Saturday, October 25, 2008


Backward, Turn Backward

In the halcyon land that is my childhood memory, Halloween stands proudly alongside the most celebrated holidays as a time of unparalleled flights of fancy and fun. Before the likes of Jason and Freddy or any of their chainsaw wielding compadres, Halloween season meant the innocently spooky charm of black cats, grinning pumpkins, green witches on broomsticks, and all of the windy, dark, giddy, laughing, orange mystery that was October. Crimson leaves blew across grey neighborhood streets made strangely ominous by the curiously dressed small people, masked and cloaked as they were, who made their way past familiar houses that seemed more than willing to put aside their normally dignified facades to play along, sporting ghosts in their trees and jack-o-lanterns on their porches. How well I remember gathering my courage to knock on the front doors of unknown neighbors, grateful for the anonymity provided by my plastic mask - often a mask whose eye holes never quite matched up to my own, rendering me a bit wobbly on occasion. How I loved those weeks of agonized thought as I tried to decide “who to be” for the night. Halloween gave me the glorious opportunity to dress for one lone evening in a style I wished I could don every day of the year, so I had to choose most carefully.

And then of course there was The Halloween Carnival. The Carnival was produced by my grade school a few nights before the 31st, and it was a true highlight of the school year. Red-brick and tree-shaded, our school was quintessential Americana, and quite honestly, so were we. It felt so odd to enter the school building at night, something we students never did; it was a spooky prospect in and of itself. The father of one of my close friends was in charge, every year, of the haunted classroom where, in total darkness and giggling nervously, we would line up to place our hands into bowls of wet grapes masquerading as eyeballs, while slimy cabbages and cold spaghetti were enlisted to represent other various and sundry body parts best forgotten. Each year, one of the more exotic mothers had the honor of playing the role of the gypsy fortune teller. Sitting in her brightly coloured booth, bejeweled and heavily made-up, she looked quite the part. However, she seemed to annually foretell the most optimistic fortunes imaginable which, to my mind, diminished her authenticity and made her just a bit suspect. But I was a questioning child. There were cake walks and kissing booths, along with blue ribbons presented to the most frightful and terrifying of costumes. Of course, nothing could have compared to the sheer horror of witnessing one’s parents and one’s teachers socializing. Together. None of us could ever manage to wrap our minds around that one.

Those days are past and I am grateful for the priceless memories which help me now to re-create a similar Halloween here in our own little cottage. We are fortunate to have lots of those strangely dressed little people who roam our streets on this spookiest of nights; little people who are brave enough to march past the ghosts and goblins hiding behind our tall trees, lift the latch to our squeaky gate and climb the stairs to knock on our door. When they do, they find a celebration not unlike the one that made my own childhood Halloween a holiday to fondly remember.
And they also find a large white dog who is completely convinced that they are all arriving just to say hello to him!

“Backward, turn backward,
O Time, in your flight
make me a child again
just for to-night!”

Elizabeth Akers Allen
1832-1867

Painting by August Malmstrom

22 comments:

  1. You mean they aren't all coming to meet Edward?

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  2. fabulous post - it took me back to very similar Halloween nights growing up - thanks for the time travel!

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  3. Halloween....blasts from the PAST!!

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  4. Beautiful choice of image.
    Yes, Halloween is really a children's holiday.
    What will Edward be this year?

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  5. I can imagine Edward enjoying this!Each knock at the door, a tail-wagging experience of delight.October is Spring here for us in the Southern Hemisphere- not half as atmospheric. The twittering is from the from the birds, not the bats.

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  6. You really put me in the mood for Halloween, Pamela!

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  7. I just loved Holloween when I was young. I was Little Red Ridinghood for a few of those years - my daughter wore my ancient costume for her first Halloween - thanks for the memories!

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  8. Halloween,since a couple of years we are cellebrating Halloween in Holland also.Trick or treat,must be great fun but we don't do something like that!!Maybe I should start it..in my neighbourhood :)Then i would dress up like the wicked wich from Oz..I'm melting I'm melting ,what a world..I believe there is a post coming up...

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  9. If only, if only - and for more than a night!
    Super post. Very enjoyable.

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  10. Over here, Halloween is not really a big thing and I am always amazed and delighted at the lengthy and exuberant way in which my lovely American friends celebrate it - though I am sure Edward ALWAYS has a queue of worshippers waiting to shake his paw. :)

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  11. As PG has just said, we haven't made much of Halloween in the past here in Britain. When I was a child bonfire night was the big event, a very communal affair with treacle toffee, penny for the guy, fireworks, sparklers held in gloved hands, such excitement!

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  12. What a gorgeous story - I love to learn of Halloween as it is pretty much an unknown holiday for Aussies.
    Thank you for stopping by French Essence and the lovely comment xv.

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  13. Lovely memories, so very far removed from my own. Thank you for that glimpse :)

    Kim x

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  14. Beautiful, evocative post. Loved the painting!

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  15. Your words perfectly conjure up the magic of Halloween from a child's eyes and certainly take me back to the joy of trick or treating.

    Lovely lovely post. Hope Edward enjoys all his visitors this week!

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  16. Like most holidays Halloween has become quite commercial, that said there is still a purity to its celebration.The jack-o-lantern whose origin lies with the Celts was a turnip, the masquerading back to Elizabethan times and the handing out of candy, well I'm not sure on that one...But I certainly remember the specific homes were the candy apples were waiting for their costumed visitors to arrive...
    We always have a separate bowl with doggie treats for those that bring their dogs as part of the celebration.
    I hope Edward has a haunting good time!
    xo Susan

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  17. As pg and acornmoon have said, we have always made more of 'Bonfire Night' here in the UK than Halloween but over the last few years I've noticed shops full of 'halloween' items and lots more events happening - like ghost stories and tours at out local Museum - a victorian pottery works which lends itself well to the atmosphere. For the last couple of years we have had loads of visitors to our doors 'trick or treating' and I have a huge bowl of small apples and oranges ready at the door - our poor cats hate it all though - I'm glad Edward enjoys his visitors:)

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  18. That was atmospheric, makes me look forward to Halloween.

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  19. You have magic in your fingers, you have the gift of invoking your remembered images and letting them dance across my mind, ......most pleasant indeed.
    Yes this is a special time, the celtic New Year, Samhain, you have conjured it up beautifully, as always you are a pleasure to read, and your images appropriate and superb.
    Hugs Lynn xx

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  20. There is a trickle of tears from reading this post, memory is a strange bedfellow....

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  21. I am so happy to live in a neighborhood where Halloween can be celebrated with mirth and wonder like when I was young. There are trees creating tunnels and all of the neighbors for a few square miles know each other it seems. There are haunted houses and a "house of pumpkins" which has over 100 pumpkins lit up for Halloween night. It is a neihborhood filled with children of all ages 0 to 92. I love your post and traditions you hold on to. I try and do the same.

    For a little more Halloween fun, I have a new post for you!

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  22. The most Halloweening I remember was when we lived in a close in Devon, where there were a lot of school aged children, who did it spitiedly but without any nastiness - Europeans are generally a little mistrustful of the potential for real menace to the householders and danger to the children, sad but true, the French in addition see it as rather unwelcome Americanising, and are trying to resurrect Carnival, Mardi Gras, as the time to dress up.

    Anyway, I turned all the hall lights off, and put on a scary Balinese mask and dark cloak and scared them back when they came to the door! They knew it was me, but it made them jump. I had no sweets in, but baked some pumpkin cookies, and they were most impressed with those.

    Out here I usually try to do something, if only make a lantern, or just tune myself in to those Samhain vibes!

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I love to read your comments! Each and every one! Though I'm always reading your comments, I may not respond in the comment section. If you want to write me directly, you may do so at pamela@pamelaterry.net. Thank you for reading!