Halloween

'I am the one hiding under your bed
Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red'
——From This Is Halloween

Hurray, it’s Halloween! Yeah, right! 

I never really enjoyed Halloween. Well, Halloween is not that popular in my side of the world.  We don’t have trick-or-treats here except in malls. I never went trick-or-treating—not even once—not that I don’t want to. I thought I was too old to go trick-or-treating. 

The Halloween celebration never really took off here not until 2000.  That was nine years ago, I was already in high school.  I was already a teen at that time, though I didn’t act like one. I can’t imagine my self in full Halloween get up, carrying a basket, and trick-or-treating at that age.  Plus, I dreaded wearing those tight-fitting superhero costumes that give you the bulge.   

That was before, these days; we have Halloween balls for adults.  The ball is now an annual event that most of us, except me, look forward to. Guess I was wrong to think that wearing those costumes was silly.  In fact, I was very wrong to conclude that Halloween is just for little children. What was previously a children’s holiday is now an adult affair. 

Until recent times in some parts of Europe, it was believed that on this night witches and other malevolent spirits flew abroad. 

Earlier, I was out, staring up in the night sky, hoping to catch those malevolent spirits fly above on their night out.  So far, I haven’t seen a single witch or ghost fly tonight. All these years, I have always hoped to see the Supernatural or the Paranormal—I am sure it would scare the hell of me though. 

Any other day of the year, my chances of a chance encounter with the Others, the Undead, the Elementals and the Malevolent are very slim. Every Halloween my chances are very high—I always got disappointed. Guess I should settle with the costume parties after all.