One of my wackiest Halloweens was back in 2015 when I landed at JFK after three weeks in Nepal. I boarded the subway from the airport around midnight, jet lagged and in need of a shower. With each stop, the train got weirder. First a dude in one of those green man suits. Next a scantily clad bunny. And finally, a group of clowns who I presumed were friends.
That’s when I realized it was Halloween.
This year has been markedly different because my neighborhood, Carroll Gardens, has a whole lot of Halloween spirit.
In the beginning it was subtle. I came across a ghost reading a copy of Moby Duck.
But things became gradually more serious when I stumbled across a haunted box full of demon spirits.
Cobwebs began to appear en masse.
Terrifying heads hung from trees.
Skeletons cropped up everywhere.
The population of clowns blossomed.
Not even my neighbor’s dog was spared.
Some neighbors tried to ward off the occult with biblical statues and security systems (maybe those were there all along?)
Others sided with the devil and organized neighborhood-wide pumpkin impalements.
Some houses didn’t need to take a side since they looked like haunted houses already.
All of this to say… I’m spooked!