Fears and Phobias

by Carrie Pålsson

The air is growing crisp, pumpkins and scarecrows are popping out of every corner and little ghouls are making plans to collect a glutton's supply of candy. Halloween strikes again!

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. It's completely free from odd family obligations and tensions that often render Christmas and Thanksgiving completely unenjoyable if not downright awful. Today's Halloween is about two simple things--playing dress up and eating candy. There might even be a pumpkin pie in the mix if you play your cards right. And, of course, there are plenty of spooky stories to send shivers up and down your spines. Truly, a perfect holiday.

We're celebrating Halloween a couple of weeks early with our Fears and Phobias issue of Mosaic Minds. We have only one ghost story for your enjoyment, but we hope you'll find tales of swaying bridges, slimy fish, and rotting vegetables amusing or possibly even enlightening.

Then, when you're done reading, go out and do something spooky yourself. Personally, I'm planning on doing a historically-based ghost tour of the city I just moved to (Alexandria, VA). I'm taking along my husband for protection and am hoping I survive the night. I won't be going to see the newest horror movie that has been creeping me out in the previews. I can't keep my eyes open through an entire preview for The Grudge, even in our well-lit living room, so I can't imagine what the whole movie would do to my tender sensibilities if viewed in a dark theatre. Watching Unsolved Mysteries is enough to unhinge me.

No matter what you're doing to get your autumn dose of thrills and chills, be careful and have fun! And do the kids in your neighborhood a favor--buy the good candy. Those nasty orange peanut things? Yuck. No one wants to eat those. Or boxes of raisins? Sure, it's healthy, but Halloween isn't about healthy. Better to turn off your porch light than hand out those dried-up little killjoys. Let's all work to re-create the magic we knew and loved as kids, and make this Halloween a treat for everyone!