Halloween Fun

When I was a little kid, Halloween was more than just a night of costumes and candy. It was a cherished tradition that brought our rural community together. A few times we went to a party, but mostly our celebration involved piling into the family car and driving from one neighbour’s farm to the next. We started in the late afternoon because each doorstep we stopped at transformed into a stage! The neighbours took great joy in asking us kids to sing or recite before handing out treats. I remember the flutter of nerves in my stomach, my shyness nearly overwhelming but Halloween gave me a secret weapon, my costume. With a full-face mask and a homemade outfit concealing my identity (or so I thought), I found courage I never knew I had. My siblings and I took turns reciting verses and singing tunes and even if voices wavered, we were always met with encouraging smiles and laughter! Of course, the greatest reward at the end of the evening was a pillowcase full of homemade and store-bought treats! Sticky popcorn balls wrapped in wax paper, shimmering rock candy, mouth watering fudge, bubble gum and colourful string candy necklaces. The generosity of our neighbours was as much a part of the celebration as the costumes and the performances. We left each farm with a sense of belonging to a wonderful community.

One Halloween as a young teenager, my brother Alex and I went on a “tricking” Halloween adventure in his half-ton truck. We parked the truck in a bush out of sight and proceeded on foot with our trickster gear (toilet paper, cling wrap, paint etc.). As our eyes adjusted to the dark, we saw the outline of the farmyard ahead. Quietly we snuck up on the outer buildings, my brother went one way and I another. As we “tricked” the barnyard I heard my neighbours voice in the darkness. I sprinted the opposite direction, but he was not alone and there were suddenly two neighbours running after me. They caught me and drove me home laughing merrily at their conquest. They delivered me to my parent’s kitchen “we found something that belongs to you”, and they all had coffee together. The funniest part was my brother was free and clear to finish tricking and went on to the next neighbour’s yard!

Fast forward a few years and I was driving our truck with a couple of my friends checking out a Halloween party in town. Daylight had turned into night before we came back. The road to town was built through a big slough and there had been excessive rain that year. The water pressed right up against the shoulders on both sides. The trucks headlights reflected off the water’s surface, where patches of new ice glimmered like broken glass under the gaze of the full moon. The moon itself was bright, casting eerie shadows across the reeds and cattails. Vapor drifted above the water, twisting tendrils that made the marsh appear alive, as if the spirits of Halloweens past were rising to greet us. None of us spoke much as we drove, the usual banter replaced by nervous laughter and quick glances towards the black water, certain that something might crawl out from the shadows! My mind raced with stories (made up by us telling scary stories to each other). The tales of eerie lights, mysterious disappearances, and creatures that watched from the reeds. Tonight, the stories didn’t seem so far-fetched. Suddenly, a ripple disturbed the stillness on the left side of the road. We all turned and looked, hearts pounding. Then, a pair of eyes reflected the light. Was it a muskrat? A fox? Or something that belonged to the old stories? It didn’t move and we were glad to keep on trucking. As we reached the other side, the eerie feeling began to fade, and the world resumed its ordinary shape. We looked at each other and made a promise to never take that road on Halloween night again. This adventure was new material for a scary story that we would share for years to come.