As Mischief Night draws to a close and Halloween 2017 gears up, I find myself doing what I always do this time of year: scrambling to finish my annual watchlist before midnight tomorrow.
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| "Hurry up, hurry up! We've got 32 hours of horror movies to watch and only 27 hours to do it!" |
We all have traditions that define the season, whether it be a friend's costume party, carving pumpkins with our kids/nieces/nephews, or sticking to a master list of specials and horror flicks to watch before November 1st arrives. I never get to as many Halloweeny activities as I'd like, but I did manage to get to the party this weekend. All that's left is the watching.
No one in my family cares about horror remotely as much as I do, so I do a lot of my Halloween viewing flying solo. Strange and/or nonsensical as it may seem, if I fail to watch a particular special or movie prior to the big day, I refuse to watch it until the following year. Extreme? Maybe. But something about seeing John Carpenter's Halloween or It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on November 1st just feels... wrong.
I haven't had a lot of time this month to get through my list, and two conditions really hurt my chances. First, the fact that Halloween falls on a Tuesday this year. It's lame, and it really throws a wrench into spooky plans. Two, I start a new job tomorrow. On Halloween, the most important day of my year. Oh, I'm cranky about it all right. But there's nothing to be done. I can't even stay up late, as my workday begins at 7:30am and goes until 5pm. So frustrating.
I've spent the entirety of today devouring vintage TV specials and horror flicks, since 11am. Whatever I don't get to will have to wait until 2018. Silly, yes. Oddball, yes. But the magic of Halloween must be preserved. Whatever happens tomorrow, we will follow the rules, not just the ones we've been taught by movies, TV, and world history, but the ones we make for ourselves.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to Scooby-doo and the Headless Horseman. Happy Halloween everyone! I'll be back in the month of turkey and stuffing.
Not silly, at all, to those of us like you. Once the calendar reads the dreaded "November" the magic is gone. We wait for the months to slowly tick by once again. Not that we can't watch what we want when we want all year, but the magic of October and Autumn and Halloween is just damned special. So, glad you had today, good luck with the new job, and have the spookiest damn Halloween you can tomorrow!
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