Back From The Grave!

 

After four long months away, it is time to reanimate this festering, lifeless corpse! Time to awaken from my deathly slumber...

Four months since I've posted anything here in the Cemetery. It's hard to believe that it has been that long, but life and time, even when flipped completely upside down, still move on...

Back in March and April, when the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic began to affect all aspects of our lives, I figured that further on down the road, our high holiday of Halloween would inevitably be cast aside. Yet another unfortunate but necessary precaution to insure the safety and well-being of us all until things could return to normal (whatever "normal" may mean anymore...).

And as I had alluded to in previous posts, the burnout from 16 straight years of home haunting had really begun to take its toll. Couple that with moving to a new neighborhood and having to "start over" last year to a much smaller, unsuspecting crowd (on a Sunday, no less) drained my Halloween enthusiasm tank to near empty.

As the days rolled on into summer, our annual Halloween and haunt conventions were canceled one-by-one, further removing that traditional ramp up toward the big night.

It was then that my obvious choice was clear. 2020 would be the perfect year to take a break. A year off from the taxing craziness of home haunting. Especially if there wasn't even going to be a Halloween this year.

But apparently, I was wrong...

Within the past couple of weeks, a strange thing began to happen. Murmurs and rumblings began about our beloved day. And it got me to thinking about the possibility...

"What if?"

And then it happened. My city announced last week that there would be no official trick-or-treat planned for this year. BUT! Each neighborhood was free to conduct their own trick-or-treat, if done in a safe and responsible way.

Bingo. Go time. I was talking to a new neighbor who was quite fired up on the announcement and decided to "take over" the night's planning as no one else had stepped up to lead the charge. And at this point, I was still on the fence about even doing anything this year. So I quickly decided that I had a strong, new ally for Halloween night.

We sat and talked for at least 30 minutes as I revealed my true Halloween identity. She was floored. At that moment, my plans for 2020 changed. I decided that I needed to step up and help rescue Halloween this year. Trick-or-treat COULD be done in a safe, responsible way that could be enjoyed by the entire neighborhood.

I immediately volunteered to create a trick-or-treat flyer. In previous years, our neighborhood trick-or-treated on the Sunday before Halloween, 5-7 pm. This year, that just ain't gonna work. We have already decided that our trick-or-treat will be on Halloween night. As I think it should be. And being on a Saturday night this year is quite a bonus...

My previously empty Halloween tank had just gotten a quick jolt of life. I broke out a couple of my wonderful old spooky Halloween records and they sounded better than ever. I took my son to the local Spirit Halloween store and bought his costume for this year. He is super excited and he is going to look great as whatever-the-heck Fortnite character he's going as. I even pulled out my annual inventory list for the home haunt and I'm seeing what I still have time to create for my yard display. And I realized that I could channel this sudden surge of inspiration and creativity into this blog.

So after four months away, it looks like the orange-and-black spirits have brought me back to the fold. And I don't think I could have it any other way.

I hope my little kickstart helps inspire and motivate some of you as well. It is a very strange time, and we are nowhere near out of the woods with this pandemic yet. Halloween needs us all this year, but we need to stay safe and prove that we can do this responsibly. I have seen quite a few announcements that haunted houses will open up, mostly in reduced capacities. But for this year, I'll take it. 

Please be safe and follow established guidelines to help us get through this crazy year. It will ensure that we all come back full force next year.

47 days until Halloween. Are you ready?