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by Rob Parnell
Hi there Deviants, I know the word Halloween is supposed to conjure up images of ghosts and ghouls and witches, of trick or treating, of the dark-side encroaching on our lives once a year.
That's normal.
But say Halloween to me and I can't help but think of John Carpenter, Jamie Lee Curtis and Michael Myers.
To quote Bruce Campbell in Evil Dead II "Now - does that sound normal to you?"
I'm a big fan of John Carpenter's work and so it appears, are a lot of Blood Surfers. There are numerous Internet sites dedicated to his movies, as you'd expect. But despite him being an all round genius, director of such classics as Dark Star, The Thing, Assault on Precinct 13, Christine and They Live to name some, there are precious few sites about the man himself. The John Carpenter Web Page is one.
Things are different for Jamie Lee Curtis. There again, she's a big film star with parents like Vivien Leigh (of Psycho fame) and Tony Curtis, how could she be other than a naturally gifted actress? Her performance in Trading Places alone would guarantee her immortality in my book, quite apart from her being a bit of a babe. Rumors of her checkered emotional life and infrequent alcohol problems only make her seem all the more lovable to me. But I did say I wasn't normal, didn't I?
Okay. On to Michael Myers - the man with the William Shatner mask. From an artistic point of view, I think Myers is fascinating as a kind of Jungian archetype, the ultimate in modern faceless evil. He's relentless, devious and has no conscience - the perfect baddie. Writers of dark fiction will know what I mean. This guy has it all - a complete history, complex motivations and an untreatable psychosis. A lethal mix, to be sure, but obviously one that endures. Be sure to visit the Michael Myers Fan Club.
It strikes me as amazing that the original Halloween was made for a paltry $320,000, and went on to become the highest grossing independent film ever. To me, its success lies in part in its self-consciousness, the fact you never really forget you're watching a movie. In the best possible sense, it's all technique and formula, perfectly executed: unashamed popcorn horror that, unlike so many imitators, actually works.
Check out http://halloweenmovies.com for all the information on the series. I won't bore you with my comments on the rest of the movies, except to say that there's been seven so far, the story closed off by Carpenter's own H20. I liked this movie. It got to me. And I was well pleased that Michael Myers was definitely, unequivocally, totally killed off by Jamie at the end. I cheered.
Only now, of course, they're making Halloween 8.
Typical.
We're forgetting that the films only use Halloween as a backdrop. The real thing is a far more interesting phenomenon.
The history behind Halloween seems as complex as it is contradictory. It's a tradition that has undoubtedly grown with the times, absorbing new influences with every culture it touches. There does seem to be consensus on it once being the Celtic New Year's Eve, the night before Samhain, a time when the end of summer was celebrated and the spirits of the previous year's dead were remembered.
Later, the early Catholic Church renamed it All Hallow's Evening, the day before their All Saint's Day, in an attempt to Christianize the festival.
Just how Halloween became associated with Witchery is less clear. Modern Wicca claims Halloween is revered as the time when the veil between our world and the supernatural is at its thinnest. They say the Druids and ancient Pagan Priests lit fires and offered sacrifices to ward off ghosts and evil spirits at this time of year, presumably as winter and its associated hardships began to bite.
Most of the sites on the Internet have a much more whimsical approach to Halloween, where a wealth of good folks post their yearly celebrations. http://www.halloween-online.com/ is a hub, which in turn will take you to http://www.halloweenwebring.com where many punters specialize in everything from pumpkin carving, home decorating tips, recipes, jokes, and free Halloween graphics. Also, if you're interested, http://www.ultimatehaunt.com/scaryfarm.htm has links to various haunted places you might like to know about.
http://www.halloweenlinks.com/ lists hundreds of personal Halloween forays, most of them not worth reporting on. It's all in good fun I suppose, although looking at more than a dozen in one go can get a bit wearing. Similarly, http://www.halloween.com is just a bunch of links to assorted (nearly) dark sites available all year round.
What's clear from most of the above is that Halloween is meant to be healthy fun for kids. Nowadays Halloween is seen as a safe way to scare your little darlings. To remind them, in the gentlest way, that there might be bad things out there - a bit like reading your kids Brothers Grimm fairy tales.
Recent events have proved that we can't always shirk this responsibility.
Of course, the underlying message must always be that good people can confront Evil and come away from it stronger. And no matter how nasty the demons are, not all of them can hurt you.
Happy Halloween, my fiends.
I remain
Your Servant in Darkness
DMSurfer@DeviantMinds
©robparnell 2001
