Ghosts and Goblins

Ghosts and goblins have been reigning in my neighborhood for the past two weeks. Witches perched on the edge of windowsills, spider webs stretched across the gates in front of brownstones and pumpkins galore. Walking up and down the blocks between the avenues one has a sense of the neighborhood being haunted. Children pull at their mother’s hand and point at the various figures, partly in fear and often just in pure awe.

As a child I recall dressing up in costumes and trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. We carved pumpkins into Jack-O-Lanterns and I’m certain there were bouquets of fall flowers on the table. We never had scary spiders or large ghosts hanging around our house.

I’m not certain when or how Halloween became such a popular holiday encouraging such extravagant decorations. Apparently, the large theme parks got involved in the 1980s and played a role in catapulting Halloween into a global phantasmagoria.

My own Halloween tradition has been to gather friends for a reading of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart. First published in 1843, it is one of Poe’s most beloved short stories. If you aren’t familiar with the tale, it is told by an unnamed narrator who tries to convince us of his own sanity after describing a murder he has committed.

When he is confronted by the police, at the end of the tale, he “grows very pale…” and what could he do but “I foamed — I raved — I swore!” When he is visited by the police, he can hear, he is certain, the beating heart of the man he has murdered.

“I felt I must scream or die! — and now — again! — hark! louder! louder! louder!”

With the sound of organ music in the background, a black stuffed raven situated on the arm of a chair and low lighting, it’s possible to create a feeling that seems to befit the ghosts and spiders that are about the neighborhood.

Tonight, just at the midnight, the ghosts will vanish, and St. Hallow’s Eve will come to an end. Then tomorrow morning when we wake up, the page on the calendar will have turned to November and magically holiday decorations will begin to appear. Jolly Santas, Christmas trees, angels and the glow of soft candlelight in the windows.

…Silver bells!

What a world of merriment their melody foretells!

How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,

In the icy air of night!

Edgar Allan Poe

“The Bells”

***

Elizabeth Howard is an author and journalist. Her books include: Ned O’Gorman: A Glance Back, a book she edited (Easton Studio Press, 2015), A Day with Bonefish Joe (David R. Godine, 2015) and Queen Anne’s Lace and Wild Blackberry Pie, (Thornwillow Press, 2011). Elizabeth@laconiadailysun.com.