The spirits of Hallowe’en

Halloween or Hallowe'en (a contraction of "All Hallows' evening") has become one of the most popular holidays in the United States, second only to Christmas. As it has become so much a part of American pop culture, its ghostly traditions have been exported to countries like Japan, where dressing up like monsters and zombies has now stretched into a full week of events, parades, and costume contests.

Now people are turning their homes into ghostly mansions. Spider webs draped from doors and windows. Skeletons dangling from windows and ledges. Witches sitting quietly stirring their brew. Pumpkins, cornstalks, and pots of flowers in autumn colors remind us, at the same time, it is the harvest season.

When I think of Halloween I think of twilight, that period of the day and night that is said in Japanese culture to open a portal to the spirit world, a potential moment of encounter with the past.

I don’t know why but walking down the street this week I began thinking of the Christmas carol “Deck the Hall.” It is the music that makes Christmas so special.

The late afternoon evensongs, the Messiah sung by choirs gathered as professionals or just groups of people who like to sing: it’s what's missing from Halloween. The only music are spooky sounds.

When I write about Halloween, I also share my traditions. First select the perfect pumpkin. Then spend hours carving it. It’s important to place Mr. Jack O’Lantern in the window facing out so the face can be seen from the street. Then, just at dusk, I gather a few friends for a reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Tell-Tale Heart." A black raven is attached to the arm of a chair and dramatic music plays quietly in the background. Everyone is invited to participate in the reading:

“‘Villains!’ I shrieked, ‘Dissemble no more! I admit the deed! — Tear up the planks! — Here, here! — It is the beating of this hideous heart!’”

Or, if you prefer a poem there is always “The Raven” that begins with the line: “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary...”

Just before the clock strikes midnight the pumpkin is extinguished, the guests leave and the spirits of the dead who have been wandering through the darkness go back to rest.

We are alone once again.

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Elizabeth Howard is the host of the Short Fuse Podcast, found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or through the Arts Fuse. She is a journalist, columnist, and communications consultant. Ned O’Gorman: A Glance Back, a book she edited, was published in May 2016. She is the author of A Day with Bonefish Joe (David R. Godine, 2015). Her articles have appeared in publications in the United States and internationally. You can send her a note at eh@elizabethhoward.com.