I think of Halloween as a celebration of Fall. It is the hauntingly fun kid-centric kick-off to all the holidays that are soon to follow through to the New Year. Halloween celebrates the best of Fall – jack-o-lanterns, richly colored leaves, costumes and candy. It is also a time when I am always drawn to scary movies and classic scary stories.
Two of my favorites are The Legend of Sleepy Hallow, by American author Washington Irving, published in 1820. If you haven’t read it, grab or download a copy and read this engaging tale of Ichabod Crane. The other classic story I am always drawn to around Halloween is, Dracula. A gripping, scary novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. The entire novel is told in epistolary format – a series of letters, diary entries, etc. It is a beautiful format to tell this horror story. Dracula is one of my all-time favorite books and I think often overlooked by readers as it has been made into a movie so many times. Like so many books-turned-movies, the book, written in its original form of letters, is significantly better than any of the movie versions I have seen (as good as some of those are.) If you have not read Dracula, grab a copy and curl up one chilly fall night and enjoy its scary tale as part of your Halloween season.1
I incorporated Dracula in my book, Lindsey: Love an Intrigue as the Fall high school play that the central characters, Lindsey and Chris, try out for and ultimately perform in. The play provides the platform for Lindsey and Chris to interact in a more personal and direct manner, while portraying two of the central characters, Mina and Dracula. As they play out the scenes in the play Lindsey starts to wonder if Chris knows she is not always acting when she shows interest in him.
Which is why I think so many of kids – kids, teens and adults – love Halloween, it gives us the opportunity to be someone different. Little girls may choose a princess or a witch. Young boys might choose a super hero or ghost. As we move into our teens we choose very carefully – perhaps a costume that is bolder than we normally act, or one that reveals the smallest part of our personality, which we almost never show to others, or one that makes a political statement that we believe in.
Some of the best costumes I have ever seen are the ones that aren’t bought in store, but are clever and custom made. One of my favorites was a young man who from his waist down was dressed as a man and from the waist up he was a gorilla sitting in a large cage. His arms were the gorilla’s arms and he attached a dummy behind the cage, which appeared to be carrying it. Brilliant! The only one I loved, many years ago, was a Christmas tree. Because this is the beginning of many fun holidays to come!
“There are mysteries which men can only guess at, which age by age they may solve only in part.”
Bram Stoker
– Author of Dracula
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