Tuesday, October 02, 2007

"Night falls. The forest holds its breath. Everything is still. The blood red moon stares through the trees. Suddenly the wind blows. Trees shiver. A bat quivers in the night and flies away. Far into the woods, witches wail and cast their spells." In a nearby graveyard, recently upturned dirt shifts ominously. An icy-fingered breeze causes a naked tree branch to cautiously scrape a tombstone. And we seem to hear the unmistakable rattle of bones. . . Down at the end of a dimly-lit street is a house that hasn't been lived in for years. The grounds are overgrown and forlorn. The windows and doors are boarded shut. The locals avoid walking past the house in the dark. In the dark. It is said that eerie, unexplained movements can be glimpsed behind the upper storey windows in the dark of night. In the dark of night. A stained and rusted knife lies forgotten and unnoticed just off the path. A wisp of cloud passes before the moon as a hollow howl is carried on the wind from somewhere . . . getting closer. Strange lights can be glimpsed coming from a remote part of the forest. An owl stares curiously . . . and takes flight. The wind carries with it the odor of fallen leaves . . . and more than a hint of decay. From out of their hiding places, goblins step and begin their midnight wanderings. On a darkened street corner, from out of nowhere, quite alone and solitary, someone has placed a flickering, smiling jack o'lantern. A black cat cries at the moon. The dead leaves rustle down the road. It is Halloween.

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