Halloween I am writing this article on Halloween Day as I wait for the flood of children to knock on my door for their candy. While some other of my relatives tell me hardly anyone comes to their doors, I have a hard time understanding why. I go through a lot of candy every year. It is so cute when you see little ones taking one tiny piece because their parents must have told them not to get greedy. I always tell them take a handful. That still doesn’t amount to too much since they have tiny hands, but you should see the big smiles they put on their faces after telling them that, and the way they dig in. It is all I can do not to laugh. They say competition is good for the soul. Well, you should see the competition that goes on in my neighborhood for the best decorated Halloween decorations. Some of the houses have their front yards completely filled with zombies, lights, coffins, vampires and all sorts of other monsters and things. Others tried to out do this by getting motorized statues of different things. Then there are the displays with the air blowers under them waving erratically with long arms and a longer body. I remember one year where there was a knock on the door when my dear wife was still alive. She opened the door, screamed and called me . I came running and to my surprise there was a man dressed as a clown. He was huge. He must have been close to 250 pounds and at least 6 foot 4 inches and was carrying a pumpkin to put his candy into. Of course, I knew there was something wrong with this picture, but when I talked with him, I realized he had a mental deficiency and gave him some candy and he was very happy. I had not noticed it at first, but out in the street was his two elderly parents. My wife and I laughed about this for years as we would think about it every Halloween, but he never returned. While many of the houses in my area have lavish decorations I sit there with a wooden black cat on the front door, which is just enough to let people know they are welcome to knock. I could put up more decorations and even have an outdoor projector which can flash Halloween pictures over the front of the house, but I don’t have the spirit to decorate since I lost my wife, but I still try and make the kids welcome. It is early on the morning of Halloween and I am wondering if the parents will stop some of their kids from going around due to the fentanyl scare? Now that some of this drug is coming in candy wrappers and it looks like candy, you have to wonder. Leave it to criminals to ruin a day the kids love. I know I will get at least some kids because the neighbors all know me, so I guess I will have to wait and see what happens. Halloween started a long time ago, but it was different. It was a Celtic celebration. The name of it was Samhain which meant it was called the End of Summer. The idea was there were evil spirits roaming the earth and the Celts were trying to trick them into thinking they were also evil spirits. I guess they wanted to do this to prevent them from attacking them, but I’m not sure. As the years went by and other civilizations adopted the holiday it changed. Halloween is no different than any other day crime wise, but there have been some terrible crimes committed on that day. One is about the death of a poor child who never suspected he was about to be killed. His name was Timothy O’Bryan. He was getting ready to go out and make the Halloween rounds for candy. He was only 8 years old. It seems when he got home his father had given him candy known as Pixy Stix. A little later he was dead. Police investigated the crime and noticed the father kept changing his story. Then they found out he was deeply in debt and had taken out a life insurance policy on his son. It turned out the father had laced the candy with cyanide. The father was found guilty and died by execution in 1984. There was almost an entire family who was murdered on Halloween. This happened on Halloween 2010. It just so happened that Halloween fell on a Sunday that year. This is important to know because it saved the life of Devon Griffin who had went to church that day. He was 16 years old and when he returned to his home, he was horrified to find his brother, his mother, and his step-father dead. When the police came, they realized William Liske Jr., the son of his step-father was mentally ill. He was charged in 2004 with assault and robbery when he hit his mother and stole her keys and pleaded insanity. He later pleaded guilty to the murders and received a life sentence without parole, but committed suicide in jail in 2015. There were plenty of crimes committed on Halloween, but also on every day of the week, so there doesn’t seem to be anything special about that day for extra crimes. They say the most dangerous thing about Halloween is the fact more children are hit by cars, but I don’t know if this is true or not, but it is said the chances of being hit double. I guess if it is true, it is because the kids get excited and run across streets without looking. I have seen a lot of that on Halloween. Halloween has become a very big deal in many countries. It is a great excuse not only for children to have fun, but also for adults as demonstrated by their displays. Not everyone is onboard with the elaborate Halloween displays. Some neighbors hate them, especially when they attract many people all day long and for as long as they are up. Others want to outdo each other. I think some of the displays can be distasteful like those that have what looks like a man being hung. Most decorations are fun however and should be treated that way. I say enjoy yourself on this holiday. Have fun with the family and friends. Maybe if it is warm enough have your last out door party and barbecue. Life is short.
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