first time. There was one little kid who was so wide-eyed and awestruck by my Darth Vader costume that he forgot to take any candy, and we had to stuff it into his tiny hand. My only bitter disappointment was when a few scattered teenagers showed up in nothing street clothes and held out pillowcases to collect my candy as if entitled by some divine claim simply because they were slightly younger than me. They only got suckers. The best part was that this was the first year since I'd moved out of suburbia that I could manage to have my very own jack-o-lanterns. I love carving pumpkins... dearly. I get to express my artistic side and my macabre side all at the same time. I wanted to show you the fantastic pumpkins we had this year. The first pumpkin was carved by me. It was kind of a warmup for the ambitious project Broken and I had planned for the next two, but it's quite delightful in itself. It is a stormtrooper pumpkin.  |
| This next picture is my favourite. Broken and I decided this year to put together an absolutely monstrous display of pumpkin carnage, so we conspired to have a jack-o-lantern slaughterama. She carved a small, cute, but terrorized pumpkin, and I carved a large, crazy, toothy bastard with a mind set to pure evil. The scene that arose made for a truly Happy Hallowe'en, and it was a smash hit.  |
| It's the little things that really make Hallowe'en special, and the sight of one souless monster busily devouring an adorable and innocent pumpkin warmed the hearts of all. It was simple, but this past Hallowe'en of 1999 was the best one I've known in years. Still, I'm already eagerly plotting the pumpkins we shall have out for next Hallowe'en, frantic to outdo myself. Luckily, I have Broken's help and creativity to do it. Actually, while I'm handing out credits, Cruinne's homemade candles provided the splendid light these jack-o-lanterns shed on the neighborhood until dawn, and the camera Broken gave me (but refuses to allow me to pay for) recorded these images for you to see. And now that I think of it, credit also has to go out to my friend Celeste for keeping us company while we handed out candy, clad as she was in her spectacularly revealing cigarette girl costume on a chilly October night. Next year, help me make Hallowe'en mean something. It doesn't take much. Just enjoy it the way it was meant to be enjoyed and do whatever you can to help other folks love it too. Hallowe'en is the least commercial, the least contrived, and the least religious holiday there is, and I think it brings out a lot more creativity and kindness than all of those other crummy seasons combined. |