Halloween This is a good time to talk about Halloween, not only because I am writing this on Halloween, but also because some strange things happen on Halloween. Let me give you an example of one. It was Halloween night about ten years ago when our front door bell range. My wife went to the door expecting to find children waiting for their candy, but instead when she opened the door she let out a loud scream and I came running. I looked at the open door and there was a clown which stood about six feet three inches tall. He was very well built and looked like he could have torn the door off its hinges. I was taken aback for a second. I asked the clown what I could do for him and was surprised to hear him talk. He was answering like a five-year-old. Apparently, he was a grown man, but unfortunately had the mind of a child. I let him pick some candy and he politely thanked me and left. I think this is one time he should have been accompanied for his own safety. Some terrible things have happened during Halloween. Some of these things seem to be unbelievable, but are said to have happened never-the-less. We see children dressed in many different costumes during Halloween, but usually we know they are children and not the characters they portray. Apparently, this was not the case with one child. It was said the child was nine years old. She went out of her house dressed in a black costume with a white tassel down the back. One of her relatives seeing her thought she was a skunk which had been appearing on the property so he got his shotgun and blasted the poor kid. How in the world could he have thought this; did he have a mental problem of some sort? Halloween was different years ago. It is said men would parade from door to door with boys following them begging for coins. Around 1930 the begging has just about stopped. If we go back to Europe people in costumes would go door to door dancing and singing for treats and when it started in America it took place on Thanksgiving. Halloween origins come from a Celtic festival for the dead. It was called Samhain. On that holiday people would dress in costumes and leave treats on their doorsteps for the spirits. It is believed in the earliest celebrations tribes in Germany and France wore animal heads and skins during a celebration connected to the spirits of the dead which is believed to be a forerunner of Halloween A man was getting ready for bed on Halloween night. It was about 11:00 PM. Just when he was beginning to change his clothes the front door bell rang. He thought it was late for kids, but went down with the candy bowl anyway. When he opened the door, he saw a woman in a mask standing in front of him. She had her hand in a paper bag which she was pointing at him. Then the bag went off and a bullet flew into his chest and he lay on the floor dying. He never made it to the hospital. Why was he shot and who did it? It seems the woman who shot him was egged on by another woman who painted him as an evil man and a wife abuser. She kept this up every day until her friend decided to kill him. It turned out the story was a lie and the real reason the woman was saying this about the guy was she wanted to have sex with his wife. It was Halloween 2009. Trick and treaters were running about from house to house for treats. Unfortunately, they didn’t realize there was a vile predator watching their every move looking for a chance to grab some girls. He had been attacking girls and raping them since 1997. He managed to grab three teenage girls and scared them so badly they were afraid to try and escape thinking he would kill them. He took them to a ravine and assaulted them. One girl was able to text for help on a phone hidden up her sleeve. The police arrived during the rapes, but the rapist fled. DNA evidence was collected and the rapist who was known as “The East Coast Rapist” was finally sentenced to three life terms plus 80 years in prison. We have all seen them, Halloween displays of bodies, zombies, monsters and other children of the night. As a matter of fact, we could be too used to seeing them as evidenced by a case in 2005. A woman was tired of living so she hung herself from a tree. People passed by all day thinking her body was just another Halloween decoration. The tree was located near a busy road and some homes and the body was about 15 feet above the ground. Police even passed it by thinking it was just a prank. This is not the only time a body was thought to be a Halloween display. It has happened more times than I would like to think of. When you pass that display, check it out closely, it may not be entirely composed of dummies. Halloween is supposed to be a great day for kids and even adults enjoy it. It also brings out the worst in a few people such as a guy who decided to kill his kids with poison candy. This were his own family and as they ate the candy and died, it didn’t seem to bother him. He was eventually arrested and received the death sentence for his heinous act. Some people believe the holiday brings out the worst in some people and this could be true to a very small extent, but overall it is a day of fun for almost everyone. The worst part of it is trying to figure out how much candy to buy so you aren’t stuck with a batch you have to eat yourself. You hope you have bought enough so you don’t run out, that would truly be horrible. |
