Villa Nocturnis

As long as I can remember, Halloween has held a special place in my memory. The idea of dressing up as someone you are not, walking around in the dark, all of the mystery and spectacle… As a child I wanted Halloween to never end.

My parents didn’t go all out, but we did decorate the windows and carve jack-o-lanterns (the ‘Old School’ style: triangle eyes, gap-toothed grin, carved with a knife as long a s a bayonet, a style I still do one of every year just so my kids can see how it used to be done). Most of my costumes were made by my mother as usually I didn’t want to go for the standard fare of costume (though I did years with store-bought costumes such as Evil Knieval, Batman, maybe one other). Mainly I was disappointed that the costumes didn’t really look like what I saw on TV or at the movies. I wanted them better, and my mother and to a lesser extent my father, obliged. I also wanted to make parts of it myself, like making sure my Han Solo vest had something in the pockets to bulk them out, just like the movie.

My first Halloween party was an adjunct to my parents having their own party (actually the only one they ever had). My brother and I were permitted to have the children of the adult guests upstairs in the attic, with our own food, music, etc. I spent weeks cutting out little jack-o-lanterns, with six different expressions mind you, as a sort of ‘follow-the-trail-of-pumpkins-to-the-kids-party’.  I had a blast, even though most of the other kids seemed bored. I didn’t win Best Costume, but in my mind’s eye I saw when I was old enough to have my own party, things would be different.