HOWL--OOO--WEEN!!!

 

My cauldron is ready and for my Halloween blessing I need the ashes of a vampire, the eye of a zombie, the tooth of a chupacabra, the toenail of a yeti, and the spittle from a black cat. -- All items readily available in my neighborhood!

But I'll admit I'm a Scrooge when it comes to Halloween. I always pray for rain! Once again I will be THAT house in the neighborhood! My home will be dark with the blinds drawn. I've got a couple foreign horror films with captions that I can enjoy on mute. I keep a baseball bat by my chair plus I've got a hand siren that could scare the dead from their graves.

Still I get knocks on my door that I ignore. This occurs even years when my windows remain boarded after a hurricane threat; obviously the neighborhood tykes & teens aren't the brightest in the world!

Also I'm alone. I'm uncomfortable opening my door at night to costumed strangers. Especially those who tower over me and I'm 5 ft 7. Some of these "kids" look old enough to be in college or trade school.

A close friend moved to the center of the state. In her new community residents welcoming trick-or-treaters register so they go to those homes only. It must be wonderful to have that option rather than kids just showing up unwelcome.

No way am I going to share my stash of sweets! And I resent my movies being interrupted!

During this season last year I watched an old Dracula movie; one in series starring Christopher Lee. Also one I hadn't seen before! The plot: Four Victorian British tourists traveling thru the Carpathian Mountains are inexplicably abandoned by their driver within view of Dracula's castle. You can guess the rest!

The thing I find admirable about Count Dracula is that he's one resilient corpse! At the end of every movie he's destroyed, yet always manages to pull himself together for a sequel. You have to admire that kind of gumption!

Dracula in that respect is an excellent example to follow.

THE STATUE

 

The year was 1975 I was 24 years old. I was vacationing in Guatemala with my dad and the woman who would become my stepmother in 1988.

Unlike Mexico City the previous year we were not forced to all sleep in the same king size bed with me in the middle. This hotel was lovely and our room spacious with 3 double beds. We also had a balcony overlooking the city plus a large bathroom with a bidet just like the hotels in Europe.

Our hotel featured two elegant dining areas; one for breakfast & lunch and the other for dinner with live entertainment that included guitar players with singers and dancers. Plus it served the most delicious hot chocolate I've ever tasted before or since.

At the desk we could book tours to other cities and events. To say it was a great vacation on a budget was an understatement!

After returning from Chichicastenango my future step-mom & I changed clothes for dinner while Dad went for a walk.

Upon returning he proudly displayed a small statue about 9 or 10 inches high. "I bought this from an old man for $1!" He beamed.

My future stepmother & I never saw eye-to-eye on anything before; however we both took one look at it and agreed that thing was NOT coming back on the plane with us! It looked pure evil!

The statue featured what appeared to be a shaman with long pointed beard. In one hand he held a goblet with steam emanating from it. His other hand was just above this. However it was the eyes that really creeped us out, or rather the lack of them. There were only large narrow protruding empty sockets.

My future step-mom immediately placed it out on the balcony and closed the door. None of us ever went out there after that.

The following day a visit to Tikal was scheduled. My father woke up sick, too ill to go. We teased him it was due to that hideous statue. It was cursed! Because the trip was prepaid we went without him.

Future step-mom & I boarded a small plane and flew out into a jungle near the British Honduras's border. Besides the ruins we were given an area tour. We saw a strange creature that looked like a cross between a monkey and a raccoon. It was a memorable trip.

Lunch was included at the jungle airport before flying back. We felt sorry for my father. He missed an interesting albeit bug infested day.

Fortunately Dad was able to reschedule later in the week and went by himself.

While he was away, future step-mom & I went to the local marketplace for souvenir shopping. This was inside an enormous warehouse with rows of stalls and tables almost as far as the eye could see.

"What do you want to bet," I told her, "that we come across a vender with an entire shelf filled with those spooky statues."

"I was thinking exactly the same!" she replied.

We spent almost the entire day shopping and haggling with vendors. And never once did we come across a single one of those! We returned to our hotel totting bags full of bargains.

Two days later we left for home. That eerie statue remained on the balcony; our gift for the next inhabitant of that room.