Yeah, that's me.  That's me, all dressed up for Halloween at Haunted Happenings in Salem, MA.

 

I got a lot of funny looks that day, and plenty of people just stopped short and walked away once they saw me.  It's hard to tell from the black and white picture, but as you can see from the picture to the right, my trench coat and hoodie were smeared with blood.  

 

A LOT of blood.  

 

"More blood!" I shouted as I was getting dressed, and of course my kids were only too happy to comply.

 

I never spoke to anyone while I was in costume, and we walked the streets and parks of beautiful downtown Salem for hours.

 

At one point, I approached the window of a restaurant and just stood there, staring in. Just beyond the glass, a party of four, trying to enjoy their drinks and appetizers, stared back at me, suitably freaked out, but having a great time.  I looked at each of them in turn, picked one at random (okay, okay, so she was the prettiest of the four; maybe it wasn't so random after all) and just stood there staring at her from behind my mask for a full two minutes.  She loved it and hated it all at the same time.  I think we made a real connection.  

 

I turned away and walked on.

 

The highlight of the night, I think (at least for me) was when I sat down on a bench beside a couple engaged in a romantic conversation. The woman saw me coming and tried not to clue in her boyfriend, who had his back to me.

 

Finally, he turned and jumped a little.  He asked me how things were going.  

 

I crossed my legs and just stared at him, saying nothing.  He was eating from a bag of popcorn, and without taking my eyes off of him, I held my hand out, palm up.  He hesitated for a moment, but then poured some popcorn into my hand.

 

Staring coldly at him, I turned my hand over and dumped the popcorn he'd given me onto the ground.

 

I stood up and continued along the path.

 

I love Halloween.