Later on, as the dusk moves in, the tapping will start, small, strange, darkly dressed creatures will shuffle slowly down my suburban path to disturb my peace. I will sigh as I pick up the bowl of offerings hoping to placate these beings enough to leave me alone.
Actually there could be nothing less scary than small children trick or treating, often with a hapless parent or two hovering apologetically at the gate. My own daughter will join the legions with her small group of friends, then later insist that she wants to watch a scary ( but not too scary ) DVD during her sleepover. I do quite like the halloween traditions and will always carve a pumpkin, making a soup from the innards that no one actually likes very much and decorate the house a little.
We all have a story to tell about being scared and here is mine...
When I was about 12, my family visited an old house that was being offered for sale, my parents were always looking for a fixer upper to buy and restore cheaply and this house ticked all the boxes, a large edwardian red brick terrace with a huge overgrown garden.
The house was being cleared by some house clearance fella and was dark and dingy with old shabby furniture, my dad was keen (it was cheap and generous in proportions)
I did not see anything but I can only tell you that I hated this place and could not wait to leave, It had a sense of misery and anger about it and it actually made me feel a bit sick and when my dad suggested I went into the garden to get some air, I could n't , I felt absolutely terrified but I could not say why.
My mum was not too keen either and later when we viewed another house later that day an offer was made on it and I could happily forget the first house, after a few months in the new home I mentioned how pleased I was that we had not bought the first house, my mum looked uncomfortable and then told me the story told her by a neighbour after the move .
A couple of years before, the owner, an old lady, had been brutally murdered in the house, the police had failed to find the murderer and we had viewed the house after the estate was settled. The murder weapon ( an axe) was found in the garden.
I did not see anything, but I can't explain that feeling that I can remember so vividly even after all these years.
The house was bought by a local family and some years later I was told that there were lots of odd things that happened there, lights blowing, doors slamming shut, and tragically one of the family members died suddenly.
I don't know what became of the house or even if it still exists, but maybe it could still be there waiting for those trick or treaters to come knocking.
Happy Halloween, Lou
