Happy Scary Halloween...

In the old days Halloween used to be... well, on Hallowe'en, 31st October, the eve of All Saints Day, but now, like so many other days of celebration or festivity, it seems to start earlier and earlier, and I have already encountered numerous witches, vampires and zombies -and myriad monsters, mutants and malevolent miscreants, days before the day itself. For me however, more than anything else, Halloween is about pumpkins -carved and hideous. I don't know why they should be connected to this day other than that they make such wonderful frightening heads –good enough reason really! Here is one that particularly frightened me a couple of years ago. I returned from dinner one Halloween to the mysterious old inn I was staying at in Virginia. The entrance to my room was in a darkened courtyard, with shadowy trees leering above and the wind howling. It was the perfect setting for spookiness, and just in front of my door I found this... Location: Richmond, USA